Recovery

Recovery - Ch 14

Recovery - Ch 14

"You were supposed to go to your room before dawn," Lesley whispered, then sat up quickly and grabbed her robe as Rick rolled off the bed to search for his pajama top that had been kicked under the bed.

The door eased open wider, and Agnes appeared in the doorway with a big smile, "Good morn..." she started then stopped to stare at Rick grappling with his inside out pajama top.

Rick finally got the shirt on and headed quickly for the door, "I'll just go get dressed and go out to the barn with Whit," he said, then turned back to look at Lesley scowling at him from the bed, "coward," she mouthed. His face split into a huge grin as he glanced from Agnes to Lesley, he mouthed "I love you," and moved next door to his room. Lesley rolled her eyes and shook her head, then looked at Agnes with her back to the bed as she busied herself pouring out the tea and sighed. "Agnes...."

When Agnes didn't turn and look at her, just kept fussing with the tea, Lesley sighed again and rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers, "I'm sorry...I'm really sorry...we should have..." Lesley's voice trailed off when her friend held up her hand, "it's none of my business..." she started to say but Lesley interrupted, "Agnes...please come sit with me."

Now Agnes turned around, "It's really none of my business."

Lesley looked down at the rumpled bedding and then up into Agnes' eyes, "maybe...maybe I want it to be.... would you...would you please sit with me?" she asked and patted the bed at her feet then smiled a little when Agnes settled down where Lesley had indicated.

Lesley looked out the window at the bright fall sunshine for a minute before turning back, "you know what happened to me .... right?" she asked quietly.

Agnes nodded and reached over to lay her hand on top of Lesley's. "Laura told me.... it's just horrible what that young man did to you."

Lesley let out a short laugh, "you'll get no argument from me on that. But after...after I was very confused and scared and....and.... I convinced myself that Rick wanted nothing more to do with me because another man had..."

"What kind of cobswabble talk is that?!" "Agnes sat bolt upright on the bed and squeezed Lesley's hand, "why that man is head over heels in love with you! All you have to do is look at his eyes when he's looking at you and see the way his whole expression and... what do you call it......body language changes when he's with you to see that he loves you."

Lesley cocked her head and looked at Agnes, "Really? It's that obvious? I mean I don't doubt it .... now... but.... it's that obvious?"

"Why land sakes, it sure is!" Agnes widened her eyes and nodded her head vigorously. "You don't see love like that very often these days. And it's written all over the two of you every time you're in the room together," she patted Lesley's hand again then waved her arm for Lesley to continue with her story.

"After Travis came to the hospital, I was.... paralyzed almost with .... with...fear...with ...the feeling that I wasn't safe anywhere. So, Rick .... he took me to a cabin in the mountains for a couple of days and ....and .... everything...came out. I told him the entire story about what had happened that day in the clinic. I accused him of not wanting anything to do with me anymore and ...it was the full gambit. But.... but...he...he...swore to me that I was wrong and, Agnes it was just like you said...I could see the truth in his eyes...that he still loved me and wanted me in his life. Then.... then.... I told him about the nightmares...... Horrible.... horrible nightmares since the night that Rick wasn't staying with me at my house anymore. He asked me what I needed, and I told him that I needed someone to have my back, to....to catch me before I hit the ground...to believe in me so that I could believe in myself again. Then I asked him if he could be that person and told him that I wanted him to be that person..."