Next to Always: Shattered Innocence Trilogy Book Two (10 page)

The ride to the hospital was silent. Rade had no words to express which would possibly make Dylan feel better. After he told her the news the doctor left, she literally crumbled to the floor. The only thing he could do was hold her. He pulled her to his side and wrapped his arm around her as her head fell on his shoulder. Rade could feel the wetness of her tears as they began soaking his thin shirt. He wished he had the power to take away her pain.

“It will be okay, Dylan. Your father is in good hands,” Rade said as he tried to convince not only Dylan, but himself as well.

By the time they arrived at the hospital the light rain had turned into an unforgiving downpour. Rade held his jacket above them as they hurried to the entrance doors. They stood in front of the elevators for what seemed like an eternity before the doors finally opened. Moments later they were escorted into a small room, awaiting the arrival of the doctor.

The doctor appeared at the door a few moments later. “I’m sorry for the hastiness in my message,” he stated as he took a seat. “Your father ran into some complications. With the amount of pressure on his brain and the blood clots, he unfortunately had a stroke. We need to decide how to proceed. We have been able to extract most of the fluid in his brain. I think we should proceed with the surgery. Even though his chance for survival are better than when he arrived, they are still not where we would like them to be. But if we don’t proceed, there is a chance he could have another stroke. I know this is an important decision. I will leave you to think about what you want to do.”

Dylan looked up at Rade, “What do I do, Rade? I can’t let my dad die.”

Rade took a seat next to Dylan. Seeing her in such pain was almost unbearable for him. “Sweetness, I think you know in your heart what needs to be done.”

With her head hung low, Dylan knew one thing for sure. “I need to be with my dad.”

Rade and Dylan walked out of the small room and to her dad’s room. Rade slid the glass door open. Dylan turned to Rade and sadly stated, “I’d like to spend a few moments alone with my dad.”

Rade gently squeezed Dylan’s hand as he nodded. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be right outside if you need me.

Dylan watched as Rade left the room and slid the glass door shut. When the door was securely shut, she walked towards her dad’s bed and took a seat in the chair closest to his bed. Taking his hand into hers, she began crying. “If you can hear me at all, Daddy, I need you to stay strong. There’s so much I want to share with you. Who will walk me down the aisle when I get married? You need to stay strong so you can spoil the abundance of grandchildren you’re going to have. Oh my God, Daddy, you haven’t even met Rade.” The tears were falling harder as Dylan whispered, “I’m in love with him, Daddy. It’s crazy how much I care for this man. I think you’ll like him… oh God, please be okay. I love you so much. Don’t leave me.”

The minute she said those words, the monitors began going crazy. It wasn’t long until a nurse and the doctor stepped into the room. Her dad’s blood pressure was skyrocketing to dangerous heights. Dylan barely had enough time to get out of their way so they could work on him. She could see the concern on the doctor’s face as he began rattling to the nurse to inject medication into her dad’s IV. As the medication slowly got into his system, his blood pressure began to stabilize. The doctor turned to Dylan. “Ms. Adams, you need to make a decision. The longer you wait, the riskier it will be for your father.”

Dylan looked straight into the doctor’s eyes. She could see his concern for her dad. The look in his eyes told her what she needed to do. “Give him the surgery.”

Her words echoed in the room as the medical team began repositioning his wires and tubes so he could be safely wheeled out of the room to surgery. As they were wheeling him out, Dylan caught a glimpse of Rade’s face. Even though he tried to keep a strong face, she knew her father’s health was affecting him as much, if not more, than her.

*****

Hours passed with no word on how her dad was doing. Waiting and not knowing how he was doing was the worst kind of torture she had ever experienced. Five coffees later, the door heading to the OR finally opened. Rade and Dylan both stood up as Dr. Chazan approached them.

“It was a long hard struggle for your dad… but he made it through the surgery. Only time will tell what impact the fall actually had on his brain. We will know more once he reaches consciousness. It could be a couple of days or it could be a couple weeks or even months. His body will let him know when he is ready to wake up.”

Dylan lost it. “Thank you so much,” she said as she hugged the doctor. “When can we see him?”

“He’s still in recovery, but should be back in his room shortly. I will have Rebecca get you when you can see him,” The doctor turned and headed back through the doors.

Dylan took a deep breath of relief. Even though she knew her dad wasn’t out of the woods yet, she was thankful that the surgery was over and he was alive. She looked to the ceiling, as if to thank God for answering her prayers. Rade stepped behind Dylan, placing his hands on her shoulders. Gently willing her to face him, he slightly bent his knees so that they were face to face.

Smiling, he said, “Are you okay?”

Dylan smiled back at him. “Yeah.”

Taking her in his arms, he affectionately placed a soft kiss on her lips. He too was relieved that her dad made it through the surgery. The way his heart ached for her was indescribable. How could the fate of one man bring his feelings to light?

The nurse walked up to Rade and Dylan. Clearing her throat, she said, “Um… excuse me, but Mr. Adams is back in his room if you would like to see him.”

Dylan could see that the nurse was a little flushed.
I guess our PDA must have embarrassed her
. Rade grabbed Dylan’s hand and moved toward the elevator. The elevator doors opened and several hospital staff exited the car. Entering the elevator, Rade pulled Dylan close to him as they rode in silence. His thoughts should have been on her dad, but the only thing he could think about was how much he wanted her. His only control was that they were in a hospital. Had it been anywhere else he would have pushed the stop button on the panel and taken her then and there. Just thinking about holding her against the wall with her legs wrapped around him while deep inside her caused his cock to pulse. He needed to think of something else. The last thing he needed was to have a full erection while inside a hospital elevator. His mind began to focus on little old ladies pushing walkers. Yep, that did it.

