Page 6 of Entwined Hearts
Luke was asleep, his mouth hanging open and ringed with red dust from the Doritos he shared with Claire earlier.
“You don’t have to stay,” I told Tess quietly. “You can go put him to bed if you need to.” It was late, close to midnight, and I knew she must’ve been tired. I definitely was, but I wasn’t leaving this room unless it was to go see Weston.
She looked at me, her eyes full of concern. “Are you sure? I want to be here for you.” She took my hand in hers. “I hate seeing you so worried.”
I hatedbeingthis worried. And the fact that I was this shaken up over Weston only worried me more. I thought he was in my past, a brief blip in the timeline of my life. That first love that people looked back on fondly on their deathbeds, nothing more.
Tonight proved that he was apparently far more than just a blip, and I didn’t know what to do with that. I thought I had left him and my feelings for him behind that horrible night eleven years ago, just like I had left Wild Creek. I thought I had moved on with Stewart, even if he was still hounding me for an answer to his proposal. But still, I had moved on.
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine,” I replied, forcing a smile I knew she saw through. “You should go.”
“Okay. I guess we’ll go then.” She gave my hand another squeeze. “He’ll be okay, Savvy.”
I nodded, unable to get words out past the knot in my throat.
He might’ve been okay in terms of being alive, but he wasn’t going to be okay in terms of happiness. I knew Weston. He lived for bull riding—it was who he was, it was all he ever wanted to be. And with injuries like his, he wouldn’t be doing that for months or possibly ever again. He was going to be crushed when he woke up.
Tess left, taking Delilah and Claire with her. Anna, Joseph, and Brittany left, too, so now it was just the guys and me. The room was even quieter now, the air thick with unspoken worry. Colt gave me a look full of questions that he didn’t ask. Thank God. I wasn’t ready to give them the answers they wanted, the answers they all probably figured out on their own.
The minutes dragged unlike anything I’d experienced before. Emmett and Beau napped. Colt stared at the floor more. And I spiraled, lost in my mind for the millionth time today.
I kept replaying everything. The moment our eyes locked, and the inexplicable rush that came when he looked at me. Thefear in his eyes as he was pulled out into the arena. The way he flew into the air and how hard he hit the ground.
It was all my fault. If I hadn’t gone tonight, none of this would be happening. I always told him I’d never watch him live, so I knew he was stunned to see me and too distracted to notice that the chute had opened.
I didn’t knowhow long I’d been asleep when the double doors to the operating room hall slammed open, jolting me awake on Emmett’s shoulder. A man dressed in surgical scrubs came out, looking tired, given the late hour. “Are you Weston Tate’s family?”
I sprang to my feet along with the guys. “Yes, we’re his family,” Beau said. I wrung my hands together, my heart pounding while waiting to hear what the doctor had to say.
“Weston’s surgery went well. He’s being taken to recovery right now to be monitored while he wakes up from the anesthesia, but we expect him to make a full recovery.”
Relief hit me so hard my legs buckled.
“Whoa there.” Colt caught me before I could hit the ground. “You okay?” he asked as I straightened, his eyes searching mine with concern.
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m fine.” I brushed my hair behind my ears, feeling a little embarrassed. “Just tired and I haven’t eaten.” He gave me a subtle nod and let me go, but stayed close.
“Someone from recovery will come get you once he’s awake, alright?” the surgeon said, and we nodded. “It shouldn’t be too long. He was already coming to when I left to come out here.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Beau said, extending his hand out. They shook hands, and he left. And then, we waited some more. It felt like all I’d done today was wait.
Thankfully, the surgeon hadn’t lied, and it was only another thirty minutes before a nurse came out smiling. “He’s awake,” she said, and we all perked up. I took my first full breath in what felt like years. “Very groggy and confused, but that’s normal with a head injury like his. And he’s been saying angel all night. Does that mean anything to y’all?”
My heart nearly stopped. I glanced at the guys, all three of them looking lost. “Uh, no,” Colt said, scratching the back of his head. “We don’t know anything about that.”
I swallowed roughly. “I do,” I said quietly. One by one, all three of the guys looked at me in varying stages of bewilderment. “I’m…” I looked back at the nurse. “He’s asking for me.”
“What?” Emmet said, his voice tight with accusation and confusion, like he was trying to piece something together he couldn’t fathom.
“Oh great!” she beamed, ignoring Emmett. “He’s been asking for you all night. I can take you back to see him now.”
I looked back at the guys as I went with the nurse. “It’s complicated,” I told them, and then disappeared behind the double doors away from their prying questions.
But now that I was alone, walking with the nurse to recovery, every step felt harder to make than the last. All night I’d been trying to get to him, to make sure he was alright. And now that it was time to do that, I was absolutely terrified.
What if he hated me for leaving the way I did? What if he blamed me for this, the way I blamed myself? What if he told me he never wanted to see me again?
“The incision thankfully didn’t interfere with his tattoo,” the nurse said, pulling me out of my spiral.
