Wilde For You (The Wilde Sisters Book 3) (19 page)

Feeling guilty for not thinking of others once again, she wondered who the fallen firefighters were. Did they have wives at home mourning their loss? Children who would no longer have a dad to pick them up? Mothers who would have to bury their sons? The emotions were too much for her.

“I need to find a bathroom. Excuse me.” She slipped out of Mrs. Riley’s arms and pushed her way through the throng of people and out into the cool night. Her sister’s familiar hand touched her shoulder. “I need some space, okay? This is all too much.” Rayne and Thyme walked her to a nearby bench and forced her to sit. “Up until a few weeks ago I didn’t even know I knew how to cry. And it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized I had a heart. I feel kinda like the Grinch right now, only it’s not looking like a happy ending. My heart wasn’t built to take on this emotional shit.”

“We’ll back off and give you some space, but you have to promise to call one of us if you need anything.” Rayne enveloped her in a tight hug. This time Sage didn’t pull away before her sister dropped her arms. “Go be with Luke’s family. When you’re ready.”

Sage nodded and wiped her nose on her shoulder. Her sisters gave her one last hug and kiss and left her alone on the bench.

Minutes or hours could have passed by, Sage had no idea, but her fingers and toes had gone numb. She made her way back into the ER and over to Luke’s family. Doreen patted the seat next to her and Sage sat.

“I’m sorry I never texted you back. I didn’t know what to say,” Lucy apologized.

“I don’t know what you could have said.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up at her new friend. “Thanks for letting me hang with you guys.”

“Hang? Sounds a bit juvenile, doesn’t it?” Lucy sat on the other side of her, slipping her hand in Sage’s, and they sat in silence for the rest of the night.

The sun had started to rise when a nurse called out for the Riley family. Doreen, despite her age, stood the quickest. Blake, Graham, who’d flown in a few hours earlier, Lucy, and Rachael followed behind. Sage remained sitting.

She couldn’t hear what the nurse was telling Luke’s family, but their collective sighs and hugs looked encouraging. They followed closely behind the nurse down a corridor. Doreen stopped and turned, looking back at Sage and holding out her hand. “Come on. We can see Luke now.”

Sage jumped out of her seat and took Doreen’s hand. “They’ve treated him for smoke inhalation, so he has an oxygen mask, and that should be removed in a few hours. The floor gave way as Luke was carrying a man out of the building. He got the man to safety, and in the process, Luke endured a broken femur. They had to put a rod in it to support the leg and he’s in traction, but he’ll be okay. He was unconscious for so long they had no idea the extent of his injuries until they did a full body scan.”

“So he’s going to be okay?”

“Oh, he’ll be spitting nails for the next few months while he’s laid up. I’m not sure how you are at playing nursemaid, but it’s going to require a lot of patience. Luke broke his wrist in tenth grade and you’d think the world was coming to an end. I wouldn’t let him play basketball or ride his dirt bike until it healed. The boy went out to the garage and tried sawing of his darn cast. Stubborn kid.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Mrs. Riley?” the nurse called. “You can see your son now. We need to keep visitors to a minimum and only for a few minutes. The patient needs his rest.”

“Thank you.” Doreen patted Sage’s hand before letting it go.

Luke’s siblings and Sage sat in the blue plastic chairs in the small family waiting room. A pile of children’s books and magazines were spread out on a table. A basket of coloring books and crayons piled high in a basket to keep little ones entertained. And for the adults, a coffee maker sat in the corner.

“You ladies like some coffee?” Graham asked as he picked up the pot.

Blake, Rachael, and Lucy took a cup. Sage didn’t think she could stomach it.

“You need to put something in your body. You haven’t had a sip to drink or a bite to eat since you got here.” Graham handed her a coffee. “Just take it, okay? It will make me feel better.”

Since it seemed to make Graham happy, she complied and sipped.

“This is supposed to make me feel better?” she sputtered. It was worse than the clichéd hospital coffee.

“No. I said it will make
me
feel better.” Graham smiled the trademark Riley grin. Even though they weren’t related by blood, the Rileys had similar mannerisms.

She didn’t know Graham very well, and she’d observed him being the quiet, supportive brother and son during the twelve hours they were in the ER. Luke loved talking about his brothers. He had spoken of Graham’s dedication to his flying career, something Sage could definitely relate to. Graham didn’t do commitment, other than to his job. If she ever got the chance to get to know the Riley siblings, Graham would be the one she’d most likely connect with.

