Saving Each Other (BWWM Romance) (22 page)

“Faith, I’ve been thinking about this Cynthia woman.”

“Yes, me too, if they are getting married it seems she would at least show up when he almost dies. But then that’s just my opinion.”

“I agree, dear, wholeheartedly. As a matter of fact I think she is bad news, solely out for his money. What she doesn’t realize is that he is going to lose it all.” She gave Faith a sad look. “Has he told you about the will?”

“Yes, he told me.” Faith grew silent as she spoke. “But he won’t lose everything, Mrs. Robinson.”

“You seem so sure, sweetheart, but the rules were very clear.”

“He won’t lose everything because I'm pregnant, Mrs. Robinson. I just found out recently.” She said so sheepishly. “He will have an heir.”

“Oh, well now, well that does change things now doesn’t it? Well now…have you told him?”

“No…I wasn’t sure what to do.”

“Oh, my dear, I’ll be there every step of the way I assure you.” She felt her arms envelope her and she smiled up at her.

The next day the sun was shining brightly. Maybe she would see him that day. She could only hope.

Chapter 14

“He is awake, dear…he is awake and he is asking for you.” Faith looked up and noticed the nurse was talking to her...

“Me?” Faith stood and moved until they stopped in front of a large oak door with his name scribbled on the dry erase board. She was frozen to the spot. She mentally could see him as she had last seen him. Covered in blood and unresponsive, he had gone limp in her arms. She closed her eyes and pushed open the doors.

No matter what Faith had expected, the image of Cooper laying there covered in wires made her catch her breath. He looked fragile and thin. So thin. This was not the Cooper she had known. He was sleeping, a side effect of the medication. The doctors were removing him from it slowly and he would be doing a lot of sleeping for the foreseeable future. Faith moved over towards the bed, tears filling her eyes. She should have been in there or somehow should have stopped it. If only…She knew it was no good, God puts obstacles in our way every day. The only thing about them that was certain was that they make us stronger. She reached out to touch his hand. She did it gently as to not wake him but his eyes fluttered open.

“Faith.” His voice sounded like gravel but he cleared his throat which helped.“I’m so glad you’re here. Where have you been, I’ve been asking for you?” He grimaced as he moved his arm across the bed.

“Cooper, you’ve been asleep all this time. Up until an hour ago you hadn’t moved. Your mother was here earlier and she said you asked for me.” Faith gave him a smile.

“My mother.” Cooper frowned.

“Faith, what happened and why on earth is my mother here?” He tried to raise his arm but it refused to work. “I remember something about being hurt and getting here, you were with me.” He looked up at her sharply.

“Yes, I rode with you here. You’re at Memorial Hospital. There was an intruder and you were shot.” She paused so he could let that sink in. “The wound is delicate and you were moving around so much so the doctors put you in a medically induced coma until today. Your family is all here, they are so worried about you.” She folded her hands in her lap.

“My whole family…so the intruder shot me?” He put his hand over his eyes. “What about…what about you?” He tried to sit up but couldn’t.

“We are fine, Cooper.” She stood over him trying to calm him. “Everyone is fine, we came by ambulance the night it happened. You’re lucky I was there, if not you would have lost more blood and you could have died, Cooper.”

Cooper’s right arm still covered his face but his left hand slowly made its way towards her. She put her hand in his and reveled in the way they fit together so well.

“I owe you my life, Faith, if not for you…” He moved his arm down and looked over at her.

“You have a special place in my heart, Faith, I’ve been such a fool. I was so closed off I couldn’t see what wonderful things I had right in front of me.” He ran his thumb over her wrist.

“People take life for granted, they have no idea what it’s like to actually lose someone. I’ve been shutting it out for so long. Until you.” He smiled at her.

“I know how hard it is to let things go, Cooper, I wish my parents had lived long enough to see me become something. They were unhappy with each other but I’d like to think they would be proud of me.” She placed her other hand over his.

“What happened to them?”he asked her.

“They were coming home from a convention, my father was always going to them, and they were simply hit by another car, a drunk driver.”

“I’m sorry, Faith.” He whispered it to her. “They would be proud, Faith, I’m sure of that. How long have I been out?” He was starting to panic at the weight of his legs. He couldn’t move at all, no matter what he tried.

“Two weeks.”

“Two weeks!!” He was starting to turn red he was so upset. “Why so long, there are so many things I need to do!” He tried to raise off the bed.

“Cooper, please calm down. You have to be careful to get your rest and recover.” She smiled at him.

“I can’t calm down, Faith, I have a business to run and things to get done.” He carried a look of worry on his face.

It was then that the door of his room burst open and Cynthia Wilson entered in a flurry of red and white feathers.

“Cooper, darling.” She exaggerated each syllable. “I’ve been so worried and I was stuck up there in town and I couldn’t get away. I am so sorry, darling, you understand don’t you?” She batted her obviously fake eyelashes at him.

It was then she noticed Faith standing there.

“Faith.” She simply said her name and nodded at her. She immediately went back to Cooper.

“I can’t believe someone would hurt you, Cooper, I just can’t imagine.” She put her hand on her chest in shock. “How have you been, are you feeling better yet?”

“Actually, Cooper’s been in a coma until today, if you remember I called you about it.” Faith couldn’t resist saying something. The over exaggeration with Cynthia Wilson was more than she could handle today.

