Chapter 38

When he saw her look over at him Devin remembered he had been about to ask her to stay. "Rebecca, won't you please stay with me tonight?!" At her shocked look he rushed on, "I didn't mean that in any way other than as a friend! I mean it's not as if I could do anything in this cast! I would just really like some company tonight. You could put up one of those surgery screens and sleep in a cot on the other side of it. That way if we couldn't sleep we could talk to each other," he almost sounded desperate by the end of his plea.

A soft look of understanding crossed her face as she asked, "You're really worried about tomorrow, aren't you?"

"I guess I am. In all my life I've never had to have surgery and the prospect is freaking me out a bit."

"Devin, that's all it is, a prospect. You don't know that you will need surgery. It is just as likely that it was only swelling and they will be able to take that cast off tomorrow and we can walk out of here together. How does lunch in the dining hall sound?" she asked with a shy smile.

"It sounds fantastic, but I'm not getting my hopes up. All the luck I've been having lately has been bad!"

"Oh really? Was coming back here bad? Deciding to write a book about your life? Or Vincent keeping the cave in from killing you? Possibly that you lived through the cave in? Certainly those things weren't bad?! Then there is the fact that your back isn't broken…"

"Oh OKAY!" he interrupted throwing is hands up in the air. "Did anyone ever tell you that you would have made a great lawyer?!"

"No, why?"

"You like up and deliver arguments like a pro! That is an essential quality in a good lawyer."

"Well I think I will stick to my candle making. There really isn't much need for a lawyer down here and if there is, we already have Catherine."

"And no one makes candles like you do! Those special ones you made for Catherine and Vincent's wedding were amazing!"

"Thank you. I did want to do something extra special for them. They are such a wonderful couple."

"Yeah, I hope one day, down the road, that I can find someone like Cathy for myself."

"Really?! Devin Wells, globe-trotter?! Wanting to settle down?! And are you really looking for someone like Catherine?"

"Oh heavens no! Not at all! I mean Cathy is beautiful and all, but she and I would never suit each other! What I meant is that I would like to have a relationship like theirs one day. Someone to share that closeness with. Someone you know will be there by your side through anything life has to offer. Someone you wouldn't mind growing old with," he offered, surprising himself with the earnestness of his own answer. Devin had never realized that he had ever put that much thought into such things. But maybe that had something to so with the three straight days on his back. Maybe it also had something to do with the company he had been keeping during that time, but even Devin's thoughts hadn't gone there yet.

Even though Rebecca would love to have questioned him more about the kind of girl he wanted to share his life with, she couldn't stop herself from yawning again. Devin saw it and suggested, "Rebecca why don't you pull up a cot and just sleep here tonight? Even if we aren't talking, just knowing you are close would help."

Eager to please him in anyway she could, she agreed and settled onto one of the hospital cots after sliding out of her shoes. After murmured good nights Rebecca quickly fell asleep and Devin was astonished to feel himself drifting off as well especially when he was still so worried about the next day.

He did start awake in the middle of the night from a dream he had about Father announcing that he would never walk again. Devin thought about waking Rebecca so she could keep him company, but maybe being back Below was affecting him more than he would have guessed because his next thought was he should let her get her sleep and not wake her just for his own selfish needs.

To be continued…..