“Second Chance Romance”
2012 Copyright All Rights Reserved
Chapter 19
“Mommy, why are you crying?”
Austin stilled in the doorway to Jade’s hospital room when he heard Libby innocently question her mother. His entire body also began to tense as he listened to Jade’s very un-lady like sniffle and then he heard her breath catch.
She was crying. That realization pierced his already wounded soul. He may have just found out that he was a father but right now, because of the accident, Jade couldn’t remember their daughter either. They both were going to have one hell of an uphill battle on their hands but he was more than ready to start hiking it.
“It’s alright mommy. You don’t have to cry. When I’m sad you always give me bear hugs and it makes me feel all better inside. Do you want a bear hug? It might make you feel better too.”
For the longest minute, he couldn’t find his feet to move. All he could do was stand there and hold his breath while he waited for Jade’s answer.
“I think I would like that.”
His heart melted in a puddle right then and there. No matter how much this little girl had been through, his little girl, she was there for her mama, offering her a quiet strength that very few people possess. It was an innocent strength that he could only admire.
Finally finding his feet, Austin slowly made his way into the room and felt his own heart swell at what he saw. Libby sat perched up on the edge of the bed with her small arms wrapped around her mother’s neck. Jade had buried her head into her daughter’s hair and he could see her struggling unsuccessfully to muffle the quiet sobs that continued to wrack her body.
At first he wasn’t sure what he should do. This was a picture perfect mother-daughter moment that he didn’t want to interrupt but after standing there for five minutes, he started to get antsy and made a subtle gesture in clearing his throat.
Libby sat back on her heels and turned to Austin with a big grin on her face. For the first time, he took a really good look at her and he could actually see a little of himself in her eyes. “Hey there Austin,” she beamed brightly. “I was trying to make mama feel better.”
His eyes lifted briefly to Jade’s and he noticed how she purposefully averted her gaze from him. “I see that,” he praised his little girl and stepped further into the room, stopping at the foot of the bed. “I bet your hugs have some really powerful medicine in them. A few more and your mama will be as good as new.”
Libby shrugged her small shoulders. “I always like mama’s hugs. They have powerful medicine too.”
Jade finally lifted her head and glanced up at Austin. She still had a hefty amount of gauze wrapped around the top of her head and her eyes were visibly bloodshot and puffy, confirmation proof of her earlier crying. Right now, Austin would have loved more than anything to walk around the side of the bed and take her in his arms promising her that everything would be alright. Together they would find a way to wade through all that was ahead of them. But he didn’t dare. Not yet anyway. They were all walking on thin ice at this point and with this newest revelation of his parental status, he wanted to take things slowly.
So instead of going to Jade and holding her like he wanted, Austin stuffed his hands in his pockets and offered his daughter a small smile of his own. “I just bet they do,” he told her and then turned his full attention to Jade. “Anything new?”
She shook her head and watched on as Libby climb down off of her bed and walked over to the chair by the window. With sheer determination, she crawled up into the chair and out of her back pocket she pulled out the coloring menu and three crayons that she kept from Austin and her breakfast this morning at I-Hop. Very carefully she unfolded that piece of paper and laid it up against the widow sill. Without saying a word, she poured all of her concentration into that small piece of paper and began to color again.
Jade blew out a heavy breath, unable to turn away from the little being that resembled herself in so many ways. “Not really.” She shook her head. “I still don’t have a clue as to who I am- who she is.” She swung her head back around to Austin and looked utterly defeated. “I can’t remember anything and when I try, I just get nothingness. It’s like a large void inside of me. Nothing but empty inside and it’s driving me insane. I-”
Jade stopped talking, her train of thought floating away from her and she closed her eyes, unable to say anything else. She just didn’t know what to do anymore. How was she supposed to go on with a life that she couldn’t remember? How was she supposed to be a mother to a child that she has no recollection of?
Unable to resist any longer, Austin slid around to the side of the bed, grabbed a hold of Jade’s hand and squeezed. “I know,” the deep baritone voice crooned beside of her.
Startled by the contact, she opened up her eyes and their gazes collided. For the briefest of seconds Austin could have sworn that a flicker of familiar attraction flared up in her eyes but then it was gone so fast he wondered if maybe he just imagined it. He cleared his throat again. “I mean… What I mean to say is that we’ll get through it- together. I’ll help you. I’ll help you with Libby.”
