Truth and Humility (39 page)

Then he remembered.

Austin, sensing the elder Bennett was now gone, edged his way around the bed and lowered himself to the chair to Derek’s left.  He’d been granted permission to do it.  To get his fill.  And if he left, he wouldn’t be allowed back.  He inhaled a shaky breath, bent and rubbed the back of his neck as he collected himself.

The clock indicated it was nearing six p.m.  Two days had passed since Derek and Danny had pulled him from the brink of death.

Something made him look up.  A pair of eyes watched him from beneath heavy lids.

Austin straightened, only mildly aware of his own pains.  They seemed so unimportant now.  “Hey,” he said huskily, his voice unsure.  Derek’s eyes closed again.  Had he been awake before?  Was this the first time?  Should he say something to the nurses?  He attempted to stand, raise some kind of alarm.

“Don’t.”

The drunken command held no oomph whatsoever, but gained Austin’s complete and total cooperation.

“Derek?”

“Yeah.”

There was some sort of relief knowing he was awake.  Hearing him form words.  It was an indication of hope.  But what could Austin say?  I’m glad you aren’t dead?  I’m glad I wasn’t the one who put you in here like I’ve wished so many times?  Instead, his nerves getting in the way, he settled for, “You look like hell.”

The understatement, direct and unguarded, was the first thing Derek had heard from anyone since first waking up post surgery that wasn’t a load of crap.  “Thanks,” he croaked sincerely.

All was silent for a while.  Derek’s eyes were still closed.  “Do you want me to leave?” Austin asked, feeling he should.

“No.”

No?  Why in the world not?  If the tables were turned, Austin knew he wouldn’t be so gracious.  Taking it one step further he said, “Can I do something?”

Since he couldn’t nod, Derek was forced to push out words.  “You can...suck...my dick.”

Yeah.  That’s what he thought.  Austin pretended to ponder his options.  “You want a regular blowjob or should I get a mint first?”

Derek’s mouth quirked ever so slightly and his eyes opened a crack.  “I...kinda like...the backstroke.”

This was sounding suspiciously like an excerpt from one of their teenaged powwows.  “Some full eye-contact?” Austin remembered, playing along.  “I don’t know, man.  That might be crossing a line.”

“Then...forget it.  Couldn’t feel it...anyway.”

Austin swallowed on a wave of emotion and all was serious once again.  “Do you know what happened?”  When Derek didn’t answer, Austin wondered if he’d fallen asleep again.  But a lone tear started building at the corner of the man’s closed eyes.  “Were you climbing?”

Slowly, Derek’s breathing began to pick up in rhythm.  His eyes opened wider, with effort, and he fixed Austin with a solid look.  “Get Danny.”

Her name was like salve to an open wound.  How could he pass up this excuse to see her again?  “I will,” he promised.  “I’ll find her for you.  But first...”  Austin wasn’t sure if he’d be let back into ICU after he left.  “I have to apologize for what – ”

“Shut...up,” Derek hissed, anger forming his mouth into a thin line.  “Danny’s here.  Get her...and come back.”

“I’m here,” said a high voice by the curtain.

There were no windows in ICU.  No natural light to warm the room.  Austin felt it now, knew what it must be like for Derek, the outdoor lover, to be cooped up and helpless in such a depressing place.  But seeing Danny standing there, wearing shorts and an athletic top, her sun-kissed hair drawssent>

Danny breezed over to the bed, set down her purse and water bottle and focused on Derek.  She was the epitome of strength and encouragement.  Her tears had been reserved for any other time than when she was in the presence of her brother.  “You need ice?” she asked, nitpicking with the blankets, all business.  “Are you hot?”

“Tell...Austin – ”

“The nurse said I might be able to roll a DVD player in here, but we’ll have to wait until – ”

“Danny.”

The last time Austin spoke to her in that tone was in the showers, right after she’d gone nuts-o and accused him of planning her demise.  Danny took an instant breath, clicked her teeth shut and finally faced him.

“He’s trying to tell you what he wants.”

Since when did you care?
  The scathing remark was dangerously close to spilling out, but Danny suppressed it, turned back to her brother.  She took another quick breath to keep her composure, to find the zone that was her only weapon against breaking down in front of Derek.

Derek knew his sister better than himself.  She was barely hanging on.  “Tell him...what happened.”

Austin braced himself.  He knew this had to be important, sensed it involved him somehow.  God, how he longed to walk over to her and smooth that troubled brow with his lips.

“Sure...”  Danny cleared her throat.  “Whatever you want.  In the meantime, I brought you some magazines – ”

“Now.”

“Okay.”  Her answer was rushed.  Nervous.  The last thing she wanted to do was upset her brother.  “He was working at the grain plant,” she explained matter-of-factly, avoiding Austin’s gaze.  “Somehow he fell.”

“I...didn’t fall.”  There was fire in those tired eyes.

Danny swallowed hard, gave a quick nod and stared down at the metal contraption holding Derek’s radius bone together from the outside.  Her fingers lightly brushed his knuckles as tears began to well.  “I know.  It’s hard for me to believe, too.”

“I...didn’t...fall.”

“What do you think happened?” Austin asked, sensing Derek’s frustration. 

“Scaffol...scaffolding broke.  Someone...tried...to kill...”

Derek stopped, trailed off.  Eyes closed, he could be asleep again.

