Savin' Me (25 page)

Around two in the morning of the eighth day,
Erik had his head resting on his arms on the edge of Kat’s bed,
drifting in and out of sleep. As he slipped deeper into that
in-between state, the most magnificent dream began to unfold.

Kat’s weak fingers drifted across his hand,
then sifted through his hair and settled on his scalp. The effort
exhausted her and she drifted back to sleep with her hand resting
on top of his head. Several foggy moments later, Erik’s brain cells
fired, and he realized it hadn’t been a dream.

Kat had reached out to him.

He snapped his head up and in the process
woke her. His heart pounded in triple time, and his breath rushed
out as she cracked open her eyes and settled her gaze on his
face.

God, did she recognize him? Had she known it
was him lying on her bed, or had she simply been trying to figure
out who the mysterious person was?

He smiled and said, “Hey. Welcome back.”

Earlier in the day, her Glasgow Coma score
had been high enough for the doctor to remove the ventilator.
Despite the balm Erik had been applying, her lips were dry and
chapped, and she licked at them several times. She tried to speak,
but couldn’t get the words past her parched throat.

He siphoned a small amount of water into a
straw, and said, “Open up. I’ll drizzle a little water into your
mouth.”

It took a lot of effort for her to swallow.
But as soon as the liquid was down, she opened her mouth like a
tiny bird, eager for more. He grinned and refilled the straw. He
was so glad to see her awake and responding, he would’ve been happy
to sit there, feeding her water one straw-full at a time,
forever.

After repeating the process several times,
she whispered, “Thanks.” Weak and barely audible, it was the most
beautiful sound he ever heard.

There were so many things he wanted to say,
but all of it would probably overwhelm her. Not even entirely sure
she recognized him, he decided to stuff his emotional needs.
Hopefully, he would have all the time in the world to shower her
with I’m-sorrys and I-love-yous. But for now, his primary concern
was making sure she was comfortable.

He also needed to call Granddad. Even though
she had sporadic lucid moments over the past several days, this was
the first time she was alert enough to speak.

“Your granddad’s at the hotel getting some
sleep. I need to call him and let him know you’re awake.”

When he reached for the phone, she rested her
palm on his wrist. She looked at the phone and shook her head no,
then whispered, “Glad you’re here.”

Extreme joy and nauseating remorse swamped
him. She knew him. But he also had the sense she remembered the way
he treated her. He blinked to stop the burn in his eyes, but kept
his gaze locked on hers as he ran a thumb over her cracked lips,
then across her cheek. “I’m so damned sorry, Kat.” He took her hand
in his and decided to let it all pour out. He’d rather overwhelm
her with love than leave her doubting for one more second. “I love
you more than anything in this world. I’ll never be able to tell
you how sorry I am for the way I treated you.”

“I know.”

Unsure if he heard correctly, he said, “You
know?”

“I know… you love me. I prayed…” She licked
her lips and swallowed. “I didn’t want you… to go through that
again.”

His breath left in a whoosh and he dropped
his head to the bed. He didn’t know when she had that thought, but
with all that she’d been through, how could he have been her
concern? There were a million thoughts zinging around in his brain,
but one kept jumping to the forefront. “How in the hell did I get
so lucky? I don’t deserve you.”

She smiled faintly. “Thank you… for taking
care… of me.” Her eyes drifted shut as she murmured, “I love you,”
then went back to sleep.

The words had been barely audible, but he
felt them as plainly as if they’d been screamed at the top of her
lungs. “I love you, Kat. And I swear to you, I will spend the rest
of my life making sure you never doubt that. Not for one
second.”

***

Kat didn’t know how many days she’d been out
of it, but it must have been a lot. Once she understood the need
for the ventilator, she discovered sleep was her new best friend.
It provided the escape she needed to make the tubing tolerable, and
her aching body had been more than happy to cooperate.

Granddad and Erik had also been more at ease
while she slept, so even if awake, she pretended to keep sleeping.
After listening to their conversations for several cycles, she
figured out their routines. Granddad stayed with her during the
day, but went to a hotel to sleep at night. Erik went to the hotel
to shower, but was never gone for long. Aside from that brief trip
each day, he refused to leave her room.