“Of course I do, Miss Parks, I was simply asking how Cooper feels. Perhaps you could give us a little privacy?” She turned back to Cooper.

Cooper shot Faith an apologetic look but she could see a half smile on his face.

Faith left the room, quietly fuming. She headed back into the lobby room where Mrs. Robinson was tapping her foot on the floor and her face was red.

“…That woman, there is no way, no way at all.” She huffed and turned towards Faith as she saw her coming.

“Mrs. Robinson, what’s wrong?” Faith could tell something bad had gone on and the sparks in her eyes were something fierce.

“That woman…that Cynthia Wilson. That’s what happened. When I told Cooper he needed to find a good woman to love and someone to help him create an heir, I in no way meant some sassy, self-righteous snotty bimbo like that.” She said this with her voice raising one octave at a time as she went.

“She is an interesting character.” Faith could think of nothing else to say to her remarks.

“I’d say far more than just interesting. I won’t believe for a moment that that woman will marry into our family.”

It wasn’t long before Cynthia made her way back into the room.

“How ridiculous to have to get some sleep when it’s so early already. You would think they just wanted to get rid of me. I mean, never have I been treated so rudely.” She quickly crossed her arms and looked around the room for support, which she didn’t get.

As she started to leave, Mrs. Robinson stopped her. “Where are you going, Miss Wilson, I’m sure Cooper will want to see you later after he wakes up?”

A sour look quickly passed over Cynthia’s face. “I am going to the hotel, I have a tremendous amount of work to do and I’m not sure when I can come back.” She glanced around for her things.

As she was leaving, she paused at Faith. “Do tell Cooper I’ll be back, dear.” She smiled her fake smile and exited the room leaving Faith speechless and Mrs. Robinson ready to explode.

“Can you believe the nerve of that woman…?” Mrs. Robinson trailed off as she left the room back towards the nurse’s desk.

“She certainly has her opinions about people. This time I’m inclined to agree with her.” Faith couldn’t help but smile.

Chapter 15

“Faith, dear.” Mrs. Robinson found her in the dining room. “Cooper sent us home to find you. He wants to know if you can come sit with him tonight.”

“Of course I’ll go, I’m not sure what he wants to talk to me about, but I’ll certainly go.” Faith was thrilled Cooper wanted her to come sit with him. She started to head for the door.

“Wait dear, Cooper is having dinner and in with the doctors. He said you would come back right away but I was supposed to make sure you eat first.” She smiled at Faith, she had started to rush to him just as he had said. They obviously had feelings for each other but they were so stubborn.

“Oh...okay.” Faith put her keys back into her purse and was surprised at how Cooper had predicted her behavior. She headed back into the dining room with Mrs. Robinson. How did Cooper know what she would do anyway?

She knew it was wrong to love someone who was promised to someone else, but she did. As they all made their way to the dining room where dinner was being set out for the family, Faith thought about Mrs. Robinson’s words.

“Yes, the police said the focus was on the staff and the guards. They were the only ones here.”

“Was there anything unusual that night? Anything you did differently that you can think of?” “Not really, we had dinner the three of us and then Cooper said he wanted to talk to me. So I met him in the office and he gave me…” Faith stopped short.

“Gave you what?” Everyone seemed interested now.

Faith stopped before she could speak more.

“I guess I should be going, he wants to talk to me about some things I guess.” She waved at the two guards she passed on her way. She drove in silence to the hospital, thinking about Cooper. She was happy he was going to be okay. She also was anxious to know what he wanted to talk to her about.

She pulled into the hospital, made her way inside and up the elevator to the third floor. She met the nurse at the station.

“You must be Faith. Mr. Robinson has everything set up in his room. Have a great night, and if you need anything let us know. We will be in and out a few times but we will try to keep it minimal.” She rushed off in a hurry towards a room with an alarm going off.

Faith stood there for a second longer and made her way around the long corridor to Cooper’s room. What she found was a surprise. The room had been rearranged so that beside Cooper’s bed was another bed for guests. Lower to the floor and moveable, it was more of a chair with legs. On it were pillows and a blanket. There was a table in the room with glasses and some sparkling cider. Cooper was in the bed, flipping through a huge stack of papers on his lap. He looked better, some of the pink having returned to his cheeks. He would stop every few moments and use a red sharpie to mark through something and had a pen in his mouth. His hair was longer, falling over his temple and he had a substantial beard growing which gave him a rugged and handsome look. He was gorgeous…and engaged. Faith took a deep breath and walked in the room.

He looked up quickly. “Faith, good, you’re here.” He smiled up at her brilliantly.

“Yes, your mother told me you wanted to talk, and asked if I could stay with you this evening.” Faith hung her jacket on the hook by the bathroom and made her way over to his bed.

He gestured to the makeshift bed. “That’s for you, I know it’s nothing fancy but I wanted you to be comfortable.” He smiled.

“It’s lovely, Cooper, thank you.” She sat on the chair next to him..

“How is mother doing? I worry for her so much being in here.” He looked at her intently.

Cooper tightened his hold on Faiths hand.

Before she could answer, the nurse came in to give Cooper his medication and take his vitals. Faith watched Cooper for a moment. What was that all about her wondered? The nurse scurried around and Faith made sure to stay out of her way.

After the nurse left, Cooper changed the subject.

“Tell me about you growing up, Faith.” He watched her.

Faith had been unprepared for that. Growing up? She thought for a moment before she said anything.