He grinned. “I’m so happy.”
“Ah, the drugs finally kicked in, huh?” She chuckled, but the line between her brows didn’t smooth out like it usually did when she laughed.
“I think they upped the dose.” He stared at the IV hooked to his arm. What had they given him, again? Morphine?
“They did. You were still in too much pain.”
“I don’t like drugs.”
She cupped the side of his face. “You need it to relax. Soon you’ll be waking up again, and it’ll be all over. You’ll be on your way to healing.”
“And you’ll be here?”
“I’m not leaving.”
He closed his eyes. Obviously she was referring to this whole ordeal, but Chris liked to hope that there was a double meaning to her words. That she wasn’t just interested in casual dating but wanted a relationship that was made for the long haul. That she wouldn’t leave and abandon him like his ex. That Erykah would put in the work to make their relationship a great one, recognizing Chris would give his all for the same goal. Even if she only meant for today, the words gave him peace. Knowing she was by his side allowed him to close his eyes and succumb to the meds running through his veins.
Thirty-Five
My stomach was in knots. My center of gravity had shifted, leaving me off-kilter. Seeing Chris on that stretcher when they raced him off the slopes had slowed down time and pitched my heart to my feet. Even now, watching as the on-call surgeon performed the emergency surgery, I still couldn’t make time speed up to normal. Couldn’t get us to the other side of Chris’s recovery.
I could only watch helplessly as another surgeon performed the repair I’d won awards for. I’d checked his credentials when they first informed me of the doctor’s name. He had adequate training, and this wouldn’t be his first compound fracture.
That didnotcomfort me at all.
I wanted to be the one repairing the fracture, but knowing I’d be working on Chris made me want to burst into tears. Having a surgeon who couldn’t stop the waterworks would be more harmful than a doctor I found subpar. So I watched from a place where I could be as unobtrusive as possible ... and prayed.
Please, don’t let this surgery go awry. Please fix Chris. Please give him miraculous healing. You do miracles, right? Because I need a miracle.
What would I do if something happened and Chris didn’t recover?
Don’t think like that.
The thought had been cycling in the back of my mind from the moment I’d received a phone call from Lamont telling me Chris had fallen off the mountain and was being rescued. My heart had literally stopped for a couple of beats.
Not another person.
I couldn’t lose another person I called my own. Not one more. And that was what I kept telling God over and over. Not one more. I wasn’t sure if He was listening in this instance, but I wouldn’t stop praying until I had an answer.
The doctor began screwing the tibia together. So far, he’d done everything to my satisfaction. But standing in the corner watching the dance that was the operating room made me realize just how disconcerting everything was to an outsider. I glanced at the monitors, checking Chris’s heart rate and blood pressure. Everything looked as it should. Thankfully, I’d had a copious amount of practice standing in surgery, because I wasn’t moving from this spot unless I was forced to or the surgery was complete and considered successful.
Chris wanted me here. Heneededme. For once our relationship wasn’t about me taking, taking, and taking some more. He’d asked for me, kept hold of my hand the entire ride here. Though if I really thought about it, he probably hadn’t been cognizant of me holding his hand.
Still, I would be here until he said otherwise. Even through all the pain and rehab he still had to face. I blinked.Oh my word.How was he going to film the rest of his docuseries while on crutches? Did he get sick leave from his nonprofit? And why didn’t I know more about how his business worked? WasI so caught up in myself that I couldn’t ask about a friend?
I snorted.
Who was I kidding? I’d passed friendly feelings like passing Go and collecting two hundred dollars. I was so completely in love with Chris. How could I not fall for a man of his caliber? He was the gold standard. I regretted not expressing those exact words to him before. Sure, he knew I wanted a romantic relationship, but ... would that all change now? How could I expect us to move forward when he’d literally taken a step backward? Like a bad move in Chutes and Ladders, Chris was at the beginning of this journey.Don’t focus on that right now. Wait until he’s out of the woods before you figure out the next steps.
By the time surgery was over and Chris was wheeled out of the room, I felt like crumbling. I thanked the doctor for his hard work and went to the nearest bathroom ... and lost all composure. I cried as quietly as possible while also allowing every pent-up emotion out. Chris could’ve died today. Something could’ve gone wrong in surgery.
But he didn’t die. Surgery was textbook. Your prayer was answered.
I hiccupped. Chris was alive. He was on his way to healing. I hadn’t lost another person.
I blinked at the reflection staring back at me. God had answered my prayer. As much as I could credit the resulting miracle to modern medicine and the EMTs who’d rushed him to the hospital, I couldn’t discount the fact that I’d been praying from the moment I knew Chris had been hurt.
Knowing Lamont and all of them like I did, they’d been praying too. God heard us. God answered us.
