“I understand,” Owen replied, his broad shoulders sagging just a little.
Dr. Sankari walked out of the room, and Owen went with him. Charley heard their voices and that of Sully’s nurse discussing the transfer. Charley closed the Styrofoam box and set it aside. Now that she was alone with Sully once more, she took his hand in both of hers again. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and prayed.
“Sully, please wake up,” Charley said upon raising her head. His green eyes remained closed, and except for breathing, his body stayed motionless. “I know what Trish told us was a lie,” she whispered. “I was wrong not to ask you about it. I should have stayed and found you instead of running away.” She swallowed hard and continued, “I’m not usually scared so easily. But what she said hit me so hard because I love you so much,Sully.” A small sob escaped Charley after telling him she loved him for the first time. “I love you with all my heart. Please give me the chance to prove it.”
The nurse entered the room again, and after checking the blood hanging on the IV pole, she turned to Charley and said kindly, “You’ll need to leave in a few minutes.”
Charley nodded and the nurse left. Charley stared at Sully, willing him to open his eyes. But he didn’t. She sniffled and said, “A little black puppy showed up on my porch this morning. He wants me to adopt him.” She wiped tears off her cheeks. “I think he could be a Labrador retriever. Your favorite kind of dog. When you wake up, I’ll introduce you to him. I named him Wyatt Earp.”
Charley watched Sully carefully, but there was no response. She bowed her head again, and tears rolled down her cheeks. A moment later, Sully’s nurse was back. She explained they were going to prepare him for his flight to Denver and it was time for Charley to leave the room.
“All right,” Charley whispered. She stood, and still holding Sully’s hand leaned over him. She placed her lips to his forehead, opposite the bandage over his right brow, and lightly kissed his skin. At that instant, she thought she detected his fingers move ever so slightly within her grasp. She straightened her stance and said, “Sully?” His eyes stayed closed. She glanced away from him long enough to say to his nurse, “I think his fingers moved.”
“Probably involuntary,” the nurse said with compassion.
“Sully, it’s Charley,” she said. “Can you hear me? Sully, please wake up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Sully heard her voice from a distance. He forced his eyes open and saw her. Charley. He blinked. She was smiling at him through her tears. At least he thought this was really her. He’d had a reassuring, but all too brief dream about the two of them. However, there had been a nightmare too. Was she here, or was this another fantasy? Had there been a car crash? He was confused and closed his eyes.
“Sully? Come back to me.”
Sully opened his eyes at Charley’s urging. He blinked again. Where was he? He noticed his dad standing at the end of the bed with a nurse at his side. He looked back to his right.
“Charley,” he managed, his throat dry and his voice raspy.
“Hi,” Charley said, wiping away the tears on her pretty cheeks.
Sully realized she was holding his right hand. Yes, he remembered hearing her ask him to wake up. Feeling happy and hopeful, he had opened his eyes to find she was not just in his dream. She was real, and she was here. He gave her hand a squeeze.
“Hi,” Sully whispered, looking up at her. Her blue eyes were puffy, and her dainty nose was pink, but never had she looked more beautiful.
“Glad you’re back with us,” his dad said, walking around the side of the bed and standing closer to Charley. “How do you feel, son?”
“Okay,” Sully replied.
“I’m going to let Dr. Sankari know his patient is awake,” the nurse said with a smile before leaving his room.
“I’m in the hospital?”
“Yes,” Charley and his dad said at the same time as they smiled at him.
Sully shifted in the bed and grimaced. With stiffness and pain, his body quickly reminded him that he had indeed been in a car crash.
“You’ve got bruises and scrapes, but amazingly no broken bones,” his dad said.
As his memory of the crash returned, Sully grimaced and asked, “How long was I out?”
Owen looked at his watch. “The wreck happened around nine p.m. last night, and it wasn’t discovered until daylight. It’s six p.m. now, so twenty-one hours.”
“You lost a lot of blood,” Charley said as she and his dad stood close together.
“Sit down,” Sully said, not wanting them to leave. Owen pulled up an extra chair next to Charley, and when they were both seated, he asked, “Is the blood loss why I was out so long?”
“That and a mild concussion is what Dr. Sankari initially thought,” Owen told him. “But when you didn’t wake up after receiving several pints of blood, he became concerned the cause could be neurological. Dr. Sankari was planning to send you to a specialty unit in Denver.”
“Okay,” Sully said, trying to make sense of it all. He tightened his grip on Charley’s hand and smiled at her. “I don’t need to go to Denver.”
