Heart of Clay (26 page)

Callan wouldn’t be home now, but Dr. Fisher
had ordered her to go home and rest, just for one night. Josh and
Jenna insisted on driving her home and she was glad they had. She
didn’t feel like she could have driven herself, even if she’d had a
car to drive. Ralph and Julie were at the hospital now, giving
Bobbi and Steve a much-needed break.

The doctor removed Clay’s breathing tube
that morning, and he breathed well on his own. Each day his vital
signs were good, his broken body was slowly mending, but still he
lingered in the coma.

Dr. Fisher said Clay’s reflexes seemed to be
fine, considering all the damage his body had endured. He also said
they were almost past the point of major concern about infections
from the wounds setting in. Now, they just had to wait and see
when, not if – when, Clay decided to wake up and pray that he
wouldn’t suffer from brain damage.

Tears came anew to Callan as she
contemplated life for Clay if he awoke with brain damage. Loved by
his students and respected by his peers, he was a gifted teacher
who made ordinary subjects interesting and exciting. He was so much
fun and owned such a huge, giving heart.

Callan couldn’t control the sobs that shook
her as she thought about a world without Clay’s teasing remarks,
sarcastic comments, great sense of humor, gentle encouragement, and
especially his words of love. “Please let him be fine, Lord.
Please…” Callan uttered the prayer again. She’d prayed it hundreds
of times in the last few days.

After washing her hair and stepping out of
the shower, Callan dried off, put on pajamas and a light robe, then
wandered into the kitchen where Laken pulled a chicken and noodle
casserole from the oven.

“I thought some comfort food might taste
good, Callan. It’s your recipe, so I’m pretty sure it’s edible. Can
I get you something to drink?” Laken asked as she moved to get two
glasses out of the cupboard.

“Just some water, please.” Callan leaned
against the counter, trying to accept Laken’s assistance. It was so
foreign to her, having someone wait on her in her own home. Laken
was busy with her store and her family. Callan was sure she didn’t
have time to sit around holding her hand.

Callan sipped the icy cold water then
clasped Laken’s hand in her own. “Laken, I so appreciate you coming
over, but you don’t have to stay here with me. I’ll be fine. Your
family needs you, too.”

Laken squeezed her hand and gave her a warm
smile full of love and support. “You can’t get rid of me that easy.
Tyler has the kids under control for the evening and I’m not
budging from here until you’re asleep. So there.”

Callan smiled and gave Laken a hug. “Thank
you for being such a good friend. What would I do without you?”

“For starters, you’d probably be eating
cereal with water on it, since the milk has gone bad. Do you want
me to run to the store for you?”

“No. I don’t plan to be home much for a
while. No need to buy groceries until we’re home to stay.”

Laken could see the tears in Callan’s eyes
and decided she needed a distraction. She began telling her stories
about all the crazy things her two active children had done in the
past couple of weeks. She also gave Callan an earful about all the
silly things Tyler had done. For a smart guy, he really did do many
unbelievable things. His latest stunt was deciding to build a
pirate ship in the backyard for the kids to play on. It started out
with an old rowboat, a torn tarp, and some twine.

“The monstrosity,” as Laken preferred to
call it, overtook the entire backyard. Not only was it an eyesore,
it killed the grass and stunted the growth of several plants. There
were also the complaints that kept coming from the neighbors.
“Tyler just threatens to make them walk the plank and hangs up. His
stupid project is really making us popular throughout the
neighborhood.” Laken’s laugh was contagious, infecting even Callan
as they ate their dinner.

Thankful to Laken for taking her mind off
her life and problems, even for a little while, Callan smiled as
her friend shared more funny stories. After finishing their dinner,
they did the dishes and by that time, Callan was exhausted and
decided to climb into bed.

She slid between the cool sheets, wanting so
badly to turn to Clay, only to find the empty space where he should
be. She could smell his scent on his pillow and held it close to
her chest. Tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked her pillow. They
had come so far in the past five months. She just wanted to go back
to Friday afternoon when all was fun, happy, and right in their
world. “Please let him be fine.” Callan whispered between her sobs.
“Please, Lord, please.”

Callan slept late the next morning. The
ringing of the phone awoke her. Sleep fogged her mind and made her
voice sound rough and raspy when she answered.

“Callan, it’s Laken. Did I wake you up? Oh,
I’m sorry sweetie. I should have waited until later. I just wanted
to make sure you were doing okay this morning. Is there anything
you need?”

“No. I’m fine.” Callan looked at the clock
and saw it was almost noon. She’d never slept that late in her
entire life. “I’m glad you called. I might have slept the day away.
Thanks again for coming over last night. I really appreciated you
being here.”

“No problem,” Laken said, with a smile in
her voice. “You let me know if there is anything at all we can do.
Promise?”

“Promise. I’m going to jump in the shower to
wake up, pack a few things, then head back to the hospital. I’ll
try to call you tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again, Laken.”

“Do you need someone to drive you?”

“No. I’ll be fine and it’ll be nice to have
my own transportation available. I hate being dependent on
everyone.”

“I know,” Laken said with a laugh. “Miss
Independent is definitely you. Drive safely and keep me posted.
Love you, Callan.”

“Love you, too, Laken. Thanks again.
Bye.”

Callan hurried to take a quick shower,
dressed, then made the bed. She dug out a bag to pack with clothes
and necessities for a few days. As she pawed through a drawer, her
hand connected with something solid. She pulled it out and stared
at the heart Clay made for her the day Audrey and Emma visited.
She’d meant to put it in her treasure box and hadn’t gotten around
to it. Seeing it now brought agonizing pain to her own heart as she
remembered that day and the look of love on Clay’s face when he
handed it to her. Her legs trembled and she collapsed on the bed as
a round of fresh tears shook her frame.