No words could express the look on Dylan’s face as they entered her dad’s hospital room. There was more equipment in his room than before. Dylan had a hard time getting close to him because of all the equipment. Looking back at Rade, she began shedding tears. It was overwhelming for her to see him with wires attached to him. A nurse walked into the room and also noticed the concerned look on Dylan’s face.

“I know it is a little overwhelming, but the equipment is here to monitor his vitals. Once he has stabilized, most of the equipment will be removed,” the nurse said as she checked his fluids.

Rade looked down at Dylan as the nurse left. “He’s in good hands, Sweetness. Just remember that.”

“I know, it’s just really hard seeing him like this,” Dylan said as she swiped a tear off her cheek.

*****

Days and nights ran together as Dylan waited for her father to wake up. She spent her time reading the daily news while Rade spent his time working on his laptop. Most of their meals were spent either at a small deli near the hospital or in her dad’s room. Rade, of course, refused to eat the hospital food, so he had all the meals brought in.

While the nurse was busy changing her dad’s gown and bed linens, Dylan stepped out and called Lilly to give her an update on how her dad was doing. Several times she offered to fly down to be with Dylan, but Dylan assured her that there was no need. Lilly did make Dylan promise to let her know if things got worse. She would be on the next plane out. Dylan also contacted Keeve and Mason to let them know what happened and that she wasn’t sure when she would be returning to work. They were very sympathetic and told her to take as long as she needed. They also told her that the meeting with Spectrum had been postponed until further notice seeing as how the other competitor had some sort of family emergency. Dylan was thankful for small miracles.

Dylan was sitting in the chair next to her dad reading the newspaper to him when she felt a strange sensation come over her. Looking up, she saw the most beautiful blue eyes staring back at her. Her father was awake.

Standing, she said, “Rade, get the nurse.”

Rade looked over to the bed and saw a smile that he hadn’t seen in weeks. Sixteen long days to be exact. Pushing from his chair, he went to the glass door and waved to the nurse behind the counter telling her she was needed.

“He’s awake,” he said as he looked at the nurse.

The nurse immediately stood and hurried to the room. In a matter of minutes she was taking his vitals and asking him questions. It was music to Dylan’s ears as she heard her dad speak.

“Can you tell me your name?” the nurse said as she looked at Dylan’s dad.

“Raymond Berlin Adams,” he said with confidence.

“Do you know when you were born?” The nurse countered.

“November 6, 1965.”

“How about where you live?”

“Beaufort, North Carolina.”

“Address?” she asked with a grin.

“Sorry,” Raymond said as he rattled off his address. “6919 White Sand Avenue.”

“Good. I’m going to test your reaction to touch. Just let me know if you feel anything and where,” the nurse said as she stepped to the end of the bed. Lifting the covers she placed the pointed end of her pen on the heel of his right foot.

The nurse tested every part of his body for feeling. Dylan’s face lit up when Raymond felt every poke of the nurse’s pen. When she was done poking, she went on to his motor skill. For the most part he did very well. For the skills that he didn’t do so well, she assured them that he would get better with time.

“I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake. Good to have you back,” the nurse said before leaving the room.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It had been three weeks to the day since Dylan’s father was admitted to the hospital. She was thankful that the day had finally come when he would be going home. Raymond Adams was on his way home with the use of a walker. Rade was unwilling to let him argue when he refused to accept the care of a home health provider to help take care of him. Rade found out exactly where Dylan’s stubbornness came from. Needless to say, Rade got his way.

Rade called ahead to make sure the jet was fueled and ready to go. He thought it would be more comfortable for Dylan’s father to ride on the jet than to fly coach with the airline ticket the power plant had provided for his return. It turned out, after doing a little digging into the accident, Rade found that the power plant was negligent in allowing Dylan’s father to climb the generator tower, especially when he didn’t pass the employee testing. Rade contacted his attorney to begin the process of filing a negligence claim on Raymond’s behalf. Little did the plant know that they would be paying a lot more than the cost of a plane ticket back to Beaufort.

As soon as they boarded the jet the stewardess came around offering drinks and snacks. Rade requested his drink of choice while Dylan settled on water. Raymond would have loved to have a good light beer, but he knew with the medication he was on, that would not be a good idea, so he decided to have a diet soda instead.

As they sat together enjoying their drinks, out of nowhere Raymond asked. “So how did you two lovebirds meet?”

Looking at her dad in shock, Dylan said, “Dad, we aren’t lovebirds. We’re just friends.”

Rade chuckled at Raymond’s question as Dylan struggled with how to answer. “I would say we are more than just friends, Mr. Adams.”

“Oh please, please call me Ray,” he said, looking at Rade with a smile as he continued. “So how did you meet?”

Rade answered, not giving Dylan a chance. “We actually met under unusual circumstances. You could say we were both at the right place at the right time.”

“I see,” Ray began, “So I guess it is safe to say that it was a chance meeting of sorts.”

“I don’t know what the big deal is. Rade and I met at a club. Lilly wasn’t ready to call it a night and Rade was kind enough to offer me a ride home. You two are making it sound like more than what it actually was,” Dylan interjected, setting the story straight.

Dylan rose to her feet, needing an escape as Rade and her father continued their little conversation. She wasn’t sure what the big secret was.
A lot of girls leave bars with men they hardly know.
At least that’s what she kept telling herself. Looking back at that night, Dylan couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t accepted his dance invitation, or if she hadn’t accepted his offer to give her a ride home.

Rade’s jet landed an hour later in New Bern. It was the closest airstrip that could accommodate the flight schedule. As the door to the jet opened, Dylan saw a black stretch limo waiting on the tarmac. She couldn’t believe the car was waiting for them until she saw Frank getting out. It amazed her how everything Rade did was so well planned.