Please heal Chris. I don’t care if You use medicine or a miracle. Just don’t take him away from me.
Though the man was beyond stubborn. How could he try to send us away, but then confess to loving me?Ahh! Helovesyou.I wanted to hug him close to me and shake him all at the same time.
I squinted my eyes at Chris.
“What?” He held his hands out. “I’ve literally said nothing since the doctor walked out of the room.”
“You do know you’re not Jesus, right?”
“Of course I’m not.” His eyes widened. “What are you even talking about? What does this have to do with the blood clot?”
“No one’s talking about the clot.” I waved a hand in the air. “I’m talking about the way you tried to push me away. You really think I expect anything from you since you broke your leg? You think I expect you to go shovel the driveway or scrape the snow from my windshield?”
“Ishouldbe the one to do those things.”
“Oh, I see. So when I got sick that one week, and you had to care for the girls, you were really expecting me to get up out of the bed and ensure I didn’t fumble my responsibilities? How thoughtless of me to just lie there and recover. You must have been so furious with how lazy I was being.”
An exasperated groan fell from his lips. “I know what you’re doing.”
“Do you? Because trying to point out your foolishness without calling you a fool is taking every ounce of verbal skill I possess. Remember, I went to school to become a doctor, not an orator.”
“I feel so useless sitting there doing nothing while you and the girls pick up my slack. I can’t help you with Ash or Cheyenne.”
“Yes, you can. You do every single day. You pick up Cheye from the bus, with a broken leg and a blood clot, I might add.” I pursed my lips. “And Ashlynn is only happy and calm when she’s curled up next to you, which allows me to decompress from work and take care of dinner.”
“At least let me make dinner.”
“Withcrutches?” Was it wrong to shake a grown man until sense fell into his noggin?
“I can dump something in the multicooker. Maybe buy something that can cook slowly all day. But watching you come home after a long day and cook tears me up.”
I blew out a breath. “Have you ever been still and simply rested? You think maybe God wanted you to slow down because you’ve been running ragged between the nonprofit, PathLight, and my complicated life? I haven’t seen you rest yet. Not even on the weekend, because you’re at church volunteering and attending service when you’re not wrangling animals.”
Chris grimaced. “Maybe you’re making some sense.”
“You don’t like being still, do you?”
“Not at all.”
“Is that what prompted that farce of a conversation?” I held my hands out wide.
“Actually, my mom offered to stay with me and help me recover. Said there was no reason you needed to stay here if you were halting your house search because of my injury.” He cleared his throat. “I then came to the conclusion it would be best if I stopped holding y’all back from the next step.”
I took a chance and walked to his side of the bed, then bent my head until our foreheads touched. “Silly man. I’ve stayed this long because I want to be near you. I feel safe. I feel cared for. I feel...” What was the word that could adequately describe all these feelings? “Cherished.”
Chris cupped the sides of my face with his warm palms, and my heart melted at the care shining in his eyes. “I’d like nothing more than to show you exactly how I feel.”
Our breath mingled as my lips hovered above his. Did I dare initiate a kiss?
A throat cleared, and I jumped backward. A knowing grin pulled the nurse’s mouth upward. “Sorry to interrupt. But I just wanted to go over your room transfer. Your escort is here.”
She pointed to a woman wearing red scrubs, a sweater, and a lanyard with her picture on it. She waved but avoided looking us in the eyes.
My own cheeks were hot. I’d almost kissed Chris. We’d beensoclose, but now, still so far away. Had we actually resolved anything? Were we together now? Did we need to have a DTR discussion, as the residents would say, to define the relationship? Surely Chris knew I was all in for this relationship, no matterwhereI lived. If he needed me to leave, I would, I just didn’t want the door closed on our future.
I kept my thoughts to myself as I followed the escort down the halls, into the elevator, and through more hallways. Finally, Chris’s bed was wheeled into his new room on the med-surg floor.
I pulled out my cell and read a text from Piper.
