Chapter 11 ~

Lily stood at the small bathroom sink, leaned on the walker she was given that morning and tried to breathe like the nurse's aide was instructing. She pushed the little button that gave her some morphine when she needed it and waited for the medicine to kick in.

The chest tube was pretty painful, making breathing hard because she couldn't take as deep a breath as she normally would. The nurses told her that's why she was still on oxygen, which was being delivered through tiny plastic tubing into her nose.

Moving around was painful as well, she was quickly finding out. When it was suggested that she get cleaned up for the day, Lily agreed quickly. She was desperate to feel clean and curious to see what she looked like. If how she felt was any indication, she figured she must look horrible.

Which was an understatement. A deep, angry looking gash across her forehead was stitched up with…well, a lot more stitches than she felt like counting. The aide said the nurse would put a dressing over it when they were done. Great. A big white bandage on her head to match with the purple and red bruises that ringed her eyes and spread down onto her cheeks. The nurse had assured her that the bruises most likely looked worse this morning than the night before.

Lily wasn't sure if she should be happy about that or not.

"Are you ready?"

Lily nodded at the aide's question, and they started slowly back to the bed. The cast on her leg made her feel unbalanced, even with the walker, but she tried to concentrate on staying upright. Apparently, the orthopedic surgeon had been in a good mood the previous night and came in late to do the surgery instead of waiting until the morning like everyone originally thought.

"You're doing good, Lily. Just a few more steps."

I'm not sure I'm going to make it. Lily was starting to flag. It would seem as if she wasn't as strong as she initially felt and maybe should've taken the staff's advice at taking it easy and only sitting at the side of the bed for her morning toilet.

"OK…good…have a seat."

Lily resisted the urge to just fall onto the bed. She was that tired. But she knew that doing so would cause a lot more pain than she was already in. She closed her eyes as the aide (was her name Jacey?) combed her hair and wished for her own hairbrush.

"I know this isn't as nice as what you use at home, but it gets the job done for now." Jacey said cheerfully. "I remember when my best friend was in the hospital having her baby, she was so unorganized she didn't have her bag packed or anything. Her boyfriend called me and said that she was panicked and was begging me to go get her some stuff." Jacey laughed. "I'm sure your family will bring you some of your own things today. Then you won't have to use this ratty old comb."

Lily was too tired to answer and was very glad when Jacey had her tucked back into bed. A soft knock was heard at the door, then a little elderly lady (obviously a volunteer) walked in with a large bouquet of lilies.

"Delivery for Miss Lily Winters?" The volunteer looked from the bouquet to the patient in the bed and a twinkle crept into her eyes. "I wonder why they picked these?" she teased.

"I'm sure I have no idea," Lily remarked tiredly even though she smiled. "Thank you."

The volunteer put the vase on the bedside table and left the room as Jacey reached for the card that was attached.

"Should we see who it's from?" she asked as she handed the card to Lily.

"I have a pretty good idea," Lily said. Opening the card, she smiled as she read to herself:

I know it's a little corny, but I saw them and of course thought of you. Feel better.
Love, Me

Lily smiled and bit her lip shyly, and Jacey whistled lightly.

"All right, all right. Spill. From your boyfriend?" When Lily didn't say anything, Jacey smiled even bigger. "I knew it! That's so sweet! And he must have some money. This bouquet had to cost a fortune!" She lowered her voice and leaned toward Lily conspiratorially. "Is he hot?"

Lily raised her eyebrows suggestively and Jacey raised her hand in a high five.

"Rich and hot? Girl, I say marry him!"

Lily laughed lightly. "He's great. But he's not my boyfriend. I mean…we're not…like…official or anything."

"He spends this kind of money on you and you're not official?" Jacey's look was awed. "Word of advice? You better make it official before I steal him from you!"

Neil and Devon walked in as the two girls were laughing. "Well, well. That sounds good." Neil's smile was huge, and he handed her his own bouquet of flowers. "I see someone else had the same idea." He admired the arrangement of lilies. "Who are they from?"

"Cane." Lily watched her father's reaction closely. Cane was right. He definitely had a problem with this. Jacey and Devon looked tense as well at Neil's immediate mood change.

