Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [119]
“Can we see her?” Sage asked eagerly. From the look on her father’s face, she knew a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Right now she’s in recovery. We have her pretty sedated, so she won’t even know you’re there. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to have her in a room in a few hours. The two of you may want to go home and get some rest and come back later.”
Charles Dunbar shook his head. “No, I’m staying.”
“So am I,” Sage chimed in.
Seeing their resolve, Dr. Connelly said, “All right. After she comes out of recovery and gets settled in ICU, you can both visit with her, but only for a short while.”
After the doctor left, Charles Dunbar looked at his daughter. Tears of happiness and relief shone unabashedly in his eyes. “I think I’m going to go downstairs to the café and get something to eat.”
Sage nodded and then realized that this was the first time he’d eaten since she had arrived at the hospital. She decided to go with him to the café to make sure he ordered something more nourishing than a sandwich. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go with you, Dad.”
He shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes. “No, I don’t mind. In fact, I’d like that.”
Sage and her father were able to see her mother a few hours later when she’d been placed in a room in ICU. At first Sage’s knees almost buckled under her when she saw her mother’s still body lying in the hospital bed hooked up to a number of machines.
Now it was her father who gave her support when she closed her eyes to block out the sight before her. Placing a firm arm around her, he said, “Remember what Doctor Connelly said, Sage. She came through, and everything is going to be all right.”
Sage nodded and opened her eyes as he released his hold on her. She then watched, in silence, as he crossed the room to the bed where her mother lay and lovingly trailed his fingertips down the side of her cheek before leaning down and kissing it. He then pulled a chair closer to the bed to sit down, taking her mother’s hand in his and gently caressing it.
Again Sage thought that this was a man who truly loved his wife, and she suddenly became overwhelmed with confused thoughts as to what could make a man who loved his wife fall into the arms of another woman.
She shifted her gaze to the other side of the room where a number of floral arrangements sat on the table. One particular arrangement caught her attention since it was so much larger than the others.
Crossing the room, she went to see who had sent them. Opening the card, her stomach pitched suddenly. She sucked in a breath.
The flowers were from Gabe, and the card simply said,
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Gabriel Blackwell.
“Who sent those, Sage? They weren’t in here before.”
Sage turned upon hearing her father’s question. She met his gaze. “They’re from Gabe Blackwell.”
From the way her father nodded, she knew that he remembered the name from that time she had mentioned Gabe to him.
“That was thoughtful of him to send them.”
She nodded, thinking of other thoughtful things Gabe had done. “Yes, it was, wasn’t it?”
It was over an hour later before her mother came awake, slowly raising her eyelids. Without saying anything, she acknowledged their presence by gazing at them and nodding before closing her eyes again.
“With the medication the doctor has given her, she’ll probably sleep through the night,” the nurse said to them. “This may be a good time for the two of you to go home and get some rest.”
Sage nodded, agreeing with the nurse. After a long flight, she needed to at least shower and change. But she could tell by the defiant look in her father’s eyes that getting him to leave would definitely be a problem.
She looked down at her mother sleeping peacefully. “She’s right, Dad. We both need to get some rest and be ready to come back first thing in the morning.” When he started to protest, she said, “Neither of us will do Mom any good being tired and worn out.”
For the longest time he didn’t say anything, and then