Repair the Broken

Chapter 15

I close my eyes again and rub them with my hands.  Opening them again, I realize I’m not in his room, I’m in the hospital.  I’m no longer dreaming.  Brody is standing at my door.

He starts walking towards me.  I want to reach out and touch him but I’m afraid if I do he will disappear.  I reach my hand out in anticipation hoping that once I touch him he will not vanish.  Brody gets within reach and stops.  He holds his hand out and grasps mine into his.  He’s still there.

“You’re real.”  I pull him to me and onto my bed.  I grab his shirt and throw my arms around his neck.  I’ve lost my battle with my emotions and I am all out bawling now.  The tears are flowing and soaking his shirt.  Brody holds me as close as I can get.  I hold on to him as if my life depends on it.  We spend an eternity holding each other without saying anything.  Brody strokes my hair tells me he’s okay over and over. 

Finally, he pulls my face away from his chest and looks me.  He puts a finger under my chin and lifts my face so that we are looking eye to eye.  He leans in and kisses me on the nose and then on the lips.  It’s a soft kiss. 

His eyes are full of concern.  “Lani, why did you say that?”

“I thought you were dead.  I saw you….they said you died.”  He pulls me to him squeezes me.

“I’m fine. You’re not imagining me.  I’m right here with you! 

I put my head in his neck and take in his scent.  I’ve missed this.  I just need to hold him close and not let go.  Brody seems to understand exactly what I need.  Mindful of my broken leg, he lays me back on my pillow and does the same for himself.  He pulls my body flush with him and we lay there spooning until we both fall asleep. 

An hours or so later, the nurse comes in and checks on me.  She sees Brody in my bed and gives me a smile.  “Someone looks like she is feeling a little better.”

I whisper my reply, “I do feel better but I don’t know why I am sleeping so much.”

“You are on some really strong pain pills to help with the leg.  It’s probably making you sleepy.”  She comes over to check my vitals.  The IV was pulled out earlier. 

Brody stirs as the nurse moves my arm to take check my blood pressure causing him to wake up.  He stirs around before opening his eyes.  Once he does, he notices he is in my bed and smiles. He nuzzles in my neck and then plants a kiss in my hairline. 

“Hey beautiful.”  The nurse chuckles at this; Brody finally realizes she is in the room.  He scoots back a little taking his hands off of my waste. 

I am embarrassed now.  His actions make us look guilty when all we did was sleep.  The nurse just smiles and goes on checking out my leg and making sure I am comfortable.

“You have one more round of meds tonight so I will be back in an hour.  You will need to be in the bed alone when the meds are given.”

“Brody is going home soon so that won’t be a problem.”

“No, Brody is not going home.  Brody is staying right here.”  Brody stares past me and informs the nurse.

She just snickers.  “Would you like for me to bring in a cot?”

“That won’t be needed.  I’m not moving from her side.”  Brody is not taking no for an answer so I choose not to argue.

The nurse leaves.  Brody climbs out of the bed and stretches.  “Are you hungry?  I can get you something to eat.”

“I don’t want you to leave.  I thought I lost you once and I can’t let you go.”

Brody sighs. “Lani.” He walks to me and holds me.  This seems to be the only way that I can stay calm since he walked through that door.

“I thought you died Brody.  It was awful.  I woke up when the paramedic was getting me out of the truck.  You were just there; lifeless.  There was blood everywhere.  I screamed for you and you never heard me.” 

The memory floods my mind.  It’s like reliving that horror all over again. 

“Lani, I hit my head hard enough to knock me unconscious.  I was out for about ten minutes.  That must have been when you saw me.  They pulled you out of the truck before they pulled me.  You broke your leg and hit your head on the windshield.  You were in and out of consciousness a lot during that time.”

“But I saw the headlights coming right at your side of the truck and I heard the tires screeching.  Then there was the impact.”

“You saw the headlights on my side when we were spinning.  The truck got hit from the front causing the vehicle behind us to hit us in the back quarter panel and that made the truck spin several times.  My side of the truck never made contact with any of the vehicles in the accident.”

“But the doctor and the nurse told me you died.”  It doesn’t make any sense that everyone told me he was dead and here he is in my room.

Brody climbs out of my bed and walks out of my room.  About two minutes later, Nurse Morgan comes in the room following behind Brody.

“Alayna, your boyfriend tells us you have questions about some information we gave you.”  The nurse walks over to the chair at the head of the bed and sits down.

“You told me he died.  Why did you tell me he died when he is fine?”  I am starting to get upset.

“You ask us what happened to the driver of the truck.  We automatically thought you meant the driver of the other truck.  We never thought you meant this young man.  We thought you already knew he was okay.  I’m sorry about the confusion.  I never meant for you to believe he passed away.  I feel so bad.”

“I understand.  I just thought you knew who I was talking about.  Thank you for answering my questions.”

“You’re welcome and again I am sorry.”  Nurse Morgan leaves.

“Zayden even told me the driver of the truck was dead.  He was really cold about it.  I didn’t understand how he could be so careless.  I know he’s an ass but I know he’s your best friend and I just thought he would care more if something actually did happen to you.”

“He knew I was okay.  They all did.  I don’t know why they would just tell you I was okay.”

“I know you hit your head and were hurt.  Did they take you to the hospital?  What happened to you after the wreck?”

“They took me to the hospital on Interstate Five because it was closer.  You had to come here because you had more severe issues that I did.  I stayed there overnight.  I was released early this morning.  I had to go to the insurance company.  The dude that hit us is trying to say that I cause the wreck but the damage is clear that he was at fault.  That took most of the morning to take care of then I had to go get a rental car.  My truck was hit in the front and the rear; it’s at the auto body shop.  It looks like they will have to keep it for a few weeks so I had to make sure I had a car. I told Lexi what was going on.  I sent Jaxon and Zayden to come with the girls to make sure you were okay today.  They left the hospital and met the girls here once I got released.”

“Im so glad you are here.  Will you stay with me until I get released?  I know we have school but I don’t think I can be alone.  I can stand thinking about you not being here another minute.”

“Lani I don’t plan on ever leaving you again.”

We cuddle on the bed and eventually fall into a peaceful night’s sleep.