“You vomited like, twenty minutes ago. You need sleep and food before you come back to give me a shower tomorrow.” He grinned at the doctor.
I felt my skin heat with embarrassment.
The doctor kept his chin down, looking at his iPad. “Monaghan, if you walk for me tomorrow, I’ll let you invite ten women to give you a shower as long as you and your fan club are out of my ICU.”
“Just one, Doc. I only wantonewoman.”
I leaned in cautiously, letting my lips hover over his. “Monaghan… don’t forget to love me.” I pressed a light kiss to his lips.
“Impossible,” he whispered.
CHAPTER FORTY
STEP BY STEP
CAGE
One blink.
Anyone could close their eyes and imagine what it would be like to be blind, or wear noise canceling earphones and try to imagine what it would be like to be deaf.
Losing all function of your arms and legs? No word could accurately describe that feeling. The “feeling” was not a sensation at all. It was how the brain unearthed fears I never knew existed: fear of never feeling the ground beneath my feet, fear of never feeling the woman I loved in my arms, fear of becoming a waste of space—a burden.
I wondered if my father felt the same fear before he died. When they wheeled me off the field strapped to the gurney, I feared for my life with each labored breath, each look from the doctors, each second of silence surrounded by 73,000 people.
“If you don’t walk again, I have dibs on your fishing boat.”
“Fuck you, Banks.” I coughed, desperate for a drink of water, as I peeled open my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to get your ass out of that bed. You’re going to miss the parade.”
“I feel like I got ran over by a damn parade.”
A nurse came in with a smile too bright for my mood. “Shall we sit you up and get you some water?”
I stood corrected. She was officially my new best friend.
“Yes, please.”
She eased the back of my bed up. I grimaced. Then she held up a cup of water and guided the straw to my lips. I drained it in less than five seconds.
“Thirsty?” She laughed.
“Yeah.” I panted. When did drinking less than eight ounces of water exhaust me as much as sprinting the length of the field?
She took my vitals and typed a few things into her iPad. “Doctor Feltz should be in soon.”
“Thanks.”
Banks watched her leave the room like he was enjoying her ass moving with each step a little too much. “Stop eye-fucking my nurse.”
He chuckled. “Well, you weren’t givin’ her the appreciation she deserved, so I thought I should.”
“I’m engaged, in case you didn’t hear.”
“Yeah, I know Stick worked her freaky voodoo on you. You crazy fuck. She’s a handful. What the hell were you thinking?”
I looked down at my hands as my finger curled. They worked.
