They Say Love Is Blind (18 page)

There was some discussion on who would
leave
but all Tory could do was focus on Lee. She wanted to say
wake up
.
Please wake up
. But her words were trapped behind her
lips
.
She reached out to take his hand and Kaye wheeled her
even
closer until she had his hand in hers. The cast ran up to his knuckles and across his palm so that his thumb poked from it. She rubbed his fingertips gently, knowing that it was very sensitive to touch, but he didn’t even stir.

She forced herself not to cry, because then they might force her back to her room and she had to be here when they brought him around. She reached up and stroked his brow. He had thick bandages covering his head and she could see his thick brown curls poking through. She needed to kiss him but she couldn’t and so had to settle for bringing his hand to her lips.

“I love you Lee.” She whispered. “I love you.
Eu amo-te
.
You are everything to me. Without you I’m lost…
”
she closed her eyes. “Please. I’m begging you. Please.”

CHAPTER 13

Tory stayed there all morning. Francie tried to get her to eat but it wasn’t until her mother came into the room threatening to force feed her did she relent. Instead of hospital food, Kaye magically produced a container of
sopa
. It was lukewarm and all
meat and vegetables had been strained from it, but it was the best thing in the world and she ate the entire container.

Lee’s doctors finally appeared and after studying his vitals announced that it was time to bring him out of the coma.

“We’ll stop the propofol and in about 2 hours he may come around on his own. It’s not totally abnormal if he doesn’t and if that is the case we’ll give him some drugs to essentially, ‘wake him.’ Any questions?”
No one had questions and they began the procedure.

Tory was tired but there was no way that she could leave even though everyone
encouraged her to return to her room and rest, promising
to wake her up as soon as he came around. She was adamant that she wasn’t going anywhere. She was
holding his hand, stroking his
knuckle
s
with her thumb when there was a slight commotion at the door. She turned to see an older man and woman enter the room. Everyone jumped up and exclaimed.

She realize
d that it was Lee’s mother and f
ather. The older couple spared only a few moments in greeting before they joined her at the bed.

“Mr. and Mrs.
Torres, I’m Tory.” She said quietly.

Lee’s mother gave her a wary look. His father ignored her all together. She moved her wheelchair back when they didn’t say anything to her, giving them room to visit with their son.
Macey wheeled her across the room and sat down in a chair next to her.

Macey was watching them sadly. The mood had changed since they arrived. Before there was quiet anticipation but now it was as if everyone was reliving the horror of the accident. Francie and Paulo went over to join their parents around Lee’s bed. They talked in quiet Portuguese.
Mr. Torres shook his head violently and made a cutting motion with his hands and all conversation stopped.

“What was that about?” she asked Macey who turned away and pursed her lips tightly. Tory’s face dropped. It was about her.

“Macey…are your parents angry at me?” she whispered.

“Come, let’s walk for a bit.” Macey wheeled her out before she had a chance to object. She glanced over at the bed to see if there was any change in Lee, but he seemed exactly the same.

The two friends bypassed the waiting room where several other family members were waiting patiently for their turn to come into ICU. Mama had
left
to
go back to
the hotel and promised to return in the morning, hopefully to meet Lee
--
awake and able to communicate.

They walked quietly down the corridor and to a private waiting area which
was meant to o
nly accommodate 2 or 3 people. Macey sat down and faced her. Tory recalled the first time she had
set eyes on
the full figured young woman that wore a perpetual smile on her face.
It was the first time that she had ever considered that being overweight could also be sexy. Now her pretty face was closed but sadness radiated from her. Over the months they had become friends so i
t was very hard to watch her n
ow when she seemed so lost. Tor
y knew that Lee was her favorite
sibling though she would never admit it. She had to be mindful that watching him like this wasn’t just devastating to her but to them all.

“What is it, Macey?”

“There’s been some talk about…about the accident and how much you had to drink.”

Tory’s mouth parted. “But—my dad said that the
blood test indicated I was
within the legal limits-”

“You were, Tory.” Macey sighed and looked into the air. “Lee is so special to us.
When you…or whoever is taking care of
him
, that person has to be even more careful with him; so that he knows that he is his own man, but doesn’t realize that we are keeping him completely safe. Tory, when he gets off that bus, one of our nephews is there making sure he doesn’t run into problems. We are a tight knit family but
the reason we
call him every single day
is
to make sure he is fine. We love cooking for him but if he is at the restaurant with us then we know he is alright. When he met you…we had no control over that, but it was the right thing for him.
” Tory was stunned at the revelation and the silent control they exuded over him.

