Grant
She had prepared letters in case she didn’t make it. I leaned against the wall of an empty hallway in the hospital. My face was wet with tears, and I didn’t give a shit. Each tear fell because I wasn’t reading this for the reason she thought I’d be. She hadn’t left us. She was here fighting hard to stay with us. When her heart had stopped, she hadn’t let go.
She was my fighter. My beautiful, wonderful fighter.
I folded the letter and pressed a kiss to the paper, knowing she had held it not too long ago, then I tucked it into my pocket. I was going to tell her I didn’t accept this. Because she was still here. She was still holding on, and it was time she opened those pretty hazel eyes and looked at me.
I wiped my face and headed for the ICU.
Once I got there, I saw Mase leaning against her door, his head hanging until his chin touched his chest. His shoulders were sagging, and he looked defeated. He needed to take his ass back to the waiting room if he was going to mope. She was going to wake up soon. He didn’t need to act like she was gone. She wasn’t gone.
I wasn’t letting her go.
His head lifted when I stopped in front of him. He looked strangely hopeful.
Had something happened? Why was he outside her door instead of in the room with her?
“What are you doing out here?” I asked, not liking the idea of her being in there alone.
“She opened her eyes and said your name through the tube in her throat, then closed her eyes again.”
His words took a moment to sink in. Then I shoved him out of my way and jerked the door open to see two nurses and a doctor standing over her. The feeding tube in her throat was gone, and so were several of the wires, but her eyes weren’t open.
“Well, hello, Mr. Carter,” the doctor said.
“She opened her eyes?” I asked, needing them to confirm.
“That’s what Mr. Manning, the younger one, said. According to her chart, it looks like there’s been some action. We took out the feeding tube because he said she tried to talk with it. Even said your name. Now we wait. If she’s coming out of it, she’s exhausted, and her body will only be able to stay awake for small amounts of time. But with the proper care, I believe Harlow is going to watch her little girl grow up. If we’re lucky.”
My knees buckled, and I had to grab the edge of the bed. The sob that broke free from me wasn’t something I could control. “She’s not leaving me,” was all I could say.
The door opened, and Mase came in and looked at me, then at Harlow. “Is she OK?” he asked in a panic.
“Yes. Mr. Carter is just overcome with the news that his fiancée will be waking up for good soon.”
“Thank God,” Mase muttered, and sank into the nearest chair, dropping his head into his hands.
“Right now, she needs Grant to talk to her. I suspect she was trying to wake up for him, and I’m sure she wants to know about their baby girl. Let’s give them some time alone,” the doctor said as he opened the door and waited for Mase to stand up and follow.
Mase looked reluctant to leave. “Will you send word as soon as she’s awake?” he asked me.
“Of course,” I assured him.
He nodded, then followed the doctor out of the room.
I pulled a chair beside her bed and sat down. Her hand was still cool, so I pulled it between both of mine and warmed it.
“I wasn’t here when you called for me. I was rocking Lila Kate. They let me hold her. She’s as light as a feather, and she smells really good. I sang to her. I sang every lullaby I could think of, and then I just started singing her Toby Keith songs. I think she really likes ‘I Love This Bar.’”
I took a deep breath. I wanted to see her eyes open so badly. It could be hours before she did it again. I had to be patient with her. Give her time.
“I read your letter. At least the first one. Blaire found the letters when she went to the house to get our things.” I stopped and brought her hand to my mouth and kissed it. “I don’t accept that. I mean, I accept the fact that I’m your world and your one and only, but I don’t accept that I won’t get forever with you. You opened your eyes before, and now you’re going to open them again. And you’re going to talk to me.”
“’K.” The word fell from her lips in a soft whisper, and my heart leaped from my chest. Her hand moved in mine and gave me a gentle, weak squeeze.
“You’re awake. You can hear me,” I said, staring in awe at her.
“Mm-hmm,” she said, still almost too softly. But I could hear her.
“Show me those eyes, sweet girl. I need to see those eyes.”
Her eyelashes fluttered a little, and then, as if in slow motion, they opened, and it took a moment for her to focus, but when she did, she was looking directly at me.
I stood up and bent down over her, then pressed my forehead to hers. “You did it,” I said before kissing her lips. They weren’t dry this time. The nurse had done as I requested. “And she’s the most perfect little girl in the world. I’ve told her all about you, and she’s getting impatient to meet you.”
A soft laugh escaped her mouth, and I took the first deep breath since she’d screamed out in pain in our bed.
“You laugh, but she’s demanding for a four-pound baby, and I’m pretty sure she’s already wrapped me around that tiny finger.” I pulled back so I could look at her. “You scared me,” I admitted.
She gave me a sad smile. “Sorry,” she whispered.
I cupped her face. “You came back. That’s all that matters. You didn’t give up. You opened your eyes for me. For us. Because, let me tell you, Lila Kate and I need her mommy very much.”
“See . . . her?” she asked, her whisper getting stronger.
“Wait right there. Keep those eyes open,” I told her, and backed up to the door without taking my eyes off her.
She smiled at me, and I winked back.
Opening the door, I still didn’t take my eyes off her. “She’s awake and talking to me. She needs water, and we need our daughter. Someone make that happen,” I called out to whoever was out there and could hear me.
A nurse ran up to the door immediately. I held Harlow’s hand as the nurse checked her vitals.
“You decided to join us. You have three very anxious men and one little girl who were waiting not so patiently to see you.”
Harlow looked at me. “Three?” she asked.
“Kiro and Mase and the rest of this town and every member of Slacker Demon. But yeah, your brother and dad are going to want to see you. They’ve been here the entire time. We had to force Mase to take a shower and change, because he showed up filthy and smelling bad after a middle-of-the-night emergency with a horse.”
Harlow let out a soft laugh.
“I don’t want to leave her. Can you send someone for her brother and dad?” I asked the nurse.
“Her doctor is on his way over right now and will want to check some things. We’ll have to ask you to step out while he does that. If he gives her the all-clear, we can possibly move her to a wheelchair and pay a visit to your baby girl. But first, the doctor has to see her.”
I wasn’t OK with the leaving her part. I started to shake my head, but Harlow’s hand squeezed mine firmer this time. “I won’t leave again. I’m back. I will be here when you get back. I want to see Dad and Mase.”
“Promise me,” I said, still not sure I was ready to walk out of the room yet.
“I promise,” she assured me.
With one last kiss to her head, I made my way back to the waiting room to tell them all that Harlow was awake. Then I went to talk to the nurses in the NICU to see if we could get Lila Kate to her mother sooner.