At first, she was confused about where she
was and what had happened. But as she listened to their
conversations, the pieces fell into place until she eventually had
the entire puzzle. She could tell Erik had so many regrets and kept
beating himself up, and she didn’t want that for him. But
communicating with the ventilator in place was nearly impossible,
so she waited until they removed it and her grandfather had left
before reaching out to him.

There were so many things she wanted to say
to him, but their brief conversation exhausted her, and it was
pointless to try and get more out of her body at the moment. Rather
than fight it, she let Erik’s words settle around her like a
comfortable blanket and fell back into the void of sleep.

Two days later, they moved Kat to a step-down
unit and her hospital room became as cramped and lively as Erik’s
house had been during his Saturday night party. She learned her
parents had gone back to Charlotte, upon Granddad’s urging. And,
much to her delight, she learned Granddad would be living in Erik’s
guesthouse to help care for her while she recuperated.

During a brief lull in visits, Kat reached
for Erik’s hand and said, “How is Granddad going to get from your
house to my house every day?”

Erik’s smile was like a jolt of electricity
to her system, lighting her up from the inside out. “He’ll walk
across the patio and in the back door.” At her arched brow, he
said, “Oh, have I forgotten to tell you that I’ve had some of your
things moved to my house?”

She laughed, then instantly regretted it as
her fractured rib and broken clavicle made their presence known.
“Yeah, I think you did.”

“Huh…” He rubbed his hand along his jaw and
chewed on the inside of his cheek, deep in thought. After several
minutes, his expression grew serious and he scooted forward to the
edge of his chair. “I can think of a million better places and ways
to do this, but I can’t think of a better time.” He took her hand
in both of his and stared into her eyes. “Will you marry me? We can
wait as long as we need for you to be fully recovered, but I want
you to know how serious I am—about you, how much I love you, and my
intentions to take care of you. Not just while you’re in the
hospital, but forever.”

Despite the busted rib and injured lung,
Kat’s chest expanded with joy and love. She believed he was
serious, but she had one lingering question that needed to be
answered before she agreed. “You’re not asking out of a sense of
responsibility or regret for what happened, are you?”

“No. Absolutely not. I was there… when you
had the accident.” He winced and hunched over as if in pain. “I was
on your deck, waiting for you to come home. I intended to tell you
then how much I love you. And eventually get to this step. This is
not because of the accident. This is because I’m the luckiest guy
in the world to have found you, and I’m making sure you don’t get
away from me again.”

A noise at the door had both of them looking
that way. Rusty had stopped midstride, and was in the process of
pivoting. “Uhhh… I’m interrupting a moment. I’ll come back.”

“No. Well, yeah.” Guarding her torso, she
laughed. “But I want to talk to you. Could you wait outside for a
minute while I give Erik an answer to this important question?”

Without another word, Rusty slipped out of
the room and around the corner.

Feeling like she could pop with joy, Kat
said, “Yes! I love you… I have since the night we met…” She leaned
in close and whispered, “…and you did that thing with your
tongue.”

Erik laughed loud and deep and she fell a
little deeper. “Now, I have a question for you.”

“Okay.”

“Given this new turn of events, I guess you’d
be okay with me handling your account again.”

He lowered his gaze and tilted his head away
from her. After several muttered curses, he said, “I have so many
things to apologize for.”

“No, no apologies. I just… well, I’ve been
thinking, and I’d really like to continue handling yours and
Kevin’s account. That is, if Rusty’s in agreement with me working
part time and only handling those accounts.”

“Is that really what you want? You don’t have
to work at all and can do all the volunteering you want.”

“If I’m working part time, I’ll still be able
to volunteer. And I really want to oversee this project with the
CPA.”

Erik kissed her long and hard. “Then that’s
what you’ll do.”

“Thank you. Do you mind getting Rusty for
me?”

“Not at all. How about I get a pizza while
you’re talking with him, and we’ll celebrate.”

