He rests his head back on the pillow. “Come.” He invites me to sit with him on the bed. I listen and gently perch on the bed and cuddle into him.
“Everything I want is here. The animals, the clinic, Romeo, Theo, and you.” My eyes peer up to him with the corners of my mouth tugging.
He kisses my hair then flinches in pain. “Fuck, I’m going to have a monster of a headache later.” His hand touches his forehead.
“Take it easy, Lucas. Don’t move. You’re like the animal I saved this morning,” I remark.
His eyes look at me puzzled.
“Someone brought a wild animal to the clinic that they found on the road. But you know what? That animal helped trigger me in a way. Then I noticed all the reminders of my life now, and I confidently made my decision.”
Lucas rumbles a small laugh from the back of his throat. “Sounds like I need to thank this wild animal.”
“I mean, I saved a moose, that’s freaking awesome, right?”
“A moose?” He laughs.
“Yeah, a moose. Anyways, what happened exactly? All I know is you had a car accident,” I ask as I place my palm on his chest and I can feel his heartbeat. Strong and steady.
He swallows and lets his eyes gently close before opening them again. “I was driving to come find you and apologize, there was a tree down and I swerved… I hit a moose.”
My eyes look up to his and both our faces lighten.
“I saved the moose you nearly killed?” I double-check this crazy fact.
He grins. “I hit the moose that made you realize you need to stay?”
We both start to laugh. I quickly plant a kiss on his lips. But part when we hear the clearing of a throat.
Looking at the door we see Dr. Chris Miller. The man who once asked me out in front of Lucas.
“Ahh, now I see that Dr. Kade did indeed steal my patient.” Chris gives us a knowing look before looking at the chart.
“Trust me, she is in good care.” Lucas gives me those eyes and grin that tell me he has plans for me later.
Chris begins to detach Lucas from the monitor. “You know the drill, Lucas. Take it easy, try to stay up until normal bedtime just in case you have a concussion—but I don’t think you do. The stiches will dissolve in a week or two. I’m going to discharge you provided you have someone to stay with you the next few days.” He flashes his eyes at us.
I look at Lucas with an assuring look. “I’ll make sure our patient listens.”
23
LUCAS
“Abby, I’m not dying. I can walk to the kitchen.” I grin as I adjust to sitting in my bed.
She places the tray of food in front of me then goes to fluff my pillows. “You need to rest, Lucas. You don’t have to be Superman today,” she warns me, and I have to laugh at how stern she is being.
“Okay, fine. If I need to play this role then heaven help me, you play the role of naughty nurse.” I flash her my suggestive grin.
She playfully slaps my arm. “I will consider the suggestion after you eat your soup.”
“You are worse than my mother.”
Abby pops up to standing and points a finger up. “Speaking of which, I need to go call her and calm her down. Your brother may have overplayed the accident and she is contemplating if she needs to move in to assist you.” She gives me a humorous look before heading off to the kitchen.
I eat the tomato soup and grilled cheese, because I need to calm the women in my life down. Romeo comes running into the room and sits on the floor near my end of the bed. His eyes and drool tell me why he came. I throw him a scrap of my grilled cheese and he happily chomps it up then runs away.
I reflect on the last few days. It was certainly eventful. I don’t care if I am going to have a migraine for days if it got us to where we need to be. On a path forward. Abby and me.
