He hadn't even thought about the questions. Explaining his presence at the hospital had been the last thing on his mind as he'd watched the EMTs frantically work on Phyllis' still body.
"I..."
"Were you with her...in the accident?," Jack inquired, concern edging in his voice.
Billy winced. His brother wasn't suspicious-he was concerned. If he knew he the truth, he'd surely... He shook his head. He couldn't think about that now. The only thing that mattered right now was Phyllis.
"No, I uh...I was on my bike and I came across the accident. They let me come in the ambulance." One more lie...they came so easily now.
"It's bad, Jack". He looked into his brother's eyes. He had no right to lean on him. He should be here as the shoulder to cry on. It was his brother's wife in that exam room, but it was also the woman he loved.
Jack clasped a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be okay. If there's one thing I know about Phyllis, it's that she's a fighter. She's fought through worse. She'll get through this."
Billy bolted from the chair as Stitch emerged from the room. "How is she?!"
"She's holding her own. Preliminary tests show no internal organ damage, but she does have a pretty serious concussion. We're going to have to monitor her very closely for the next 48 hours or so for brain swelling or bleeding."
"What does that mean...I mean if that happens...you can stop it, right? She'll be ok?"
Stitch glanced away. This was the hardest part of his job-the questions that didn't have answers. "We'll do everything we can. Right now, we focus on the fact that she's stable and not experiencing any complications."
Billy nodded. "Right...Can I see her?"
Stitch smiled. "Sure...for a minute. I should find Jack. Do you know where he went?"
"Yeah, he went down to meet Summer in the lobby. He'll be right back"
Stitch nodded and walked away. Billy took a deep breath before walking into the room.
He had never been in this position with her. There was always such an ease between the two of them. There were no inhibitions, no games, no notions of who or what they should be. They were free when they were together. He wasn't the screw up that left a trail of destruction in his wake. She wasn't the self proclaimed grown up who had conditioned herself to be his brother's proper wife.
With her, he felt strong, worthy, and capable. So many times she'd come to him -her heart broken, and looked at him with pleading eyes. There was such trust there. She believed in him. She trusted him and that, that simple truth, had made him begin to believe in himself again.
Each time she told him she wasn't worthy of his brother's love, his heart broke a little. To him, she was perfect. She was wild and unpredictable. She was fun and willing to live a life with adventure. She didn't need all the answers upfront. The questions were part of the journey.
Putting all that into words seemed impossible as the tears already began to sting at his eyes.
"I've got so much to say to you, Phyllis. Please...just open your eyes."
"Open your eyes," Billy said softly smiling as he watched her turn and take in the room.
"Billy," she whispered. "What did you do?"
The living room was empty save for a table and two chairs in the center. On it were flowers, candles, and lunch for two.
He turned her towards him. "Well, the lunch is obvious," he smiled, "but the rest...I just..this place was mine before and I want it to be ours. I want you to walk in here and feel like it's home because that's what I want. I want this to be your home"
Phyllis blinked, standing silent for a moment.
Billy started talking again, disturbed by the silence. "I thought we could make the choices together, you know." He looked into here eyes again, "But I get it...you know if you want to keep your suite at the club. I mean it's too fast. I get it."
She stared up at him then, searching for the words and, finding none, simply wrapped her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his. After a moment, she pulled away, "First thing,"she said with a smile, "we got to do something about these walls...this color's too damn depressing and I've got a feeling this is going to be a happy house."
