And it was that last word that saw me through the pain and agony of the following days. I would not let William Wilde lose another person in his life who loved him as much as he deserved.
When I was finally well enough to start coming off the heavy sedatives, I realized Doc looked almost worse than I did. Every time I opened my eyes, he was there, either on the chair or on a little cot in the corner of the room.
“Baby?” I croaked when I could finally move my throat enough to speak. Doc woke with a start and jumped up, rushing to my side and grabbing the hand that didn’t have an IV in it. I squeezed it a little to let him know I was there even though I wasn’t sure I could say another word until I got something to drink.
“Wes, hi. Oh my god, you’re awake.” His bloodshot eyes filled, and I wondered how many tears he’d shed while I’d been happily high on pain meds.
“Water,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Hang tight.”
As soon as I got a few sips down, he sat beside my hip on the bed and ran his fingers through my hair.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said with an affectionate but worried smile. “You’re still here.”
One of my legs was hanging up in some kind of contraption, and I had aches and pains in too many places to count, but I was alive. “Still here,” I said in a rough voice. “Love you.”
His chin wobbled and he tried to breathe away the tears.
“It’s okay, Doc. I’m fine. But it’s okay to cry too.”
He leaned in and pressed his face in the crook of my neck before letting go. His arm lay across my chest, but he was clearly trying not to put any weight on it. I wrapped my arms around him as much as I could and held him while he cried.
Doc took a fortifying breath and pulled back, wiping angrily at his face. “As soon as you’re well enough to move, we’re leaving. I’m not staying here in this godforsaken—”
“Shh,” I said, reaching out to try and smooth away his tears too. He was so damned beautiful it took my breath away. Maybe it was the pain meds still talking, but I just wanted to stare at him like an idiot and drink him in. “We’re not leaving.”
“Oh yes we are,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “I’m not letting these good old boys get their hands on you again with their ignorance and their hate.”
“We’re going to raise your kids on their family’s land and show them how to combat hate, Liam. We’re going to at least try it first. We’re going to give our friends and neighbors the benefit of the doubt and teach them that we’re a family just like they are, only a little different.”
If his chin trembled one more time, I was going to be the one bawling.
“Our kids,” he said.
“What?”
“Our kids. Yours and mine. Our kids.”
Well, now he’d gone and done it. Tears flowed down my face until I couldn’t see him clearly anymore.
“This is a lot to wake up to,” I mumbled, reaching out for a tissue.
Doc snorted a laugh and leaned over to kiss me on the lips, and that’s when his parents walked in.
“William!” His mother gasped, and his father froze in his tracks. I pulled away from Doc quickly, but he reached to pull me back closer again.
“You already know I love him,” he said with a firm chin now. “And I’m not hiding it anymore even if I could. Everyone in town’s already figured it out seeing as how I threw myself over his body like a war widow when he almost died.”
Doc grasped my hand and held on tightly. “We’re together. Forever. This is it for me, Mom and Dad, and I hope… I really, really hope you can be happy for me. Because Weston Marian makes me so happy. And no one has ever loved me as much as he does. And I’ve never wanted someone’s happiness the way I want his. I’d do anything to make him happy and to ease his pain.”
Lois had begun crying. When Doc realized it, he squeezed my hand and stood up to wrap his arm around her. “Mom, I know you loved Betsy dearly. So did I. But she’s gone. And she approved of Wes. The children adore him. He’s a good man, and he takes care of our family and our legacy.”
While he spoke to his mother, Stan edged closer to me and reached out for the hand Doc had released.
“How are you feeling, son?”
That word was everything. I was so choked up, I couldn’t answer, so I nodded instead.
“We were worried about you,” Stan said. His voice sounded almost as emotional as it had when we’d lost Betsy. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Don’t worry about anything at home. Jonny found a couple of temporary hands to fill in while you recover, and Billy’s been keeping an eye out on your place. He made me promise not to tell you he’s riding Thunder in your absence, but I told him you wouldn’t mind.”