Authors: Jennifer Labelle
“Tyler.” Jenna extended her hand, wanting him to come closer. “Come here.”
She needed some alone time with him. “Mom, would you mind giving us a few minutes?” Jenna waited until the door clicked behind her. “So we’re not dead?” she asked with a smile and tried to apologize for her initial behavior.
He shook his head, finally approaching. He reached for her hand but pulled back before making contact. It hurt her to see him so hesitant with her. “What’s the matter?” she asked, because what she heard of his conversation with her mother didn’t make any sense to her. He blamed himself for her being there, and she couldn’t shake his expression of remorse.
“Everything’s fine, Jenna.” His eyes were glossy, he forced a smile, and she could tell that he struggled with his emotions.
She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, catching him in a lie. “Come here.” she urged. He stood directly in front of her, but still wasn’t within her reach.
“I am here, Jenna.”
Sighing in frustration, she pressed down her hands to adjust her body to move over a little for him. Wincing at how much it hurt, she was determined to have him closer.
“What are you doing?” he snapped, just making her roll her eyes and repeat herself.
“
Come here.” Tapping the space beside her, she continued, “I’ve missed you, and so help me God, Tyler, if you don’t come here, I’m going to endure a lot of pain when I come and get you.”
“You wouldn’t,” he said, but sat beside her just in case.
“Not close enough.”
“Geez, Jenna, how close do you want me to be? I’m afraid that I might touch something I’m not supposed to, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m fine. The nurse gave me something amazing.” She lied a little. The medication was starting to wear off, but she didn’t care. He was there, and if she had to endure being uncomfortable for a little while then she’d gladly take the trade off.
“You woke up before?”
“
You were sleeping in the chair beside me, and I held your hand while you slept, or at least I tried to. I must have dosed off again.” She sighed, feeling like she’d been asleep for too long.
He looked at her and finally smiled. His spirits seemed to lift a little bit so she pushed her luck. “Kiss me.”
He became nervous and looked at her from head to toe.
“
Do I look that awful?” she teased. “Kiss me.”
“I don’t know, Jenna.”
He started to argue, but she wouldn’t give him the chance. Moving her hands, she pressed down again to move forward. If he wasn’t coming to her, she was going to him.
“Are you crazy?” he exclaimed, pushing gently on her shoulders for her to lie back. “You’re as stubborn as ever, and I’d like you to heal so that I can actually take you home one of these days.”
She laughed. “Ya, but mission accomplished. You’re touching me; is that so bad? Honestly, Tyler, I thought I’d lost you. Is it so terrible that I want a kiss?” She looked away feeling rejected and self-conscious. She hadn’t looked in a mirror and began to wonder if she really did look that bad.
The bed moved a little as he came closer and smiled. “No, not terrible.”
“I missed you,” she whispered. “And I’m so glad that you’re here with me.” She held his face as he moved closer to feel him against her again. Their lips finally touched, and she began to cry. She thought she’d never be able to do this with him again and there they were. It was way too quick when he pulled away. “Not done yet,” she whispered.
He chuckled and obliged. His tongue outlined her bottom lip for entry. It had been way too long without him. A moan sounded from deep within his throat, fueling her desire to keep kissing him. Tyler, her husband, actually alive and well had come back from the dead.
“Oh!” Her mother gasped from the door.
They both laughed at her embarrassment. “Ouch,” Jenna said between giggles. “I think it’s time for more pain meds. Can someone get the nurse?”
“Are you all right?” Tyler asked with concern evident.
Jenna nodded. “I’ll be better once I get a little more of whatever they gave me earlier though. Can you stay with me for awhile?”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Once the nurse had administered her magic and her mother was assured that Jenna was doing fine, her mother left them alone for the day.
Drugged and comfortable, Jenna still had a lot of questions. She needed answers, and this was her opportunity to get them from him.
“So what happened?”
“Do you remember anything at all?”
“We were on our way to pick up Jayden, and it was raining, right?”
He nodded. “We left early, and it started to rain. I pulled over because we could barely see through the windshield.” He smiled, but it looked strained. “You were bored and persuaded me to join you in the backseat, and then it all happened so fast.” He looked away and cleared his throat.
“
Tyler, what happened? I remember that part. I want to know the rest.” Needed to know.
“
I’m so sorry, Jenna. It all happened so fast. We could hear tire’s squealing close by, and the headlights came for us fast. It was a delivery truck. The man swerved out of the way thinking he saw something in the road and didn’t see us clearly until it was too late. As soon as I could make out what was happening, I tried to pull you along with me. I managed to get the door open and jump out in time, but the car was crushed. I could see your body fly inside of it. You almost didn’t make it.” He stood up and started to pace. “If anything had happened to you…I mean if it ever came to that…” He looked away again. “I just don’t know if I could live with myself.”
“Now who’s being ridiculous? You should know better than anyone that I’m too stubborn to die. There is just too much to live for.” She smiled, hoping that by teasing him, she could get him to smile with her. She hated that he blamed himself. What happened had happened. She was still just so relieved that he wasn’t dead.
