Kirsten woke in the middle of the night and was unsure where she was. It looked like a hospital room, and she tried to remember how she’d gotten there. Her head felt like a jackhammer was trying to break through her skull, and her left forearm throbbed like a son of a bitch. The soft glow of the light behind her wasn’t soft enough, and it made her eyes feel like they were being jabbed with ice picks. She moaned from the pain, and someone grabbed her hand.
“Shh. I’m right here. Try to go back to sleep.”
Kirsten peeked her eyes open and saw a haggard looking Jordan standing next to her. “Where am I?”
Jordan stroked the top of her hand with her thumb. “You’re in the hospital. You were in a car accident last night.”
Kirsten was frightened. She tried to remember what had happened. Bits and pieces flashed through her mind—John coming over, giving him a kiss good-bye, seeing Jordan run away, following her in her car. The rest was pretty foggy. Her arm was so heavy. She used her right hand to feel the splint on her left arm. Her head pounded. Was she going to be okay?
She tried to produce some saliva to wet her mouth, so she could speak. “Oh, yeah, right. I remember now. Am I going to be okay?”
Tears trickled down Jordan’s cheeks as she nodded. “You have a concussion and a broken arm, but you will be fine.”
“My head hurts.” She shut her eyes again. The light in the room was too bright to keep them open.
“I know, but the doctor is giving you medicine to help with the pain.”
“Will you stay with me?” Please don’t leave me. I love you and want to spend my life with you.
“I promise I’ll never leave you again.”
Relief washed through her body, and she finally felt safe. Jordan would never leave her again. She drifted back to sleep.
Jordan pulled her chair closer, so she could hold Kirsten’s hand as she slept. She noticed some of the lines of stress leave Kirsten’s face as she fell back asleep. She would do everything in her power to make sure Kirsten had a full recovery. Then she would spend every day showing Kirsten how much she loved her. This woman was her life, and Jordan closed her eyes, convinced she was the luckiest person in the world to have Kirsten’s love.
Jordan startled when a hand gently shook her shoulder. She looked up to see Dr. Gaffney staring down at her. She rubbed her eyes, which felt like sandpaper, and her whole body was leaden. “Is something wrong?”
“I just wanted to come see how Kirsten was feeling.”
Jordan stood and pulled him away from the bed to avoid waking her. “She woke in the middle of the night and said she didn’t remember why she was in the hospital and that her head hurt.”
Dr. Gaffney nodded. “Amnesia can be a symptom of concussion. Her memory of the accident may come back, or it may not. We’ll just have to wait and see. Did she remember you?”
“Yes, she did.”
Dr. Gaffney placed his hand on Jordan’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “That’s good. I want to send her down to radiology again today to have another CT scan.”
“Why? Is she worse?”
“No, but I just want to make sure there is no delayed bleeding. As long as the CT is stable, and she’s feeling a little better tomorrow, I’ll send her home.”
“Okay, yeah, good. Thanks, Dr. Gaffney.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll go write the orders for the scan, and I’ll be back later to check on her.”
Jordan took Kirsten’s hand back in hers. She brought Kirsten’s hand to her mouth and kissed it, letting her lips linger on Kirsten’s skin. Kirsten’s eyes fluttered open, and Jordan regretted waking her. “Sorry, baby. How are you feeling?”
“My headache isn’t as bad, and I’m not quite as nauseous.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“He wants to send you for another CT scan to make sure everything is still good. He said if you’re feeling a little better tomorrow, he’ll discharge you.”
“That’s good. I just want to get into my own bed.” Kirsten’s voice sounded a little stronger.
“Actually, you’ll be getting into my bed. I’m bringing you home with me, so I can take care of you.”
Kirsten hesitated. “Are you sure you want to do that? I saw how angry you were when you left my house yesterday.”
Jordan’s heart clenched at the uncertainty in Kirsten’s words. She was the one that had made Kirsten doubt her, doubt them. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was an asshole to leave like I did. I saw you kissing John, and I thought you were getting back together with him. I should have trusted you, and I swear, Kirsten, I’ll never make that mistake again. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I can if you do one thing for me.”