He had told her stories of Blake’s carefree approach to life, never taking anything seriously, having a joke for everything and a gift of making everyone around him smile. Yet he’d been quietly sitting in the corner, his head resting in his hands, hunched over as if in deep thought or prayer.

The stories he told of Colton were more from their teenage years. Colton had been overseas for so long the family rarely got to see him. Luke talked openly about his feelings and his love for his family, how much he missed them, how much he wanted to help them get through their difficult times. How much he wished they saw each other more. He was the caretaker of the family, filling the role of his father’s after he passed.

Similar to the role Sage had inherited in her family. If the situation was reversed and Luke had been waiting for word of his brother, he’d be pacing the room, talking to the staff every five minutes, and mothering his family to make sure they were all taken care of. Just like Sage would do for her sisters. Maybe they had more in common than she thought.

She’d only endured two sips of the nasty beverage before Doreen came back in. “Lucy, why don’t you take a quick turn? I don’t think he has the energy to visit with all of us. I told him you were all here, though.”

Lucy jumped out of her seat and dashed down the hall. Graham handed his mother a cup of coffee and kissed the top of her head. Blake joined the duo and wrapped his mother in a tight embrace as well. Affection. Another mannerism all the Rileys—well, maybe not Lucy—had inherited. Disappointment weighed heavily in Sage’s belly. While she couldn’t see Luke today, at least he was going to be okay, and he had his wonderful family to take care of him.

“Mrs. Riley?”

“Oh, honey. Call me Doreen. Please.”

“Doreen. May I borrow your phone? I left mine at home. I need to call my sisters. Give them a report and ask them to pick me up.”

Doreen stroked Sage’s hair in that motherly way again. It felt…nice. “Luke asked if you could stay with him. The nurse agreed, as long as you promise to let him sleep. I told her you looked dead on your feet and would probably crash on that uncomfortable chair in his room.”

“Oh.” Sage covered her mouth with her hand, wondering how her eyes could produce so many tears in such a short amount of time.

“Like I said, Luke loves you, and so do we.” Doreen kissed her cheek and gave her a reassuring hug.

Lucy returned shortly after and walked up to Sage. “I’d call you a bitch for being chosen to stay with Luke, but I know what he’s like when he’s cooped up. I’d say this is perfect payback for putting him through hell these past few months.” She tried to sound tough and serious, but Sage could read through the words. And the tears.

“I’ll gladly accept my punishment. And Lucy?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks.” They shared a secret smile before Sage headed down the hall toward Luke’s room.

Chapter Sixteen

Luke

His head hurt like a son of a bitch, his throat felt like he swallowed a box of finishing nails, and his leg…well, the doctor had shot so much numbing shit in his leg that he couldn’t feel a thing below the waist. He knew once the meds wore off he’d be cursing up a blue streak. The only thing to keep his mind off his pain was remembering Sage’s phone message.

She had sounded nervous. Sage didn’t do nervous. Cool, calm, collected, and in control. He’d hoped she wanted to talk to him about getting back together. That was the only thing that kept him going the past twenty-four hours. And was probably why he’d been distracted and didn’t notice the floor giving way. Had he been more focused on his job and not his love life, he may not be in this situation. But hell. Sage was here.

When Lucy came in for her quick visit, she rattled off some story about a drug dealer and Sage coming to the rescue with ten thousand dollars and Lucy paying her back by being her secretary slave. The story didn’t come out of Lucy easily and she hiccupped a lot in between sobs, and Luke was high as a kite on morphine so he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of what he heard, but he got the gist. Sage was the reason for Lucy’s personality makeover. He didn’t care. He just needed to see her.

“Can I come in?” she whispered from the door.

“Yeah.” She looked adorable in her fancy satin pajama pants and his Red Sox sweatshirt. He’d been looking for that for months. Now he knew why he couldn’t find it. “Have a seat.”

“How, um. How do you feel?” She toyed with the cuffs of the sweatshirt that hung off her frail body. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, had bags under her eyes, and her hair was a mess. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful.

“Probably as good as I look.” He wanted to tell her how much he missed her, but until he knew why she’d called him, he didn’t want to set himself up for hurt and rejection again. “So I hear you’re Lucy’s new boss.”

Sage’s eyes rounded in surprise. “She told you?”

“Yeah. Just now. How did you get her to change?”

“I didn’t change her. She did it all on her own.”

Now that, he didn’t believe. “So you would have hired her as your personal assistant if she still had the pink hair and ring through her eyebrow?”

“I did.”

“Really?” He didn’t mean to sound so skeptical, but his family had been trying to convince Lucy to tone down the appearance for years.