He sat with her again but stayed silent.
“
So is this a bad time to ask more? I mean what am I dealing with here? How bad am I?”
From what she could see there were a lot of tiny scars and tender spots all over her arms and legs, her right side having more damage. Her lower calf and all the way around her foot was bandaged. Tyler watched as she tried to examine herself. She slowly traced her fingers across her face, and it didn’t feel that bad. Her lips felt really dry, and it was tender at the top of her head, but otherwise it didn’t feel like there were too many scrapes and bruises there.
“
You’re beautiful.”
“
Liar.” She smiled, knowing she must have looked awful, but he was still sweet for denying it.
“
You have a minor head injury; that’s why you’re probably still feeling uncomfortable,” he said, tracing his finger across the top of her head. “When the truck first made impact your body flew forward, and you hit your head on the dash board. A lot of the cuts and bruises were caused by the shattered windshield. The car was pushed from the impact. It zoomed few feet away before crashing into a street lamp. When it did, you flew to the backseat again. They wouldn’t let me see you. They insisted that I get checked out no matter how many times I told them I was fine.”
He cleared his throat, and she could tell he was trying hard not to cry. “When they brought you to the hospital, they rushed you right in. You were far worse off than my worst nightmare. I ran to you as they rushed you down the hallway, and you whispered my name before you passed out.” He smiled, then exhaled, looking away again. “You lost so much blood, and I could see the glass fragments all over you. While they tried to clean you up, they noticed some unusual discoloration and swelling around your stomach and found out that there was some internal bleeding. The lining of your spleen was torn. They rushed you into the ICU and gave you an IV for fluids. You had to wear an oxygen mask, and you had a few blood transfusions. They tried their best, but it wasn’t working out, so a couple days later they decided to finally operate to try to repair what they could.”
“That sounds like my kind of luck, but what happened to my ankle?”
“You sprained it,” he whispered then sighed. “I have never been so afraid in my life, Jenna. Things seemed to go well after the operation. Well, the bleeding stopped anyway, but then you got sick. They told me that an infection had developed, and they had to keep you out of it until the treatment worked.”
“So exactly how long have we been here?” She said “we” knowing that he’d been by her side the whole time.
“A little over a month.”
“More than a month?” It felt longer, or at least it’d been so much longer when she’d thought Tyler was dead.
It was a lot to take in.
Chapter Four
“
Are you okay?”
She nodded, “It’s just all so overwhelming and nothing like I woke up thinking. How is Jayden?”
“I wondered how long it would take before you asked about him,” Tyler said with a smile. “He’s always been a momma’s boy.”
“And I love that fact. Let’s hope that hasn’t changed,” she said, her stomach in a nervous knot. The first time she’d seen him, she freaked out, convinced they had all died. She hadn’t seen him since, not that she blamed them for keeping him away, but still, she really missed him.
He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Not a chance. It’s been hard on him, but he’s a tough little boy, and now that you’re doing so well, it’ll only get better. He’s been with our parents a lot, they take turns watching him, and I’ve gone to see him whenever I could. The house has been pretty crowded since your parents temporarily moved in, and I can’t wait to get you home so things could get back to normal.”
“I imagine you’ve probably spent most of your time here, right?”
Tyler smiled. “I hate when I have to leave, but it gets stressful, and your mom has kicked me out a few times.”
“She has?” That shocked her, but made her laugh too. “It was probably for your own good.”
“Probably, it gave me the opportunity to spend time with Jayden or help out at work. They’ve got to where they’re not as shocked to see me as they were at first. I’m on a leave of absence, but on the odd occasion, Alex would let me help her out. I needed that escape. She’s working an interesting case involving a minor in an armed robbery, and I helped her put together some of the defense strategies.”
“
Sounds interesting and I bet its killing you that you’ve been away for so long,” she teased, knowing how much Tyler adored being a lawyer. He was a man who loved a challenge and a good argument.
He laughed, but she could sense that there was something missing, something he wasn’t telling her. “Is there anything else?”
“No, why?” His laughter died, his face flushed, and he became serious suddenly. She could tell he was being evasive but didn’t have it in her to argue with him. It was probably just something he thought would upset her by knowing how hard it had been. She changed the subject. “So this Alex is a woman, huh? I don’t think I’ve met her. Is she new?”
“Not really.”
Maybe teasing him would take the edge off of whatever he wasn’t saying. “So then she’s pretty. Should I be worried?”
“That’s ridiculous, Jenna, for you to even ask that. I mean I can’t believe that you would,” he snapped.
Her being in the hospital for so long had to have been stressful on everyone, and it began to show in Tyler. She was still annoyed. They used to be able to tease each other. What was the problem?
“No need to get so worked up. Geez, Tyler, lighten up.”
She watched as he studied her and felt the bed shift as he came closer. “I’m sorry, Jenna. Everything’s just been so hard, and I guess I just needed to vent a little.” He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Okay, so she’s pretty, but she’s nothing compared to you.”