I’m already shaking my head before she finishes. “No, I think we should let them continue to enjoy themselves. Telling them now won’t do any good because I’m pretty sure they won’t be allowed into the hospital to see him. Once I know what… how badly he’s hurt, we can plan then, but until then, it stays between us. I hate leaving y’all with all the pets, though.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation as well as how distraught all of us are, Nonna and Abuela exchange a look, and both start laughing. “Mija?” Abuela calls out. When I look at her, she says, “You’re aware that before we came to live with family, we ran our own households, correct?” At my nod, she states, “Both of us have had countless pets over the years so we’ll be just fine. You have any follow-up appointments marked on the calendar already, and I know the vet has the payment information on file.”
“I can always call it in, too, if I need to do so. Okay, let me go get my iPad, my laptop, and all my chargers. I suspect I’ll be talking to myself otherwise because I would anticipate that he’ll spend a lot of his time sleeping so he can heal.”
“Already done,” Mindy says, walking back into the kitchen, a tote bag’s strap clutched in her hand. I was so focused on Abuela and Nonna that I didn’t even realize she had walked out of the room. “By the way, the house looks fantastic.”
“Make sure you check upstairs before you go. Oh, and go ahead and use my SUV if you need to since I pickedyouup this morning.”
“You know what? I’ll stay with Abuela and Nonna and help with the animals, Jo,” she says, glancing at the two women.
“Are you sure?” I query.
“Absolutely. Come on, I’ll walk you out, then run by my place and get some stuff packed. Which room can I use?”
“I’ll make up the bed in the guest bedroom,” Nonna declares, putting her ever-present spatula down before she strides to the staircase.
“I’ll help,” Abuela adds, stopping long enough to hug and kiss me. She then whispers, “Josephine and I will do this then go to the church to light a candle for Dex and get him on the prayer lists for the diocese.”
“Thank you, Abuela.”
She clicks her tongue as if to tell me it’s no big deal then blurts out, “He loves you. My Dex has finally found his one, so we will petition the throne of God himself to bring him home to all of us, especially you.”
“Abuela,” I warn, “you’re going to make me cry.”
“No, no tears, mija. Save those for when you have some private time. That’s what us women do, we break down away from others. He’s going to need you to be strong, Jolie.”
“I know,” I whisper through the lump in my throat. “I’ll do my best, Abuela. You two behave yourselves. I’ll call once I’ve seen him and talked to the doctors.”
I manage to hold it together through the ride to the private airstrip, during the two-hour flight and subsequent ride to the trauma hospital he was flown to. I even manage to keep my composure when I talk to his team of doctors and hear the litany of injuries he sustained. Most were due to the impact into the ocean, but some were caused by the flying debris from the rig, as well as the water itself.
But when I walk into the intensive care unit and see his room is the one that’s directly in front of the U-shaped nurse’s station, I nearly lose it. Especially when I get closer and can see that both legs are elevated and engulfed in gauze and Ace bandages, not casted, with long, evil-looking pins around his knees and ankles. His face is mottled with bruises and his head has a gauze bandage on his left temple. One arm was burned by flying debris and has been cleaned and debrided by the wound care doctor, the other has cuts and gashes and is in a sling because the shoulder was dislocated and had to be surgically put back in place as he was in danger of tendons and ligaments tearing. They had to remove his spleen and because they’ve been unable to get his pain under control, which has caused his blood pressure to be dangerously high, they’ve put him in a medically induced coma. The only good thing? He’s breathing on his own except for a nasal cannula for some added oxygen because of the smoke inhalation he suffered.
Since both arms were impacted, he’s got a central port, at least I think that’s what the doctor called it, and he’s being pumped full of strong, broad-spectrum antibiotics to ward off any infections, fluids, and the medication necessary to keep him sedated.
As I visually take stock of my strong, muscular husband lying so still in the bed, I turn to his nurse and ask, “Can he hear me if I talk to him?”
“I believe he can, yes. Should you need to break down, we have a room available for that, because we want him to fight. Your husband is in excellent health, Mrs. Armstrong, and I don’t see why he won’t fully recover, but we want him fighting hard, so positivity is a must whenever possible.”
“I understand,” I murmur. Taking a deep breath, I move forward into the room, my nasal passages immediately assaulted with so many smells I nearly gasp. Instead, I lean over and kiss him on the only unmarked spot, which is over his right eye, and whisper, “I’m here, Dex. You’re going to be just fine. Sleep, honey, so your body can heal.”
Chapter Eighteen
Dex
Why can’t I open my eyes? I hear Jolie’s voice; she sounds tired and stressed and all I want to do is comfort her and tell her I’ll be fine.
“Abuela said the kids are having a blast at camp, Dex,” Jolie says. I feel her hand lightly stroke my head.
I can’t wait to hear about it,sweetheart. Right now, my only regret is I didn’t tell you how I feel about you. That’s why I wanted to talk to you when I got home. I want a real marriage, Jolie. At some point during these months since we got married, you’ve become my confidant and best friend, but I’m a greedy fucker and I want it all. Thoughts of you consume me no matter what I’m doing, so I hope you’re feeling the same way. I want to see your belly grow round with our children, help you raise them, and someday, a long time from now, watch them froma porch swing as our grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren run around.
“Nonna goes to church every day to pray for you and light another candle. Abuela as well. They’ve called every church in a three-county area and put you on those prayer lists. So many are on their knees for you, Dex.”
It may be presumptuous of me to say, but I can’t wait for the day you’re on your knees in front of me, my dick between your luscious lips. I can’t wait to feast on your body and show you what you mean to me in all ways.
“Mindy is staying at the house to help Nonna and Abuela with the pets, and Brock is overseeing some renovations to the house for when you come home, too. We’ve got some fantastic friends, Dex, because Dale and his crew pushed back one of their jobs in order to make sure you’d be able to come home.”
I want to wake up so I can tell you that I’ve fallen in love with you, Jolie. Why won’t my eyes open? This is so damn frustrating to me!
