Chapter Sixteen
All the visits wear Lake out and she sleeps the majority of the afternoon. She slept through Eddie's second visit, which is probably good for Lake's sake. The nurse brought her soup at dinnertime and she sipped most of it. It was the first thing she ate since Thursday.
She asked more questions about everything that happened the night of the wreck. She mostly wanted to know all about her forgiving me and us making up. I told her everything that happened after I performed. For the most part I was honest, but I may have thrown in a more climactic make-out scene for added emphasis.
***
It’s Sunday and the fact that she’s in the hospital doesn’t deter her from her routine. I walk into her hospital room and set the bags of movies and junk food down in the chair. Lake is sitting up on the side of the bed and the nurse is working with the IV.
“Oh, good. You’re right in time,” the nurse says. “She doesn’t want a sponge bath, she wants a standard bath. I was about to assist her in the bathroom, but if you’d rather do it you can.” She unhooks the IV and clamps it, then tapes the end of it to Lake’s hand.
Lake and I look at each other. It's not like I've never seen her naked…just not for prolonged periods of time. And with the lights on.
“I….I don’t know,” I mutter. “Do you want me to help you?” I ask Lake.
Lake shrugs her shoulders. "It wouldn't be the first time you've put me in a shower. Although, I hope you help me take my clothes off this time." She laughs at her own joke. She regrets the laugh as soon as she does it, though. Her hand goes up to her head and she winces.
The nurse can sense the slight awkwardness between us. “I’m sorry. I thought you guys were married. It said on her chart that you were her husband.”
“Yeah…about that,” I say. “Not quite yet.”
“It’s fine,” the nurse says. “If you’ll just go back to the waiting room I’ll let you know when we’re finished.”
“No,” Lake says. “He’ll help me.” Lake looks up at me. “You’ll help me." The nurse looks up at me and I nod. She takes a few items off the tray next to Lake’s bed and walks out of the room.
“Have you walked any more today?” I take her arm and help lift her off the bed.
She nods. “Yeah. They had me walk down the hall between visits again. I feel better than yesterday, just dizzy.”
The nurse walks back into the room with a towel. “Just don’t let her get her head wet. There’s a handheld shower head in the shower or she can use the bathtub. The tub may be better for her so she can lay down.” The nurse leaves the towel in the chair and walks back out.
Lake slowly stands up and I assist her into the bathroom. Once we’re inside, I close the door behind us.
“This is so embarrassing,” she says.
“Lake, you asked me to stay. If you want, I’ll go back and get the nurse.”
“No. I just mean because I need to pee.”
“Oh. Here.” I walk around her and grab her other arm as she backs up. She grabs hold of the metal bar attached to the wall and pauses.
“Turn around,” she says.
I turn around and face the opposite direction. "Babe, if you’re already making me look away it’ll be kind of hard for me to help you in the shower. You aren’t even naked yet.”
“That’s different. I just don’t want you to watch me pee.”
I laugh. And I wait. And I wait some more. Nothing happens.
“Maybe you need to leave for a minute,” she says.
I shake my head and walk out of the bathroom. “Don’t try to stand up without me.” I leave the door open a few inches so I can hear her if she needs me. When she’s finished, I walk back into the bathroom and help her stand up.
“Shower or bath?” I say.
“Bath. I don’t think I can stand up long enough for a shower.”
I make sure she’s holding onto the bar before I let go of her arm. I adjust the faucet on the bathtub until the water turns warm. I grab the washcloth and get it wet, then set it on the side of the tub. It’s a larger tub with two steps leading up to it to make it easier to walk down into. When I stand up, I take Lake’s arm again and lead her to the bathtub. I stand behind her and brush her hair over her shoulder and untie the top of her gown. When it drapes open, I have to suppress a gasp. She’s got bruises all over her back. There’s one more tie on her gown, so I pull the string until the gown separates.
She slides the gown forward and down her arms. I run my fingers under the stream of water to check the temperature, then reach for her arm and help her up the steps and into the bathtub. Once she’s seated, she pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, then rests her head on them.
“Thank you,” she says. “For not trying to put the moves on me just now.”
