Chased Dreams (21 page)

“Don’t forget to smuggle me some food in.” I
reminded him and he shook his head, chuckling.

“I’ll do my best. Have a good
afternoon.”

“Bye,” Nikki and I both said, in unison, as
we watched him head out the door.

“You’re grandpa has really taken good care
of you,” Nikki said, as soon as he was gone.

“That’s what I heard. What I want to know is
why I was getting sponge baths from Brittney and him instead of
you?”

She glanced at me quickly, a slow blush
stealing across her face. “Are you serious?” she finally asked.

“Heck, yeah. What’s a guy got to do to get a
little action from the girl he wants?”

She turned, kneeling beside me so she could
face me. “Action? That’s what you want?”

Glancing at the empty space around us, I
cocked my eyebrow. “We’re alone now, and it would be a shame to
waste this private room.”

“Yep. If I had any doubts that you’re
my
Chase, they’re now gone. You’ve been in a coma for
months; and yet, even after just waking up, you’re still hitting on
me.”

I grinned. “I’ve been dying to hit on you
for a while.”

“No dying jokes. They aren’t funny.”

“If you kiss me, I’ll shut up.” I waited,
wondering if she’d take me up on my offer.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” I could tell she
was concerned, but I didn’t care.

“You won’t. Kiss me, Nikki. Just like you
used to.”

Smiling, she leaned forward until her lips
were merely a few millimeters away from mine. “If you say so.”

I couldn’t wait through any more teasing.
Sliding my hand behind her head, I closed the distance between us.
Sparks flared instantly and I wasn’t sure if the moan that escaped
was from her or me. She readily opened her mouth and my tongue
slipped inside to dance with hers. It was better than any of my
memories—feeling her, tasting her, smelling her sweet perfume. I
was on sensory overload, completely wrapped up in everything that
was so uniquely her. I didn’t know how I’d ever even imagined I was
with anyone else—dream or not. Nikki was a part of me. She was
everything I wanted. She was the love of my life, the keeper of my
soul.

For the first time in ages, I felt
whole.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Not bad, Walker,” Barney, my physical
therapist said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a patient come
through here with the same kind of determination you have. It’s
only been four months and look at you.”

“Only?” I snorted, staring at Barney, the
burly ex-football player turned therapist. I grimaced as I curled
the weights I held in each hand. “No offense, but I would’ve liked
to have been out of here, oh, I don’t know—four months ago.”

“Four months ago, no one was even sure you’d
open your eyes again, let alone be doing so well in physical
therapy. I remember how you were. I was the one doing therapy on
you, even when you were asleep. So, take the compliment. You’ve put
in a lot of hard hours and it’s starting to show.”

“What can I say?” I replied in a huff of
breath before I set the weights down, carefully. “Having to use a
walker to get around is a good motivation. There’s no way you can
make something like that look cool. I don’t want my girlfriend to
finally realize she’s getting the bad end of the deal.” This rehab
was taking forever, in my opinion. Sure, I didn’t expect it to be a
cakewalk, but it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would
be. I’d had to re-teach my muscles to do about a billion things, it
seemed. Sometimes it was extremely frustrating.

Snorting, Barney shook his head. “I’ve seen
the way your girlfriend looks at you. It’s like you’re the only
person on the planet. I don’t think she’ll ever think you’re the
bad end of the deal. And, after what she’s been through, I bet
she’d be thrilled to have you—even if you were in a hospital bed
for the rest of your life.”

“She might have been able to handle it, but
there is no way I would've. I think I'd rather be dead than
strapped to a bed the rest of my life. Plus, I’d hate myself for
every second she spent with me. I know how Nikki thinks. She
wouldn’t leave, even if it meant she’d have a lonely life by my
side, doing nothing but taking care of me. It would kill me to see
her wasted like that. I would’ve told her to move on—and then I
would’ve died if she did.”

“She wouldn’t have,” Barney said, strapping
me in to begin my leg presses. I glanced at the stack of weights
that, in the past, would’ve been laughable to me. It was times like
these it was hard to not get discouraged. “Are you ready?”

