Edge of Disaster (17 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

I was sitting in Terri’s room telling her what had happened two nights ago. Her memory was a blur. She didn’t remember much at all. Her voice was still hoarse, but luckily, her injury to her trachea was not as bad as Pearce had originally thought.

She was in and out of it because they had her on a morphine pump. It was a good thing too. I could only imagine the pain she was in. Every time she’d conk out, I’d head on over to Justin’s room. His mood had improved over yesterday. They were going to move him out of ICU today. He was barking out orders to all the nurses. I guess whoever said that doctors make the worst patients, was right. Justin was not a very good one and I told him so.

“You need to calm down buddy. You’re nurses are gonna put ExLax in your food or something in retaliation.”

He looked at me and then burst into laughter.

“Oh God, don’t make me laugh. My guts hurt like crazy.”

“Well they should. Your brother had his fingers in there for at least an hour.”

“What?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Fuck, me and my big mouth.

“I think you need to hear it from him.”

“Give it up. Now Lexi.”

I let out my breath in a gush. “You were bleeding. Like it was coming out in spurts. I had to hold a light and Pearce stuck his fingers inside of you and found where it was coming from. He held it closed until they got you here.”

“No shit. Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Because he’s Pearce and that’s the kind of stuff he does every day I suppose.”

Justin rubbed his face and shook his head.

“Thanks for telling me Lexi.”

I made a fist and held it out to him. “Can I just say Pearce was amazing that night? I never really knew what he did, you know, when he went to work every day. But he went into overdrive and you and Terri were in the best hands.”

“Yeah, I know.”

We shared a look, a very meaningful one.

“Hey Lexi?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re going to be my sister.” He grinned.

“Me too!” I laughed.

I left the hospital late that afternoon and went home to my carriage house. When I got there, there were two Land Rovers in the driveway. One was black and one was silver. I wondered whose they were. I walked inside and Pearce was sitting on the couch watching TV. He got up and greeted me, smiling.

“Hi honey.”

“Hi,” I said as I kissed him.

“Here, this is for you. Or this, you take your pick.”

He held out two keys.

“What is this?”

“Keys. To the Land Rovers.”

“But Pearce, I don’t need a new car,” I protested.

“Yes you do. And so did I. You’re precious cargo and there’s no way in hell I want you driving back and forth to work in nothing less than that. After going over that accident in my mind, I realize that if we’d have been the car in front, if that deer had hit us, we’d have been killed Alexia. My 911 wouldn’t have been able to handle that wreck. Justin’s Range Rover came out of that intact.  And because of that, they’re alive. I’m selling the 911. You can give Lisbeth the Highlander back because I want you to have solid protection. And no arguments honey. Please, do this for my peace of mind. Okay?”

I nodded, “Okay.” I wouldn’t make him anxious over this. Never would I do that to him.

“So?” he asked.

“So what?”

“What color do you want?”

“Silver.”

“That’s what I thought. Here you go.  I’ll be here at seven. Or do you want to just come over. We’re sleeping together tonight so you decide how you want to work it and in whose bed you want to sleep.”

“I’ll be at your place at six and just get ready over there. Okay.”

“Perfect. Love you sweetheart.”

“Love you back. See you then.”

I didn’t tell Pearce, but I had a three o’clock appointment with his friend, Phillip Sorensen, the psychiatrist he’d recommended a while back. If we were going to be married, I wanted to do my best to go into it as baggage free as possible.

I walked into Dr. Sorensen’s office and I was totally nerved out by the whole thing. I wasn’t sure about any of this. My last counseling experience was so awful, I wasn’t so sure I was doing the right thing here.

His office door opened, he was ushering me in and telling me to make myself comfortable on one of the cushy leather chairs. He looked to be Pearce’s age, and he was heavy set, blonde and blue-eyed. He wasn’t much taller than I, about five feet eight or so, but he immediately made me feel at ease. I felt myself smiling at him.

“Hi Ms. Hammond it’s great to meet you.”

“Dr. Sorensen, same here.”

“Okay, first things first. How would you like to be called?”

“I prefer Lexi.”

“Okay, then. And please call me Phil. I like to dispense with formalities around here.”

“There’s another thing I want to get out of the way too. I know you realize that Pearce and I are very close. We go way back...and I mean way back...to kindergarten.” He laughed. “But keep in mind, you and I have a professional relationship in this office. Everything that we discuss stays in here and I’m not at liberty to discuss this with him. Pearce would never, under any circumstances ask me about it either, but I just want you to be clear on this. Okay?”

“Phil, I didn’t tell him I was coming.”

“Oh. Can I ask why?”

“I guess I wanted to do this all on my own. I want our marriage to be as strong as it can be.  I have a lot of issues so I wanted to see if I could start getting rid of some of them.”

He asked some pointed questions about my past and things started centering around my parents. I halted everything and told him right then I would never make things right with them. I believed they were the ones that had done me wrong and I wouldn’t be the one to extend the olive branch. He didn’t have a problem with that which made me feel better. The other counselor I had gone to had tried to make me feel like I needed to keep trying to have a relationship with my parents, even though every time I did, I came back feeling like I’d been physically punched in the gut fifty times. Phil didn’t do that. He accepted my feelings and moved forward.  Our session ended with my story about the accident and how I’d felt afterward...the guilt and blame I carried.

Phil and I decided that I’d see him twice a week for starters and then we could adjust our schedules. I really felt good about him and told him so. I also told him about my last experience and that I was impressed by him already.