I smile at her. “Don’t thank me yet. We just got started.” I dip the washcloth in the water and kneel down beside the bathtub. The steps come out pretty far, so it’s hard to reach her without hovering over her. She takes the washcloth out of my hand and begins washing her arm.
“It’s weird how much energy everything takes. It feels like my arms weigh a hundred pounds.”
I open the bar of soap and hand it to her, but it slips out of her grasp. She feels around in the water until she finds it, then she rubs it in the washcloth.
“Do you know how long before they let me go home?” she asks.
“Hopefully by Wednesday. He said recovery can take anywhere from a few days to two weeks depending on how the injury heals. You seem to be doing pretty well.”
She frowns. “I don’t feel like I’m doing well.”
“You’re doing great,” I say.
She smiles and sets the washcloth back on the side of the tub and wraps her arms around her knees again. “I have to rest,” she says. “I’ll get to the other arm in a minute.”
She closes her eyes. She looks so tired. I reach over and turn the water off, then stand up and take off my shoes and my shirt, but leave my pants on. “Scoot up,” I say to her.
She scoots up and I step into the bathtub and slide down into the water behind her. I put my legs on either side of her and gently lay her back onto my chest. I grab the washcloth and run it up the arm she was too tired to get to.
“You’re crazy,” she says quietly.
I kiss her on top of the head. “So are you.”
We’re both silent as I wash her. She rests against my chest until I tell her to lean forward so I can get her back. When she leans forward, I put more soap on the washcloth and gently touch it to her skin. It’s bruised up so bad I’m afraid I’ll hurt her.
“You really got banged up. Does your back hurt?”
“Everything hurts.”
I wash her skin as softly as I can. I don’t want to make it worse. When I’ve covered every inch, I lean forward and kiss her on the back, right on top of her bruise. I kiss her other bruise, and her other bruise, and her other bruise. I kiss every spot of her back that’s hurt. When she leans back against my chest, I lift her arm and kiss the bruises on her arm, too. Then I do the same to the other arm. When I’ve kissed all the bruises I can find, I lay her arm back down in the water. “There. Good as new,” I say. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her cheek. She closes her eyes and we just sit there for a while.
“This isn’t how I pictured our first bath together,” she says.
I laugh. “Really? ‘Cause this is exactly how I pictured it. Pants and all.”
She takes a deep breath and exhales, then leans her head back against my chest and looks me in the eyes. “I love you, Will.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Will.”
“One more time.”
“I love you.”
***
Lake is finally discharged today after five days in the hospital. Luckily since yesterday was a Monday I was able to finalize reports with the insurance companies. Lake’s Jeep was totaled. The damage to my car wasn’t as bad so I was given a rental until it’s repaired.
Dr. Bradshaw is really pleased with Lake's progress. She has to go back to see him again in two weeks. In the meantime, he's put her on bed rest. She’s excited because she knows that means she gets to sleep in my comfortable bed every night. I’m excited because that means I get to spend two solid weeks with her at my house.
I end up withdrawing her from all of her classes for the semester. She was upset, but she doesn’t need the added stress of school right now. I told her she just needs to focus on getting well. I’m taking the rest of the week off but plan on going back to school Monday depending on how she’s feeling. For now, though…we’ve got almost a whole week of nothing to do but watch movies and eat junk food.
***
Kel and Caulder bring their plates to the coffee table in the living room and set them down next to mine. Lake’s lying down on the couch so we eat in the living room rather than at the table.
“Suck and sweet time,” Caulder says. He crosses his legs and scoots around to the opposite side of the coffee table so we’re all sitting in a somewhat circle that includes Lake. “My suck is that I have to go back to school tomorrow,” he says. “My sweet is that Layken’s finally home.”
She smiles. “Awe, thanks Caulder. That is a sweet,” she says.
“My turn,” Kel says. “My suck is that I have to go back to school tomorrow. My sweet is that Layken’s finally home.”
She scrunches her nose up at Kel. “Copycat.”
