Closing The Gap (Dangerous Pasts, #1) (26 page)

“How is she today?”  His sense of humor had returned but today, he sounded somber.

“No change.  I thought once she knew that you pulled through and heard your voice that would snap her out of it.  I’ve talked to her about Buck.  That he isn’t a threat.  He committed suicide and no one had to kill him.  I’ve told her Summer and all the horses are perfect.  Alfred is as cute and cuddly as ever and misses her.”  Josh struggled to keep the distress out of his voice.  “I did come up with one more thing I’d like to try but I’d need a favor.  Are you okay to stay and keep her company for a few hours while I leave the hospital and come back?”

“Of course.  I’m not being sprung until early evening.  I’d love to sit with her.  I’ll just need to tell my nurses where I am.  They adore me, you know.  Deeply.  They’d send out an immediate search warrant.”

“I’m sure they do adore you.  How many of them have checked your vitals just to admire your washboard stomach?”

“Several.  There’s an office pool to see who gets to change my daily bandage.”  The banter heartened Josh.  If Roberts could make it back unscathed, so could Lake.  “They’ve even assured me that my new round scar gives me a dangerous edge.”  Roberts winked, lifted up his t-shirt and showed Josh the square bandage on his abdomen.  “I’m going to tell the ladies I got injured in a duel over my lover’s honor.  Pistols at dawn, just like back in the day.”

“Good grief.  I hope Lake doesn’t eternally blame herself for marring your perfect physique.”

“Seriously, Trash.  Do you know how many other scars I have from years of hockey?  What’s one more little one?  She needs to wake up so I can tell her that myself.”

“Why don’t you sit down and tell her right now.  I’m going to run and I promise I’ll be back in less than two hours.  Make sure you tell Summer what’s happening.  That woman is like the energizer bunny.  She keeps going and going.  I’m sure she will be here soon to check in on both you and Lake.”

“That, will be my pleasure.” 

****

H
earing the door click shut, Ryan pulled a cushioned chair beside Lake’s bed and sat next to her.  He reached up and smoothed her hair back from her face as he stroked her skin.  She looked gorgeous in repose, like Sleeping Beauty, yet still so very pale.  She needed the handsome prince to kiss her full lips and she’d awaken.  The fairy tale sounded far-fetched but he knew with certainty Trash had tried even that.  Yesterday, Trash admitted to him that he’d crawled into the bed with her and held her tight for hours as he touched her body everywhere his hands could reach.  Still, nothing.  Ryan worried about Trash.  He didn’t look good.  He’d lost weight and his hair looked like it had sprouted more grey in just the past few days. 

Trash didn’t have to say it.  If Lake didn’t come out of this catatonic state, he might not make it through the heartbreak.  Ryan didn’t even want to consider the possibility.  For now, he tried to laugh her out of it, doing what he did best.  As he clutched her hand in his, he rubbed her palm and fingers as if to will the life, heat and color back into them.

“Lake Harrison, there are two men who love you more than life.  One of them is the strapping dreamboat who sits here before you as he holds your hand in his.  The other is so ugly when he sits in the sand, cats try to bury him.  I can’t help that.  It’s all Chuck’s fault.  I wish you could have known his mom, Kathy.  I got to meet her once before she passed.  A true beauty, her inside was even lovelier than her outside. There is something I know for sure.  She would have loved and cherished you because Josh so obviously does.  You need to come back to us, Lake, before he becomes so pathetic no one can stand him.  Please, my friend and sister, come back to us.”

Ryan kissed the inside of her wrist once more, then placed her hand back to her side and broke down.  His head hung over the metal be railing as his tears fell straight onto his flannel pajama pants.

****

J
osh chuckled.  If the sports reporters from the Chicago Tribune could see him now, they would be at a loss for words.  He strode into Shea Medical Center with a bag from Hamra Jewelers in one hand and a toy dog with flowing red hair in the other.  He was The Trashman for crying out loud.  Could it be the direct result of one woman’s influence?  That fact would be considered even more surprising and he was grateful no cameras flashed in his face to record the moment.