Nodding, I began extending my legs. I
couldn’t talk much during this workout because it took most of my
concentration and effort, but I did steadily move the weights. It
was getting easier—a little.

“Looking good, Chase. You’re progressively
climbing.” Even though I could easily sit up on my own and had
control over my posture, Barney always hovered close by, just in
case I might need him. Every once in a while, I did; and I hated
it. I just wanted to be done with all this. I felt like me again,
in my mind, I wanted my body back now, too. “I think that’s enough
for today on this machine. We don’t want to overdo it.”

Stopping was okay with me, and that made me
feel bad. I was feeling pretty tired after today’s work out, but I
wished I could do more. Despite my fatigue, my eyes drifted over to
the set of parallel bars with the rubber mat running in between
them.

“You want to give it a try again today?”
Barney asked, following my gaze and I nodded. Helping me to stand,
he slid my metal walker in front of me, allowing me the freedom to
slowly move over to the poles on my own. “Remember the rules. If
you lift your hands off the bars, keep them where you can grab it
again easily, if you feel like you’re going to fall. I’ll be right
behind you.”

This part actually drove me crazy. In my
mind, since I could walk around with a walker, I should be able to
walk on my own. Period. Sure, I taken several steps on my own, but
not once had I made it completely through the parallel bars without
needing some kind of support, either grabbing the bars or having
Barney hold me up. Not today, though. I wasn’t going to get off
this thing until I’d successfully made my way across.

Barney helped me get situated at the end of
the bars and then he released me. I gripped the metal beside me as
tightly as I could, taking a deep breath as I tried to steady both
my body and my focus.

“Just concentrate on one step at a time.
Take it and then move to the next one.” Barney’s words sank into my
mind and I stepped. Next leg. And another step. So far so good, but
I always made it this far. Stepping forward again, I began to feel
the familiar tremble in my legs that always happened before a
collapse.

No!
I thought sharply to myself,
concentrating on my muscles, trying to command them to do the
things I used to never even think about. Staring down at my feet, a
wave of discouragement washed through me. Lifting my chin, I stared
at the end of the course, focusing my intentions on it.
All the
way to the end,
I said internally.

“You can do it.” Glancing to the side, I saw
Nikki walking toward me. Setting her books down, she stood at the
end of the bars, smiling hopefully. I couldn’t disappoint her. I
couldn’t. I didn’t want anyone to tell me “keep trying,” or “maybe
next time.” I was sick of hearing those things.

Locking eyes with her, I took another step.
She seemed to recognize my need to hold her stare because she never
looked away, silent support and love radiating from her. Another
step.

My legs were trembling. I wondered if the
tremors were visible to everyone else; but I refused to look down,
taking another slow step toward her.

“You just broke your record,” Barney’s voice
came from behind me. “Come on, man. You’ve got this.” He sounded as
hopeful as I was. Moving again, I maintained focus as I stared into
Nikki’s eyes, noticing when she stepped up at the end of the bars
that I was nearly there. Two more steps and I was in her arms.

“Yeah!” Barney shouted behind me, his
excitement evident. Tears were running down Nikki’s face and I was
breathing so hard it felt like I’d run a marathon. It didn’t matter
though. It seemed like every single part of me was smiling.

Leaning against one of the poles, I pulled
Nikki into my arms, kissing her soundly. She threaded her arms
around behind my neck, obviously not caring that we had an
audience, either. I was standing and kissing her at the same time.
It was something I hadn’t done since the night of the accident and
it felt so good to tower over her, once more. I didn’t know why
that mattered to me so much, but it did. It made me feel strong and
having her in my arms made me the luckiest guy on the planet.

Deepening the kiss, I silently wished I had
the strength to pick her up and carry her off somewhere private,
but I knew that day was still a long time off. It would happen
though, I was sure of it. From this moment on, I was going to be
invincible!

Nikki pulled away and a blush crept over her
cheeks. “Sorry, Barney,” she said, glancing sideways at him.

“Don’t be sorry. If it were up to me, we’d
have a marching band and a parade here right now. I’m glad you were
here to kiss him, or I might have had to do it.”

