Chapter Eighteen

 

When Sam walked into the hospital room the first thing he noticed were the beeping machines that recorded her heart beat, and all the vitals. He saw the oxygen mask on her face, and his heart went out to her. He saw how they had put compression tubes around her legs to keep her circulation moving. She looked so wired, and so tiny in the bed. He moved to the side of the bed and leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She didn't move, didn't stir.

He drug a chair up by her bed.

He wished he had showered and shaved, but in her condition, she'd never know.

"I'm here, Wendy, I'm here," he whispered as he kissed her lips once. "I never in a million years thought this would happen. Maybe I should have, but I didn't. I know you were scared. I know he hurt you. But everything is going to be okay now, Wendy. I promise. Everything is going to be fine. So wake up. I just want to see that beautiful smile of yours, hear your voice again," Sam said, moving her hair away from her face.

Her face was pale, and he wished he could see her eyes.

He took her hand in his and felt how cold it was, as it felt as though the life was draining from her. He squeezed her hand.

"I know you can hear me, somewhere, down deep you can hear me. I've read about people in comas, they can hear things all along. So I got a few things to tell you. First and foremost is how much I love you, Wendy. I want you to get well. I'd do anything for you, you have to know that. I gotta admit, I'm scared. I don't know how to deal with all of this alone. I'm trying, but I don't know how to reconcile it. All I know is that I saw him hurting you. I had to act. Forgive me. Wake up and tell me you forgive me. Please. I need you to wake up and forgive me," he cried. "I need you, Wendy. So much. I need you to show me how to live with this."

A tear fell, and then another and before long he found himself crying aloud.

"Please come back to me, Wendy. There's so much we need to talk about. So much I need to tell you."

 

~*~

 

George and Hank waited in the waiting room. They wanted to give Sam some time alone before they checked on her again.

"I don't know whether to call you Caleb or George." Hank laughed.

George glanced at him. "It don't much matter at this point. You can call me Dad if you like, ’cause I've already accepted you, Mike and Cade as sons-in-law and couldn't be happier about it. And I'd like to accept Sam in the family too, because he sure is a part of it."

Hank snickered. "You know you are in a world of trouble, don't you, with the girls….?"

George squirmed in the chair for a moment then looked at Hank.

"I figured as much. But all will be explained in good time. When I can get all of you home under the same roof and talk to you. I had a reason in the beginning for doing this, and for the most part, it worked. But I knew it was sort of a cruel joke on them. I hated doing it this way, but I couldn't figure out any other way of getting all their attention."

"You don't have to explain a thing to me. You are their father and you had their best interest at heart, I am sure. You brought them all home, didn't you?" Hank smiled.

George hung his head and then raised it with a smile. "I guess I did at that.

"I sure didn't think it would turn out this way though. But maybe my disguise helped in the long run. Who knows. You knows Hank, you go along thinking that a man has your back so long, you trust them and you give them what you think they deserve. And then something like this happens and you wonder how you could have misjudged it so badly. I had no idea Wade would go out of his head like that. And now he's hurt Cade, and most of all Wendy. His actions reflected on everyone in some way."

"He almost had you that night Sam jumped in the middle of things, you know."

"Yes sir, I owe that boy a lot. I owe all you boys a lot and things are going to be different from now on. I have learned a lot through this experience. I actually kind of liked playing Caleb, because I could talk to the girls and listen without them worrying what I was thinking. But I tell you Hank, sometimes you have to distance yourself from everything to understand. And I almost lost a lot too…" he said, his voice going soft as a tear threatened to spill over.

"She's gonna be alright, George. Sam won't dare let anything happen to her," Hank reassured him. "He's scared right now. He doesn't see much future in his life and that's why he was leaving. He felt he had nothing to offer her."

"You are mighty certain about things working out, aren't you? How come?"

"Because he feels for Wendy like I felt for Letty. I'd jump through fire for that woman. And Sam would do the same. He loves her. He really loves Wendy. Maybe it's a little strange how quickly they latched onto each other, but in my thinking, they needed each other and they were meant to be together. But I'm afraid he's got the low down cowboy blues." Hank shook his head.

"What is that?" George's brow shot upward.

"It's when a cowboy thinks he's got nothing to give a woman. It's when he don't feel he's good enough. Sam wants to marry Wendy, but he don't feel he can support her like he should. He was packing to leave the other night when he heard Wendy scream."

"You don't mean it."

"I watched him. He thought I was asleep, and I just about was, but I saw him packing."

"That's foolishness."

"Foolish or not, he was leaving. He loved her that much."

"Well, I'm going to set things straight around here once and for all. And then I might just live to a hundred."

Hank laughed. "I bet you would, out of pure cussedness."

George laughed.