Josh shifted the rope handle of the small, glossy bag to his fingers so he could grip Alfred in both hands as he stepped through the automatic doors into the hospital and hoped no one would call security.  He’d considered throwing a blanket over Alfred but didn’t want to scare the little guy even further.  Alfred was integral to his plan.  He held the dog near his neck as he boarded the elevator.  So far, so good, no employees screamed in shock to get the live animal out of the hospital.  Alfred looked up at him with his gentle brown eyes and gave him a lick to the cheek.  He seemed to understand their covert mission.

“Thanks for being here with me, little buddy.  Your mom is going to be thrilled to see you.  You were a hero last week.  Summer told me all about your multiple agility titles.  I’m impressed.”  Josh whispered low as he gave him a peck on the top of the head.  Alfred wagged his tail. 

He stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor and turned towards Lake’s room.  Josh graced the nurse’s station with his most charming smile, as if it happened every day that a 220 pound man came to visit cradling a twelve pound dog in his arms like a newborn.  His confidence couldn’t waver.  Lake would come back to him.  He appreciated that the nurses flitted around like drunken hummingbirds doing everything within their power to coax the old Lake back.  He’d sacrifice anything, do
anything
, to have her back with him.  There were so many things he should have said, hadn’t said.  As he looked back now, he chastised himself for being such an arrogant coward.  He should have told her he loved her the moment he knew in Las Vegas.  Now, he might never get the chance.

After he swung open the door to Lake’s room, he sighed in relief to see Roberts still there, just as he’d left him.  Roberts held her small hand in his large one and caressed her fingers and palm.  At Josh’s hopeful look in his direction, Roberts gave a wistful sigh and shook his head from side to side.  Josh set Alfred on the floor so he could sniff the medical equipment and become accustomed to the foreign space.  Not interested, Alfred took a few steps in the direction of Lake’s bed.  The dog picked up her scent and went and sat next to Roberts as a few forlorn whines escaped his muzzle.

“Great idea, bringing Alfred.  If there’s anything you haven’t tried that might work, that’d be it.”

“I wanted to walk Lily in here but that I knew I wouldn’t get away with it no matter how much I smiled and winked at the nurses.  I’m pretty sure cleaning up manure isn’t in their job description.”  He exhaled and attempted to keep the mood light but they both knew each other better than that.

“Is that bag what I think it is?”

“Yes.”

“That’s going to give the staff even more material for their gossip.  My favorite nurse told me just this morning that every woman working in this hospital is half in love with you.  Seriously, Trash, you’re taking away my usual feminine attention with this endless adoration of Lake in front of God and everybody.  It’s like something out of a romantic comedy but no one’s laughing.  All the nurses are waiting in the wings for the happy ending.”

“Right now, this situation plays more like a Shakespearean tragedy.  Do you have a lift back to Lake’s later?  I don’t want to leave but I can get my dad over here to drive you.”

“Summer’s going to give me a ride back to Lake’s tonight when I get discharged.  I’m planning on flying home within the week.  I’m sure I’ll see you before I go.  Call me right away if there’s any change.”

“Absolutely.  Ryan, I’m having trouble coming up with any words to say.  Thanks seems so trite and inadequate.  When my mind drifts to how you could have been killed, I get sick inside.  I would
never
have been able to forgive myself.”  Josh couldn’t keep his eyes from welling up when he looked at his friend and considered the possible outcomes.

“Trash, we’re like brothers.  You would have done exactly the same thing for me.  Sometimes, none of us can predict life’s outcomes.  That doesn’t mean we stop living or doing what we know in our hearts is the right thing.  She’s changed us both.  I think for the better.”

Whether Roberts liked it or not, Josh couldn’t stop himself from embracing him.  Those sentences, were the single most heartfelt and profound statements that Roberts had uttered in their ten year friendship. 
Lake Harrison
, he thought,
if you only knew how amazing you were, how you bring out the best in everyone.
  Most especially, in him.  When he reminisced about the man he’d been a few short months ago, he didn’t even recognize that person.  It was as if the old Josh Adams posed as a complete stranger who walked about in a competent daze and answered to his name.  Then, along came this one woman and everything changed, making his world light up like Technicolor.

Roberts had glassy eyes as well so Josh avoided further eye contact, he didn’t want to make him even more uncomfortable.  If he hadn’t seen that one in person, he wouldn’t believe it possible.

