Splendor(199)

It was quiet after they left, and still no significant change in Tessa’s condition. The doctor making evening rounds assured Ian that she was holding her own, and that they should expect to see some change one way or the other within the next twelve hours or so.

Ian frowned. “What exactly does that mean?”

The youngish doctor seemed to hesitate a bit before replying. “She’s more than twenty four hours post op now, so either her fever will break and the infection will start to clear up. Or, well, the fever will continue to spike and the infection could spread. But we’ll continue to keep a very close eye on her as we’ve been doing and look for any changes. You should really try and get some sleep yourself, sir.”

But Ian knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, not so long as his beloved Tessa was still so sick and unresponsive. He tried reading, doing a bit of work, but all he could think about was her. After a while, he simply sat down in the chair next to her bedside, holding her hand, and pressing occasional kisses to her forehead or cheek, still alarmed by how hot her skin felt.

“You know, darling, if you don’t wake up soon, we’ll have to delay our trip to Italy next month,” he told her. He knew she couldn’t hear him but he was desperate for any sort of distraction. “And that would be a great pity, because you’d completely ruin some very carefully laid plans I’ve made.”

Ian brought her hand to his lips. “I’ve never brought a woman to the villa before, so this will be another first for me. And it will be an excellent opportunity for you to practice your Italian, so you really need to wake up now so you can start recovering in time.”

He brushed a damp strand of hair off her forehead. He’d tried to comb the tangled locks earlier in the day but had given up when she’d kept turning her head to and fro in distress.

“I know you’re a sleepyhead, Tessa, but this is getting ridiculous,” he joked. “Besides, this mattress is a poor substitute for ours. You know how much you love the Hypnos, so please open your eyes now so I can bring you home.”

He touched his forehead to hers. “God, Tessa, you have to wake up, have to get better. I’m lost without you, darling. Didn’t you know I was lost for my entire life until I met you? I used to joke that I was married to my job, that work was the only thing I really needed in my life. My poor mother had given up hope that I would ever meet someone, or give her a grandchild. Speaking of which, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I think I’d like a daughter first, one with your blonde hair and blue eyes, and if you like we could name her Gillian, after your mother.”

Carefully, he eased himself onto the bed beside her, being mindful of the IV tube and monitors as he took her in his arms. “You’ve brought so much light, so much happiness into my life, Tessa. I was alone and lonely and didn’t even know it until that day you walked into my office. You were so damned young and innocent – too young, I told myself – and then I discovered too damned married as well. My heart broke into a thousand pieces that day. I knew I should have sent you away – I almost did – just so I didn’t have to face the pain of seeing you every day and knowing I couldn’t have you.”

Tears began to trickle unheeded down his cheeks and he buried his face against her neck. “But in the end I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing you again. So I kept you nearby, where I could still see your beautiful face every time I walked past your desk. Even though I couldn’t have you for myself, I still thought it preferable to not seeing you at all. So you have to wake up now, darling. Because I didn’t waste two and a half years waiting for you only to have you taken away from me now.”

Ian, a man who never cried, at least not since he’d been a boy of three who’d fallen down and skinned his knee, now wept as though he were that same small child. His tears fell unchecked onto Tessa’s hospital gown, the cotton fabric already dampened by her feverish body, and his body shook from the force of his sobs.

The touch was so light, so imperceptible, that at first he wasn’t even aware of it. He thought perhaps he was dreaming, that his exhausted body had finally succumbed to sleep, or that his weary brain was playing tricks on him.

But then, in addition to the whisper soft touch of a hand stroking his hair, he began to hear the barely discernable murmuring as well. He forced his eyes open to find Tessa gazing at him drowsily.

“Ian.”

Her voice was weak, her hand against his cheek limp, but there was clarity in the half-lidded blue eyes that gazed steadily at him.

“Tessa.” His hands cupped her cheeks, his lips finding hers in a soft, careful kiss. Anxiously, he felt her brow, and his tears fell anew as he realized her fever was finally beginning to break. She still felt a little warm and definitely clammy, but not burning up as she’d been for far too many hours.