Learning to Breathe Again (14 page)

“
Man, it’s cold out there!”
He pulled his gloves off, turning the heater on high and holding
his hands over the defroster. “Once I get feeling back in my hands
and feet, we can head home,” he looked over at her. “You doing
ok?”

“
I’m fine,” she looked over
her shoulder at the hospital. “Thank you for agreeing to head back
to your place.”

Jack reached over and gave her hand a quick
squeeze. “I told you before, I don’t like hospitals either. I’m
just as happy as you are to leave this place behind.” He dropped
her hand and placed his back on the steering wheel. “Ok, let’s go,
then.”

Driving much slower than he had on the way to
the hospital the night before, Jack headed home. It took forever,
and more than once he felt his tires lose traction. He was the only
one stupid enough to be out on the roads right now though. If it
weren’t for the near-panic attack he’d seen Bayleigh have last
night, he would have tried to convince her to stay in the hospital
for a while. At least until the temperatures climbed to above the
freezing mark and this shit started to melt.

Almost ninety minutes after leaving the
hospital, they both heaved sighs of relief as he parked the truck
near his porch steps. “Stay here until I come around for you. I
don’t want a repeat of the other day. I’m not sure I could carry
you inside this time,” he told her with a quick wink as he opened
his door and slid out.

Giving him a mock glare, Bayleigh did as she
was told, waiting until he had her door open and offered his hand
to her to help her down. The ice wasn’t bad up near his porch, and
they made their way up the steps and inside without incidence.

“
More coffee?” he asked as
they shed their coats, hanging them on the backs of kitchen
chairs.

“
No, I think if I have any
more coffee this morning, my stomach will burn a hole in itself. I
think I’m just going to take a shower and then climb into bed.” She
narrowed her gaze as she looked at him. “Are you ok? You’re looking
pretty pale all of a sudden.”

“
I’m fine. Now that we’re
home and I can relax, my head is pounding. I think I’m going to
take something for it, call Paul to let him know we made it home
without winding up in a ditch, and then I’m climbing into my bed.
My shower can wait until later,” Jack tried to give her a
reassuring smile, but could tell from the frown on her face he
wasn’t succeeding. “I promise, Bayleigh. I’m fine. But I am going
to be taking some of my heavy-duty pain killers and not just
ibuprofen. Don’t worry if I sleep for a long time.”

Bayleigh nodded, but waited until he’d taken
his medicine and headed for his own room before she walked down the
hallway to hers. Walking into the bathroom, she groaned at her
reflection in the mirror. Most of her make-up had worn off and her
mascara ringed her eyes, making her look like a raccoon, and her
hair was a mess. With a sigh, she grabbed a washcloth and started
washing the makeup off. She turned the shower on full blast and
stepped under the spray as soon as the water had heated up. She was
so exhausted, she barely took the time to condition her hair and
make sure all the soap was rinsed off before she turned the water
back off. Drying off, she pulled some leggings and a long t-shirt
on, before she tiptoed down the hallway to listen at Jack’s door to
make sure he was okay. She could hear him moving around behind the
closed door, so she made her way back to her own room, leaving her
door open so she could hear him if he called out at all. She
climbed under the covers and was asleep almost as soon as her head
hit the pillow.

Jack decided to take that shower once he got
back to his room. He stood under the hot spray, letting the force
of it hit his neck and shoulders, easing some of the kinks out of
his muscles. After pulling on sweatpants and a t-shirt, he stepped
back into the hallway to check the thermostat. He continued out to
the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He did a double take as he
passed by Bayleigh’s room and realized she’d left her door open.
Stopping, he stood in the doorway and watched her sleep for a few
moments.

She was beautiful, in so many ways, and not
just on the outside. Her kind and gentle nature. Her compassion for
others. Surviving her attack added to her strength. He hoped she
could see that.

Realizing he was standing there staring at
her, he hurried out to the kitchen and then back to his room. He
stretched out on his bed, groaning as the knot on the back of his
head touched the pillow. It took a few tries before he found a
position he was comfortable in, that didn’t cause his head to hurt
even more, and then, like Bayleigh, he fell asleep.

CRACK!

CRASH!

With a muffled curse, Jack shot out of bed,
his hand reaching for the sidearm he always set on the footlocker
next to his cot, coming up empty. Cursing louder, he swung his legs
off the cot, coming fully awake when his feet connected with the
rug by his bed.

Rug. Bed. No side arm next to him.

He wasn’t in Afghanistan. He was home, in
Texas. And there was freezing rain coming through a huge hole in
his window. And the force of the wind was blowing it far enough
into the room to get his bed wet. His eyes strayed to the clock;
just past noon. He had been asleep for a couple of hours.

“
Jack? Are you ok? What
happened?” Bayleigh ran into the room, her face white.

