Thoughtful(201)

Kiera’s response to Denny’s decree stung, and I forced myself to step away. She was leaving me, she had chosen him.

As I walked down the hall, I contemplated Kiera’s options. Where would she go when she was released? Denny had moved out, so it would be the two of us alone in the house, and I already knew that wouldn’t work. I wouldn’t be able to stay away from her in that situation. And I needed to stay away. I was stopping the cycle we were stuck in, which meant…I had to ask her to leave. But where would she go? Kiera’s words spoken an eon ago echoed through my brain—I managed just fine without you. Yeah…she had, and she would again. She would be fine without me. Just fine.

When I returned to Kiera’s door, I heard the light sounds of two people crying. Respectfully, I stayed away until I finally heard Denny say, “I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow, okay?”

Denny came out of the room a few moments later. He stopped just on the other side of the doorway; his eyes were red and still a little watery. “You okay?” I asked him. Regardless of what Kiera had done to him, I knew what he’d just done hadn’t been easy.

“Yeah…I’m gonna take off. I’m really tired. That was…” He looked back at Kiera on her bed, then back to me, next to the wall. “…More difficult than I thought it would be.”

I stared at the ground for a moment, hating what I was about to do. “Yeah…”

Denny’s hand came into my field of vision. “Good luck, with everything…and again…I’m really sorry about what I did to you.”

I clasped his hand and shook it. “Not half as sorry as I am, for what I did to you.”

Denny gave me a brief smile, looked back at Kiera, then left. I watched him go for a moment, gathering my courage with each step he took, and then I made myself walk into Kiera’s room. I needed to do this now.

Kiera was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, looking like she was trying to keep it together. Even with the bruise on her face, she was so beautiful against the crisp white linens.

Quietly stepping up to her bed, I stroked her cheek with my finger. Her eyes flashed open, and she seemed surprised to see me. Maybe she hadn’t expected me to come back.

I sat down on the bed beside her, my smile warm and comforting. I wanted to savor our last few moments together. “Are you okay?”

“I guess. The pain meds kicked in, and I feel like I weigh a thousand pounds, but I guess I’m going to be fine.”

Her eyes were still wet and her cheeks had drying trails of shiny tears on them. Her head might be fine, but her heart was a mess. “That’s not what I meant. Believe me, I’ve talked to about every nurse in here, I know your situation…but are you okay?” I glanced at the door so she’d know I knew about the breakup.

A fresh tear rolled down her cheek as she stared up at me. “Ask me again in a couple days.”

Nodding, I bent down to kiss her. How could I not? The heartbeat monitor started beeping faster as our lips moved together. I looked over at it with a laugh. “I suppose I shouldn’t do that.” I still made her heart race; she made mine pound too. I was going to miss her.

When I pulled away, Kiera grabbed my cheek and ran a finger along my bruise. “Are you okay?”

No. I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.

I pulled her hand away from my face. “I’ll be fine, Kiera. Don’t worry about that right now. I’m just so glad that you’re…that you’re not…” I stopped myself from saying my biggest fear out loud.

Distracting myself from that thought, I held her hand in both of mine. Her fingers stroked my wrist, and I loved every single second of the contact. Would touching anyone else ever feel this good?

“You and Denny were both here?” she asked, surprised.

“Of course. We both care about you, Kiera.”

She gently shook her head. “No, I mean, you were both here in the same room, talking calmly when I woke up. You weren’t trying to kill each other?”

“Once was enough,” I said with a wry smile. “You’ve been out of it for a couple days. Denny and I…have had several talks.” I paused as I remembered our spats. “Those first few talks weren’t so…calm.” Reaching up, I pushed some hair out of her face. “Our concern for you eventually tempered those conversations, and we talked about what to do, instead of what was done.”

Kiera opened her mouth to speak, but I confessed what I knew she must be wondering about. “He told me he took the job in Australia, and when I asked if he’d take you with him…he told me no.”