Finally setting the heart down on her
dresser, Callan wiped her cheeks and took a deep breath. Hysterics
wouldn’t help anything or change what happened. For Clay’s sake,
she had to pull herself together. No matter when Clay came out of
his coma, he needed to know how much she still loved and needed
him. That he had her heart forever.

Quickly finishing her packing, Callan locked
the house and backed out of the driveway, ready for the hour-long
drive into the city to the hospital. On the way, she called Josh
and Jenna to let them know she was driving herself and that she was
fine.

When she arrived at the hospital, she
hurried back to ICU and found Steve waiting outside while Bobbi sat
with Clay. He stood and gave her a hug then motioned to the seat
beside him. “How are you? Did you get some rest?”

“Yes, Dad, I did. Thanks.” Callan smiled at
her father-in-law. He’d always treated her like a daughter and she
loved him as much as she did her own dad. “It was so hard to be in
the house without Clay. I don’t think I would have agreed to go
home if I knew how difficult it was going to be. I miss him so
much.”

“I know, Callan. I know,” Steve said, with a
faraway look on his face. “He was always like that, you know.”

Puzzled, Callan stared at him.

“Clay was always a special kid. He could
bring an extra element of fun, or friendship, or understanding to
any situation. He seemed to always know when it was best to tell a
joke or lend a hand or just be there for someone.” Steve was quiet
for a long moment, then laughed. “He’s always been quite partial to
the joke-telling and prank-playing.”

They both smiled, remembering jokes Clay had
played on them and others.

“It was priceless seeing him the day you
came home with your new look. If hadn’t already been there, I would
have paid money to see his face when he finally realized you were
the mysterious beauty in his kitchen. Every time I think about it,
I grin all over again.” Steve smiled broadly and patted Callan’s
hand. “Now, that was something.”

“I thought he was going to eat us all alive
for dinner.” Callan shook her head as she remembered Clay’s
irritated looks and dour expressions that lasted until everyone
went home. She wouldn’t let herself think about what happened when
their company had finally gone. The wonder of those moments and the
thought she and Clay might never experience anything like them
again created a pain that was too much to bear.

Steve smiled again and cleared his throat.
“Did I ever tell you about the time Clay managed to scare about ten
years off my life? He was only five at the time.”

Callan looked at Steve, waiting for him to
continue.

“You know where we stack the hay, back
behind the barn? Well, it was spring and we’d piled a bunch of seed
sacks next to one of the haystacks. Clay got it in his head that it
would be fun to jump off the haystack onto the piles of seed. At
first he was jumping off bales stacked just a couple high, so I
wasn’t worried about him. We got busy working on some equipment and
the next thing I knew, that crazy kid had climbed to the very top
of the stack and jumped off. I hollered about the same time he
jumped, but not soon enough to stop him. How he survived the fall,
I’ll never know. He could have broken his neck, his back, every
bone in his body. Instead, it knocked him senseless, gave him a
doozy of a concussion and broke his nose. He had a nosebleed like
you wouldn’t believe. Bobbi wouldn’t let Clay come out with me for
months after that without her supervision. Eventually, we both
earned her trust back, but Clay never did regain his sense of smell
and he never could breathe right through his nose after that.”

Steve took her hand in his and gave it a
hopeful squeeze. “It’s going to be okay, Callan. Our boy is going
to be just fine. Have faith and don’t give up hope. Our job is to
keep encouraging him until he decides to wake up. Right?”

Callan nodded her head. It was too hard to
speak around the lump in her throat. She knew she needed to be
strong not only for Clay but also for his parents. Clay was their
only child. Callan knew how hard it was to lose a child. She
couldn’t imagine the pain of losing one you’d loved for thirty-six
years. Calling on all her recently gained knowledge about positive
thinking, Callan decided to focus only on the good.

Clay would wake up, he would be fine, he
would heal, and life would go on. That was the way it would be,
since she refused to think of the alternatives.

If only Clay would realize the first step
was for him to wake up.

Clay had never felt such intense pain.

His entire body hurt. Sinking into the dark
swells of oblivion seemed so much easier than trying to fight his
way to awareness.

As he floated in a state somewhere in
between awake and asleep, he felt a breath near his ear and heard
Callan’s voice. She whispered to him to fight and begged him not to
leave.

“I love you, Clay,” he heard her say. “Come
back to me.”

Come back to me, come back
to me.
The words rang in his ears as he
sank into the far off place where the pain wasn’t so
overwhelming.

He drifted in the void where he couldn’t
feel anything, where time didn’t seem to matter. Occasionally, he
heard voices, felt a touch.

Sometimes he dreamed.

He dreamed of Callan and their life
together. Like a movie playing in slow motion, he could picture all
their past moments.

Oddly, he dreamed he could smell her scent.
It filled him with a sense of pleasure and familiarity, like
nothing he could remember.

He dreamed of how she looked the day she’d
surprised him with her makeover, of the raw, hungry passion they’d
shared that night. They’d had so many fun times since then, so many
moments he’d looked at her and had his breath stolen away.

Falling in love with her again had been such
a precious, unexpected gift. One he’d cherished.

Clay pictured his parents, remembered good
times spent out at the ranch. He thought of Jake and his other
students and the joy teaching brought him. Clay also thought of
Audrey and Emma, how much he enjoyed playing with the two little
girls.

A picture of cattle stampeding and one
crazed cow heading toward him would make him flinch and then the
dream would stop. When his thoughts took him too close to the
surface of waking up, the pain became intense, so Clay let his mind
wander back to the peaceful place where the pain didn’t interrupt
his dreams.