Leaving the hospital was somewhat chaotic. Jude had Chuck and Rawley covering the grill for the morning, but she was bustling around the room nervously as the nurse had Priestly start on the discharge forms. There were still a good half dozen healthy bouquets and plants even after they dumped the dead or dying ones. Then there was a box for all the emptied vases and pots and other random thoughtfulness that friends, grill patrons, and acquaintances alike had bestowed on Priestly. Leo had just headed out to his car with one box, and Jude was just finishing with one more.
As he handed the nurse back the clipboard and pen, she said to Jude,
"Why don't you bring your car around while I turn in this paperwork and get him a copy of the discharge instructions to take home, and we'll meet you out front with a wheelchair in five minutes?"
Jude nodded, stuffing the last of the stuff in a box. Priestly's mom had already taken his small duffle while Leo took the first box. Jude gave him a grin. "I'll see you in a few," she said cheerfully, ducking out of the room.
Priestly made one last check of the bedside drawers, the tray table's little drawer, the bathroom, and the little vertical cabinet to make sure he'd gotten everything. Hearing someone step into the room, he assumed it was the nurse and turned to face her, saying,
"Saddle up, Jeannie, because I am out of–″
He cocked his head quizzically at the pensive looking blonde that stood at the foot of what had been his bed for the last ten days. "Hi," he said, waiting.
After a long moment, the blonde sort of shook herself and said softly, "I–"
He blinked as she started to wipe at her eyes. "Were you looking for someone?"
She nodded. "You," she said, putting her hands over her eyes for just a second. "I'm sorry. I just, well, I wanted to do this when I could manage to keep it together for more than five minutes, but…" Taking a deep breath, she sort of squared her shoulders, lifted her head and blurted, "I'm Lisa Leon, Missy's mother, and I just wanted to meet you and–and say thank you for saving Missy's life!"
He stood looking at her for a second, and it all fell into place. He should have realized. She looked a lot like Missy. Or, well, Missy looked like her. Or would, one day. Priestly had no idea what to say. He reached out a hand, though, and accepted hers as she offered it, leaning automatically into her tentative embrace. Her right hand still in his, she laid her left against his back gently, as if she thought she might break him. She stepped back almost before they even hugged, breathing deeply.
"I'm sorry," she shook her head. "The last thing you need is some crazy woman falling apart all over you."
He shook his head, waved his hand at her words as if to erase them. "How is she?" he asked softly, wondering if she had nightmares, too. Remembering the bone deep terror on her little face, he thought she probably must.
Lisa's face crumpled but then she sort of laughed, too. "Oh, gosh, she's doing so well. Better than me," Lisa joked, wiping again at the tears that kept sliding down her cheeks. "Of course, all the attention she's getting at school and from family and friends doesn't hurt," Lisa acknowledged. After a moment of silence, she said weakly, "I would've come sooner. I wanted to, but–″ She gestured helplessly at her face, at the silent tears that still slid down her cheeks. "David and I, we owe you so much…I mean, how do you say thank you for this?"
He couldn't quite fight one corner of his mouth from quirking upward, but he didn't want her to think he was laughing at her, so he said earnestly, "I'm glad she's okay."
Focusing on Missy was the distraction Lisa needed. "She really is," Lisa said. "In fact, she was angry at me because I wouldn't take her out of school today and let her come with me. She thinks you're a superhero."
He really grinned at that. "Well," he nodded, the grin fading as he stood looking at Missy Leon's mother, trying to imagine what she'd been through and knowing he was falling short. "It's good to meet you. Thank you for coming by. I've thought about Missy a lot, wondered how she was doing, how she was dealing." He inwardly cursed himself for reminding Lisa of the heavy end of things. But she just looked back at him and nodded solemnly.
The nurse's voice pulled his attention to the door. "Okay, Priestly," she said, glancing up at him as she flipped the footrests out, "you don't have to tell me you're ready. I've been hearing it for days now."
Lisa smiled. "Priestly, thank you," she said again, watching him sink carefully into the wheelchair.
He nodded. "Tell Missy I said hello."
"I will," Lisa said, nodding as the nurse turned the wheelchair around and headed him out the door. She walked beside the chair for a few paces.
"Going our way?" he smiled.
She returned the smile. "As a matter of fact," she agreed.
Priestly tried distraction. "I think my friend, Fu–Jeff," he corrected, "I think he said something about working for the same company as your husband."
