Life in Fusion (35 page)

here as early as tomorrow.”

“Hear that baby? I’m going to walk again.” I was going for

melodrama, but I was beginning to wear down. “If I weren’t so

slutty, this entire incident could be turned into an after school

special about driving while using cell phones.”

“I’ll want to refer you to physical and occupational therapy,”

the doctor said, “have them evaluate you to see what, if any,

continuing treatments they think you’ll need. But you look fit. If

you work out regularly you’re more likely to bounce back quickly.”

“Ha.” I nodded, my lip curling up from my neck pain. “I’m

not unfit after all.”

“Will you be quiet,” Wade said, shaking his head. “You’ll wear

yourself out.”

The doc asked Wade if I normally talked this much and I

scowled, thinking everyone’s a critic.

Dr. Richards turned toward the door. We followed his sight

line and there was Phillip, standing in the doorway in his blue

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257

scrubs. Donny sort of groaned.

I was just about to tell him to beat it when Dr. Richards said,

“I’m with a patient now, I don’t have time to talk to you.”

There was coldness in the tone of his voice and I realized

they were involved, or had been, at any rate. I was pissed for

about two seconds, realizing this was the guy Phillip had likely

been seeing behind my back. I quickly conceded, as I didn’t really

give a damn anymore. Phillip was someone else’s problem.

“How’s the patient?” Phillip asked. Not coming any closer,

having taken note of Wade’s body language.

Dr. Richards started flipping through the chart, then looked

down at me. He smirked, realizing I was the ex. “Why do I get the

feeling he’s in this bed because of you?” he asked glancing over

the chart at Phillip.

I squeezed Wade’s hand when I felt he was about to throw

in his two cents. “Hey buddy, you’re supposed to be paying

attention to
me
.”

Wade smiled, turning his back on Phillip and kissing the palm

of my hand. “Sorry, sexy.”

“Well,” Phillip started, “just wanted to see for myself that you

were alright, Boone.”

“He’s great,” Richards said, leering at Phillip. “They just got

engaged.”

“Oh.” Phillip nodded. “Congratulations.”

“This is better than TV,” I said, wondering what Dr. Richards

was going to say next. “Gives a whole new meaning to doctors

without borders.”

“Would you mind closing the door on your way out?” Richards

asked, likely further irritated by my commentary.

Phillip nodded, pushing his body away from the door jamb

he’d been leaning against. “Call you later?”

Richards exhaled. “Whatever.”

He turned back to me, and the chart he was holding, as Phillip

258 Ethan Day

pulled the door closed.

The doc’s face scrunched up, and he seemed slightly

uncomfortable. “Sorry about that.”

“So my own doctor is the other woman?” I asked, feeling a

little tired. “This is just like one of those old Susan Hayward

melodramas. The man who stole my man saves my life.”

Wade lightly tapped my arm. “I’m your man, thank you very

much.”

“In real life, yeah…but for the screenplay it’d be more

dramatic if I’m all alone.”

Dr. Richards was now laughing. “Does he ever stop?”

“No.” Wade shook his head. “He even talks in his sleep.”

My mouth fell open, completely disgusted. I couldn’t hold

back a yawn.

“Must make it difficult to sleep?” the doctor asked.

“Not really.” Wade glanced down at me, all sweet and serious.

“I’ve gotten used to the sound of his voice. I think I’d kinda miss

it if he went away.”

I felt my eyes welling up again. I smiled at him, afraid I might

start to cry if I opened my big fat mouth.

“That’s nice,” the doctor said.

Wade peeked over at him. “That was partially a hint for you to

not let anything happen to him.”

Dr. Richards went around the bed and reached over, patting

Wade on the shoulder. He headed toward the door. “Heard it

loud and clear, Walker. Keep that one quiet.” He pointed at me

before turning to Donny. “You can go ahead and push the meds.”

He waved at me before exiting the room.

Wade sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, as if attempting

to finally allow the relief in. I wanted to reach over and touch his

face, run my fingers through his hair. Poor guy was completely

exhausted and it showed all across his face.

I assumed the doctor allowed everyone to come back in two

Life in fusion
259

or three at a time for short visits. Either that or the twins were

sneaking them in, like human contraband. Mom and Dad were

first; luckily Dixie had settled herself, having taken the time to

touch up her make-up. I knew at some point I’d catch hell for

creating the situation that led to a former Ms. Texas looking the

way she had in public.

The vanity hadn’t fallen far from the tree considering I was

still trying to figure out a way to ask for a mirror without coming

off sounding like a vapid, shell of a human being. I could feel the

morphine kicking in as the achiness throughout my body began

to fade. Despite my mangler comment sounding like a joke, I’d

been half serious when I asked.

I was shocked to hear my mother commenting about all the

blood. Wade mentioned that head wounds can bleed like a son of

a bitch. Rocky kept interrupting Dixie’s ramblings by reiterating

how torn up Wade had been. Each time she got the conversation

turned back to how it had affected her, Rocky would ruin it by

mentioning the way Wade had been like a caged animal in the

waiting room or that he’d practically worn a path in the linoleum

pacing back and forth. It was endearingly funny, as it was

definitely pissing her off, but I refused to laugh again, recalling

how it had hurt earlier.

“Honey, we should let the boy rest,” Rocky finally said.

“The little bastard gave me a whole new set of wrinkles

tonight,” she said, sarcastically, only to frown when it became

evident Rocky wasn’t going to throw in the towel on this one.

“Oh all right. Guess I’ll have to save my torture for when they

release you from the hospital.”

