Ties That Bind (26 page)

“Can I see my friends?” Kate wondered.

“Certainly,” the doctor turned his attention
to Gavin. “Try to keep the number of guests at any given time
limited, and don’t let them wear her out too much.”

Gavin nodded quietly.

“We’ll be checking in every couple of hours.
See if you can eat something light. Once you’re keeping food down,
we can remove one of the IVs. Let us know if anything changes at
all.”

“Thank you,” Gavin nodded again.

“Thank you,” Kate whispered, her eyes meeting
Gavin’s. Neither moved, seemingly holding a conversation without
words.

“Kate, oh thank God you’re awake,” Jessica
was the first through the door.

“Oh you poor thing,” Liz was right on her
heels.

“Hey guys,” Kate brightened at the sight of
her two best friends. “Sorry for all of the drama.”

“Give me a break,” Jessica took her free
hand. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Go get something to eat, Gavin,” Liz wedged
in between Kate and Gavin. “You look awful.”

“You really do look like you could use a
break,” Kate agreed when Gavin went to protest. “I’ll still be here
when you get back.”

“Very funny,” he rolled his eyes, but
conceded. “I’ll be right back. Don’t let her try to move or get
worked up.”

“They’ll be model babysitters,” Kate promised
on their behalf.

“We were trying to listen from the hall,” Liz
admitted. “Stupid HIPAA, the doctors wouldn’t talk to us.”

“Are you okay?” Jessica fretted.

“Yeah, I think so.” Kate filled them in on
the prognosis so far. Other than the swelling on her spine, Kate
had escaped the accident with only a few cracked ribs and her fair
share of cuts and bruises. She was actually very lucky.

“Can we do anything?”

“Yes, tell me about you. I don’t want to
think about this anymore. How are you feeling Jessica? How’s
married life, Liz? When do you leave for your honeymoon?”

“I feel fine,” Jessica assured her. “Tired,
hungry, but fine.”

“We postponed our trip for a little while,”
Liz tried to play it down, but Kate knew why.

“Please go. Promise me you’ll call your
travel agent and reschedule it right away. I’m so sorry to disrupt
your plans.”

“Would you stop apologizing?” Liz was
exasperated. “Derrick and I don’t mind at all. We’ll go once you’re
home. We want to wait.”

“Hey, can we have a turn?” Tara poked her
head through the door. “Joan’s out here, too.”

“Okay, okay,” Jessica frowned. “We’ll be back
tomorrow. We’ll chase Gavin home to shower and change.”

“Please do,” Kate smiled. Tara and Joan
assumed the positions that had been held by Jessica and Liz. Gavin
resumed his sentry position. Gaston stopped by and Joan
relinquished her spot. Jack poked his head in, and Gaston gave up
his place. As touched as Kate was by their concern, she was also
exhausted. Before she could voice the need, Gavin shooed everyone
from the room and pulled up a chair so he could hold her hand as
she slept.

“Kate?”

“Hmmm?”

“Don’t sleep too long, okay?” He seemed so
hesitant, so vulnerable when he asked it nearly broke Kate’s
heart.

“Not too long,” she promised, her eyelids
sinking shut.

Kate didn’t know how long she slept, but she
was vaguely aware of the concern in Gavin’s voice as he instructed
someone to just leave the broth on the table.

“Did I sleep too long?” Kate squeezed his
hand to let him know she was awake.

“I just worry too much,” he admitted with a
grin.

“You should take care of yourself, too. Have
you slept at all since this happened?”

“A little,” he hedged.

“Eaten?”

“Not really,” he shrugged.

“If I eat, will you?”

“Stop worrying about me.”

“No.”

“Fine, I’ll eat. You first,” Gavin raised her
bed the slight amount allowed by the doctor and positioned the tray
so he could feed her a spoonful of broth.

“Ugh, that’s awful.” Kate swallowed the
tasteless brown water.

“I’ll smuggle you in a cheeseburger just as
soon as I can,” he promised with a laugh.

“Gavin,” Kate grew serious.

“Yes love?”

“Did you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“When he had me in the car, and the police
were behind us, I was pretty sure I was going to die. I just
thought over and over how much I loved you. I wanted you to know
that, more than anything. Could you feel how much I was loving you
at that moment?”