“You can’t make someone change who they are, Luke. They have to want to.” Sage paced the small hospital room. He tried not to focus on the shape of her butt, or the curves he knew were hidden under the bulky sweatshirt. Damn, he’d missed her. “You of all people should know that. I couldn’t be who you wanted me to be. I can’t be that person. I never will be. You want—” She turned abruptly and bit her lip. “I’m sorry. You’ve been through a horrific ordeal. I didn’t mean to…I should let you rest. I’ll go now.”

“No. Don’t leave. Fight with me, please.” Anything to distract him from his condition.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you.”

“Why did you call me yesterday?”

“You got my message?” Sage sat in the plastic chair in the corner—too far away—and folded her hands in her lap.

“I contemplated all morning as to how long I should make you sweat it out, knowing you don’t like to wait. And then I got called in to the fire and, well, the rest you know.”

“You deliberately made me suffer waiting for your call? You stubborn jackass.”

Luke laughed. “I missed fighting with you. And I really like your outfit.”

“I didn’t come here to fight with you.” She pulled at the hem of the sweatshirt.

“So you’ve said. Twice. So tell me, why did you come?”

“I was concerned. I wanted to know you were going to be okay.”

Thank God he wasn’t hooked up to a heart monitor or she’d see the havoc she was doing to his insides. “You could have waited at home for someone to deliver the message.”
Tell me you care about me.

“Waiting isn’t my strong suit, as you pointed out already.”

“It isn’t mine either.” He tried to shift his body, but the contraption holding up his left leg didn’t offer him any wiggle room.

“You’re the most patient man I know.”

Luke laughed. “Honey, you don’t know many men, then.”

“No, you’re wrong. I’ve never met a man as calm and understanding as you. No one else would put up with the crap I’ve put you through.”

“Does that make me a sucker?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged and stifled a yawn, slouching in the chair. “You need your rest.”

“When was the last time
you
slept?”

“Yesterday?” Sage blinked slowly, her head falling heavily forward. “I couldn’t sleep,” she murmured, “until I knew you were…okay.”

Luke studied her as she slept. The face of an angel. The temper of the devil. He finally fell asleep too, with a smile on his face.

***

Sage

The ripping of Velcro woke Sage up from a deep sleep. Slurping up her unladylike drool, she swiped the back of her hand across her mouth and took in her surroundings. Two nurses were on either side of Luke’s bed. One taking his vitals, the other changing his IV bag.

Stepping out to give him privacy, she wandered down to the waiting room and poured herself a cup of the black piss-water the hospital passed off as coffee. Sitting in the uncomfortable chairs, she took in her surroundings. Only a few hours ago she sat here with Luke’s family, not sure what his outcome would be. She flipped through a magazine, tossed it aside, and then picked up one of the coloring books. Spiderman, princesses, and zoo animals.

Sage glanced down at her feet, then noticed her legs and cupped her braless chest with her hands. So caught up in worry last night she’d left the house in her pajamas. She must look like a fool, yet no one in the Riley family, or even the nursing staff, eyed her peculiarly. As if they saw harried, half-dressed women in the hospital all the time.

Was that what being in love was like? Not caring how anyone else looked at you and only focusing one hundred percent on the person you love? She didn’t care that she could pass off as a homeless fool, all she cared about was Luke’s health and wellbeing.

Picking up the animal coloring book and a handful of crayons, Sage started coloring. When she was happy with her work, she tore the page from the book, wrote a quick note on the top, folded it and put it in her sweatshirt pocket. She forced herself to finish her caffeine—she refused to think of it as anything more—before heading back to Luke’s room. Opening the door, she could hear him complaining to the nurses.

“When can I eat?”

“When the doctor says your stomach can handle it.”

“Great. Thanks for the Jello.”

The nurses chuckled as they wheeled their cart out of the room.

“How are you feeling?” she asked as she stepped in.

“I’ll be feeling better when I can eat human food and get out of this bed. My ass has fallen asleep and I can barely move. My leg itches and I can’t reach it, I’m poked and prodded every fifteen minutes, and I haven’t touched you in ages.”

“Where?” Sage walked up to the side of the bed and studied the leg that hung in the air.

“Anywhere. Your face, your hands, your breasts. I want to touch you anywhere and everywhere.”

Sage blushed and tried to hide her smile. “Where is your itch?” Luke’s flirtatious grin filled his face, his dimples doing crazy things to her core. She laughed and shook her head. “Where on your
leg?
”

“My calf.”