“
I’m thinking one of the
trees near my window just lost a limb,” he gestured towards his
window. “I’m fine, but I need to get some plastic over that window.
Can you go out to the kitchen and grab the black garbage bags out
of the pantry? I think if I put a couple of those up over the
window, it’ll at least keep the rain out. I need to go find my
hammer and nails,” he moved past her on the way out to his
garage.

When he rejoined her in the bedroom, he had
his hammer, some nails and a piece of plywood. “I forgot I had
this,” he explained as he set it against the wall. “It won’t cover
the whole window but maybe it’ll keep the worst of the rain out.
Can you help me hold it in place?”

Bayleigh nodded and stepped up beside him,
shivering as the freezing rain and sleet blew through the broken
window panes. Jack hammered in a couple of nails to hold the
plywood in place and then turned to her.

“
Why don’t you go change
into dryer clothes? I’ll finish getting this up and then clean up
the glass.”

He looked at the mess and shook his head. In
the time it had taken them to get the plywood nailed up, the rain
and sleet had made a mess of his bed. “Looks like I’m sleeping on
the couch,” he glanced over at her as he said it.

“
Oh,” was all she said
before turning away. He heard her door close down the hall, and he
went to work, cleaning up the mess. The blankets on the bed were
bunched up and tossed in the bathtub. Once the rain stopped and
everything thawed out, he’d take them outside and shake them out,
make sure all the glass was off of them, as well. Satisfied he’d
done all he could for the moment, he headed out to the living
room.

Bayleigh’s door was open again and he paused
to check on her. She looked up when the floorboards creaked. Her
face was pale and even from across the room, he could see the rapid
rise and fall of her chest.

“
You ok?” he asked, glancing
around the room.

“
I’m fine.”

“
Then why are you struggling
to catch your breath?” his eyebrows drew together as he frowned at
her.

“
Loud, sudden noises are one
of my triggers. Breaking glass is a huge one for me,” her fingers
plucked at the quilt on her bed.

“
Yeah, me too. Well, the
loud sudden noises part, at least,” Jack glanced over his shoulder
towards his room. “So are you really ok?”

“
I think so,” she took a
deep breath and nodded. “The jitters always last a while, but I can
breathe without feeling like a rock is sitting on my chest.” She
tilted her head to the side and studied him. “Are
you
ok?”

“
I can think of nicer ways
to be woken up out of a sound sleep,” he glanced at his
watch.

A short laugh escaped her. “Yeah, I can,
too.” She pressed her lips together and glanced away. “I feel bad
about you sleeping on the couch. If I hadn’t shown up without
calling Jason first, you’d be able to sleep in here.”

“
A few hours on the couch
won’t kill me, Bay. I can run out in a few hours, after the ice
melts off, and buy the glass to put in the window,” he held up his
hand, anticipating her next comment. “And no, you are not giving up
the bed for me.”

“
Well, in that case, why
don’t we share it?” her own eyes went wide as she realized what she
just said, but she didn’t retract the offer.

“
Bayleigh, I would love
nothing more than to share a bed with you, even if it’s just to
sleep. But I am not going to do it if it’s going to send you into
another panic attack. I can handle the couch.”

Bayleigh’s gaze was unwavering as she
answered, “I can handle sharing a bed with you.”

Jack sucked in a breath at her words. With
slow and deliberate movements, he moved to the bed, stretching out
on his side next to her, facing her. “If you change your mind, at
any time, I’ll move to the couch,” he assured her.

“
I know,” and for the first
time, made the effort to reach out and touch him. Her hand slid
across the space between them and touched his. He turned his hand
and intertwined their fingers.

“
Now go back to sleep,” he
whispered with a smile.

The ringing of her cell phone had Bayleigh
jerking awake. Without opening her eyes, she reached for it,
managing to swipe the screen and answer it. These rude awakenings
needed to stop.

“’
lo,” she mumbled. She was
so not a morning person.

“
Hey, Leigh. I saw on the
news Texas is in the middle of the worst ice storm in the history
of ice storms. I hadn’t heard from you since you left England, so I
decided I’d better check on you.” Only one person on Earth called
her ‘Leigh’.

“
Oh, crap, Maddie! I am so
sorry. I meant to call the other day but things have been a little
screwy,” Bayleigh apologized to her best friend. She tried to roll
over, but there was a large pile of blankets piled up behind her
and a heavy weight across her abdomen and she couldn’t
move.

“
How’d it go with your
brother?”

“
He’s not here. He and his
wife are up in Dallas for a long weekend. I’m staying with his best
friend,” Bayleigh explained. The weight across her stomach
tightened and the events of the previous night rushed back at her
and she realized it wasn’t a bunch of blankets behind her, but
Jack. She must have moved closer to him during the
night.