I laugh. “Well, my suck today is that my girlfriend made me rent six different Johnny Depp movies. My sweet is right now.” I lean over and kiss her on the forehead. Kel and Caulder have no objection to my sweet tonight. I guess they’re getting used to it.
“Well, my suck is obvious. I’ve got staples in my head,” Lake says. She looks at me and smiles, then her eyes drift to Kel and Caulder as she watches them eat.
“What’s your sweet?” Caulder says with a mouthful of food.
Lake stares at him for a moment. “You guys,” she says. “All three of you.”
It’s quiet for a minute, then Kel picks up a french fry and throws it at her. “Quit being cheesy,” he says.
Lake grabs the french fry and throws it back at him.
“Hey,” Kiersten says as she walks through the door. “Sorry I’m late.” She heads to the kitchen and starts making herself a plate of food. She’s about to be pissed again because I didn’t know she was coming over. Looks like she’ll have to eat bread again.
"You need some help?" I ask her. She's only got one good arm, but she seems to be adjusting pretty well.
"Nope. I got it." She brings her plate into the living room and sits down in the floor. We all stare at her when she takes a huge bite of a chicken strip.
“Oh my god it’s so gooood,” she says. She shoves the rest of it in her mouth.
“Kiersten, that’s meat. You’re eating meat,” I say.
She nods. “I know. It’s the weirdest thing. I’ve been dying to come over here since you guys got home so I could try some.” She takes another bite. “It’s heaven,” she says with a mouthful. She hops up and walks to the kitchen. “Is it good in ketchup?” She grabs the ketchup and brings it back to the living room and squirts some on her plate.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Lake asks her.
She finishes chewing and swallows her food. “Right when we were about to be hit by that truck….all I could think about was how I was about to die and I’ve never tasted meat before. That was my only regret in life.”
We all laugh. She grabs the chicken off of my plate and throws it on her own.
“Will, are you still coming to dad day Thursday?” Caulder asks.
Lake looks at me. “Dad day?”
“I don’t know, Caulder. I don’t know if I feel comfortable leaving Lake alone yet,” I say.
“Dad day? What’s dad day?” Lake asks again.
“It’s father appreciation day at our school,” Kiersten says. “They’re having a luncheon. Kids get to eat lunch with their dad’s in the gymnasium. Mom day isn’t until next month."
“But what about the kids who don’t have dads? What are they supposed to do? That’s not very fair.”
“The kids that don’t have dads just go with Will,” Kel says.
Lake looks at me again. She doesn’t like being out of the loop.
“I asked Kel if I could eat with him, too,” I say.
“Will you eat with me, too?” Kiersten asks. “My dad won’t be back until Saturday.”
I nod. “If I go,” I say. “I don’t know if I need to go, though.”
“Go,” Lake says. “I’ll be fine. You need to quit babying me so much.”
I lean forward and kiss her. “But you are my baby,” I say.
I’m not sure which direction it comes from, maybe all three, but I’m hit in the head with french fries.
***
I help Lake into the bed and pull the covers over her. “You want something to drink?”
“I’m fine,” she says.
I turn off the light and walk around to the other side of the bed and crawl in. I scoot closer to her and put my head on her pillow and wrap my arm around her. Her bandages come off at her next doctor’s visit. She’s so worried about how much hair they had to cut. I keep telling her not to worry about it. I’m sure they didn’t cut much, and the incision is on the back of her head so it won’t be that noticeable.
It hurts if she’s not lying on her side, so she’s facing me. Her lips are in close proximity to mine, so of course I have to kiss them. I lay my head back down on her pillow and brush her hair behind her ear with my fingers.
This entire past week has been hell. Mentally and physically. But especially mentally. I came so close to losing her. So close. Sometimes when it’s quiet, my mind wanders to the possibility of having lost her, and what I would have done. I have to keep reeling myself back in. I keep having to remind myself that she’s okay. That everyone’s okay.
I didn’t think it was possible, but everything Lake and I have been through this entire past month has somehow made me love her even more. I can’t even begin to imagine my life without her in it. I think back to the video Sherry showed me, and to what Jim said to her.
“It’s like you came along and woke up my soul.”
