Soul Possession(40)

She glanced in the direction of that voice and saw a smiling woman dressed in scrubs.

“Ah, you’re awake. Welcome back. Are you feeling any pain?”

If the nurse hadn’t mentioned the P word, chances were, Jessie would have continued to float in her little dream world, but reality intruded in a rather rude, abrupt manner and pain sliced through her knee and up into her hip.

Her mouth was so dry that it felt like her lips cracked when she tried to speak. Then she realized that her throat was sore and her attempt at speech came out as a rasp. So she nodded instead. More than once so the nurse would get the idea.

The nurse fiddled with Jessie’s IV and a few moments later, she floated back out to sea on a very soft cloud where there was no pain and no annoying white void.

The next time she drifted toward consciousness she heard her name again, but this time the voices were deeper and loving. She sighed and smiled dreamily.

A light chuckle made her crack her eyes open although she really didn’t want to return to the reality of the wrenching pain.

Truitt and Rick stood over her bed, staring down at her, worry—and love—in their eyes.

“Hey there,” Rick said. “You’re awake. The nurse said you’ve been sleeping too long and it’s time to come around. She asked us to nag you.”

Jessie frowned her annoyance and Truitt grinned. “The sooner you wake up, the sooner they’ll move you to your room.”

“Okay.”

Or so she thought she said okay. She wasn’t convinced any sound actually came out, but they seemed to understand.

Rick leaned over and kissed her. Truitt slipped his fingers underneath hers and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. It was almost as if they couldn’t stand not to touch her in some way.

“Am I all right?” she asked in a creaky whisper.

“Yeah, baby, you’re all right,” Rick said as he kissed her temple. “You will be.”

She sighed a little in relief. She was still too fuzzy to figure out just where all she hurt but they didn’t look too worried, so she must not be too bad off.

She glanced down at the cast enveloping her leg and held her breath. “My knee?”

Rick and Truitt exchanged glances.

“Tell me,” she croaked out.

“The orthopedic surgeon thinks you need a replacement. Because of your previous injury and the pain you already experience, he wants to discuss the option with you,” Rick said.

Her mouth turned down. “Oh.”

“It’s not so bad,” Truitt said gently. “The replacement could possibly alleviate the pain and weakness you were already having.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to cry. She hadn’t broken down, not even when she’d faced certain death.

“Jessie, don’t cry, honey.”

She opened her eyes again, but tears swam, blurring her vision. “I can’t afford a knee replacement. I don’t have a job. I don’t have insurance. I already have medical bills from my previous surgeries. And now I’ll never finish school.”

She bit her lip, pissed at how defeated she sounded. She’d survived. She was alive. What else was important but that? So what if she wasn’t able to walk. She could use a cane. Or crutches. Even a wheelchair. She was alive.

Truitt squatted beside the bed so that he was eye level with her. “Do you remember what I told you right before you went to surgery?”

After a brief hesitation she nodded. Unbidden, her gaze drifted to Rick but she jerked it back to Truitt, not wanting to make the moment awkward. It looked like she was looking to him for…for the same declaration. And didn’t that make her twisted?

Rick leaned over, tucked a finger under her chin and gently turned her back to face him. As if he understood exactly what she’d asked for. “I love you, Jessie. I told you out in the woods but you were unconscious. I’ve told you in my head a million times, but this time I’m saying it out loud. To you. I love you.”

This time she didn’t even attempt to call back the tears. They slid in damp trails over her temples and into her hair. Truitt leaned over and kissed one away.

Then he murmured low next to her ear. “The reason I’m telling you this again is because what it means is that you aren’t alone. You won’t have to do this alone. You’ll have us. That’s right. I said us. We’re going to be with you every step of the way. And you know what? We’ll figure it out. You’ll get your knee replacement and you’ll get the therapy you need.”

She glanced between the two men, afraid to hope, afraid to put to words the question burning a hole in her brain. She licked her lips and gathered her courage.

“You both are okay with…if…I mean, you won’t be angry if…”

“If what, sweetheart?” Rick asked as he stroked her cheek with one finger.

“If I love you both,” she whispered.

“Well, hell, I hope you don’t just love one of us,” Truitt said in a disgruntled voice. “That would be hell on a friendship, not to mention cause problems for you when neither of us refuses to let you go.”

It was getting harder to concentrate as the pain in her leg became progressively stronger. She knew this was important. Perhaps the most important thing to her future. Their future. But she struggled to get the words just right.