Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [117]
As Gabe walked out of the airport terminal, he thought he would be most happy when Sage could walk into a room, any room, filled with people and know that she was the most loved person there, and openly, honestly and sincerely feel it and accept that love from him.
Sage settled back in her seat as everything became tiny objects out of the plane’s window.
Gabe had come.
She had seen him standing at the terminal window while the plane sat on the runway preparing to take off. Even after everything she’d said to him, he had come to see her off anyway.
A lump settled deep in her throat as emptiness consumed her. She suddenly felt alone as the finality of what she had done hit her hard. Rose had been right. Gabe had told her he loved her, and she had given him hell.
Sage closed her eyes. She had a lot to deal with: her mother’s illness, losing Gabe and seeing her father again. She wrapped her arms around her middle, not wanting to think about anything right now. She needed peace for just a little while.
As her eyes remained closed and her body began to relax, it was Gabe’s face she saw in the deep recesses of her mind. It was Gabe who was smiling at her, just moments before he leaned down to kiss her. Her mind filled with happy thoughts, and Gabe was a part of all of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
After renting a car at the airport, Sage drove directly to the hospital. Once she had checked in with Patient Services, she caught an elevator that would carry her up to the fifth floor, the intensive care unit.
She saw her father sitting in the waiting room as soon as she stepped off the elevator. She stopped suddenly. His face looked haggard, worn and torn. He resembled a man who had gone through pure hell over the past ten hours or so. She had never seen him so downtrodden, unkempt. Being in the business arena, he’d always taken pride in his dress; but at that moment, it was evident that he didn’t give a damn, that he was worried about something more important to him than his appearance.
Her throat felt too tight even for a word to slip through to let him know of her presence, so she just stood quietly, not letting him know she was there. He was staring into space as if he wasn’t even aware of his surroundings, a man battered, terrified and grasping on to the last ray of sanity and prayer. He resembled a man who looked as though he felt totally useless as well as fearful of losing the most important thing in his life.
Sage wrapped her arms around her middle when it hit her then, just that quick, and just that hard, that her father did love her mother.
“Dad?”
He turned quickly upon hearing the sound of her voice. Her stomach dropped suddenly, and she shivered and gulped in a sharp breath when she saw tears in his eyes. The only other time she’d ever recalled seeing him cry was at her grandmother’s funeral.
He stood and walked over to her, and automatically, without words being exchanged, they embraced. When she felt him shudder, she tightened her hold around him. “It’s okay, Dad. Mom’s going to be all right. Come on, let’s sit over here and you can tell me just what the doctors said.”
One arm remained steady around his waist as she guided him over to a group of chairs. It took him a while to get his breath. Then he spoke. “The doctors still don’t know anything definite and are still running tests. For a while they thought it was some type of viral infection, possibly meningitis, but the results came back negative, thank God.”
Sage nodded. She thanked God for that, too. “When was the last time you spoke with a doctor?”
“Not since this morning. I was in your mother’s room when a nurse asked me to step out while they ran more tests.” His voice broke when he said, “I can’t stand seeing her lying there like that, Sage. If anything were to happen to her, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Sage swallowed. “Dad, Mom is going to be all right; we have to believe that. I don’t think I ever remember her being sick, so that means