She seemed very young to me for a moment, as she stood

over me, staring down—or maybe just more fragile. Her fingers

brushed over the left side of my face. That touch was still so

familiar to me, even after all the time that had passed since I’d last

felt it. Within an instant, I was once again a child, sick with a cold

or down with the flu, with my mommy hovering at my side. It

took everything I had not to break down right there, but I didn’t

want her to worry about me any more than she already had.

260 Ethan Day

It was quite apparent by the physical appearance of everyone

around me that they’d all done enough fretting.

“Don’t you worry,” Wade said, as if he knew exactly when to

intervene. “I’m not leaving his side tonight.”

Dixie nodded. “Well, you call if you need anything at all, you

hear me?”

“Yes ma’am,” Wade said, smiling at her.

“We’ll see you in the morning, kiddo,” Rocky said, tugging on

my mother’s arm.

“Night Dad, sorry again for all this.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” He winked at me. “You’re okay

and that’s all that matters now.”

“I mean anything at all, now.” Dixie had Wade pinned under

her laser beam “or else” gaze.

“I promise, Dixie.”

She rolled her eyes at Wade before walking up to him and

throwing her arms around his neck. I thought she might squeeze

the life out of him, which would be a feat unto itself.

“You call me ‘Mom’ from here on out you understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” Wade said.

“Thank you for loving my boy.”

She’d whispered that last comment, but I’d picked up on it

anyway. They finally let go of one another and Mom carefully

reached over and rubbed my leg, like she was afraid I might

shatter at any moment.

Wade sat down once again after my parents departed.

“You look tired, baby. You should go home and rest.”

Wade laughed, like it was an absurd thing for me to say.

“I never wanted to see this joint from this perspective.” I

glanced around the room, intensely disliking the fact that I was

a patient.

“You scared the hell outta me, Boone.” Wade scooted his

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261

chair closer to the bed. He reached through the guard rails and

took my hand in his. “I nearly got arrested.”

“For what?” I asked, wondering what in the heck he’d been

up to while I was in and out.

“Overheard them releasing the guy who hit you. He was

asking about your condition.” Wade lowered his head. “I would

have killed him with my bare hands had I gotten a hold of him.”

“Jesus, Wade.” I could see it on his face suddenly, as all

the anger and terror he’d experienced played out there briefly,

captured like a moment on film. “It wasn’t his fault, it was mine.

I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.”

“It took Gabe, Tommy, your dad and a couple of orderlies to

keep me off the guy.”

“It’s not like he was
aiming
for me.” I sniffled, trying to make a

joke. “I was distracted. All I was thinking about was getting back

to you.”

“I know.” Wade let go of my hand for a moment and rubbed

his eyes. “I went a little crazy.”

“You need to go home and take a shower, get some sleep.

You’ve had a rough day.”

He scooted the up in the chair, resting his head on the mattress

next to my pillow. “I’m not leaving until you do.”

“Babe, at some point you’re going to start to stink.”

“I don’t care.”

I sighed. “I love you.”

“Thank you for that.” He took my hand in his once again.

I squeezed it, noticing Gabe and Tommy hovering in the

doorway. “Hey guys.”

They smiled, then looked around the hallway before the twins

ushered them in, closing the door behind them.

“Your dad took your mom home, but said they’d be back

bright and early in the morning,” Donny said.

262 Ethan Day

Gabe sat on the edge at the bottom of the bed.

“We’re both on duty tonight,” Lonny said.

“So we’ll be here to satisfy each and every whim,” Donny

added.

“I’ll hang till you get back, Wade, if you wanted to run home

and grab a shower or a quick nap?”

“He’s refusing to leave,” I said.

“Yep,” Wade said, matter-of-factly.

Gabe cocked his head to the side and looked at the twins.

“They aren’t going to let you stay over—”

“They’ll have to drag me out forcibly, then,” Wade said,

cutting Gabe off.

“Sweetie,” Lonny said, appearing slightly disgusted all of a

sudden. “Eventually you’ll begin to smell.”

“That’s what I said.” I lifted my right arm. It seemed heavy

to me and a faint, almost phantom achiness was still there. “I

feel like I’ve been put through some kind of boot camp workout

from hell.”

“Take it easy, Boone. What do you need?” Wade asked.

“Something to drink—”

Donny was up and out the door before I could even say

please. “I might get used to this. Will you buy me a butler?”

Wade laughed, lifting his head so he could see my face.

“Absolutely not.”

I pooched out my lip as if he’d just ruthlessly ripped apart all

my hopes and dreams. I was already wondering how much time

needed to pass before I could start working the sympathy card

without landing in the express elevator to hell.

I felt Gabe’s hand on my leg, gently patting it. “Really relieved

you’re going to be okay.”

I nodded my sincere agreement as Donny came back with

some water.

Life in fusion
263

“And I’m especially sorry to you too, Wade,” Gabe said,

glancing down, sheepishly. “I see how much you care about our

guy here. I hope you’ll forgive me for being such an a-hole.”

Wade smiled. “Nothing to forgive.”

Gabe worked a half smile, as if he were vying for a spot on

the cutie-of-the-month calendar. He then sat up straight looking

like he’d just gotten the best idea ever. “They have showers and

stuff here at the hospital, don’t they?”

“Yeah?” Lonny asked, his eyes widening as recognition swept

over his face.

“I’ll run to your house and pick up a change of clothes for

Wade, then.”

“I’ll go with you,” Tommy said, all but lunging at the prospect

of getting away from the hospital.

Gabe seemed suddenly elated that he had something to do.

He hopped off the bed and I squeezed Wade’s hand, seeing he

was about to say something that would likely ruin it. Wade laid his

head back down on the pillow next to mine.

“Thanks Gabe,” Wade said. “That would be great. I’d really

appreciate it.”

“Good,” I said, “the least you can do is maintain your studly