One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,51
while. He should go home, but he can’t go by himself. Someone needs to be with him.” Looking into Piper’s face, he knew she would do whatever he asked of her. She was loyal to a fault, and her compassion overwhelmed him right now. Unable to name the emotions filling him, he pulled her close for a quick hug and pressed a hard kiss to her temple. “Thank you.” It was as close as admitting to her and himself that he needed her once again. He needed her more than he could admit to either one of them.
Nodding, she pulled away. “I’ll be back.” She said goodbye to Alex and left them alone in the waiting room.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
PIPER let herself into Taylor’s home. The lights were on and the video game still shot bullets at empty targets. They’d obviously left in a hurry. She turned off the TV and most of the lights, leaving one lamp burning by the couch. The atmosphere certainly would have been festive if the circumstances had been different. She carefully removed the banner and folded it, hoping that maybe they could use it if…when Caroline came home from the hospital. The festive paper plates, napkins and cups she put into a paper bag with the banner and set it on the bottom of the pantry. The cake was going to be a problem, though. It was too big to hide easily and wouldn’t fit in the freezer, so she just put it in the oven until she could ask Taylor what to do with it. Maybe she could scrape the icing off it and take it to the ER for the staff rather than just tossing it out. She hated to waste cake, especially chocolate.
By the time she returned to the hospital to pick up Alex, it was very late, and he was asleep on the couch in the surgery waiting room.
“She’s still in surgery. The leg’s a mess, so it’s taking longer, but so far she’s tolerating it okay.”
“How are you tolerating it?” Piper asked.
“Tolerating what?” he asked, his face closed off and emotionless, the look in his eyes flat.
“I see. Back to your old self again. You can’t think through this one, Taylor. You can’t use your super-hero talents here.”
“What are you talking about?” Glaring down at her, he tried to push her away. “This isn’t what I need right now, Piper.”
“I think it’s exactly what you need right now.” Whether he knew it or not.
“You can’t force me into some psycho-babble therapy session that’s going to make me spill my guts and be all warm and fuzzy.”
“I agree. If you can’t open yourself just a little when your sister’s in the OR, then what will it take?” She crossed her arms, feeling the disconnection between them growing. Tonight was the last night of her contract. Though she was staying on in Santa Fe for a week or so while deciding what she was going to do next, she probably wasn’t ever going to see him again. She might as well say what she had to say. No one else was going to tell him. “You can’t plow through this situation, Taylor. This isn’t a mountain to conquer or a plane to jump out of or anything like that. You have to feel it. Don’t push people, especially Alex, away. For better or worse, you need to stop and feel it, to understand what it is to care about someone much more than you care about yourself.” She took a deep breath and blew it out fast as her past and emotions nearly swamped her. “Why don’t you take Alex home? He needs you more than me right now. I can stay until Caroline’s in the ICU later. Do you trust me?”
“I trust you. You know I trust you.” Taylor looked at his nephew, covered with a white patient blanket, asleep on the couch he knew had to be as lumpy as hell. His mouth parted with his breathing and a frown marred his brows, even in sleep. Running a hand through his hair again, he looked at Piper. “I know he needs me, but I have to stay here until she’s in the ICU. I have to.” He paused and looked down at her guarded eyes. The disappointment he didn’t want to see was right there. He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “I know I don’t have the right to ask you and it’s a huge imposition, but I’m