Wild Side (Rose Hill, #3)(105)
My throat feels tight. It hurts to swallow. Seconds pass as I regard her. Then I wrap my pinky around hers and squeeze as I nod firmly. “I pinky promise to always come back.”
“You fucking better.” She laughs as she returns my nod.
And then she drapes herself over my torso, hugging me as gently as possible.
A strangled laugh bubbles up out of me as I wrap my arm around her narrow back. And fuck, holding her might be the best feeling in the world.
Ending up here is almost funny if I think about it. It reminds me of her marching into my house all those years ago, forcing her pinky swear on me.
I remember thinking she was fierce and loyal and fucking incredible. I remember wondering what it would feel like to have someone like Tabitha love you.
And now I know.
Surgery is a success, and five days after that, I wiggle my toes.
Tabitha is like a barnacle, stuck to my side, questioning every doctor and therapist. She refuses to leave the hospital, and our next disagreement is about her sleeping slumped in a chair. I don’t like it, and she doesn’t give a flying fuck. Luckily, she hits it off with one of the nurses, who takes pity on her and hides an extra rolling cot in the room.
One she pushes right next to mine. And just like before, I spend many a night watching her sleep, reveling in her nearness.
And once I’m moved out of the ICU, she makes it her mission to bring me extra meals. She’s firm when she needs to be, and kind when she wants to be. I’m pretty sure she drives my therapists up the damn wall.
The only person she swaps out with is Will. He doesn’t talk much, except to apologize. He looks tired and disheveled, but he never stops showing up.
He’s here at physical therapy with me today because Tabitha went to a local gym to have a workout and a shower. I hate thinking that she doesn’t get any downtime, that she’s living out of a bag and sleeping on a shitty bed because of me. But she never complains, so I’ve decided to just surrender and let her take care of me.
She’s taken time away from the restaurant, but everyone has pitched in to help. Cleo and Milo are both cared for. The walks are getting shoveled since snow has finally fallen. It’s a team effort. A family effort. It’s a foreign experience. But Tabitha has shown me it’s okay to lean on people. That I’m not a burden. That indeed, they will come back even when it seems inconvenient.
The guys from bowling even took a trip on Ford Grant’s fancy-ass private jet to visit. It was the surprise I never expected. Friends.
Plus, Crazy Clyde was the absurd entertainment I never knew I needed. The man himself showed up in a wheelchair, looking sicklier than I do, while spouting off about how he knows a guy who has a medical blog that could give me a second opinion. All I need to do is send him my scans.
West laughed, and Bash and Ford groaned. It all felt… familiar somehow. A good reminder that I have so much back in Rose Hill. Even if one of those things is an old man who believes every conspiracy theory ever recorded.
Gripping the bar, I repeat sitting and standing, still experiencing lingering traces of numbness but feeling significantly better. For a while, I wasn’t sure I would. But every day is an improvement.
“Kid, aren’t you supposed to be back on the road?” I ask Will.
He props against the wall. “No.”
“I don’t need you to babysit me.”
“I’m taking a break.”
I look up at him as the therapist says something to me about focusing on pushing through my heel. I ignore him, glaring at Will instead. “A break?”
He shrugs. “Gotta get my head right before I step back in the ring. Maybe get more practice under my belt.”
“Will, you’re on track to be a company superstar. Don’t do this. Don’t blame yourself. Shit happens in this business sometimes. We gotta pick up and move on. I fully intend to be back in that ring, kicking your ass.”
He smiles, but it’s forced—flat. “Okay.”
“Honey, I’m home!” Tabitha calls from the door, her hair still damp like she rushed to get back here.
“All right.” Will ducks his head like he can barely face Tabitha. “I’m out.”
He breezes past her, but she follows him into the hallway, where I see her wrap him in a firm hug that he barely returns. It chokes me up a little to see him suffering like this, and I don’t know what to tell him to make it better.
I hope Tabitha does. I watch her lips move as she holds him by the shoulders. Tiny little spitfire manhandling a huge professional wrestler. She gives him a little shake, no doubt doling out her own special brand of tough love.
He said he was going to win her over, but I doubt he realizes that he already has.
When she walks back in, she seems distracted. I can see the wheels turning as her teeth strum at her bottom lip, but that faraway look disappears when my physio announces, “Honestly, I think you can go home.”
CHAPTER 48
Rhys
“I THINK BREAKING YOUR BACK MADE YOU A BETTER BOWLER,” West exclaims as I throw my first ever strike.
Although I still feel a slight unsteadiness, I am officially healed enough to bowl—which I am unexpectedly excited about.
Bash groans and scrubs a hand over his face. “Do you ever think before you open your mouth?”