Living With No Regrets (21 page)

"Only an Angel can destroy heaven with the purest of intentions."

He truly understood and felt the meaning behind the saying for the first time, and he was showing her that.  Leigh had finally gotten all she'd wanted.  She was living with her mother again, she had the world's most adorable five year old boy - though some would say that was a matter of opinion - and she and Russ were on their way to reconciliation; he just hadn't known how close they'd gotten until right then.  And now she was giving it all up.  To her there could be no other choice.

†*****************†

Thomas Hickmon paced backward, and when he felt the wall at his back, all of his weight released from his legs to where the wall was his only support.

Being a doctor, he was used to keeping a certain distance in his relationships with his patients, because he knew the no one could save everyone, and if he cared too much, he would not be able to effectively do his job.  The talent and affinity for diagnosing and treating cancer that the good lord had blessed him with.

With Leigh, that professional distance had been impossible from the first moment of meeting her.  Her golden heart, and the compassion and concern she exhibited for everyone but herself, mage her stand out from anyone else.

During their initial consult about her options, her sole concern was which treatment plan would be both effective and the easiest for her loved ones to bear, but now... Nine of that mattered to her anymore.

Well it mattered, but in her mind, there was only one thing for her to do.  Thomas's personal morals and his professional ethical opinion were at war with one another.

He'd asked for her MPOA to come in, hoping that whoever it was would help her make the right decision, whatever that was, but he could tell just from seeing the reaction, that Mr. Lands would go along with what Ms. Hampton wanted.

The love he was witnessing between these two people was awe inspiring.  It was the love he'd always prayed for.  The all-encompassing, soul deep love that true God intended mates experienced in life, yet he could see that there was no romance between them, more that of a soul-brother/soul-sister. 

As he observed the two, Mr. Lands now allowing the years to roll unchecked down his cheeks, and he listened as Mr. Lands promised to be there for her the whole way, and to never leave the family, even afterward.

Ms. Hampton was having difficulty getting the words she wanted to say to come out, but as connected as they seemed to be, he didn't need to hear them to know what she wanted to say.  It was beautiful to witness.

Thomas thought about all the Leigh had done since she'd started coming to Charlotte.  She'd immediately got the children's hospital, gotten a list of haves/don't haves for their different entertainment rooms, and then made sure everything that was missing had been bought, even putting brand new flat screen tvs, blue ray players, and Wii U's in every patient's room in the children's hospital.  Then she'd sent a list around by way of the nurses to get wish lists for the kids, even the out patients.  Anyone who was being treated in any way got their wish list filled.  One patient even getting to meet Jay-Z and Beyonce.  How she'd arranged that, he'd never guess.

"I don't know exactly what I'd hoped for when i called you in here," he began, effectively gaining their attention.  "Ethically, I cannot in good conscience, declare her incompetent when her mind is clear and just as sharp as could be.  I had hoped to gain your support in talking her into the right decision, but that is no longer clear to me; what is right and wrong here.  As I can see, Ms. Hampton seems to need both some pain meds and some sleep.  The choice is yours, of course, as to whether you tell your family yet, but if you will allow her more rest tonight, I think she should be ready for a longer visitation tomorrow."

†**********†

Mark washed his face and tried to clear his expression before heading back to the waiting room.

Upon his entry, everyone stood up and looked his way as Randy ran to him jumping up into his arms; him catching the boy without thought as he was so used to doing.

"Ish Momma okay?" Randy asked quietly, as if fearing the answer.

Mark took just a moment to look down to school his features and clear his throat to be able to put his voice to the answer.  "She's alright, just tired.  The doctor is found to give her some medicine, so we can come back in the morning and have a nice long visit.  How does that sound?"

Catching the glances of everyone else, Mark knew that he would have to explain as soon as they could get Randy settled, he would have to come clean.
 

Walking in to his motel room he slammed the door, venting his anger.  He'd been so close, almost to her door after the doctor left to talk to her mom and that damned Kennedy family – though why they were there he had no clue.  He'd worked hard to get this close, but that stupid fairy had to walk up and get in his way. 

Taking a deep breath, he started stripping his clothes off quickly, listening to the struggles of the whore he had tied to the bed.  His sinister smirk come through as he imagined his Leigh the one being there bearing the burns and bruises of his lovin' as a good slave would for her master.

'Soon,' he thought.  'It won't be long now...'

Chapter 16

Russ stood there looking through the window of Leigh’s hospital room, watching as the occupational therapist worked with her on her motor skills by playing Jenga with her.  Though she was still in ICU, the nurses had let him to see her outside of normal visitor’s hours.  Russ was happy that she seemed to be doing well despite her slow pace and lack of a strong grip on the piece she had in her hand.  Her hands seemed to be steady at least.

It just seemed to reflect who she was as a person, though.  Steady.  Go with the flow.  Accepting her lot in life.  She was the person who would deprive herself of any and everything to be able to do what she could for others.  Now though, Russ was determined to be the one doing any and everything for her instead.  He would love, spoil, and pamper her until death and beyond into the next life if there was reincarnation of the soul.  If not, he would do it in Heaven when he followed her. 