Jade frowned and Austin watched her guardedly. “Libby,” she finally spoke up, “is that short for Elizabeth?”
“Yes. Elizabeth was your grandmother’s name.”
This time she pursed her lips in thought. “How do you know so much about me? Yesterday that other guy called you Austin, right?”
“Yes. My name is Austin, Austin Giles and I was with you when the twister hit. I was there when the board fell on your head.” He gulped and at the same time Austin warred with himself about just how much he should tell her at this point. He decided that simpler would be easier. “We’ve known each other a long time. We grew up together.”
Jade narrowed her weary eyes on Austin. There was something in the way that he looked at her. It was something that went bone deep and stretched just beyond the normal realms of friendship. She’d also taken special notice of how he hadn’t released her hand yet. Earlier she had already checked her hand for a wedding band and there was nothing there, not even a white line indicating that one may have been there in the past. There was definitely more to the story than he was telling her and she didn’t have the patience right now to try and decipher his cryptic words. She just wanted to know what the real deal was. That wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?
“Are we together? As in a couple?”
Austin cut a glance over at Libby before returning his gaze to her. This was one of those questions that you didn’t want to answer wrong because what might or might not happen afterwards could weigh heavily on what he said now. His mouth flattened. “No, not really.”
“Are you her father?”
Austin stiffened. How in the hell was he supposed to answer that question? He was still processing the fact that he was indeed Libby’s father. Libby didn’t know that though so he wasn’t sure that now was the time to divulge that sort of information to Jade. Luckily, before he could answer her question the Doctor that he met the day before walked into the hospital room all business. He picked up the clip board at the edge of the bed and he could see him reading over the notes.
Looking up from the clip board, the Doctor addressed Jade directly. “How are you feeling today?”
Jade shrugged but she was still watching Austin. “Okay I guess.”
“Have you remembered anything?”
“No.”
The Doctor walked over to the side of the bed and Austin finally released her hand, taking a step back out of his way. He started to undo the gauze wrapping from her head. “What about your vision? Is it clear, any double vision?”
“No, everything seems to be fine except for the small fact that I can’t remember anything beyond that last twenty four hours of my life.”
The gauze was now fully removed and Austin could now see where they had to shave and two by two inch square at the top of her head and the nasty gash that they had to stitch. His stomach roiled as he remembered the stone cold fear that he felt when he saw that beam falling and knew that it was going to hit her.
“Austin?”
He snapped his head up at his whispered name and glanced back at the door. His brother stood there with a manila folder in his hands. “Can I see you for a minute? I have that stuff you asked about.”
Austin nodded at him and turned back to Jade. The Doctor was prodding at her wound with what smelled like an antiseptic. “Are you going to be okay for a minute if I step out?”
Jade snorted. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere, now is it?”
The corners of his lips kicked up at her snarky comment. It seemed as if the old Jade was still there. “No, I don’t suppose you are.”
She rolled her eyes, another sure sign that the Jade he loved was still there, and glanced up at the Doctor when he asked her another question.
Satisfied that she would be okay he walked over to Libby and bent his head to see what she was coloring. It was a teddy bear holding a plate full of pancakes and Austin could see that she was doing her best to stay in the lines. “That’s really good,” he pointed out to her.
Libby’s answering smile was infectious. “Really? It’s a gift for mama. She always likes my colors.”
Austin playfully ruffled her hair. “Well I think she’ll like this one too. It has awesomeness written all over it.”
“Good,” she glanced over at her mama. “That’s really good because mama needs some awesomeness.”
“Yeah kid, she does.” He agreed, proudly thinking how smart his little girl was. She must have taken after her mama in that department, thank God! “Hey, I’m going out in the hall to talk to Tim for a minute. I’ll be right back. You’ll be alright sitting here?”
Libby glanced over at Tim who waved at her. She held back no inhibitions and waved right back at him. “I’ll be fine.”
Austin gently patted her on the shoulder unable to speak again. Shifting around, he headed towards his waiting brother and waved him outside the room and into the hall. For the second time in less than an hour, these two females that meant more to him than anything else in this world had managed to render him speechless. And the hell of it was, he didn’t mind it at all. He didn’t mind it one damn bit.