"Cane?" Neil asked sharply.

"Yes. Why? Is there a problem with that?"

Neil regarded Lily steadily. "Look. You know how I feel about the two of you together. I told Cane the exact same thing last night. I don't appreciate him blatantly disregarding my feelings on this."

"OK. First, Cane said that he was the one that found me last night so I'd think you'd be grateful…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did you talk to Cane?" Neil demanded.

"When he called to see if I'd gotten the flowers," Lily lied smoothly. "Secondly, they're only flowers! They're only flowers that were sent to make me feel better," she continued. "And thirdly, I love you, and I care about what you think, but when it comes to who I date or don't date, myfeelings are the ones that matter in the end."

"But, I'm your father, Lily. I want what's best for you. I should be able to voice my opinion when I feel strongly about something."

"Yes. And I am an adult in my own right. I should be able to decide if your opinion is one I agree with and to decide what I do with it."

Neil and Lily eyed the other without flinching, the tension between them hanging oppressively.

"Um. I'm gonna go. Lily, call if you need something." Jacey made a quick exit and Devon moved to do the same.

"It looks like you two got a lot to talk about. So, I'm going to go call Roxanne, go to breakfast or something. Lily, I'll see you later."

Left alone, Neil sat on the edge of his daughter's bed and took her hand. "Lily, I just don't want to see you hurt again. It hasn't been that long since your divorce from Daniel, and Cane is a lot older than you."

"I know all of that, Dad. But Cane would never hurt me." Lily said.

"He already did. You've been moping around for a week, and you're not even dating," Neil pointed out.

"I'm not ready to discuss this with you; we're never going to see eye to eye. All you need to know is that Cane was trying to do what he thought was best for me. For me, Dad; not him. And I was mad because I didn't want him making that decision for me either."

"If Cane is saying the same thing I am, why are we arguing?"

"Because this isn't about Cane! This is about…ahhh!" Lily cut off when a sharp pain shot through her chest, and she worked to breathe.

"Lily? Lily, are you OK? Nurse!" Neil was moving toward the door but Lily stopped him.

"It's OK. It's just the chest tube." She again reached for the button for her pain medication, and in a few minutes the pain began to subside.

"You know what? We'll leave this discussion for a later time. This whole thing with Cane, I'll let it go for right now. We just need to concentrate on getting you better."

The fact that Neil put the emphasis on the phrase 'for right now' told Lily that there would be more talk to come, but she didn't have time to comment before his cell phone rang. The call was over in a few minutes, and whatever it had been about Neil didn't look happy.

"Honey, I'm sorry. That was Victor. Apparently he doesn't see the need to take the day afterChristmas off."

Lily shrugged and was secretly relieved. "I guess you have to go into the office?"

"To the ranch." Neil buttoned up the coat he never took off when he came in. "You know how it is. When Victor calls…"

"You go running. I understand. It's fine." Lily smiled to show that she wasn't upset.

Neil kissed her cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't worry about it. I don't need you to sit with me all day. Take your time."

It took all of five minutes after her father left for Lily to act on her decision. And only that long because she was trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest. After all, she'd known from the minute she opened her eyes that she would.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello?"

He answered the phone on the fly, trying to finish one e-mail in a stack of twenty. He hated to be working the day after Christmas, but if he didn't he knew he would regret it on Monday.

"Thank you for the lilies. They're beautiful."

Lily's soft voice over the line sent all thoughts of work out of his mind, and Cane's eyes closed. "So are you," he said. He could hear her light laugh and it felt like an intimate caress in his ear.

"You haven't seen me this morning. It was pretty horrible looking in the mirror."

"I'm sure you're as beautiful as ever. You've been through quite the ordeal. Cut yourself some slack," Cane answered gently.

"Thanks."

There was a pregnant pause, and Cane waited to see if Lily had anything else to say. He felt his heart skip a beat at her next words.

"Cane? We need to talk."

"Sure. When?" He congratulated himself on how calm he sounded.

"Now," she answered softly.

Cane grabbed his coat from the closet and was out the front door before he even put it on.

"I'm on my way."