“Okay, old man, I’ll leave you and Alfred to it.  Good luck.”  With one final pat on the shoulder, Roberts tiptoed out of the room to head back to his own on the surgical floor.  He looked exhausted and needed his rest before leaving the hospital for more recuperation time at Lake’s farm.  This ordeal had drained the energy right out of all of them.

Josh scooped Alfred up off the floor where he hadn’t moved a canine muscle and set him on the bed beside Lake.  The dog scooted up towards her neck and nestled himself in the space between her jaw and shoulder as he licked the left side of her face.

Still no reaction.

After thirty seconds, Alfred sensed Lake’s inertia and laid his head on her chest with a sigh.  His big eyes stared a hole into Josh and willed him to do something.

“I’m so sorry, little man.  I’ve done everything I can think of, except this.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, then lowered them into the jewelry bag and pulled out a black velvet box with gold trim.  As he scraped the chair more towards the hospital bed, he leaned in towards her, to be as close as possible.  Even though she might not be able to understand him, he had to get the words out.  He hoped they were the right ones.  Romantic verbiage had obviously never been his forte’.  He’d drop to one knee but she didn’t seem to see him.  It was more important that she hear him.

“Lake, I’m going to tell you something and I need you to listen very carefully.  Ever since I met you, my life has changed for the better.  I am better.  You opened my heart again and I have the capability to love you more than anything.  I haven’t felt that way since the year of my divorce and my mom’s death.  You’re just so easy to love.  I don’t question it and I haven’t since we left Las Vegas.”

Jesus Christ, words were so inadequate.  His personal brand of persuasion worked much better with his hands and body but that hadn’t been successful either.  He hissed some air past his lips and pushed forward.  “I might have had dreams of this kind of love but I didn’t understand them until I saw you.  Everything feels good and right, like coming home.  You’re the missing piece of my puzzle and when I’m with you, I can do anything as long as you believe in me.  I love you so much and I can’t live without you.  Please, please come back to me so you can become my wife.”

Josh opened the black box and pulled out the five carat cushion cut Tacori diamond engagement ring and slipped it on her ring finger.  Summer had told him her ring finger was size five and Hamra had sized it right away as an emergency once they heard Lake’s story.  He was indebted to the people who wanted to help him.  The ring he’d chosen contained a platinum setting with another two carats of pave’ cut diamonds around the band and center stone.  The ring looked elegant and refined on her finger and suited her perfectly.

Once he’d pushed it all the way on, he lifted her hand to his lips.  He rained small butterfly kisses upon each of her fingers.  When he glanced up, he noticed her eyelashes started to flutter against her cheeks.  The heart rate monitor she wore on her right index finger notified the nurses’ station of her elevated heart rate and it beeped with increasing speed.  Josh looked at her face and jubilation overtook his senses.  Her eyes started to focus and she turned her head to look straight at him.  The love he expected to see shining back at him, didn’t exist anywhere in her eyes.  His whole world collapsed as she croaked a single word past her dry throat.

“No.”

D
id Buck force battery acid down my throat
? 
Why isn’t Josh home in Chicago?  Why is there an engagement ring on my ring finger?
  Lake struggled to understand her present location and the obnoxious high pitched sound coming from right beside her.  Her last firm memory included Ryan as he died in her arms, his blood all over her and all over her sidewalk.  His body had been so still, like a corpse with white tape tracing its shape.  That image might never leave her mind’s eye as it replayed with abject torture.  Buck had escaped.  Buck was coming for her. 
Is he here?
  As she glanced around the room, she realized the steady beeps came from a pulse monitor in a hospital room. 
Her
hospital room.

She looked down at her body, then ran her hands up and down her limbs as she checked for bullet and knife wounds.  Horrified, she found the bandage that protected the scrape Buck’s bullet had caused when it grazed her temple.  Not remembering when the bullet hit her, Lake threw her head from side to side and tears broke free of her eyelids and trickled in rivulets down her face and neck.  Ryan had died.  She’d killed him.  Buck had scalped her again.  A chunk of her hair was missing.  She struggled to sit up, then fell backwards as she realized her meager strength couldn’t hold her own weight upright.  She again tried to summon the courage to rise.  Where was her fortitude?  She needed to get out of this hospital.  Ryan and Josh couldn’t protect her anymore.