Jordan cried silently. “Anything, baby.”
“Kiss me.”
She slowly moved to Kirsten’s lips and kissed her leisurely. When she pulled away, Kirsten cupped her cheek. “I love you, Jordan Roberts. I never want to go another day without you.”
Jordan’s heart swelled, and she beamed. She was positive she would never get tired of hearing those words. But she looked forward to finding out whether she was right about that. “I’ll give you forever, my love.”
A knock on the door interrupted further kissing. Jordan turned and smiled when she saw Brenda and Alex standing in the doorway. She waved them in, and Brenda went to Kirsten while Alex hugged Jordan.
Brenda held Kirsten’s hand. “How are you feeling, honey?”
“My head and arm are killing me, but I’m feeling a little better. The doc says I can go home tomorrow if my CT scan is normal.” Brenda looked at her questioningly. “He just wants to make sure there isn’t any bleeding.”
Alex placed a vase of flowers on Kirsten’s bedside table. “Is there anything we can do for you?”
“Yes, can you please take Jordan out of here for a while?”
“Kirsten, I’m fine. I—”
“Honey, you’ve been here all night. You need to go eat something and get some sleep.”
Alex put an arm around Jordan. “I’ll take her down to the cafeteria, but I doubt I’ll get her to leave here.”
“Thanks. Actually, why don’t the three of you go eat? I’m going to take a nap.”
Brenda and Alex kissed Kirsten good-bye and waited in the hall for Jordan. Jordan kissed Kirsten and said, “I’ll let the nurse know to call me if you need me. I’ll be back soon. I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too. I’ll see you soon.” Kirsten closed her eyes, and her breathing deepened.
Jordan, Brenda, and Alex headed to the cafeteria. Jordan noticed the gym bag hanging over Alex’s shoulder. “What’s with the bag?”
“I brought you a change of clothes and some toiletries. I thought you would stay here last night after Brenda called to tell me about Kirsten’s accident.”
“Thanks, Al, I really appreciate it.”
When they reached the cafeteria, Jordan perused her options and chose a sandwich even though she didn’t have much of an appetite and would have never left Kirsten’s side if Kirsten hadn’t kicked her out. She was picking at her food when she heard someone call her name.
“Jordan?”
She turned around and was stunned to see Anna, one of her study partners from physical therapy school, standing there. She hadn’t seen Anna since graduation because Anna had moved out of town to take a job in a hospital in San Diego, and they’d lost touch.
“Anna. What are you doing here?” She stood and embraced her.
“I moved back last year when a PT position opened up here. I did my last internship here and really loved it, but there weren’t any openings when I graduated. What are you doing here?”
“My partner was in a car accident last night, and she’s up on the neuro floor.” Anna’s look of concern touched her. “She’ll be okay, but she has a concussion and a broken arm. She kicked me out to get something to eat. Hey, you remember my best friend, Alex, right? And this is my partner’s best friend, Brenda. Guys, this is Anna. We went to PT school together.”
Anna shook hands with Brenda and Alex. “It’s good to see you all. Jordan, let me give you my number so we can catch up sometime.”
“I’d love to. Hey, I have a favor to ask. I’ve been here since last night. Can you get me into the locker room, so I can take a quick shower?”
“Sure, come with me.”
“Wait here, girls. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.” Jordan grabbed her bag and followed Anna to the locker room.
Jordan took the fastest shower in history, and when she returned to Kirsten’s room after she’d said her good-byes to Brenda and Alex, she found it empty. Jordan began to panic even though the doctor had told her he’d wanted Kirsten to get another scan. She hurried to the nurse’s station.
“Where’s Kirsten? Is everything okay?”
The nurse that had the morning shift looked up from a chart. “Oh, sure. She’s down in radiology. She should be back soon.”
Jordan went back to the room and sat in the chair. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a few minutes. A knock at the door woke her, and she opened her eyes to see a tall man standing in the doorway staring at her. She recognized him as the man she’d seen Kirsten kissing the day before, her soon-to-be-ex-husband, John.
