She was my little warrior. My woman wasn’t one to back down from anything, least of all the husband who doted on her completely. So how did we end up here?
I opened my eyes and looked around the room, leaving the past behind for now. I relaxed once I saw her lying there, still, unmoving, almost lifeless but breathing.
The nurses and doctors had calmed their pace down considerably and that helped me to steady myself a little as they continued to work on her.
I heard mom and dad outside the door but didn’t leave her to go to them. “What’s wrong with her, doc?” I asked the other man when he finally left her bedside.
“We’re not sure yet Mr. McClintock I’ve sent her blood down to be tested. For now we have her on a drip, she’s severely dehydrated and borderline malnourished. Is your wife on any kind of medication?”
“I don’t know.” I told him the same story I’d told the staff when we came in as we walked towards the door together.
“Is she going to be okay?” I held my breath as I awaited his answer. “With proper care I don’t see why not. But your wife has had a time of it.”
“What do you mean?” He took his time as if searching for the right words and my gut twisted into knots.
“Do you see the pallor of her skin? She hasn’t been in direct sunlight for some time. Her diet, what there was of it, was almost nonexistent for a prolonged period and my guess is that she was drugged.”
His words sent rage racing through my blood. Someone had starved and drugged my wife… my mind went to the darkest place of all. “Was she…was my wife raped?”
“There’s no sign of sexual assault. But I cannot answer the question of sexual activity.” I thought my heart would stop. He must’ve seen the devastation on my face because he rushed to add more.
“I can tell you that there is no sign of recent sexual activity.” He clapped my shoulder and left the room with the two nurses following after him.
I went back to her bedside and looked down at her. There were tear tracks on her face, her drawn gaunt face. The sadness I saw there cut my heart like a knife.
Where once she was the picture of health she now looked like a mere replica of herself. I reached out to touch her face and all the old emotions came rushing back.
All the love, the sheer happiness I used to feel at having found someone like her to share my life with. It was all still there. The years apart hadn’t dimmed it not even a little bit.
The lonely nights I spent not knowing where she was, the constant worrying. Having to deal with suspicion, people thinking the worse of me, none of it mattered now that she was back.
I traced the hard planes of her cheekbone and looked at the sunken pools beneath her eyes. I’d missed all this when I found her in our home. But now, here, under the glaring light of the hospital room, it was plain to see.
It doesn’t matter. I’ll have her back on her feet in no time. All that matters is that she’s alive. Everything else can be dealt with once she wakes up. I let that settle in my mind and felt myself relax bit by bit as I stood looking down at her.
“Thanks for coming back to me baby. I missed you so much.” Could she hear me? Was her sense of me still as strong as it used to be?
I picked up her little hand in mine and my heart hurt again at how frail she was. Her hair felt rough and brittle beneath my hand as I gently brushed it back from her face.
Her once beautiful curls were lifeless and dull, her skin almost translucent. But still nothing could take away from her astounding beauty. I know once she opens her eyes the sparkle would warm my heart again.
I dipped a finger into one of her dimples that were even more pronounced now that she had lost so much weight. Her skin felt dry and chafed. This is a woman who has a vanity filled with creams and lotions of all kinds.
Her lips were chapped under my thumb and her breathing was still too shallow for my liking. But her cheek was warm beneath the roughness of my palm when I cupped it. She was alive she was safe.
Anger and relief fought inside me and I had to bite back the building rage. I closed my eyes and regrouped, not wanting to fall apart now when I’d held it together so well all this time.
Reality was starting to set in and my adrenaline was about to crash hard. I dropped into the chair next to the hospital bed, still holding her hand firmly in mine. “I’ll never let you go again.”