“Tory, it takes a lot of work and patience to care for a visually impaired person-”

“I know that
!
”

Macey was shaking her head in denial.
“You can’t do things like…drink until you’re impaired
!” Tory’s eyes widened and she looked
Macey
straight in her eyes.

“Is that what you think? That
man was drunk and driving down the wrong side of the street
! How is that my fault?
”

Macey sat back, concerned etched over her face. “I didn’t want you to get upset
. I just wanted to tell you what the talk is within our family
-”

“
How can
any of you
think
that I can be at fault
?”

She was quiet for a moment and then she continued. “Because none of us can understand why a man driving down the wrong side of the street avoids hitting three other cars but hits yours. Tory, why didn’t you pull out of the way? Everyone else did.
”

She caught her breath. “I tried.”

“Don’t be mad at me, Tory. I’m not…” Macey wiped tears from under her eyes. “I’m not saying that you are bad or did anything wrong. It’s just…when it comes to Lee you have to be more, better, faster, more alert
, better in control.” She calmed and looked at her. “What do you think it will be like when it’s not just you two but children to look after?”

“Stop it Macey.” She said
firmly
. “You underestimate Lee. And I don’t want to see him as the ‘handicapped’ person that you all
obviously do
.
If you don’t mind, I’ll continue to see him as the capable man that I know him to be. He avoids accidents every single day—not because his nephew is up the block watching him, but because he’s just that capable!” Tory pulled the oxygen from her face. “That night I stopped drinking wine and switched to water so that I would continue to be sober—
and
at no point during t
he night was I ever drunk
…”
She
suddenly paused and a look of d
awning realization
appeared on her face as
that nights events came back to her.
Tory’s
eyes moved to Macey’s
and
tears
appeared in her eyes
, “
Macy…m
aybe
I am at fault
--
but not for drinking
.
M
aybe if I
hadn’t taken a moment to look
at your brother
…”
she remembered
staring at the contentment on his face and
thinking that she was
responsible for putting that look on his face
. She remembered feeling
amazed that he found her to be someone special enough to cho
o
se. He chose her. In that
moment she had been more proud than she could ever remember. Tory
swallowed and shook her head and returned the
oxygen to its position beneath her nose
.
God
this really
was
her fault
…

Macey was crying
now to
. “
Tens que pedir desculpa
,
Tory
!
There is nobody better for
my brother
tha
n you. You are the one that was God-given to him, I’m convinced of that. Please forgive me for ever doubting you. You are Lee’s woman in every way.”

Tory stared at her in surprise as tears filled her eyes again.
“But I just sat here and told you that I probably caused your brother’s accident-”
Tory
was shak
en to her core at the thought that
anything she had done could have contributed to Lee’s pain. Her daddy had alluded to drinking and driving. Stupid. She hadn’t been drunk but it was still stupid! And then she looks at him while driving…how long; 2 seconds, 5? More? How
could she have been so careless?!

“Tory I can see it on your face,”
Macey
gripped her hand tightly. “I have put this self doubt in you and now I have no doubt
that no one will ever care for him more than you
.
It was an accident Tory; a
n accident that is no fault of yours, an accident that happened on the day of your engagement, an accident that was brought on by a series of events that you could not foresee.”

“We better go back.”
Tory finally said.

Macey stood and then paused. “Can you forgive me? I ask you this woman to woman
.
”

“I…
There’s nothing to forgive. You told me what
was on the minds of your family
and I appreciate
your honesty
even if it was hard for me to hear.” She reached out and took Macey’s hand. “The honesty within your family is what I most love about you. I’ll explain this to each and every one of you if that’s what I need to do, but for now, it’s the last thing I care about. Okay?
I just want to go back and be with Lee.
”

Macey nodded and then began wheeling her back to ICU.
A little girl about 12 met them in the corridor.

“Aunt Macey! Uncle Lee is waking up!”

CHAPTER 14

Macey and Tory headed for the ICU. None of the family was in the ICU waiting area so it appeared that everyone was
now
allowed into Lee’s room to witness his awakening.

Tory squeezed the armrest of the wheelchair. She knew that there was a chance that Lee’s brain could have been injured even though no one talked about it.
She saw everyone crowding around the bed and
Macey
pushed
their
way through so that she was front and center.

“Mr. Torres, can you hear me?”
One of the doctor
s asked. There were interns, doctors and nurses
all crowded into the room--
not to mention a roomful of relatives and a fiancée in a wheelchair. But no one moved, no one barely
even
breathed.