Going Home

Part 15

"Good morning, Girl!" Jess was sitting on the side of my bed wide-eyed with a cup of coffee. I could smell Luke's cologne still lingering in the room and looked around for him, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Where is Luke?" I bypassed the good morning.

"No good morning, Jess, I'm happy to see you, Jess, I'm sorry I acted like a fool, Jess?" Jess winked at me laughing. She leaned in hugging me tight," You scared me half to death. Don't do that again." She pulled back giving me a stern look.

"Ok, I know. I'm so sorry to all of you. I." As my voice trailed off I could feel the tears starting to creep back in. "I just feel like I have ruined everything between Luke and me."

"Seriously? Not a chance, he's more in love with you now than ever! He has been here every night Dels and he would stay during the day but the cattle business waits for no one. I'm here to take you home. Your doctor told Luke last night you could come home today." Jess said with the biggest smile.

"Now let me help you brush your hair and teeth. Both are extremely frightening right now."

I couldn't help but laugh at her, she was always so cute and bubbly. Why did I make her worry, I asked myself as I watched her unpack some clothes for me. I reached out for her hand as I sat up, "I really am sorry, Jess. Can we make a stop on the way home?"

"Of course, you will need a dress for the dance anyway."

"The dance? Shouldn't that have been last week?"

"Well, yes, but we postponed it because you were in the hospital Dels."

The feeling of guilt ran over me. "Ok, two stops then."

Jess helped me get dressed and we waited for the doctor to come release me. As we sat there, I listened to Jess go on about how fun the dance will be. I couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was. She was a true friend. She was able to see past my stupid mistakes and move on. I needed her more than ever now. I can't imagine how excited she will be when I tell her about the baby. We heard some commotion coming from the hallway heading for my room, the door burst open startling us both. We stared at an enraged Brent followed by security guards.

"Delila you are making the worst mistake of your life! What the hell are you thinking? Giving up your partnership, your life, for what? This shithole?" Brent was yelling at me throwing his hands around he was acting like a child. Jess looked confused by the entire ordeal looking at him to me with a huge question on her face. I finally spoke up.

"Brent, stop. Just stop." I held my hand up as I saw my doctor run into the room as I stood up.

"I'm not giving up anything." I saw the look on Jess's face, she looked devastated, she thought I was leaving, she looked down at the floor.

"Good I thought you had lost your mind! This doctor said you're staying here." Brent slowly calmed down.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I am giving up my life. I finally realized what it means to live again and I'm not going to give it up. I am gaining everything by coming back here. I will have movers at the apartment Monday to get my belongings. Now leave before I have you thrown out." I remained calm and poised, it was the lawyer in me.

He huffed and mumbled something under his breath and slammed the door behind him. I turned to Jess and my doctor standing in the corner smiling at me, Jess had tears of joy in her eyes.

"I see we have our fire back this morning Delila. Good to see. Now let's get you checked out of here, shall we?

After we were done getting our dresses for the dance, I asked Jess to take me to the boot barn. We parked in front, and she was still chatting about how awesome it was that I was staying when I stopped her.

"Jess" I said as she turned to me and stopped talking.

"Is Luke, ok?" I asked knowing she could see the concern on my face. I needed to know.  I hadn't spoken to him yet.

"Yes, yes. He's better now that he knows you're going to be ok. I will admit he was a mess though Dels. You really scared him, you scared us all. He wanted to be here today, but he had a huge sale to go to in Billings. It's the biggest one all year and it's important to the business, even your Mother went. That's why you got me today." She squeezed my hand letting me know it was ok.

I felt better knowing my Mother was with him and that he wasn't alone. I just couldn't wait to talk to him.

"Ok. I need to go in here alone though, ok?"

"Umm, alright, I guess. I'll just be right here." Jess replied looking at me like I was crazy.

I couldn't tell her about the baby, not until I told Luke. I wanted to surprise him with a pair of baby cowboy boots to tell him the news. I walked in and suddenly felt overwhelmed looking at the tiny boots staring at me. Tears formed in my eyes, and I thought about how happy I was. How this was everything I ever wanted, telling Luke would make it real. For some reason I still had it in my mind I was dreaming. I grabbed a unisex pair of boots and had the clerk gift wrap them for me. I was ready to get home.

The house was still empty when we got back,  I was sad they were still gone. The desperation building inside me to have that talk with Luke was making me sick. Was he really mad at me? What if he didn't want me to stay after what I did?

"Shall we get ready for the dance?" Jess asked turning off her truck as we sat there.

"Yea, will they be back before we go you think?"

"Probably not, but it's ok, we will meet them there. Now let's go work on that bruise."

When Jess was done with me, I hardly recognized myself. My hair was down with big loose curls, my makeup was impeccable. I loved that my red lipstick matched my nails and sundress. My dress was strapless cherry red that I wore with my cowboy boots and a jean jacket. I topped it all off with just the right amount of perfume to linger on Luke after I touched him. I wanted tonight to go well, I needed tonight to go well.