Sage gently touched his leg and his body tensed. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?” His leg hung in traction and everything but his ankle and foot was covered in bandages.

“No, not at all. Yeah. Right there. A little on the inside. Oh. Yes.” He closed his eyes and relaxed his hands. She smiled at his obvious content. “Now my other leg itches.”

His right leg was covered with the thin, white hospital sheet, and she wasn’t about to go on a fishing expedition. She ran her hands over the sheet, starting at his knee and working her way down to his foot and back up again.

“Mmm. You always had that magic touch. Can you massage my shoulder too?”

She skimmed her hands up his leg, skipping over his groin area that began to tent under the covers, and stroked his forearm. She massaged his bicep and traveled to his broad, thick shoulders. Her hands were too small to grab the entire shoulder, so she moved front to back, side to side, using a combination of soft and hard touches.

“Sage.” He stopped her, binding her wrists with one of his hands. “This. This hurts too,” he whispered, moving her hands to his heart.

“I don’t know how to do this.”

“To do what?”

“Us. A relationship. You’re too good and I’m too messed up. You deserve someone who can—”

“Shh.” He released her hands and placed a finger over her lips. “You don’t get to make those decisions for me. I choose who I want. And I want you. I’ve always wanted you. Hard-headed, strong-opinioned, stubborn, a pain in the ass and a heart of gold. You, Sage. Just you.”

“I don’t understand, Luke. I’m not worth anything.”

“Oh, baby.” He pulled her down until she was sitting next to him, and stroked her face. The Riley family stroking, touching, holding. Oh, how she wanted to fit in with his family. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. I noticed how special you were the second you told me about your pregnancy. Well, not then.” He smiled at the memory. “When I learned the truth about your pregnancy. You’ve been taking care of others for so long you’ve never allowed someone to take care of you.” Sage leaned into his touch. “I won’t ever ask you to change, but I’ll always ask you to be honest with me. And I’ll always be true and honest with you. If you need space, I’ll give it. If you need comfort, I’ll provide it. As long as I’m with you, sweetheart, I’m the happiest man in the world.”

Tears streamed down her cheek and she used his sweatshirt to swipe them away. “That was the speech I had planned for you. I don’t want you to change either. I want you to be honest and kind and hovering.”

“Hovering? You think I hover?”

“Totally. But I love you for it.” Sage gasped and pulled away, never expecting to say those words. Never having said them to anyone before except to her sisters, and even that was a rare occurrence.

Understanding shone in Luke’s eyes. “I love you too. You are moody and organized to a fault, but I love you anyway. Faults and all.”

“I have a lot of them.”

“I must really love you, then.”

Taking the paper out of her pocket, she handed it to him. “I made something for you.”

“A picture?” He laughed as he unfolded it. His smile turned serious, his brows furrowed as he studied her artwork. “I’ve never seen a purple giraffe before. Or a green zebra with purple stripes. I like the orange sun with the smiley face, though.”

“It’s a Sage Wilde original.”

“It’s a bit messy. And totally adorable. I especially like the personalized message:

To Luke, You make me want to color outside the lines. Love, Sage
.

Did it hurt? To color this way?”

“I actually giggled while turning the zebra green. The picture is absolutely ridiculous.”

“And I love it.”

“I’m going to try, to let go a little.”

“Sweetheart.” Luke took her hand and pulled her toward him. “I don’t want you to let go. I want you to be happy. If that means organizing the crap out of your life and having neat, clean spreadsheets to map out your day, then so be it. But I want you to smile more. Laugh every day. To love life. And hopefully, me.”

“As much as it pains me to say it, you are my hero.” She leaned down and kissed him. The love and passion she’d kept bottled up for years poured out of her and into him, making them one.

“Get a room,” Lucy called from behind her. The line Sage had said so often to her sisters and their husbands.

“Get lost,” Luke called back without taking his lips from hers.

“You have the rest of your lives to make out. I came to visit with my brother. Shove a cheek.”

“You’re going to get your ass fired if you keep that up,” Sage said as she pulled away from Luke.

“Yeah, my boss can be a real bitch, but she’d never survive without me. Especially since she’s going to be caring for my invalid brother for the next few weeks.”

Moments later the rest of the Riley clan came pouring in the room, bearing gifts of flowers, candy, and a steak and cheese sub.

“Rachael. The only one who truly loves me,” he said as he unwrapped the sandwich and took a hearty bite. “And Sage. She loves me too.” He grinned at her embarrassment, winking as he shoved more of the sandwich in his mouth.