Her insides twisted with jealousy. Even though Kirsten loved her, this was the man she had been married to. He had known Kirsten in an intimate way. Jordan wanted to punch him then throw him out of the hospital room, out of Kirsten’s life. You said you would be the woman that deserved Kirsten’s love, and that wouldn’t be the way she would want you to act. She sighed in resolve.
“May I help you?”
John stepped forward with flowers in his hand. “I’m looking for Kirsten Murphy.”
“She’s getting a CT scan right now, but she should be back soon.” Jordan stood and extended her hand. “I’m Jordan Roberts. You must be John.”
John appeared uncomfortable when she said her name, but he recovered quickly and shook her hand. “John Hennessy. How’s Kirsten doing?”
“She’s feeling better today. She has a concussion and a broken arm, but the doctor says she should be okay.”
“That’s good.”
An uncomfortable silence fell, which gave Jordan the opportunity to study the man before her. She had to hand it to John for how cool he was being. If she were in his position, she probably wouldn’t have been this nice. If she and Kirsten ever broke up, she couldn’t see herself shaking hands with the person that would be Kirsten’s new love. She hoped she would never have to test that theory.
John handed her the flowers he was holding. “I’d appreciate it if you would give Kirsten my well-wishes. I hope you know how lucky you are to have her in your life.”
She accepted the bouquet. “Believe me, I do. Are you sure you don’t want to wait for her?”
John shook his head. “No, I just wanted to see how she was doing. Take care of her, Jordan.”
“I will. It was good to finally meet you, John.”
Jordan sat back in the chair and just had to shake her head at the oddness of the past couple of days. She was physically and emotionally exhausted and vowed that when Kirsten was well, they were going away for a few days to relax. Some of her energy returned when Kirsten was wheeled back into the room.
“Hi, baby.”
“Hi. Why is your hair wet? And where did you get different clothes?”
Jordan sat next to Kirsten’s bed. “Alex brought me a change of clothes, and when we were in the cafeteria, I ran into an old friend from PT school. She works here now, and she let me into the locker room to take a shower.”
“I’m glad you got cleaned up. You weren’t looking too hot, Ms. Roberts.”
“I have some other news for you.”
“What’s that?”
“John came by to see you?”
Kirsten’s eyes widened, and she groaned. “Oh, God.”
She gave Kirsten a kiss. “It’s okay. He was very nice. He asked how you were doing, and I gave him the rundown. I hope that was okay.”
“Of course. We’re friendly to each other. I wonder how he found out though. Brenda must have called him.”
“I can see why you were with him for so long. He seems like a nice guy. He brought those flowers for you.” She pointed to the table.
“He is. When I’m feeling a little better, I’ll tell you what he said to me yesterday.”
“All right. Why don’t you close your eyes and rest for a while?”
“That sounds good. Will you be here when I wake up?”
“Of course. I’m not going anywhere.”
A few hours later, Kirsten and Jordan were talking quietly when Dr. Gaffney entered the room. “Well, Kirsten, your CT is normal. How are you feeling?”
“A little better. My headache is still there, but it’s not as bad as it was this morning. My eyes still hurt, but it’s more like pencil erasers poking me in the eyes rather than ice picks.”
Dr. Gaffney laughed. “Any more feelings of nausea?”
“No, and I gotta tell you, Doc, I’m more than a little hungry.”
Dr. Gaffney held his hands up in surrender. “All right, I’ll order you some food, but just some soup and crackers for now. If you’re able to tolerate that, we’ll try for a regular breakfast tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
“Anytime. I’ll check back with you tomorrow, and if you continue to improve, we’ll have you out of here by lunch.” Dr. Gaffney walked out.
Kirsten looked to Jordan and pointed her finger. “You need to go home and get some rest. I love you more than life and think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, but you look like shit.”
Jordan laughed and grabbed Kirsten’s finger. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go home when visiting hours are over and not a minute before. I just want to sit here and hold your hand while you sleep.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Roberts, but you have a deal.”
Jordan drove home that night thinking of how close she had come to losing Kirsten—not only from the accident, but from her own stupidity. She vowed to tell and show Kirsten every day how much she loved her. Hopefully, this would be the last night they would ever spend apart.