That’s exactly what Lake did to me. She woke up my soul.
I lean in and kiss her again; longer this time. But not too long, I just feel like she’s so fragile.
“This sucks,” she says. “Do you realize how hard it’ll be sleeping in the same bed with you? Are you sure he specified an entire month? We have to retreat for a whole month?”
“Well, technically he said four weeks,” I say, stroking her arm with my hand. “I guess we could stick to four weeks since it’s a few days shy of a whole month.”
“See? You should have taken me up on the offer when you had the chance. Now we have to wait four more weeks!" she says. "How many weeks is that total?”
“It’ll be sixty-five,” I quickly respond. “Not that I’m counting. And four weeks from today is February 28th. Not that I’m counting that, either.”
She laughs. “February 28th? But that’ll be a Tuesday. Who wants to lose their virginity on a Tuesday? Let’s make it the Friday before. February 24th. We’ll get Kel and Caulder to stay with your grandparent’s again.”
“Nope. Four weeks. Doctors’ orders,” I say. “We’ll make a deal. I’ll get my grandparent’s to watch the boys again if we can make it to March 2nd. The Friday after it’s been four weeks.”
“March 2nd is a Thursday.”
“It’s a leap year.”
“Ugh! Fine. March 2nd,” she says. “But I want a suite this time. A big one.”
“You got it.”
“With chocolates. And flowers.”
“You got it,” I say. I lift my head off of her pillow and kiss her, then roll over.
"And a fruit tray. With strawberries."
"You got it," I say again. I yawn and pull the covers up over my head.
"And I want one of those fluffy hotel robes. Both of us. That way we can wear them all weekend."
"Whatever you want, Lake. Now go to sleep. You need to rest."
She's done nothing but sleep for five days, so I’m not surprised she's wide awake. I, on the other hand, have had close to zero sleep for five days. I could barely keep my eyes open today. It feels so good to be back home, back in my bed. It especially feels good that Lake's right next to me.
“Will?” she whispers.
“Yeah?”
“I have to pee.”
***
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” I ask her for the tenth time this morning.
“I’ll be fine,” she says. She holds the phone up to show me she has it close by.
“Okay. Sherry’s at home if you need her. I’ll be back in an hour, the luncheon shouldn’t last that long.”
“Babe, I’m fine. Promise.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “I know.”
And I do know she’s fine. She’s more than fine. She’s been so focused and determined to get better that she’s doing way too much on her own now. Even things she shouldn’t be doing on her own, which is why I worry. Her indomitable will that I fell in love with sometimes irritates the hell out of me, too.
***
When I walk into the gymnasium, I scan the area looking for the boys. Caulder is waving when I see him, so I walk to his table.
“Where’s Kel and Kiersten?” I say as I take my seat.
“Mrs. Brill wouldn’t let them come,” he says.
“Why?” I jerk my head around looking for Mrs. Brill.
“She said they were just using this lunch as an excuse to get out of study hall. She made them go to regular lunch at 10:45. Kel told her you’d be mad.”
“Well, Kel’s right,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”
I walk out of the gymnasium and turn left to head to the cafeteria. When I walk inside, the noise penetrates my eardrums. I forgot how loud kids were. I also forgot how much my head still hurt. I glance at all the tables but there are so many kids, I can’t spot either of them. I walk over to a lady who looks like she’s monitoring the cafeteria.
“Can you tell me where Kel Cohen is?”
“Who?” she says. “It’s too loud, I didn’t hear you.”
I say it louder. “Kel Cohen!”
She nods and points to a table at the other end of the cafeteria. Before I reach the table, Kel spots me and waves. Kiersten is seated next to him, wiping at her shirt with a wad of wet napkins. They both stand up when I reach the table.
“What happened to your shirt?” I ask Kiersten.
She looks at Kel and shakes her head. “Stupid boys,” she says. She points to the table across from theirs. I turn and look and there are three boys that look a little older than her and Kel. They’re all laughing.
“Did they do something to you?” I ask her.
She rolls her eyes. “When do they not? If it’s not chocolate milk, it’s apple sauce. Or pudding. Or Jell-O.”
