I found myself smiling along with her, the image she was creating in my mind so different from the one I knew.
Her face darkened and filled with sadness. “And then that night came. I was on duty in the ER. I saw them w-wheel him in.” Tears began to fill her eyes and spill down her cheeks. “I only recognized him by a scar on his palm I gave him when we were kids. There was so much blood. His eyes were open, just slits, but they were empty. The side of his chest and abdomen were torn open, his leg and arm mangled and pointing in all the wrong directions.”
My chest constricted as she spoke, making my already difficult and painful breathing worse. I could see everything; I knew all of the scars that were proof of the damage she described.
“I was the one who had to contact everyone, and when they got there, I collapsed, unable to hold myself up anymore. The wait was excruciating. Surgery after surgery to put him back together, and on top of that, they kept him in a coma for weeks. When he came out of it, Nate was gone,” she said, choking back a sob. “I lost my best friend and my brother, and no matter how much I fought to bring him back, he slipped further and further away. When they brought him in the other day, I threw up, thinking it was the call I had been waiting for all these years. I was shocked when Uncle George told me it was because the woman he was in love with was in a bad accident, and he’d suffered a severe panic attack. When he woke up, he was in such a fury to find you, and in that moment, light broke through the clouds that covered me since that night.”
She took my hand in hers. “I know he hurt you, and you don’t know why, but you will. I just ask that you think about forgiving him and give him a chance to show you the kind of man he is. I know you’re one of Darren’s patients; he’s my brother-in-law. I don’t know anything about you; I only know he works with trauma patients. I’ve heard from your friends how your relationship was healing you, and I know it was healing Nate. To get back to my original topic—sorry, I ramble when nervous—we’re all happy you’re here. Well, not here in the hospital, but that you met Nate. You give us hope, something we’d pretty much given up on. Thank you.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “Thank you?”
“For giving us back hope. Am I forgiven for my horrible behavior earlier? Do you understand now? I was overexcited, and my timing was just pretty bad.”
I surveyed her and found her to be mostly harmless before I held out my good hand. "Delilah Palmer."
Her whole face lit up. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, Lila."
"You, as well.”
"So, when you get your cast on, can I be the first to write on it?" she asked, excitement sparkling in her eyes.
"How old are you?" My lips curled up into a smile.
"Oh, come on!"
"No."
Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. "Nate wouldn't let me either. Though it wasn't fun then."
"It isn't fun now!" I shook my head. "What in the world would you write anyway?"
"Hmmm," she paused for thought, her finger tapping on her lips. "Oh! How about this: Nathan and Lila sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Lila with a baby carriage."
I stared at her in disbelief, and then shook my head and smiled. "You’re crazy."
"Shh!" She leaned forward, her hand to the side of her mouth as she looked from side to side before continuing. "Don't tell my husband. My kids know, but they’ve been threatened with Brussels sprouts at every meal if they say anything. My youngest likes them, so I had to threaten him with lima beans."
"How many kids do you have?"
She beamed at me and pulled out her wallet. "We have two boys. Brennan is nine, and Alec is five." She flipped it open and showed me a picture of two little brown-haired boys.
Erin and I continued to talk for another hour. She told me all about her kids and her husband, Trent. They were contemplating having a third child; Erin really wanted to have a girl. Then conversation moved to her growing up with Nathan.
“Oh, we used to get into so much mischief. He was the leader of course.”
I let out a little chuckle. I could totally see that.
“He was a wild child, but I blame Aunt Sarah for some of our antics.”
“Why is that?”
Erin laughed and shook her head. “She pumped us full of sugar. I swear, that stuff is like speed for kids. I don’t even let mine have it very often. This one time, we were about six, and he found some pixie sticks hidden in the pantry and we stuffed them all down. Half an hour later, he was running around the neighborhood screaming ‘I’m too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts’ butt naked.”
Nathan walked in then, glaring at Erin. “Shut up. It didn’t happen.”
Erin winked at me. “I’ve got the photos his mom took.”
“I’ll have Trent find them, and then I’ll burn them.”
“That’s fine, but I also know where the video is your mom filmed as Uncle George started chasing you, trying to catch you. Full-Monty. And I know how to use YouTube now.”
Nathan shut up after that, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy.
I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. They were very amusing together. A spark of jealousy flared in me. If life had been different…
We spent the next few hours talking, sharing stories. Erin and Nathan had a much better and fun-filled childhood in comparison to my own.
I relaxed as the conversation morphed, and I got to see a different side of Nathan.
A nurse came in after a while to shoo them out; visiting hours were over. She also came to give me the next round of drugs, and back under I went.
My eyes fluttered open for the billionth time in the last who knew how many days. I had been in and out of sleep and everything was running together. I wouldn’t know if it was day or night if it wasn’t for the southerly facing room I occupied.
It was Monday…no, Tuesday. Right?
I sighed in frustration. They needed some sort of countdown on the calendar where I could read it from where I was situated. All I knew was that it was six, or so said the clock on the wall above the door.
“Good morning,” Nathan’s voice called, pulling my attention down to my bedside. It was rough from sleep, and it reminded me of mornings when things were different. Times when I felt safe, our bodies intertwined as we shut away the world and it was only him and me.
