Wild Montana Nights (27 page)

“The nurse said she hasn’t bled any, so that’s a good sign. It’s too

early to hear a heartbeat. When you go tomorrow, wait around for the

Wild Montana Nights

193

doctors and see what you can find out. I don’t like not knowing what

to expect.”

“I will. Surely they will think about moving her out of ICU soon.

It’s been almost five days now,” Marcus complained.

“I don’t want them to move her any sooner than they need to.

Right now she has nurses around the clock. Once they move her, we

will be her main nurses. I’m not sure I’d know what to do.”

“I hadn’t though of that.” Marcus let out a breath and nodded his

head.

“We need to get some rest. Have you seen a weather report

tonight?” Randall asked.

“Yeah, snow expected starting tomorrow night. Nothing major,

but the roads might be closed in some areas.” Marcus leaned back

against the cabinet and crossed his arms.

“We’ll see what it shapes up to be, then make a decision about

Darla. More than likely you will need to go to town and stay there

with her. I’ll have to take care of the ranch. With Dad here to help, we’ll be okay.”

“I can take my laptop and work while I’m there. I noticed they

have Wi-Fi throughout the hospital. I can work down in the cafeteria

when I’m not visiting her,” he said.

“Good.” Randall stretched. He was exhausted.

“Better head on to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy one for both of

us,” Marcus told him.

“I’m on my way there now.”

Since Darla had been the hospital, they’d returned to sleeping in

their old rooms. Neither of them wanted to sleep together. Randall

figured it was a man thing. Jim wondered into the kitchen and nodded

at Randall.

“Everything going okay with Darla?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s beginning to respond to us.”

“Good. You know your mom is praying for her.”

“I know.”

194

Marla Monroe

Jim patted his shoulder and left him and Marcus alone. They

smiled at each other then Marcus shrugged and headed for his room.

He followed his brother upstairs and after a brisk shower, fell into

sleep. The first deep sleep he’d had since the wreck.

* * * *

Darla focused on the voice begging her to wake up. She tried, but

couldn’t figure out how to do it. She was so thirsty. She licked her

lips. That was easy to do, so she tried lifting her hand. She must have done it because Marcus kissed her hard on the mouth. Why couldn’t

she wake up?

She tried to think back to what had happened that she was like

this. The more she tried to remember, the harder it became and the

more her head ached. Finally, she gave up and concentrated on what

she did know. She was in a hospital. The nurses told her where she

was and what the date was all day everyday. They were trying to

orient her, she realized, but it meant nothing to her right then. All she wanted to do was wake up. Wake up and see Randall and Marcus

again. They would tell her what happened.

Marcus’s voice near her ear teased her with what he wanted to do

to her when she got well.

“I’ll kiss you all over. From your head down to your dainty little

toes,” he told her.

The thought of him kissing her that way sped up her heart. The

droning machine that beeped began to beep faster.

“You like that, huh?” Marcus drawled next to her ear.

Yes, she wanted that. She worked at forming the words, but they

wouldn’t come. Instead, she got out a garbled couple of words.

Marcus responded by raining kisses all over her face. It felt so good, she tried again. This time she was able to say her rendition of Marcus.

It had the right number of syllables, but lacked distinction between

Wild Montana Nights

195

the letters. Frustrated to the point of screaming, Darla punched the

bed with her hand.

Marcus grabbed her hand and carried it to his lips for a kiss. The

feel of them against his mouth struck a new round of arousal. She

wanted to be able to see them. She worked at opening her eyes, but

they felt glued shut. She was tired again. She’d just take a little nap.

Then she would work on waking up.

Somewhere in her mind a thought kept threatening to come out. It

eluded her though, and she knew for some reason it was important for

her to know. She relaxed and let sleep claim her.

* * * *

Marcus arrived in the ICU waiting room with enough time to set

up his computer for work. Since the weather predicted another six

inches of snow, he would spend the night at the hospital so he could

check on Darla. Randall and Jim would handle the ranch. Once again

he was thankful for their family living close by. Without their help, it would have been nearly impossible to spend as much time with Darla

at the hospital as they had.

If the weather didn’t pan out or was lighter than anticipated,

Randall would drive to town to visit with Darla while Jim handled the ranch for a couple of hours. Randall insisted that Marcus would stay

overnight regardless. He didn’t want to chance that someone wouldn’t

be there for her when she woke up.

The clock above the water fountain showed he had five more

minutes till they would announce visiting hours and let them back. He fingered the book in his hand. It was one of hers. It looked well worn, so he hoped it was a favorite one. He planned to read to her from it, thinking it might help her to come back to them.

The minute they announced visiting time, Marcus was in line for

the sink to wash his hands. He couldn’t wait to see what Darla might

196

Marla Monroe

do today. She had been steadily improving for the last couple of days.

He just knew she would open her eyes soon.

He still worried she wouldn’t remember them. The doctor had

warned them she might have various levels of amnesia. She could

remember everything, or nothing, or something in between.

Depending on how much it upset her, they were to help her remember

simple things at first like their names, where she was, and things

about her life. Marcus figured it was going to be a testimony in

patience and discretion. They would need to hold off telling her all the details of why she had been leaving until she was strong enough to

handle it. Maybe they were just putting it off because they were afraid of what she would say.

Marcus walked into her room to find her sitting up in bed. It

appeared that they had washed her hair and brushed until it shined.