Reminiscing as he stood there about a conversation they’d had after high school graduation, Russ remembered that they’d talked about it in a way. They’d celebrated on their own, and even though she’d been willing to go to the after party the seniors had put together so Russ could be with his friends, he’d just wanted to be with her, and she told him about something she’d been close to doing because her father had wanted her to. 

~~~~~~

They were reclining in the back of the ranch truck on top of several blankets – Leigh positioned between his legs, facing out - and were talking and planning for the future as they watched a meteor shower in the night sky.

“I’d want it out by the big swimming pond behind my house,” Leigh was telling Russ about her dream wedding after he’d asked about it.  She had a twinkle in her eyes that he wondered about until he listened to the rest of her explanation.  “It’d be at night, and we’d string up star lights to give everything a soft romantic glow to see by.  Have a DJ and set up a large dais so the guests could either dance or swim in the moonlight.  We would build an arbor over the dock just to make it beautiful, and that’s where we’d say our vows.  It would be a completely casual affair.”

Russ was laughing by the time she done, and she knew why.  She tilted her head back and turned it so she could see his face.  “Hey mister!  Don’t laugh,” she scolded even as she herself giggled.  “A girl dreams of her wedding from the moment she takes an interest in boys.”

He squeezed her tight and shook his head as he made an attempt to stop.  “Hey!  I didn’t say a word.”

“You didn’t have to.  Mama always says that you say more using no words than if you talked nine miles a minute.”

“I wish Dad could be there,” she’d said softly after they’d calmed down a bit.  “I know he’s watching over out me, I just wish I could share everything with him in the flesh.  He missed out on graduation today; he’ll miss out on walking me down the aisle…”

“You always were a Daddy’s girl weren’t you?”  There was no hint of derision in his voice.  “It’s always been obvious in the way you talk about him.”

“Yeah, I was.  I would’ve done anything for him.”  She looked back over her shoulder at him again.  “I almost did.  You’d better be thankful to Mamma for changing his mind about his future plans for me.”

“What do you mean?”

Leigh left his arms just long enough to turn around completely, straddle his legs, and talk to him face to face.  “He’d always raised me to be a good Christian woman.  Mom and I thought it was just because of his strong faith and beliefs – and it was to a certain point – but when I was almost thirteen, and he was getting weaker and sicker, I would spend all of my time with him.  One day, some kids at school planned on going to a theater for the new release of ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’, and they invited me to go along.  I really wanted to go, but Dad wouldn’t let me since boys would be there too.  He let it slip that I needed to learn that there were certain things that weren’t appropriate for ladies being groomed as a pastor’s wife.  I was too much in shock to say anything – not that I would’ve since you don’t talk back to your elders – but Mom had caught what he’d said too and called him out on it.  It came out that he’d planned to arrange a marriage for me to a pastor so that I could (and would) live a nice ‘proper’ life.  That caused one of their rare arguments.  Mom sent me on to the movies so they could discuss it without me having to hear them.  When I got back, Dad took me in his arms and apologized.  I forgave him of course since he only had my best interest at heart.”

Leigh turned and scooted back into her previous position, wrapping his arms back around herself as he took time to wrap his mind around the thought of her not having been available when they’d first started talking.  Russ couldn’t imagine his life without her in it anymore, and to know that her father had been planning to marry her off to a preacher…

“What?” he asked when he heard her mumble something.

“I would have done it.” she said a little louder.  “I really wouldn’t have wanted to, but I would have done it for him if he’d asked me to.”

~~~~~~

Russ was thankful that things had worked out to his favor back then.  If only he hadn’t been so stupid and screwed things up so badly.

Just then, as if sensing his self-loathing, Leigh looked over at him through the glass and donned look of concern when her gaze met his.  She’d always seemed to know when he was feeling bad about anything and somehow would make it better.  Since she’d discovered that he was there, he decided to join them. 

The smile that spread across Leigh’s face as he came through the door seemed to brighten the whole room.

“Y’all seem to be getting an early start.” he said as he walked to the recliner beside the bed.

“I wanted to catch her fresh.”  The therapist held out the hand that was not holding the block she’d just dislodged from the stack out to shake his.  “Hi!  My name is Trudy.  I’m helping Leigh work on her hand eye coordination this morning; though she’s beating me pretty badly, so I don’t think we’ll be needing to work anymore on that after this match.”

He didn’t have time to introduce himself before Leigh spoke up.  “J-just…s-s-sore…l-loser.” The words sounded alright as she spoke them, but they came a little slow which seemed to cause her to stutter them out.  She gestured between him and Trudy as she did introductions herself.  “T-T-Trudy…Russell; R-Russell…T-Trudy.”

Turning back to the game, Trudy placed her piece on top, and the stack started to sway.  Russ held his breath as Leigh used her index finger to take out a side piece third from the bottom row.  To his amazement, the unstable tower barely moved as she successfully removed it and placed it on top; her movements very slow.

She let out a ‘hmph’ sound when she was done and stuck her tongue out at him.

“What was that for?” he let his breath out as he asked, feigning offence.  “I didn’t say or do anything!”

She just gave him a stern look, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“I just didn’t want to breathe too hard and have them topple over.” he said smiling; still teasingly maintaining his innocence.

Trudy laughed and shook her head.  After she went, then Leigh again, the stack finally fell as Trudy tried to remove her piece.  “I don’t get it.  I just don’t get it.”  She kept repeating as she used the insert to stack the back up and then put them in the box.

When she was finished, Trudy looked at Russ.  “Would you like to learn some of the exercises that Leigh will have to work on as much as she can to improve her motor and speech skills?”

“Yeah.  That would be great.”

They spent the next half hour doing some speech exercises, and Russ could already tell a difference in the way she spoke.  It was still slow, but not as much stuttering.