Her face darkened and filled with sadness. “And then that night came. I was on duty in the ER. I saw them w-wheel him in.” Tears began to fill her eyes and spill down her cheeks. “I only recognized him by a scar on his palm I gave him when we were kids. There was so much blood. His eyes were open, just slits, but they were empty. The side of his chest and abdomen were torn open, his leg and arm mangled and pointing in all the wrong directions.”
My chest constricted as she spoke, making my already difficult and painful breathing worse. I could see everything; I knew all of the scars that were proof of the damage she described.
“I was the one who had to contact everyone, and when they got there, I collapsed, unable to hold myself up anymore. The wait was excruciating. Surgery after surgery to put him back together, and on top of that, they kept him in a coma for weeks. When he came out of it, Nate was gone,” she said, choking back a sob. “I lost my best friend and my brother, and no matter how much I fought to bring him back, he slipped further and further away. When they brought him in the other day, I threw up, thinking it was the call I had been waiting for all these years. I was shocked when Uncle George told me it was because the woman he was in love with was in a bad accident, and he’d suffered a severe panic attack. When he woke up, he was in such a fury to find you, and in that moment, light broke through the clouds that covered me since that night.”
She took my hand in hers. “I know he hurt you, and you don’t know why, but you will. I just ask that you think about forgiving him and give him a chance to show you the kind of man he is. I know you’re one of Darren’s patients; he’s my brother-in-law. I don’t know anything about you; I only know he works with trauma patients. I’ve heard from your friends how your relationship was healing you, and I know it was healing Nate. To get back to my original topic—sorry, I ramble when nervous—we’re all happy you’re here. Well, not here in the hospital, but that you met Nate. You give us hope, something we’d pretty much given up on. Thank you.”
I stared at her for a long moment. “Thank you?”
“For giving us back hope. Am I forgiven for my horrible behavior earlier? Do you understand now? I was overexcited, and my timing was just pretty bad.”
I surveyed her and found her to be mostly harmless before I held out my good hand. "Delilah Palmer."
Her whole face lit up. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, Lila."
"You, as well.”
"So, when you get your cast on, can I be the first to write on it?" she asked, excitement sparkling in her eyes.
"How old are you?" My lips curled up into a smile.
"Oh, come on!"
"No."
Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. "Nate wouldn't let me either. Though it wasn't fun then."
"It isn't fun now!" I shook my head. "What in the world would you write anyway?"
"Hmmm," she paused for thought, her finger tapping on her lips. "Oh! How about this: Nathan and Lila sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Lila with a baby carriage."
I stared at her in disbelief, and then shook my head and smiled. "You’re crazy."
"Shh!" She leaned forward, her hand to the side of her mouth as she looked from side to side before continuing. "Don't tell my husband. My kids know, but they’ve been threatened with Brussels sprouts at every meal if they say anything. My youngest likes them, so I had to threaten him with lima beans."
"How many kids do you have?"
She beamed at me and pulled out her wallet. "We have two boys. Brennan is nine, and Alec is five." She flipped it open and showed me a picture of two little brown-haired boys.
Erin and I continued to talk for another hour. She told me all about her kids and her husband, Trent. They were contemplating having a third child; Erin really wanted to have a girl. Then conversation moved to her growing up with Nathan.
“Oh, we used to get into so much mischief. He was the leader of course.”
I let out a little chuckle. I could totally see that.
“He was a wild child, but I blame Aunt Sarah for some of our antics.”
“Why is that?”
Erin laughed and shook her head. “She pumped us full of sugar. I swear, that stuff is like speed for kids. I don’t even let mine have it very often. This one time, we were about six, and he found some pixie sticks hidden in the pantry and we stuffed them all down. Half an hour later, he was running around the neighborhood screaming ‘I’m too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts’ butt naked.”
Nathan walked in then, glaring at Erin. “Shut up. It didn’t happen.”
Erin winked at me. “I’ve got the photos his mom took.”
“I’ll have Trent find them, and then I’ll burn them.”
“That’s fine, but I also know where the video is your mom filmed as Uncle George started chasing you, trying to catch you. Full-Monty. And I know how to use YouTube now.”
Nathan shut up after that, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy.
I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. They were very amusing together. A spark of jealousy flared in me. If life had been different…
We spent the next few hours talking, sharing stories. Erin and Nathan had a much better and fun-filled childhood in comparison to my own.
I relaxed as the conversation morphed, and I got to see a different side of Nathan.
A nurse came in after a while to shoo them out; visiting hours were over. She also came to give me the next round of drugs, and back under I went.
My eyes fluttered open for the billionth time in the last who knew how many days. I had been in and out of sleep and everything was running together. I wouldn’t know if it was day or night if it wasn’t for the southerly facing room I occupied.
It was Monday…no, Tuesday. Right?
I sighed in frustration. They needed some sort of countdown on the calendar where I could read it from where I was situated. All I knew was that it was six, or so said the clock on the wall above the door.
“Good morning,” Nathan’s voice called, pulling my attention down to my bedside. It was rough from sleep, and it reminded me of mornings when things were different. Times when I felt safe, our bodies intertwined as we shut away the world and it was only him and me.
