Dylan’s Redemption(57)
Sometime in the early morning, the nurse informed him they were cutting back on the sedative. They’d continue to taper it off over the next several hours and see if she woke up around mid-afternoon. The hours without sleep, the stress and worry over Jessie’s condition, and grieving his lost daughter and a life with Jessie he wished for every second, he drifted off at dawn, shutting off his overtaxed brain.
Nearly noon, Greg walked in to check on Jessie, how she’d done last night, and check on Dylan too. He liked the guy. He’d gotten a bum rap over the years.
How could any mother be so cruel?
Jessie lay in bed, her back to the door, propped up on pillows. Dylan slept, sitting in the chair next to her, his head resting on the bed, one arm wrapped over Jessie’s calves and Jessie’s hand in his.
Greg hated to wake Dylan, but he needed to know how Jessie did last night and what the doctors and nurses had in store for her today.
“Dylan. Dylan. Wake up.” Dylan came awake with a start.
Greg gave him a pat on the shoulder to get his attention. “How is she?”
Dylan rubbed his hands over his face and scratched at his rough jaw. He stared at Jessie, his eyes red rimmed and bloodshot. Greg could almost hear him begging Jessie to wake up. The plea in his eyes disappeared when he turned and focused on Greg.
“She hasn’t come around yet. The nurses kept her sedated all night. They tapered off early this morning. She should wake up soon. If she can’t deal with the pain in her head, they’ll knock her back out.”
Greg stared at the bandages on Jessie’s head and shoulder, imagining the ones wrapped around her sheet-covered leg. The hospital gown covered a lot.
Dylan caught him. “I hate thinking about what she looks like under that gown.”
“You were the first to get to her after the accident.”
“Yes. The blood. The damage to her beautiful skin.” Dylan’s hands shook when he scrubbed them over his eyes, trying to wipe away the gruesome images.
“She’s tough. I’ll bet she opens her eyes and demands to go home,” Greg said to try to reassure him.
“At this point, I don’t care if she wakes up just to yell at me. I need her to be okay.” Dylan leaned over the bed and kissed her cheek.
“Where’s your little guy? Do you have a girlfriend or someone to take care of him?”
“Subtle.” Dylan half grinned.
Greg pulled the other chair up to the bed beside him. “Can’t blame me, can you? I’ve been looking after her for a long time. Don’t expect me to stop now.”
“Fair enough. No girlfriend. Lorena, Will’s nanny, takes care of him at the house after preschool and when I work. I’ve dated over the years, but no one special since Jessie. Every other woman never measured up to her. I could never feel for anyone else what I feel for her. I was a stupid asshole for ever leaving her.”
“You were eighteen, and she only fifteen. It’s not like you could run off, get married, and live happily-ever-after. She knew that.”
“I would have found a way to make that happen for her and the baby.”
“Not so easy to do when you were in the army. What made you join up?”
“When I took Jessie to the prom, I planned to tell her that night. She would have understood. My parents wanted me to go to college and turn into my father’s clone. He works for a large corporation and spends all his time in an office making deals. I didn’t want that kind of life. I joined the army because I needed to get out of my house and do some growing up on my own. I never expected to lose my head and my heart that night over Jessie. Blame it on the dress or the stars. Maybe it was just seeing Jessie happy and carefree that night. I got caught up in the moment, and I didn’t want to ruin it by telling her I was leaving. The next day, I was so far gone in love with her I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. If I talked to her, or I saw her, I wouldn’t be able to leave her, and I had to leave.
“It all seems so stupid now. None of that matters. When she needed me, I wasn’t there.”
“She still needs you. She loves you, though I’m not sure if she loves the boy from her past or the man you are now. You both need time to reconcile the past, everything your mother did to both of you, Hope, and find out who you are now. You want her back, right?”
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
“No point. She deserves better than she’s gotten out of life. At one time, you were the only one who treated her with kindness. You loved her that night and she’s held on to that all this time. If you can’t or won’t give that to her now, walk away before things get even more complicated and messy. She’s had enough heartache and pain. She deserves to be happy.”