“Yeah, it’s usually Jell-O,” Kel says.
“Don’t worry about it, Will. I’m used to it now. I always keep an extra change of clothes in my backpack just in case.”
“Don’t worry about it?” I ask. “Why the hell isn’t something being done about it? Have you talked to a teacher?”
She nods. “They never see it when it happens. It’s gotten worse since the suspension. Now they just make sure they only throw things at me when the monitor’s aren’t looking. But it’s fine, Will. Really. I have Abby and Kel and Caulder. That’s all the friends I need.”
I’m pissed. I can’t believe she has to go through this every day! I look at Kel. “Which one’s the one Caulder was telling me about? The dickhead?” Kel points at the boy seated at the head of the table.
“You guys wait here.” I turn around and walk toward Dickhead’s table. As I get closer to them, their laughter succumbs to looks of confusion. I grab one of the empty chairs at their table and slide it out, then pull it around next to Dickhead and straddle the chair backwards, facing him.
“Hey,” I say. He just looks at me confused, then looks at his friends.
“Can I help you?” he says sarcastically. His friends laugh.
“Yes. Actually you can,” I say. “What’s your name?”
He laughs again. I can tell he’s trying to play the part of the big, bad twelve-year-old that he is. He reminds me of Reece at that age. He can’t hide the nervousness on his face, though.
“Mark,” he says.
“Well hi, Mark. I’m Will.” I extend my hand and he reluctantly shakes it.
“Now that we’ve been formally introduced, I think it’s safe to say that we can be frank with one another. Can we do that, Mark? Are you tough enough to take a little bit of honesty?”
He laughs a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I’m tough.”
“Good. Because you see that girl over there?” I point back to Kiersten. Mark glances over my shoulder at her, then looks back at me and nods.
“Let me be frank with you. That girl is very important to me. Very important. When bad things happen to important people in my life, I don’t take it very well. I guess you could say I have a bit of a temper.” I scoot my chair closer to his and look him straight in the eyes. “Now, while we’re being frank with one another…you should know that I used to be a teacher. You know why I’m not a teacher anymore, Mark?”
He isn’t smiling anymore. He shakes his head.
“I don’t teach anymore because one of my dickhead students decided to mess with one of my important people. It didn’t end well.”
All three of the boys are staring at me, wide-eyed.
“You can take that as a threat if you want to, Mark. But honestly, I have no intentions of hurting you. After all, you’re only twelve. When it comes to kicking someone’s ass, I usually draw the line at fourteen-year-olds. But I will tell you this…the fact that you bully people? And girls, for that matter? Girls younger than you?” I shake my head in disgust.
“It only goes to show what a pathetic human being you’ll turn out to be. But that’s not the worst of it,” I say. I turn and look at his friends. “The worst of it is the people that follow you. Because anyone weak enough to let someone as pathetic as you be their leader is even worse than pathetic.”
I look back at Mark and smile. “It was nice meeting you, Mark.” I stand up and swing the chair back around until it’s back in its place under the table, then I place my hands on the table in front of him. “I’ll be keeping in touch.”
I look all three of them in the eyes as I back away from their table, then turn back to Kiersten and Kel. “Let’s go. Caulder’s waiting on us.”
When the three of us get back to the gymnasium, we go to Caulder’s table and take a seat. We aren’t seated for two minutes when Mrs. Brill marches up with a scowl on her face. Right before she opens her mouth to say something, I stand up and reach my hand out to her. “Mrs. Brill,” I say with a smile. “It’s so good of you for letting Kiersten and the boys eat with me today. It really means a lot that you recognize the fact that there are families in this world with non-traditional situations. I love these kids like they’re my own. The fact that you respect our relationship even though I’m not a typical father really says a lot about your character. So I just wanted to say thank you.”
Mrs. Brill lets go of my hand and steps back. She eyes Kiersten and Kel, then looks back at me. “You’re welcome,” she says. “Hope you all enjoy the luncheon.” She turns and walks away without another word.
“Well,” Kel says. “That was definitely my sweet.”
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
One more day…