My mouth opened slightly and I shook my head. “No, I’m not leaving you. No, Walker.”
Walker turned to my father and gave him a pleading look. My father held me in his arms as he walked me out. The entire time I was pleading with Walker and Daddy to let me stay.
I WIPED MY tears, opened the door to the truck, and jumped out. I made my way into the hospital and saw Reed coming toward me. I walked right into his arms. I didn’t have any tears left. Reed pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “The doctors said the swelling should go down within a week, but he was able to move his toes a little bit ago.”
“Oh, thank God. That’s a good sign right?”
Reed smiled and nodded. But his smile faded when he said, “I think his biggest struggle is going to be mental. All he talked about after you left was the plans that y’all had together. The things you wanted to do. How he wanted to take over the ranch and the idea of not even being able to do one of those killed him.”
I nodded. “But he moved his toes! He moved his toes! He’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. Right, Reed? Right?”
Reed pulled me into his arms and whispered, “Yeah, sweetheart. Yeah.”
IT HAD BEEN over a week since Walker’s accident. The swelling had gone down and the doctors expected him to make a full recovery. They’d be releasing him within the next few days. He just had to do a bit more therapy first. I knocked on the hospital door as I slowly opened it. Walker was standing and saying something to the young nurse who was getting ready to help Walker back into bed since he was returning from rehab.
The slender, blonde nurse looked up and smiled. When Walker saw me his smile faded for a brief second.
“Hey,” I said as I walked into the room.
“Hey, Liza.”
I chewed my lip as I watched Walker with the nurse. He smiled at her. Something he wasn’t doing with me. Walker laughed when she made a joke. He barely spoke to me, let alone laughed. When she took his hand in hers Walker smiled at her again.
“Have a wonderful night, Walker. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
“Unless I get out of here.” Walker said.
I pulled out my phone. I sent Courtney a message to tell her I was at the hospital.
As the nurse walked by she smiled. “Good night,” she said with a wink.
I smiled back and said, “Good night. Enjoy your evening.”
Turning around. I caught Walker staring at me. I smiled, but he looked away.
“Walker, um, can we talk?”
“We’ve been talking every day, what makes today different?”
I approached his bed. “This,” I pointed between us. “What’s happening here? You’re treating me like a stranger. Like I’m a bother to you.”
He stared out the window. “Walker! I deserve to be treated better than this.”
He snapped his head back to me. “Exactly, Liza. You deserve someone who can actually do the things he promised you. I’m not that person.”
I sucked in a breath. “What? What do you mean?”
His eyes filled with tears as he looked into my eyes. “Our dreams. The dreams we talked about the night before I feel off that stupid horse. What if I can’t…What if I’m not able to give you all of that?”
My mouth fell open. “All I want, all I’ve ever wanted is you. I don’t care about that other stuff. I care about you. You’re walking. You’ll make a full recovery.”
He shook his head. “I just need time, Liza. I need time.”
“Time for what? Please tell me what’s happening here, Walker, because I thought you loved me. I thought you wanted…us.”
A sob escaped my throat as he slowly looked into my eyes.
The door to his room opened and his doctor began talking as I wiped my eyes.
“Well, Walker. Looks like you’re heading home tomorrow. You’ll want to use a cane for a bit until you feel your strength building back up. We’ve got you all set for outpatient rehab. I still can’t believe how lucky you were, son. Those muscles should start feeling better every day with the rehab.”
I looked out the window and could see Walker’s reflection. He was watching me. He nodded when the doctor said something, then looked at me. I twisted the double-heart ring on my finger, trying to convince myself that he was just confused and scared. That he didn’t mean to push me away.
The doctor stayed a few more minutes, then shook Walker’s hand.
“I’d say you’ll be out of here around one tomorrow afternoon so let your folks now. I’ll see you in the morning.”
The doctor looked at me as if noticing me for the first time since he’d walked in. He gave me a polite smile before excusing himself and heading out the door.
I took in a shaky breath. I attempted to plaster on a smile for Walker. “I’m glad you’re leaving tomorrow,” I said.
He nodded. “Yeah, me too. Maybe I’ll feel more myself when I get home.”
I nodded as Courtney and Reed both came into the room. Everyone started making plans for bringing Walker home.
Courtney smiled at Walker, then me. “Everything will be okay once we get Walker back home,” she said.
I gave her a weak smile, as did Walker. If only I believed those words.
I SAT ON the trucks’ tailgate as I watched Walker. He still wasn’t acting normal, and he only talked to me when he had to. Most of the time, there was nothing but silence.
Daddy came riding up on a horse and stopped short of Walker. I watched Walker’s body language change. He kept stepping away from the horse, almost like he was afraid of it. Jumping off the tailgate, I approached the animal. I smiled and brought the horse closer to me.
My father asked, “When do you think you can ride again?”
Walker’s eyes filled with something I’d never seen there before. Fear. He was scared of the horses.
“I’m doing pretty good in rehab. Shouldn’t have to go that much longer. Starting to lift weights, so I’m sure I’ll be back and helping with the ranch in no time.”
Daddy slapped his hand on Walker’s shoulder. “Son, I just want you to heal completely. We don’t need you going off and hurting yourself. We’ve got some help, so don’t worry. I want you to heal—it’s only been three weeks since the accident. You and Liza should take a trip somewhere—maybe to the coast. Spend a few days together.”
I looked at my father, shocked. He winked at me and I giggled.