He laughed and said, “I wouldn’t be too quick to say that yet.  We’ve only just started Lexi. But I’d like to say something. I appreciate your willingness to be so open already. Many patients have problems with that and that can delay them getting better.”

I thought about what he said all the way home. I knew my biggest problem was going to be telling him about my slutty days. I was just going to have forge through and get it over with when the time came.

I got home and jumped in the shower and quickly got ready for my night out with Pearce. I packed a bag, picked out work clothes for the next day and decided what to wear that night. I chose a black skirt with a pretty blue sleeveless silk blouse and a pair of black heels. I made sure I had the sex bracelet too.

Gathering all the papers for the Toyota, I ran across the yard and went to Lisbeth’s. She was in her usual spot, so I pranced in and told her what Pearce had done.

“Under the circumstances, I can certainly understand that honey. But I gave you that car free and clear. So Alexia, dear, you sell it and keep the money.”

“Good God Lisbeth, I couldn’t do that! I only had it for a few months. It’s brand new still and only has a couple of thousand miles on it.”

“Well honey, why don’t you do this then? Whenever you and Pearce decide to tie that knot, why don’t you use that money for your wedding gown?”

I grinned at her. “News travels fast doesn’t it? I was getting ready to tell you that next! But I would never spend that kind of money on a wedding dress Lisbeth!”

“Darling Alexia, you are marrying a Middleton and when you walk down that aisle, yo
u
wil
l
be swathed in Angel Sanchez if it’s the last thing I make you do on this Earth. Now run along and take those keys and title with you. Have Pearce sell the damn car for you and you use that money for your bridal trousseau. You hear me young lady?”

“Yes ma’am!” I hugged her and went back to my carriage house. If there was one thing about Lisbeth, it was when she made up her mind about something, that was it. You were not going to get her to change it so I had learned early on to quit trying.

I was ready to head over to Pearce’s early so I got in the car and went. His car wasn’t there yet so I let myself in and made myself at home in his bed. I stretched out, intending just to relax a few moments but I must’ve fallen asleep, because I woke up to find him rubbing his scruffy face across my cheek.

“This is a nice surprise,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting you till six.”

“I know,” I smiled as I stretched like a cat.  I told him about Lisbeth and the car and he laughed.

“Gran will love that story. She loves it when Lisbeth parts with money.”

“What’s this about a trousseau? What the heck is that? I acted like I knew what it was. And who is Angel Sanchez?”

“A trousseau is just the clothing a bride gets for her wedding and honeymoon from what I understand. As for Angel Sanchez...no clue. You need to check with Ava on that one. My guess would be a fashion designer of some sort.”

“Well, I’m not spending twenty grand on a dress.”

“Babe, that car is probably worth closer to thirty five.”

“What! Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I look at cars all the time.”

“Shit. Do I even want to know how much that Land Rover cost?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so. I can’t even fathom this stuff.”

“You don’t have to. Let me worry about that, okay?”

“Who the hell would spend thirty five grand on a wedding gown and some clothes for their honeymoon or whatever?”

“Apparently Lisbeth would?”

“Fuck!”

“On another note, they moved Justin out of ICU this afternoon. Whatever you told him yesterday and today certainly seemed to help his disposition.”

“I told him if he didn’t stop acting like an ass, the nurses were going to put ExLax in his food.”

Pearce flew wild with laughter. I also told him about how I spilled the beans on how he stopped Justin from bleeding to death. “I’m sorry. I thought he already knew.”

He looked at me and something in his gaze altered and intensified. “You know,” he started, his voice low, “I deal with this kind of shit all the time, but when it’s your brother, and you’re sitting there with your hands in him and you know if you move one centimeter, it could be over for him, everything changes Lex.”

For a moment, we were back there at the scene looking at each other over Justin but this time it was different. This time I was able to put my arms around him, run my hands through his hair, touch his face and tell him again that I loved him with everything I have.

We went to dinner that night and it was amazing. It was a five course meal and I was floating on a cloud. Pearce had booked a private alcove in the restaurant. So it was just the two of us. They brought out champagne and the first course, which happened to be caviar and blinis with creme fraiche. I’d never eaten this before and was surprised at how the slightly salty taste of the caviar, blended with the blinis and richness of the creme fraiche simply melted in my mouth. He fed each one to me and I couldn’t seem to get enough.

“Mmm, this is sooo good,” I said as I licked my lips.

“One day, I’m going to blindfold you and feed you. I think it would be great fun to watch you enjoy food that way.”

“You think so?”

“No, I know so. I love to watch you eat Alexia. It’s a sexual thing for me. The way your mouth and lips move...I can’t begin to explain it honey.”

Damn, let’s forget the meal. Take me home now!

“I know what you’re thinking and no we’re not leaving,” he laughed.

I reached under the table for him, but he stopped me.

“Huh uh, that can’t happen yet.”

“Not fair,” I whispered. “You already have me squirming.”

“Good.”

They came and cleared our plates and refilled our champagne glasses. 

Pearce took a sip of his and then took my hand in his and kissed each of my fingers.

“The other day in the hospital, when I asked you to marry me, it was really the spur of the moment and not the most romantic thing I wanted it to be. So,” he moved in front of me got down on his knee and continued, “Alexia, you’re the only woman I’d ever want to spend the rest of my life with. When I tell you you’re beautiful, I don’t just mean your physical presence. I mean your heart and soul. I want you by my side always, for better or worse, in difficult times and in good times, to share laughter and grief, to have a family together, but most of all to be by my side day and night as my best friend. Will you do me the greatest honor of all and become my wife?” Then he pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and opened it up.  He took the ring out and slid it on my finger.