"Yeah, he does," Lisa agreed, and explained the different departments. David Leon was a lot higher up the totem pole, so the two men hadn't met until fate intersected their lives. Since then, however, they'd happened to run into each other at work a few times. Or maybe they just recognized each other now.
When they reached the doors, he saw Jude waiting at the curb with Gossamer, leaning against the rear passenger door. When she saw Lisa, she grinned.
"I was wondering if you would make it," Jude hugged the other woman as if they were old friends. Then it occurred to Priestly that maybe they were, now. Jude hadn't mentioned it, but then, Jude was protective of him in ways he hadn't anticipated. He'd had to learn from Davis' offhand remark about all the crazy phone calls at the grill and the unwanted visitors at their door at home until finally Leo started sitting at the curb with a shotgun balanced across his knees. No one knew or had to know it wasn't loaded. He wondered, then, just what else had gone on while he was out of it.
"Just barely," Lisa said. But then as she and Jude parted, she said something else that clearly only had meaning to his wife. "I told you so," she winked.
Jude nodded. "Yes, you did," she grinned. The ladies hugged one more time before Lisa gave him a wave.
"I'm glad to see you're going home, Priestly."
He nodded at her and tried not to wince as he eased out of the wheelchair. He waited until he was sure she was walking away before trying to ease down into the car, knowing his discomfort would likely cause her to feel guilty. Sore or not sore, his spirits rose high enough that he felt like he might fly out of the car like a loose balloon as Jude guided them toward home.
Dominican wasn't exactly close to home, so it took a decent amount of time for them to wind their way southwest. Jude was pretty quiet, focused on the still crowded pockets of morning traffic. Priestly just enjoyed the feeling of the sun on his face and the wind in his unkempt hair, thinking back to when he used to wear the 'hawks. It felt like a lifetime ago. If someone had shown him a picture of his life now back then…But he couldn't imagine anything different. And, he grinned thinking of Mikey and Lily, he wouldn't want to.
When Jude finally swung into the driveway, Priestly realized it felt like he'd been away for a month instead of just over a week. Automatically, he went to grab his bag from the trunk, but Jude just put a hand on his arm and said, "No."
His mother popped her head out of their front door as he headed toward it. "We were just putting your plants inside," she told him, rubbing his shoulder. He nodded.
"Thanks, Mom," he said, ducking past her.
His grin widened as he saw the handmade banner that ran along the stair rail, which was decorated with red ribbon also. "Welcome home, Daddy!" was scrawled in Mikey's big, messy handwriting. All kinds of stickers and colored drawings surrounded the words, as well as some hand prints from Lily.
"Mikey was so excited yesterday, I couldn't settle him down," his mom said. "So, we made you a sign."
He slung an arm around his mother's waist. "Thanks, ma," Priestly said, kissing her cheek.
The place looked the same as always, mostly clean with a little clutter…the unavoidable kind that said you had kids: random legos and action figures waiting to half-cripple unsuspecting feet, scattered little socks forgotten by their owners, some forgotten cheerios on the coffee table and a few stuffed animals. His eyes swept over the room with its comfortable, overstuffed sofa, the silent TV with its DVD player, and the basket in the corner that held more toys. He was glad the living room and the bedrooms were downstairs now, though having the kitchen upstairs was a little awkward even when he wasn't on the injured list. Luckily, Leo had been more concerned with keeping a roof over their heads that they could afford and not so much with intelligent design. Moving the kitchen downstairs would have been much more costly. Putting three bedrooms, a bath, and the living room downstairs gave them the space they'd needed at an affordable price.
Priestly wished Mikey wasn't in school and that Jude didn't have to head over to the grill. He knew his mom and Leo would be back home later, but for now they'd gone to do some much needed grocery shopping for themselves. They'd been so busy looking after the kids, working, or filling in with grill duties that their own lives had been put on hold. After assuring them he'd be fine by himself until they returned, they'd finally left. With orders to take it easy for the rest of the week until his next checkup…no driving, no lifting anything over twenty pounds…he figured he'd be bored out of his skull in no time. He'd had more than enough TV in the hospital. Books, too, for that matter. Other than daily PT sessions for his arm, which Leo graciously agreed to drive him to, his schedule was wide open. Disturbingly wide open.
Jude stood watching him survey the room, car keys in hand, poised to leave. He turned and saw her expression and knew she didn't want to go. He knew if he asked her not to, she and Trucker would find a way to cover the grill. He also knew it was unfair to put her in that position, so instead he just pulled her close to him, fitting her fully against him in a way that had been impossible in the hospital, with first the bed rails and later the IV line and pole getting in the way.