“Mostly I felt terror, helpless terror,” he
closed his eyes briefly as if trying to ward off the memory. “But
yes, I suppose I did feel it.”

“Good,” she smiled, satisfied. “I guess I’d
better finish the brown water if that’s what the doctor says I
need.”

“I guess so.”

Time lost all meaning for Kate. Sometimes the
blinds were open and sunlight poured in. Sometimes she could see
the moon peeking through. People came and went. She drifted in and
out of sleep. Gavin did finally leave to shower and eat a real
meal. At least, he promised he would eat while he was gone. He
refused to sleep anywhere but the recliner in Kate’s room. Mostly
he sat and watched her breathe. Of course, that’s mostly what she
did, too.

She dreaded the sleep, it almost always
brought nightmares. She was afraid one of these times she’d close
her eyes and have to fight the blackness to return to him. He
seemed to share her fear, even if neither of them voiced it.

“You poor man,” Kate stroked his cheek and
frowned. He looked so very tired, like he’d lived 100 lifetimes in
the past week. “What was it like for you, once I walked back down
those stairs?”

“I told you—terrifying,” he gave her an odd
smile. “Do you really want to talk about this?”

“I want to know,” she nodded. “All of it. Why
were the police following us? Justin blamed you. I wondered if it
was you, or just his crazy driving. It’s all so…disjointed in my
mind.”

“Ty went nuts right after you were out of
sight.”

“I heard him.”

“I think half of San Francisco heard him. It
took forever to get his leash on. He dragged me down the stairs
once I did, despite his training collar. But you were gone. The car
was gone. Ty found the blood on the sidewalk.”

“I’m so sorry,” she caressed his face with
her hand. He caught her hand and kissed it.

“Stop apologizing. I called the police. The
car had GPS, so finding you wasn’t a problem. The police tried to
keep their distance; they didn’t want to push him. He must have
been completely out of his head by that point.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” Kate agreed. “It
all seemed so odd, like I was watching a movie in slow motion or
something. I felt so… detached from it all. Did you say the police
officer who saved me is here?”

“John? He’s just a few rooms down. He asks
about you every day.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“I visit him when they chase me out of
here.”

“You’re a good man.”

“I owe him my world,” Gavin seemed to blush
at that.

“I’d like to meet him. To thank him.”

“He’d like that.”

“How badly was he hurt?’

“He broke his arm in the fall. His back was
burned pretty badly. It’s all healing really well, though.”

“Does he have a family?”

“A wife and two kids,” Gavin nodded. They sat
in silence for a moment, contemplating all that John McKinsey had
risked to save Kate. She was very thankful that there were men like
John McKinsey in the world, and she wondered if she could ever
properly convey her gratitude to him.

When she finally got to meet her hero face to
face, the first thing she noticed was the eyes. They were the same
kind, warm brown eyes that had calmed her the night of the
accident. He was a little shy of six feet tall with a somewhat
stocky build and light brown hair. By all accounts, he was an
average guy. But to Kate, he was Hercules, Spider-Man and Superman
all rolled into one.

“Officer McKinsey,” Kate brightened the
moment he walked into the room.

“Call me John, please,” he stood awkwardly at
her feet.

“Thank you seems too insignificant to
suffice,” she searched for the words.

“Your fiancé here has been thanking me for
the past two weeks,” he seemed to blush under the attention. “I’m
just glad you pulled through okay.”

“Getting there,” Kate smiled. “How are you?
Healing well, I hope?”

“I get to blow this popsicle stand today, in
fact,” he smiled at the thought. “But I’d like to check in on you
again, if that’s okay.”

“I’d like that,” she nodded.

“Be sure to tell Vicky and the kids hello for
us,” Gavin shook John’s hand and walked him to the door.

“Vicky and the kids?” Kate smirked when they
were alone. “How much time have you been spending with him?”

“A lot,” Gavin admitted. “I think you’ll like
Vicky.”

“What if she hates me, for putting her
husband in danger?”

“You didn’t do this, Justin did,” he reminded
her again.

“There’s another MRI scheduled for tomorrow,”
Kate changed the subject.

“I know,” he nodded.

“Of course you do,” Kate smiled.