The bandage was gone now. He could easily see the stitches on her

temple where she’d hit the driver’s side window. Still, she looked

great as far as he was concerned. He smiled and kissed her.

“Hey, baby. You look beautiful.”

To his astonishment, she opened her eyes and smiled back at him.

Wild Montana Nights

197

Chapter Sixteen

Randall could hardly wait to get to the hospital that day. This was

the day they were going to move Darla to a private room. Marcus was

already there and had been with her almost every day since.

They figured out that she remembered everything up until the day

before the wreck. They hadn’t told her anything concerning it yet. He planned to tell her everything in a couple of days. She had the right to know. If they didn’t tell her, and she remembered later, it would be the same as if they’d had her investigated all over again.

He almost ran down the hall to the ICU when a nurse shook a

finger at him. He grinned like an idiot and slowed his pace. When he

entered the ICU visitor’s waiting room, there was no sight of Marcus

or his “temporary office” he’d set up. Panic threatened to close his

throat. He pulled out his phone and glanced down to see he’d missed

a call. He punched autodial, recognizing the phone number as

Marcus’s.

“Hey! Where have you been? They moved Darla to her room

early,” Marcus told him.

“Damn, I didn’t feel it vibrate to answer it. What room are you

in?” he asked.

Marcus filled him in, and Randall walked as he talked. When he

reached the nurse’s desk that covered the set of rooms where Darla

was located, he checked the room numbers and hurried toward room

two fifty-two.

Without saying anything, he hung up on his brother and eased the

door to her room open. He could hear Marcus calling his name into

198

Marla Monroe

his phone. He grinned, even knowing it was childish, but he was so

happy right then he felt like a child on Christmas morning.

“I’m here, Marcus,” Randall whispered as he walked into the

room.

Marcus shook his head but smiled. They both turned toward the

bed when they heard a quiet little laugh. Darla was awake and had

witnessed the joke. Randall smiled at her.

“Hey, baby. I’m so glad to see that pretty smile again,” Randall

said.

Darla blushed. He had worried he might never see her pretty face

suffused with pink again. But there it was. He leaned over the bed and gave her a soft kiss. He so wanted to lay his hand on her belly

knowing that their child was there. Marcus seemed to know what was

on his mind.

“
All
her tests are normal so far.”

He emphasized all, so Randall figured he was including the baby

as well. That was welcomed news. “Darla, our mom and dads are

coming this afternoon to see you. I know you haven’t met them yet,

but you have spoken to Mom on the phone.” Randall watched her face

for any signs of panic or discomfort.

She didn’t look particularly worried about the prospect of meeting

their parents. That relieved him. He wasn’t sure how he would have

asked them not to come, but if Darla had looked panicked or upset at

it, he would have. He didn’t want her upset if they could avoid it. The time was coming when they would confess their sins to her and that

was soon enough.

“It will be nice to meet them,” she said with a nervous looking

smile.

“You’ve been practicing, haven’t you?” Randall asked.

“Marcus has been helping me,” she said.

“Really, it’s all just coming back to her in bits and pieces,”

Marcus said. He elevated his eyebrows in a silent message.

Wild Montana Nights

199

Randall deciphered it to mean they needed to come clean soon, or

she was going to remember on her own. They needed to talk to the

doctors today. Randall would make sure they caught them. She was

aware of herself and them and remembering more each day. It was

time.

* * * *

Darla watched the two men talk together. She knew them and

remembered how she’d come to be living with them. She even

remembered that they called her their fiancée and said they loved her more than anything. What she didn’t remember was the wreck and

why she had been driving in such dangerous conditions? She wasn’t a

stupid person. She would never have put her life in danger like that.

“Hey. What are you looking so serious about?” Randall asked her.

“Nothing really. Just trying to remember what happened that day

to make me run off like that.” There, she’d hit the nail on the head.

Both men looked worried. They were keeping something from

her. She just wasn’t sure what it was yet, but she would remember

eventually. Right now, all she remembered was how loved she’d felt

with them. They pampered her despite the fact that she was also their cook and housekeeper. She supposed as their fiancée she wasn’t

technically their cook and housekeeper anymore.

“Marcus, you probably need to work on your accounts. I don’t

need you here all the time to babysit me. I can call the nurse if I need anything. I just push the button…” She trailed off, feeling lost.

Where was the button? What did it look like? She couldn’t

remember. Damnit, why couldn’t she remember? Frustration brought

tears to her eyes. She seemed to cry over every little thing.

“Here you go, baby.” He handed her the button that was clipped

on the bed next to her.

She looked at it and still didn’t recognize it. She didn’t let on that she didn’t that she didn’t understand. It upset Marcus when she

200

Marla Monroe

couldn’t think of a word. She did pretty good most of the time, but

sometimes the littlest thing would stump her.

“I brought everything I need with me so I can work here with

you,” Marcus told her.

“Oh, okay.”

He looked at her oddly, and she wondered if he’d told her that

already. Damn, why was she having so much trouble with the little

things? She could sit up and talk and eat without help, but she hadn’t known what to do with the brush he gave her. Why didn’t she know it

was to brush her hair? Even now, knowing that, she couldn’t picture

what it looked like in her head.

“Have your doctors been in yet?” he asked her.

“Um, I don’t think so. It’s so hard to keep up with the days now.”

Randall looked stressed to say the least, Darla thought. She knew

that she was the reason for it, and it troubled her. She also knew they were keeping something else important from her. Was it that she

would never fully recover? Would she always have trouble