“A beautiful love story,” Nannie said with obvious appreciation. “Reminds me of me and my Edward.”
“Tell me,” Liz asked, sensing Nannie wanted her turn. “Tell me when you knew you loved your Edward.”
With a far-away look on her face, the woman launched into a tale of young love, causing Liz to forget everything but the woman’s words.
For the next hour Nannie told her all about her marriage to the man of her dreams. A man who’d never returned from the war he’d fought for his country so many years ago.
“Oh, Nannie, I’m so sorry.”
The older woman’s forehead creased. “Why, dearie? Edward and I shared love. Whether we’d had one week together or a lifetime, what we had was real. That’s what counts.”
Liz fought tears. “You’re a very special person, Nannie. A very wise person.”
Nannie nodded with a supremely knowing look on her face. “When you’re as old as I am, you’ve learned a thing or two.”
“What are you ladies up to?” Dr Bell asked, flashing a mouthful of bright whites as he entered their room. He gave Nannie a special just-for-her wink, checked her hip, and administered a dose of the morphine pump she never seemed to remember to give herself. When Nannie was settled, he turned to Liz. “How’s the leg?”
She forced a smile and gestured to where her leg was in traction. “Just hanging around.”
“Nice one.” He grinned, examining her toes, which were sticking out of the air cast on her foot and ankle. He lightly pinched each one over the nail bed, watching to see how quickly the color came back. The pink color returned instantaneously. “Good capillary refill. Excellent.”
“Are you going to let me go home yet?” she asked, wondering how she’d manage to care for herself but knowing she’d find a way. If Dr Bell refused to let her hobble on crutches, she’d see about borrowing a wheelchair from the hospital.
“What?” he teased while he checked the tightness of her air cast. “You’re not loving our hospitality?”
“Do you want the truth?”
He laughed. “That bad, huh?”
“Although having Nannie in my room has helped, I’m going stir crazy.” Which was the truth. Kelly and Mona had brought some novels and magazines, but she could only read for short periods of time or she got a severe headache. Something she hoped would pass soon. Most of the time she just lay in bed with her palms over her belly, thinking about Adam, their baby, what might have gone wrong, and what she was going to do about the future. Until today, Nannie had slept most of the time. Then again, so had she.
“Have you seen Adam?” she asked before she could censor herself.
Dr Bell’s smile slipped. “He’s not been by?”
The guilty look on his face said he knew more than he was letting on.
“No. Has Dr Graviss lifted the ban?”
Dr Bell didn’t meet her gaze, just making a show of checking what he’d already checked. “I ran into him last night.”
“And?”
He took a while to answer.
“Honestly? May’s surgery got to him. He looked like hell. Whatever happened between the two of you in the past, Adam needs you.” Glancing at Nannie’s sleeping form first, he whispered, “You have to tell him about the baby. He deserves to know.”
Adam needed her? Then why had he pushed her away? Liz closed her eyes, steadied herself, and met the orthopedic surgeon’s gaze with annoyance. “How do you know I haven’t told him?”
“Because he’s listened to Larry’s order to stay away until you’re stronger. If he knew you were pregnant, neither hell nor high water would keep him away.?
?
“Do you think knowing about our baby will change his mind about me? That knowing I’m pregnant will make him want me again?” Days of pent-up frustration and doubt came to a head inside her. “Let me ask you something. If Adam did change his mind, if he did want to be here with me, would you want a man who was only with you because you were pregnant?”
“No,” Dr Bell answered. “But you and I both know there’s more between you and Adam than just a pregnancy.”
She sighed. “I thought so, too, once, but now…”