“Still nothing?” His eyes seemed sad.

“Still nothing,” she sighed.

Kate was rarely lonely; there was always a
steady stream of loved ones in and out of her room. But that didn’t
stop her from being restless. The MRI showed the swelling was going
down. The doctor reassured them that soon they would know one way
or the other. Kate begged Gavin to bring her laptop. He’d tried to
argue with her, but relented when tears of frustration brimmed.

He couldn’t seem to deny her anything. Kate
often wondered why. She had nothing to give, nothing of value to
bring to the table. Their relationship had been mystifying enough
to her as it was. She couldn’t begin to fathom why he was so
devoted now. The look he gave her when she finally asked him about
it was one of complete disbelief.

“Why are you here?” She rubbed her temple in
frustration.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I won’t be mad if you leave. No one would
blame you.”

“Did they overmedicate you again?” He
growled.

“Stop it, I’m serious.”

“No, Kate. You stop it. When will you figure
out that I love you—not something that you can do for me? I love
you, Kate.”

“But I can’t do anything now. I don’t even
get good wireless reception here. I can’t even do my job. I don’t
know if my light bill’s been paid. I can’t feed myself because the
stupid doctor won’t let me sit up. I’m just a big fat drain—on you,
on Jessica and Liz, on Joan… What if we can’t have kids because of
me? You want kids.”

“I don’t want any random kids, though Kate. I
want kids with you. I want a little girl whose nose wrinkles when
she laughs, just like yours. I want a little boy with your tenacity
and those uncanny green eyes. I want a kid that’s smart and funny
and that has a big heart.”

“Liz is smart and funny and has a big heart,”
Kate pointed out.

“Liz is taken,” Gavin reminded her. “Besides,
her nose doesn’t wrinkle when she laughs.”

“Jessica’s does. And she has the biggest
heart of anyone I know.”

“Yeah, well neither of them are old or
insane, and I happen to like those qualities, too.”

“Now you’re just being mean.”

“I just wish you’d get it. You are exactly
and perfectly the woman I love. I’m sorry you’re in a situation
beyond your control, but you’re just going to have to trust that
I’ll love you through it. And you know—you can control how you
handle this. The Kate I love wouldn’t just let this roll right over
her. She’d grab this mess by the tail and whip it into shape.”

Tears filled her eyes and she set her jaw
petulantly. What did he know? She couldn’t even roll over to
dismiss him. She just laid there like a useless lump with a set jaw
and an angry glare.

“Fine. Be angry. But you know I’m right. I’m
going to walk our dog and get a shower. I’ll be back later,” he
kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the room, leaving Kate
alone for the first time since waking up. That left her with two
choices. Sleep or cry. She opted to try to sleep. Her mind was in
too much turmoil to accomplish that so she wound up lying there,
eyes closed and memories of happier days with Gavin replaying in a
mental movie reel.

She heard Jack talking to a nurse before he
entered the room. She debated keeping up the pretense of sleep but
decided it would just feel weird.

“Hey Jack,” she gave him a tired smile.

“Hey sweetie,” he tossed a package at her.
“Brought you something.”

Kate caught the little pink package easily,
her curiosity piqued. “What’s this?”

“Open it,” he seemed pleased with himself.
Kate obliged, a genuine smile playing her lips when she did.

“A new Blackberry.”

“Liz mentioned that yours went up in flames
with Gavin’s Audi. And that your laptop doesn’t like the hospital
so much.”

“Thank you,” Kate’s grateful gaze met his.
“Thank you so much, Jack.”

“Do you think you’ll ever want to call me
Dad?” He asked the question so quietly, Kate wondered at first if
she’d heard him correctly.

“I’ve never really thought about it. To be
honest, I’m still not entirely used to you not scowling at me.”

“That one hit me where I live,” he started to
scowl then caught himself. “But I guess I’m due a few of
those.”

“I’m not trying to be mean. Just honest,”
Kate softened. “You know, I bet we’ll get there. Just give it
time.”

“Forget I mentioned it.”

“No, don’t say that. I want you to tell me
what you’re thinking. How will we ever get past the weird if we’re
not honest?”

“Good point,” he patted her foot through the
blanket. Kate frowned. He instantly tensed. “Are you okay?”