“Oh, my God. That would be amazing.” Kat cut
her eyes to the leftover mashed potatoes, soup, and roll from
lunch. “Do you think they’ll let me eat something good for a
change?”

Erik grinned. “Sure. Especially if they don’t
know about it.”

With another quick kiss, he was off, and
Rusty took a seat in what she’d come to think of as Erik’s
recliner. “You scared us.” Erik had told her that Rusty and Seth
visited daily, and it was obvious from his tone and expression
Rusty had truly been worried about her condition.

“Thanks for coming to check on me so often.
It means a lot to know how much you care.”

“When do you think you’ll go home?”

Kat pushed herself into a more upright
position, then caught her breath as everything settled into place.
“Maybe tomorrow. If not, then definitely the next day.”

He cleared his throat and grinned. “Sooo… did
I really walk in on Erik popping the question?”

“Yeah, you did.” She laughed, then coughed.
The doctor said the coughing would continue for a while, but she
hoped like hell he was wrong… It hurt like a bitch. “He should’ve
shut the door if he wanted privacy. I’m glad you’re here. I was
thinking about calling you.”

“Oh yeah?” He leaned forward in the recliner
and rested his forearms on his knees.

“I was wondering if I could rescind my
resignation. Well, partially rescind it.”

“In what way?”

“I’d like to keep Erik and Kevin’s accounts
and work the cross promotion with the CPA. It’s going to take a
while for me to get back to full strength, but if those are the
only two accounts I’m handling, I can easily work those from home.”
She grinned. “I don’t think either of the clients would mind if I
did that.”

He laughed and relaxed back in the chair.
“But those are the only two accounts you want?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I enjoy the challenge of
creating effective promotions, but I’m tired of the political
nastiness. Those two accounts are safe. I don’t have to worry about
Elise going after either of them. I mean, she can try, but Kevin
and Erik won’t let her within ten miles of their accounts, so I’m
not concerned about that.”

“Elise won’t be a problem.” His tone was
harsh and carried an edge, and she wondered what had happened with
Elise and the Kaufmann Motors account. Seeing her unasked question,
Rusty said, “I think Elise has had a change of heart about you. I
know she’s had a change of heart about the way she handled
things.”

Kat grinned. “Did this change of heart happen
on its own, or did you have something to do with it?”

A funny expression crossed his face, and he
shrugged. “A little of both.” His voice was no longer harsh, but
soft and kind of sultry, and his body language…

Could they…

Rusty and Elise…

A couple?

She thought about it a few minutes, trying it
on for size, and decided it wasn’t out of the question. However,
she didn’t want any details if that’s what was cooking, so she
switched the subject back to something more comfortable. “So, are
you okay with me working part time, on just those two
accounts?”

Rusty shrugged. “I’d like for you to come
back full time once you’re able, but yeah, I’ll take whatever I can
get.” He grinned. “Maybe I can gradually get you back to full
time.”

“Don’t count on it. But I appreciate you
working with me.”

“I suppose you’ll need time off for a
wedding?” He sounded annoyed, but the grin on his face indicated he
was anything but.

“Yeah, I guess I will. I think I’d like
something low key and informal.”

“I think that sounds perfect.”

“Yeah… me too.”

Later that evening, while eating their pizza,
Kat, Erik, and Granddad made plans for an informal wedding at
Erik’s house along the banks of the Pamlico River. They would
invite only close friends and family—whether or not they’d invite
mothers was questionable.

After Granddad left for the hotel, Kat said,
“If you got up here in bed with me, how well do you think we’d
sleep?”

Erik laughed. “It would be the best night’s
sleep I’ve had in weeks.” He crawled in next to her, tucked her
next to his side, and kissed the top of her head. “Good night,
Katydid. I love you.”

Epilogue

Three months later

Kat sat on the pier, watching Erik’s boat
close in. He seemed to be running faster than normal, and she
wondered why the rush. As he approached the pier, rather than
pulling into the boathouse like normal, he pulled alongside and
motioned excitedly. “Come on, get in.”