Chapter Ten

Matt sat doubled over on the waiting room sofa, his head resting on his crossed arms. If he sat like this, his stomach stopped the incessant somersaulting that left him wanting to puke.

What the hell was taking so long? Why hadn’t someone come out and told him something. Anything?

Matt closed his eyes to blot out the bland, anonymous colors of the waiting room. Its muted blues and greens were starting to wear on his nerves. He would have to speak to someone about changing that. They couldn’t have people sitting here feeling sick from the wall color.

And what was with that smell?

Five goddamned hours.

He’d gone from shock to tears, to anger and now resignation. Something must have gone very wrong for Taka to be taking so long.

They wouldn’t let him in. He’d already tried.

Sam, the chief of surgery, had almost called security. Said that Taka had enough to worry about without him in there distracting him. Taka snarled denial so savagely that Sam hadn’t argued and left the operating room without another word. Taka wasn’t letting anyone else touch her, and to hell with the fact he was supposed to be getting married tomorrow.

Sam had sat with Matt until not long ago, when a nurse had come to whisk him away to some other crisis downstairs. Just the company had been helpful, even though he hadn’t said a word.

In a way he was glad he’d been barred from entering the OR. He didn’t think he could handle seeing her lying there on the operating table like that, with who knew what injuries.

Matt had overheard a couple of nurses talking about her downstairs when he’d arrived—and they hadn’t seemed too optimistic about her chances. They’d stopped their conversation when they noticed him behind them.

Why hadn’t he picked her up himself instead of letting her get that cab? He’d let her talk him out of it. It was his fault she was in the cab in the first place.

He didn’t even want to consider the possibility of bad news. His mother was his constant, his touchstone. They’d always been close, but as he got older they had become friends more and more.

Thank God Taka had still been down there when she came in. From what he’d heard from the nurses, she would have died then and there if he hadn’t been. If there was any chance she’d live, he was it.

The slight squeak of the OR doors brought his head up. Taka stood still, his head bowed. The green doors swung shut behind him.

Taka’s hand went to his face, his fingers working the knots out of his forehead. He shook so badly that Matt stood and took a step toward him, worried he’d collapse. The scrubs were gone, discarded in the bin through the doors behind him. Blood spattered his street clothes.

Gabby’s blood.

Matt’s stomach twisted into tight knots when Taka’s shoulders dropped and he slumped against the wall. He drew a shaky breath and both hands went to his face.

Oh God, no.

Maybe he didn’t want to hear what his friend had to say, after all. What if she hadn’t made it? Matt wrapped his arms around himself and took a hesitant step toward his friend.

“Takeshi?”

Taka glanced up. The momentary distress in his eyes was enough to stop Matt’s heart. Then he breathed deeply, and his face relaxed, a half-smile brightening his weary eyes.

“I’m going to have a serious talk with that woman when she wakes up, scaring me like this,” he said.

Relief surged through him so intense he nearly couldn’t speak. “She’s okay? Really okay?” Matt whispered.

Taka nodded, the action slowed by obvious fatigue. “You didn’t think I’d let her get away from me that easily, did you? She—”

His words were cut off abruptly as Matt grabbed him in a bear hug and spun him around. “I could kiss you, I really could. Fuck it. I will.” Matt grabbed his face between his hands and planted a huge kiss on his mouth.

“Ergh! Get off me! That’s plain nasty, man.” Taka stepped back and made a show of wiping his face. His tired smile reinforced Matt’s belief Gabby would be okay.

Matt struggled to hold tight to his emotions, although he knew Taka wouldn’t care if he cried like a baby. “How can I ever thank you?”

Taka shook his head. “Don’t.” He glanced at him, a hint of his normal grin emerging from behind the exhaustion. “You do realize I did this for purely selfish reasons, right?”

“I don’t care what your reasons were, as long as she’s alive. But I mean it. Thank you.”

Takeshi nodded, a yawn making him look even more tired. “I need sleep. Real bad. I’m going to go find a shower. Have you eaten?”

Matt shook his head.

“I’ll see you in about half an hour at the canteen. You can buy me a burger before I pass out and end up in here myself.” Taka turned to go.

“Wait. Can I see her? Where do you have her?”

“She’s in ICU in an induced coma. She has some head trauma.” He held up his hand as Matt tried to interrupt. “Just some cuts and swelling—nothing too dangerous. We did it as a precaution so we could keep an eye on her brain, and her body needs some time to recover without interruptions. But she’s breathing well. I’ll have to keep her that way for a few days, maybe a week. You can check it all out yourself. She’s got some pretty heavy stuff running through her, Matt. She was really messed up inside. The abdominal concussive injuries from the rollover… I’m glad she had her seatbelt on. If she hadn’t, we’d be standing in front of the morgue.”

Matt looked closer at Taka. Something in his voice wasn’t right. He glanced away to avoid Matt’s eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Taka rubbed his face again. “Not really. But I will be. She’ll be okay, that’s the main thing.” He looked up and stared at Matt, visibly struggling to keep it together. “I thought I’d lost her. She crashed twice. I couldn’t find the bleed. Can you imagine how it feels to have your hands buried inside the woman you love, and not know what the hell to do to stop her bleeding to death?”

Matt stopped dead. Taka’s words echoed around his head. “What did you just say?”

Taka leant his head back against the wall and sighed. “You wanted to know what was going on, why I was marrying Monique?” He gestured above him. “The answer’s up there. In ICU.”

“I don’t understand. How in hell has marrying that woman got anything to do with Gabby?”

Taka turned a suddenly angry gaze on him. “Because I’d lost her. She’s marrying Brett. Monique asked—again. I didn’t give a crap anymore, so I said yes. It’s not like Monique loves me. Her mother thought we’d be a good match.” He shrugged. “We get on well. But it wouldn’t have worked.”

Matt’s mind spun. Taka still loved Gabby. He’d had no idea. He’d known there was something odd about this stupid wedding. He should’ve pushed harder, should’ve insisted Taka tell him the truth.

“You said ‘was’. Why?”

Taka let out a humorless laugh. He rubbed his arm, rotating his stiff shoulder, his expression shutting down. “There isn’t going to be a wedding, that’s why. I want more than that. I’m not leaving here until Gabby opens her eyes and says my name.”

Yes! Not the way he’d have liked for this to happen, but he’d take any delay he could get. “And after that? What then?”

A light entered Taka’s eyes he hadn’t seen in a very long time, not since they were teenagers.

“Then, it’s game on. She mentioned once, after our graduation, that thirty would be the youngest age she’d consider me. That I’d be too young until then, and not to mention it again until I was. I’m thirty in seven weeks.” He pushed off the wall, a half smile twisting his mouth. “Brett’s not getting her without one hell of a fight.”