Page 92 of Keeping Amanda
Just when Buck’s world almost caved in for a second time in a week, she blinked.
Then mouthed, “Nash.”
He’d cried more in the last week than he had in his entire life, but Buck wasn’t ashamed when the tears fell again. Not in the least. These were happy tears. Ecstatic ones.
“Yeah, Mandy, it’s me. I’m so happy to see you awake.”
Her fingers closed tight around his as her eyes closed.
Buck looked up at the doctor in alarm.
But he had a huge smile on his face. “It’s okay. She’s tired. It’s perfectly normal. But it’s all good news. She recognized you. She’s going to be okay. It might take a while, she’ll need somephysical therapy, but I have no reason to think she won’t be back to normal in no time.”
Buck wiped his cheeks with his shoulders, refusing to let go of Mandy’s hand. She looked rough. Her hair had been shaved on one side of her head for the surgery, and she still had tubes connected all over. But she was alive. And knew who he was. They could deal with everything else one day at a time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Amanda was so happy to be going home. She was in the hospital for two weeks, and now had spent two more weeks in rehab. The only thing she wanted was to sleep in her own bed. Well, Nash’s bed, with the man she loved at her back and her beloved dog at her feet.
Waking up in the hospital with no memory of what happened had been disorientating. And kind of scary. But Nash was at her side almost the entire time. He’d made everything so much better. Not necessarily easier, but with him there, she wasn’t as scared as she might have been otherwise.
And it wasn’t just him. It was everyone. Casper, Obi-Wan, Pyro, Chaos, Edge, Laryn…they’d all come to see her. They popped in at random times, sometimes staying for an hour or more, other times for just ten minutes, but she was rarely alone. It meant the world to her that they made the effort to come all the way to the hospital, even when they had just minutes to spare. She was sure they had better things to do, but they never made it seem as if they were in a rush, or like they were there out of some sort of obligation.
Her room had also been full of flowers, and every time sheopened her eyes she was reminded of how many people were rooting for her to get better and back on her feet.
It was difficult to comprehend that Blair had done this to her. That she’d stalked her and hit her over the head with acrowbar. The fact that she was still alive was a miracle.
Amanda still had headaches from time to time, but the doctor said they should eventually fade and not be so debilitating. She hoped he was right.
And today, she was going home. She was more than ready. The nurses and doctors at the rehab facility were fantastic, but she wouldn’t be sad to say goodbye. One of the things she was looking forward to the most was being with Rain. Nash had brought him to see her a few times, and hearing him whine pathetically every time he saw her was heartbreaking. He seemed to understand that she was hurt, and he needed to be gentle with her, because he simply lay next to her with his head on her shoulder, his hot doggy breath on her neck, content to be petted until it was time to go.
A noise at the door had her turning her head. Nash had finally arrived.
It had been extremely difficult not to ask him to stay with her every night, or be there as much as possible during the day. He’d already taken enough leave, and he had stuff to do. She couldn’t monopolize his time, no matter how much she wanted to. Besides, she’d been busy working her ass off to regain her mobility and walk without looking like she’d been on a weeklong bender.
Nights were the most difficult. The hospital bed seemed too big, the room too empty. But not having to worry about Blair coming back to finish what she’d started went a long way toward easing any nightmares. And it seemed as ifNashhad more trauma about the night she’d been attacked than she did, which made sense, as she didn’t remember the event itself.
“Hi!” she said, welcoming Nash with a huge smile as he came toward her.
“Hey,” he returned, leaning over where she was sitting up in the bed, already dressed and ready to go. He gave her a gentle kiss. “Ready to be sprung today?”
“More than,” Amanda said with feeling. “The doc said he’d sign the release papers this morning, so hopefully we’ll be seeing a nurse with those before too long.”
“Awesome. Rain is excited for you to come home…as am I. We’ve missed you terribly.”
“I can’t wait,” she said. “I’ve missed you guys too.”
This probably wasn’t the time or place, but Amanda had been thinking about things—Guyana, Blair, her time in the hospital, what she wanted in her life—and she couldn’t wait another moment to talk to Nash. Before she went back to his place, before she started what she hoped was the beginning of the rest of her life, she needed to clear something up.
“Nash? Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything.”
“When I was in the hospital unconscious, after my surgery, you were there, right?”
“Of course. I didn’t leave your side,” he said. “Why?”
“Did you talk to me?”
