Sorry for the length of time between chapters - I was on vacation. :)
Adrian was kept very busy during the next several days. He did research on car safety with Ambrose's help (his brother happened to be acquainted, via the Internet, with several writers for Consumer Reports), practiced his rusty driving skills (accompanied by Leland, and occasionally Julie), spoke to his landlord at length, and visited Natalie as often as he could manage.
She tired easily, in part due to the pain medication she was on, so he would spend an hour or two with her in the morning, and another hour or two in the late afternoon. He and the Davenports generally tried staggering their visits so they weren't all there at the same time, just to make it easier for Natalie.
Julie visited briefly every day, but she'd returned to classes at Berkeley (at her mother's insistence) and had a lot of make-up work to complete. Randy and Sharona as well as Leland and T.K. took time to visit, and Cassandra called several times just to chat, as did Natalie's brother Jonathan. He'd made noises about flying down to see her, but Natalie had insisted he didn't need to disrupt his busy schedule (he was a VP for Davenport Industries, working out of their Seattle office) on her account.
On the afternoon of the fourth day after her accident, Adrian walked into her hospital room and stopped short. Her room looked like a florist's shop. There were flowers everywhere – on the counter, the windowsill, the small table by the window. There was hardly a bare horizontal space that didn't have flowers, other than the floor and the bed.
"This is getting ridiculous," Natalie said, gesturing to the counter by her bed, which was now crammed with vases. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the sentiments, but I'm running out of room."
He examined the cards sticking out from various bouquets. Aside from the flowers from him and Julie, her parents had given her a separate bouquet. There was also one from the mayor's office, one from the police commissioner's office, one from the district attorney's office, one from Ambrose, one from Jonathan, one from her next-door neighbors, one from the Stottlemeyers, one from Randy and Sharona, an enormous arrangement from Stottlemeyer's Homicide Division, one from Cassandra Donaghue and the staff at the Four Seasons, one from Dr. Bell and Dr. Hector, and one from…
"Why is Harold Krenshaw sending you flowers?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe he's just being nice?"
"Maybe he's just trying to annoy me," Adrian muttered.
"Don't let him know that it worked," she said dryly.
He turned to her, a snappy retort on his lips, but it faded when he noticed how pale and listless she was. "How are you feeling?" he asked, concerned.
"They're starting to wean me off the IV pain medication. Dr. Harmon says it's a good thing, because it means I'm one step closer to going home, but…" She winced. "It hurts to move, even a little. And breathe."
"I'm sorry you're in pain," he said, stroking her hair.
She managed a trembling smile. "We soldier on," she said, quoting her mother.
"I have some news that might lift your spirits a little," he offered.
"Oh yeah?"
"I bought a car today."
"You — " She stared at him, dumbstruck. "You bought a car?"
He nodded. "Ambrose helped me do all the research. We decided on a Honda Civic, since it has one of the highest safety ratings of all the four-door sedans. And your father came with me and helped with the negotiating part."
She had so many questions she hardly knew what to ask first. "What color?"
"Silver. It's the easiest color to keep clean, according to the salesman at the dealership."
She grinned. That would be his first concern. "Are you… have you driven it yet?"
"I drove it here."
"You did?" She actually threw back the covers as if she were going to climb out of bed, but the sudden movement caused her to gasp in pain.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" he said, gently easing her back down, and holding her hand until the spasm of pain passed.
"I want to see it," she protested weakly, as he tucked her covers back in around her.
"You will – after you're discharged and I take you home in it," he said firmly.
"You really drove here? All by yourself?" she asked wonderingly.
"That's right," he confirmed. He couldn't help feeling a little proud. It had been nerve-wracking, but he'd managed, thanks to the practice he'd managed to fit in over the last few days.
"So that's what you've been up to lately," she said.
"Among other things." He pulled up a chair next to her bed and sat, deciding he might as well tell her the rest of his news. "I hope you don't mind, but I made an executive decision about our new living arrangements."
"Oh?" she asked, a little warily.
"I gave my landlord notice. I'm not renewing my lease."
"Adrian," she breathed in astonishment. "Are you sure? I – "
"I'm sure," he interrupted. "It makes the most sense. You're going to have an easier recovery if you're in your own home. There will be room for Julie so she can stay and help out when she wants, and I can stay in the guest room while you're recuperating. You're not going to have the physical stamina to pack up your things for a while, so it'll be easier for me to pack up mine. I'm not going to be bringing much, anyway."
"But all your furniture and – "
"I'm selling the furniture to my landlord," he said. "He says he'll be able to rent the apartment faster if it's furnished. So it'll just be my clothes, cleaning equipment, books, personal effects, work files, and some other odds and ends. I can put some things in storage if I need to, or even leave a few things with Ambrose."
"How long do you have?" she asked.
"Until June first, but I'm going to be staying at your house starting next week, after you're discharged, and do the packing in stages. Your parents are going to live at my apartment for the next two months."
"They are?" she said in surprise. This was the first she'd heard of it.
He shrugged. "Bobby told me that he and Peggy planned to lease an apartment nearby for the next month or two so they could be nearby in case we needed help. I thought it'd just be easier if they just used mine, since I planned to stay at your place after you go home anyway, so they talked to my landlord. I guess technically they're subleasing it. They're going to go back to Monterey in a few days so they can pack more extensively, but they'll be back a day or two after your discharge."
She seemed impressed, but also a little sad. "I'm going to be sorry to see your apartment go, to be honest. We have so many memories there."
"I know," he agreed soberly. "It was where we met, and where I told you I loved you for the first time."
"Where we got engaged," she supplied.
"And where we first – " He stopped and cleared his throat. "That reminds me, do you have any strong attachment to your bed?"
"You mean the one in my bedroom, at my house?" she said, puzzled.
He nodded.
"Not really," she said, after thinking a moment. "It's just a bed."
"I was thinking I might move my bed to your house, and leave yours at my apartment. My landlord doesn't care, as long as there's a bed in good condition. I have a queen-size to your full-size, and it's just more comfortable." He grinned. "And it has many happy memories associated with it."
She laughed. "Too bad we can't bring your shower, too."
"That is a shame," he agreed. "Your shower isn't nearly as nice. But we'll make do."
"I'm glad you're bringing something of yours, anyway," she said. "I feel bad that you'll need to leave so much behind."
He shook his head. "They're just things. You're more important."
She laid back on her pillow and studied him. "But, Adrian… they're the things you chose with Trudy."
"Then it's all the more fitting that I leave them behind," he said. "We're going to start our new life."
She looked disturbed at that. "I don't want you to feel like you have to leave her behind," she said quietly.
"I'm not leaving her behind," he said. "She's always with me, here." He placed a hand over his heart. "All the possessions in the world won't change that."
She regarded him with approval. "You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"
"Let's just say that Dr. Bell and I have had some interesting conversations recently." He squeezed her hand. "As of next week, Ms. Teeger, we are officially living together."
"I can't wait," she said, smiling tiredly. "Mostly because it means that I'll be out of this damn hospital. The nurses are nice and all, but… I want to go home."
"Soon," he promised.