Austin couldn’t let it hang there.  “You think someone tried to kill you?”  Whe?nt>n he looked across the bed, Danny seemed to be waiting just as anxiously as he.

Eyelashes fluttered.  The answer came slowly.  “Danny.”

“I’m here,” Danny said softly, always in attendance when her brother needed her.

Derek was fighting exhaustion.  Just the act of carrying on a conversation was more than he could handle, but he had to get it out.  “Kill...Danny.”

The curtain rushed back.  A stern looking, heavyset nurse came in wearing latex gloves.  While she punched numbers into a handheld scanner, she demanded room.  “Time for your vitals, Mr. Bennett.  I’m sorry, but your visitors are going to have to leave for a while.”  It was a statement aimed toward the visitors, not the patient.

Derek looked to be asleep again.  Danny stood there, ignoring orders while she pondered those last words.  Then there was a warm hand on her arm ushering her out of the room.

“Come on,” Austin spoke close to her ear when she didn’t budge.  Her fresh smell flooded his senses, gained him a much-needed reprieve from the bleak odors of the hospital.  It was all he could do to pull away, not cave to the urge to bury his face in her hair for the rest of his life.

When they passed through the curtain, he halted her attempt to leave.  “Wait.”  Her shoulders stiffened but she kept walking.  “We need to talk about what he said.”

“He’s on drugs.  He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

Was she in denial?  One of the damned wheels on the IV pole kept sticking and he kicked it back into a roll, caught up with her before she could reach the doors.  “Danny, you know what he meant.  Just...hold up, dammit!”  She stopped with her hand flattened on the swinging door.  He sensed he should talk fast.  “Derek thinks someone tampered with his work site.”

Her silence was an affirmation of sorts.  Her head began to bow and he knew she was falling apart.

“It was my work site.”

Stated like a confession.  Austin stepped closer, put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from the doors.  Just in time.  They opened, narrowly missing a full-on blow to the face.  White lab coats streaked by.  Austin pinned her against the wall between his arms so she couldn’t run.  “Talk to me, Danny.  Tell me what happened.”

Danny choked on a sob, put her face in her hands.  “The grain plant demolition was my job.  I was supposed to finish it yesterday, but I was in such a damned hurry to tour the campus I asked Derek to finish it for me.”

“Tour what campus?”

Misery etched her face when she took her hands away.  “Columbia.”

“And he thinks whoever tampered with
your
>
job site meant to hurt
you.
”

The need for a tissue had her frantically digging through her purse.  She was suddenly angry.  “You’re the first person to draw that conclusion.  Everyone else thinks I was careless.  That I left an unstable environment and failed to communicate it.”

“Your father thinks I was behind it.”

“That’s just the feud talking.  I told him you weren’t responsible.”

Her confession stunned him.  What the hell had he done to earn such faith from her?  The fact that this woman had risen above the feud to such a sterling level humbled him greatly.

“Thank you,” Austin murmured, resisting the urge to touch her as she tended to her nose with a crumpled tissue.

Danny continued as if he hadn’t spoken.  “Shaw’s the only one who defends me, but everyone thinks he’s just being loyal.”

Jealousy, that green-eyed bitch, laughed in his face and told him the kid was more than just loyal.  “So, this Shaw kid can attest to the fact the job site was safe when you left it?”

“Yes!
  And he was with Derek yesterday.  He saw it all happen.  He was the only other person injured...broke his arm.”  A fresh wave of tears rendered her speechless again for a moment.  “But Derek...my God, he fell
five
stories, Austin.  His C2 vertebra is broken in three places, he can’t feel anything from the neck down...”

And she was a goner.  She would have sunk to the floor if not for his support.  He held her tight, ignoring the dull throb in his side.  The pain meds were wearing off, but he’d be damned if he’d see the inside of his own room for a while.  This was where he needed to be.

“Do they think he’ll recover?”  It was a question he had to ask, despite her fragile state.

The ques
tion he asked put reality in its place.  She pushed out of his arms and put some distance between them.  “You should probably get back to your room.”

Not a chance.  She may not work for him anymore, but he could still exercise his authoritative nature.  “Derek wanted me to stay for a reason,” he countered sternly.  “I think he’s worried about you.  Especially since no one believes you’re in danger.”

“You hate each other.”

“We...”  Austin paused, searched for the right words.  “We had a moment back there.  And despite his injuries, he’s the only one thinking right now.  He’s drawing a parallel between my accident and his.”  Frustration mounted as the silence stretched endlessly.  “Can’t you see?now.&  He wants me to help!  I’m willing, Danny!”

“We don’t need you,” she whispered finally.  “Derek broke almost every bone in his body.  Collapsed both his lungs.  Suffered a grade-three concussion.  He may be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  He certainly won’t climb again.  And I distinctly remember a time when you relished the thought.”

Her exit was swift, her parting shot once again leaving him in a state of shock.  When Danny Bennett aimed for the guts, she pulled no punches.

His body was no longer his.  It belonged to the hospital staff who could do with him as they pleased.

“We’re going to prop you on your side, Mr. Bennett.  We’ll be through here in just a few minutes, then you can get more sleep.”

Whether he wanted to be propped on his side or not, it didn’t matter.  Damned bitches couldn’t care less about his wishes and he was powerless to strike out physically.  So Derek used words.  “Go...fuck yourself.”