The day finally comes when I get to move from ICU to another room in the hospital with more security and other perks - such as marble floors, chef meals, ultra-plush couches for guests, and a bed that both Jackson and I can share since I no longer have IV's.
The move is bittersweet for me because my brother is still in a coma and showing little progress, but they are weaning him off the ventilator. Nate is starting to breathe on his own. My grandma promises to stay with him and she tells my husband that she'll be in touch with any news or progress.
"Can I say goodbye to Nate?" I ask as they help me to the wheelchair.
"Of course," Jackson says not waiting for the nurse to answer.
We wheel into the room, and I see Maya and my grandma sitting next to each other talking quietly. Both of them smile when they see me. I'm wheeled to the opposite side of my brother. Grabbing his hand, I bring it to my lips.
"Wake your ass up. I need my big brother." I whisper.
Maya, Jackson, the nurse, and my grandma leave the room to give me a couple of minutes of privacy.
"Nathan, everything has changed and I need you. Thank you for saving us, I will never know how to repay you for that. Mom took so much away from us and I don't want you to be added to that list. I found out I was pregnant in Vancouver, you were going to be an uncle and you would have been amazing. I lost the baby. Fight. Fight to get back to us. Please." I cry and kiss his hand again.
***
When I get settled into the new, much larger hospital / VIP room, I smile at Jackson. "You should really go home and get some sleep. Shower in your own place and change into something than the three outfits you rotate through. If I could bust out, I would." I tell him.
"First, I am home. My home is where ever you are and currently, that's a swanky hospital room with many perks. I'll go back to the condo when you can." He smiles at me.
Biting my lip, I wrinkle my nose at him. "Sweetie, I don't know how to tell you this...you really need to go home and shower and get fresher clothing. However, a personal request from your wife that took a bullet...leave the facial hair." I giggle.
"Ava, I'm not leaving."
"Please. Meeko needs one of us tonight and I know you could use a decent night's sleep. I'm not going anywhere, Mr. Williams." I joke.
Brad walks into the room at that moment and nods his head at both of us. "She's right. Jax, you smell and look like shit. It's okay to leave this place for a bit, I've got this shift. I will guard her with my life."
Jackson takes a chair and starts pouting. "You guys really suck when you gang up on me. I don't know how to leave. I've been struggling with that thought since we first got here - I wasn't leaving without Ava." He says with tears.
Frowning, I open my arms to him and he quickly accepts my hug. "If this hasn't shown you how stuck you are with me..." I giggle.
"You belong to me. I'm never leaving your side again because when I do, bad things happen." He kisses me.
Brad makes a gagging noise at the foot of the bed. "You guys are so disgustingly cute. Dude, your wife is in the safest place possible right now. She's made it back like the fighter we knew she was. Breathe."
I look at my husband and smile. "I love you both, but actually, I think I really want some alone time. I hope you don't take that the wrong way, but I just haven't had time to process everything. Just one night. Jax, you need to break too." I kiss his forehead.
After two more hours of convincing, Brad and Jackson leave for the evening. When the door closes behind them, I welcome the silence. No mumbling conversations, no machines buzzing or beeping, no nursing staff making hourly checks, nothing. It's actually more peaceful than I imagined.
The next morning, I woke up to a panic text from Jackson. He overslept and now he's hurrying to get ready. Laughing, I text him back to take his time because I'm enjoying my specialty-made chef omelet.
It's close to lunchtime when two beautiful boys and one well-behaved pup walk into my room with Shake Shack bags. My favorite food truck in New York. Jackson looks so refreshed and he smells like my normal man. My favorite scent in the whole wide world.
"How did you get Meeks in?" I ask patting the open spot on my bed for him.
Meeko jumps up very carefully and sniffs around my dressing, he carefully puts his head on my stomach and looks at me. I pet his head and tell him how much I missed him. I watch his eyes slowly close and smile.
"We had a little talk about Mommy." Jackson smiles. "I called the nurses station this morning and asked if I could bring him. I didn't wait for the rejection, I brought his latest paperwork to prove his up to date."
"What a bad boy." I giggle softly.
Brad unloads the bag onto the rolling table in front of him and wheels it over to my bed. The two of them find space around Meeko. Jackson shares that my father's lawyer called him to discuss a couple of things, but I didn't need to worry because he handled it. Brad informs both of us that he needs to leave in the morning to report to his movie set or he's going to get sued. At the mention of filming, I turn to Jackson and see him already shaking his head.
"You are supposed to be on set in Texas," I say shocked.
"I was. They let me out of the contract and already have my replacement. Ava, there was no way I was leaving this hospital without you. You are more important than anything else."
"That's silly. I could be here for weeks or maybe months." I tell him.
"Good thing we have the fancy VIP suite."
I knew this was a battle I wasn't going to win and if the roles were reversed, I would be right by his side, doing the same exact thing.
When Brad left for the night, Jackson turns on the TV and puts a disk into the built-in DVD player. The room fills with our favorite TV series.
"Do you know how amazing you are?"
"Of course, I do." He jokes.
"My world fell apart and I wouldn't have made it through without you," I whisper to him.
"You have me and Meeko. Nate is going to wake up and make a full recovery. Life will get better." He promises.
"What if he doesn't wake up? My whole family is gone." I look at him with tears.
"He will wake up." His lips kiss mine and I put my head on his chest.
"Promise me that when you bring Meeko home, you stay there tonight."
"Ava, I can't promise you that. It's so empty and lonely without you." He whines.
"Please. Meeko needs one of us home and I can't leave, or I would volunteer." I grin at him.
He shakes his head and mumbles that I'm not playing fair. Smiling, I kiss his cheek because I know I've won this round.
YOU ARE READING
Almost Everything
Romance*** Complete Story*** Avery Weber was Hollywood's new "it" girl and all it took was one big movie to help her get there. She grew up in Upper East Manhattan, attended the finest private schools and got everything she ever asked for - except time wit...