He dropped his lips to hers, holding her tightly with his good arm. As his lips roved over hers, their tongues meshing, he felt her yielding to him, losing the tension she seemed to always carry with her lately. Her hand slid up to the back of his neck as she took the kiss even deeper. She had a way with unspoken words. She was saying a lot just now in the way she gently stroked her fingernails up into the short strands at the nape of his neck and the way her other hand slipped into his left shirt sleeve and gripped him solidly there.
He forgot, just for a moment, that her intent was to leave. They came up for air and he nuzzled her cheek, knowing she liked the feel of his stubble raking against her. She liked the feel of it in other places, too, he thought with a grin, kissing the hollow of her throat. Instead of stopping him as he fully expected, her head tipped back to allow him to continue. So he continued, dragging his lips and tongue down to the little bit of cleavage made available to him by her v-neck t-shirt. Figuring she'd definitely stop him, he dragged the shirt upward, forcing himself not to let the twinge of protest from his shoulder show on his face. Still, she didn't stop him. She helped him. She helped him right out of his own t-shirt before dragging him back to her.
Deciding to take it as far as she'd allow, Priestly pulled her tighter against him, making sure she felt every bit of how she was making him feel. Her moan was muffled by his mouth back on hers and another quickly followed as he got her bra unfastened with one hand. Obligingly, she released him for a moment to let it slide off her shoulders and onto the floor with a whispered thud. In the next instant, her hands were on him again, one of them slipping into the back of his shorts. One heel came to rest against his ass as she stood on one leg, nudging her closer to him, making it his turn to moan.
She dropped her foot back to the ground, gently guiding him backward in the general direction of their bedroom door. As they kissed and groped their way across the threshold, her hands made short work of his fly and then her own as he eased out of his shorts and boxer briefs. Later on he wouldn't quite be able to recall just how he ended up on his back on the bed except that it came after he first tried to rise up over her, unable to keep her from seeing his face as both his entire right arm and his left side protested that idiocy. But he'd definitely remember the incredibly tender but also oddly hot way she tucked her lips close to his ear and whispered,
"On your back, baby. Let me take you…"
He nearly gave her a "Yes, ma'am!" but instead he just moaned as she gave him a few quick strokes before easing herself down on top of him, surging toward him, her head falling back a little as she rocked gently at first. He watched her move, made breathless by her as she dipped her head forward again to meet his eyes, answering her silent questions. She watched him carefully, which should have turned him off or talked some sense into both of them or something, but instead it just turned him on, her willingness to do most of the work so they could have this, have each other again. Reunite. Eventually the risk of pain in rising up under her was negated by the intense pleasure and he lifted up, ignoring what would surely become painkiller worthy soreness later, encouraged by the quickening of her breath and the little stifled sounds she made as his left hand wandered up to her chest and his right gripped the bed sheet as tightly as he dared. And then everything broke apart, tearing a sharp cry out of her and a long moan out of him.
When he next became aware of anything at all, it was her lips gently pressing against his neck, then his jaw, and then his lips as he stroked her right hip. Her hair made a curtain around them as she lifted herself up and looked down at him with that devilish mischief he hadn't seen in so long, since even before jumping in the bed of a dirty black pickup. A lump formed in his throat so that he nearly didn't dare speak to her. Instead he just moved his left hand from her hip into her hair, tucking it back over her shoulder so he could get an even better look at that smug delight on her face.
"I love you," he choked, stroking her cheek.
Her grin was slow and sexy. "I love you, too." With a resigned sigh, she left the bed, leaving him to drowse there. He heard the sounds of her gathering their clothes from the living room and the bedroom floor and then from behind his eyelids, listened to the rustling sounds of her dressing. He was nearly asleep when he felt the bed give a little and opened his eyes to see her looking down at him solemnly.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," she answered softly, reaching out to stroke his face. "You should probably put something on in case you fall asleep before Mom brings Mikey and Lily home."
"Yeah," he replied, still not moving. He felt so good just drifting there, warm and sleepy and sated. But her voice tugged at him again.
"C'mon, get up and get dressed. I have to go," she said. When he opened his eyes and groaned at the suggestion, she grinned, still looking devilish and delicious.
He dressed carefully, and then he accepted the pain pill she knew he needed. She watched him settle on the couch, putting the remote and a bottle of water nearby, though he declined her offer to actually turn on the TV. She sat on the edge of the sofa next to his knee to slip her feet into her sneakers. He was out cold before he ever noticed the sound of any doors closing.
A/N: Final chapter coming soon...thanks for reading!