Laughter burst from me. “And I would’ve
clobbered you over the head with a barbell if you tried.”

He shook his head. “No you wouldn’t. You
can’t run away from me fast enough to get one yet.”

“One day you won’t be able to catch me. I
promise you that.”

Barney smiled widely. “I look forward to
that day. Now let’s get you sat down before you fall down.”

I hated that I had to sit, but I knew I
needed to because my legs were starting to feel like rubber bands.
Even that couldn’t wipe the smile from my face though—this was such
a big milestone.

As soon as I was safely settled into my
wheelchair, Barney turned and pointed at Nikki. “Make the call,” he
ordered, grinning widely.

“With pleasure!” Nikki smiled, digging her
phone from her pocket.

“What’s going on?” I asked, glancing back
and forth between them, confused.

“Your doctor said when you could walk
through the parallels unaided, then that was the night you got to
eat your grandma’s fried chicken.”

I laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Completely,” Barney said. “Tell her to make
him a big plate of mashed potatoes and gravy, too. He deserves it,”
he added to Nikki before turning back to me. “The party is in your
room tonight.”

Laughing again, I couldn’t help the few
tears that managed to sneak down my face, but I didn’t care. I’d
walked unaided. I’d kissed my girl while standing up, and tonight,
I was eating fried chicken. This was one of the best days of my
life!

***

This had to be heaven– surrounded by my
friends and family eating fried chicken just like we used to out at
the ranch. Closing my eyes, I took another bite. And I heard Nikki
laugh beside me.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’m just watching the
way you’re enjoying that piece of chicken and I’m starting to get a
little jealous.”

“Don’t worry, babe. You’ll get your turn.” I
winked at her and she laughed again. Glancing across the room at my
Grandma, I gave her the thumbs up sign. “I swear, Grandma, it
tastes even better than I remember.”

Her eyes sparkled at my compliment. “I’m
glad you enjoy it.”

“Frankly, had I known what he was going on
about, I’d have pushed him harder,” Dr. Kennish teased, taking a
bite of his own piece. “Add my compliments to the chef.”

Brett, along with my buddies, Chad, and Wes,
were sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, eating with
relish.

“I’ve always said my friends only kept me
around so they could have access to Grandma’s cooking.”

“You know it,” Brett joked. “Glad you
finally decided to wake up. The rest of us have been starving
waiting on you.”

“Obviously,” I replied, gesturing to his
nearly empty plate. Not that it was anything to worry about.
Grandma had probably made enough to feed the entire care center.
Every space in my room was taken. My family, Nikki’s family, all of
our best friends, people from physical therapy, the nursing staff,
and my doctor—it was unreal. I could get used to this.

“So what’s your next milestone?” Justine
asked me.

“To get out of this place.” I didn’t even
hesitate. Then I worried I might have offended the staff. Glancing
around at them, I added, “I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”

Dr. Kennish shook his head, clearing his
mouth. “Don’t worry, kid. We don’t want you here either.”

Everyone laughed, myself included. “I want
to go see the ranch again . . . even if I can’t stay
there, at first. I want to chill with the guys and play video
games. And I want to take Nikki to the creek.” Using my napkin to
wipe my face, I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she replied, smiling.
Reaching over, she grabbed my thigh, squeezing it. “Check it out. I
feel some serious muscle growing there.”

Brett, Chad, Wes, and I all snorted and
started laughing.

“I bet you do,” Wes said, elbowing Chad next
to him.

“Why is everyone laughing?” Nikki’s baby
brother, Timmy, asked, turning to Justine. Everyone busted up
laughing again.

“It’s nothing, sweetheart. Keep eating your
food.”

Glancing at Nikki, there was no hiding the
flaming color of her cheeks. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her so
red. “Sorry,” I said. “But you kind of walked right into that
one.”

Simply nodding, she continued to stare at
her plate.

“Hey.” I bumped my elbow against hers and
she looked over at me. Leaning in closer, I whispered into her ear.
“When I get out of this place, I promise to show you any muscle you
want.”