“So, that’s the scoop, in a nutshell, sweetie. You’re welcome to stay the night if you’d like. I can have housekeeping bring in a reclining chair and some blankets before my shift ends,” Martha offered, untucking the bedding from around Brody’s legs. “But I do suggest you step out for this next part. You may never look at your man the same again.”
Brody groaned. “Thank friggin’ God. Just get the damn thing out of me before I yank it myself.”
Huh? Jenny frowned at Martha.
“Catheter,” the woman explained. “I’m sure you can guess why it’s so uncomfortable.”
Oh, sweet Jesus. “I’ll definitely go.”
“But not far, right? I’ve still got something to say to you.”
She paused at Brody’s hoarse plea, a slow, punch drunk smile settling onto her lips. “Oh, I know you do. Don’t think I’ll let you off the hook so easily this time.”
He blew her a kiss and she left him to Martha’s evil torture.
She found herself a cup of strong coffee and a chocolate chip muffin in the cafeteria, and when she returned to the medical floor, Brody’s parents were at the front desk, asking a million questions. From the sound of things, the unit clerk couldn’t give them the information they wanted.
“Brian. Lena.” She called for their attention and they glanced her way, looking just as exhausted as she felt.
“Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’re here.” Lena hurried over and threw her arms around Jenny’s shoulders, rattling off her concerns without coming up for air. “Have you seen him? Is he still awake? What happened? Sam said it was bad.”
“He’s not great, but there’s nothing wrong that time won’t heal.” She held his mother a few seconds longer. She understood the urgency. Had felt the fear.
Lena pulled back and swiped at her tears. “He may be a grown man, but he’s still my baby.”
“I know.” Jenny smiled softly. “I swear that was the longest drive of my life.”
Brian ruffled her shoulder. “I’ll get us a couple of hotel rooms for the night. We’ll all need sleep sooner than later.”
“I actually planned on staying here.” Though a nap someplace other than a hospital chair sounded fabulous. She wouldn’t complain, though. Brody sleeping only a few feet away would be worth whatever aches and pains she felt in the morning.
“You are so good to him.” Lena’s eyes filled with another round of tears and it occurred to Jenny that he hadn’t told his parents about their break-up. “He’s had a rough go of it since he came home from his last deployment. He refused to talk about any of it and it seemed like he was just getting worse and worse. Until you came along.”
She shook her head, because in hindsight, Brody had already been on a mission to reclaim his life. All she’d done was show up at the right time and offer support. And ultimately her heart.
“It’s been a really hard few months for him,” she said quietly. “But he’s come a long way.”
Martha emerged from Brody’s room down the hall and approached with a kind smile on her face. “He’s a Marine, that’s for sure. Tough as nails.”
And then some. “Would you mind giving his parents an update while I let him know they’re here? Maybe give him a little warning?”
The cheery woman chuckled. “Mr. and Mrs. Nelson? I’m Martha...”
Jenny slipped away as the nurse corralled Lena and Brian into a consultation room. She found Brody leaning back in bed with his eyes closed. Despite the purple and red bruising on his face, he looked completely at peace.
“My nose must not be as bad as it feels,” he said, without moving. “I can smell you from across the room.”
“I’m not wearing perfume.”
“Mmm, I know.” Rolling his head to the side, he opened his eyes and crooked a finger at her. “Come, baby. Be close to me.”
“Your parents are here.”
He patted the blanket beside his lap. “Uh huh. Need to touch you first.”
This man. She pulled a chair to the side of the bed and gently brushed the hair back from his forehead. The gash above his eyebrow would leave a dandy scar and, sadly, whoever had shaved him last night lacked serious finesse. “You could stand a new haircut.”
“I noticed. Help me with that?”
Her breath lodged in her chest and it took her the longest second to respond, because touching Brody like that? God. A million times more intimate than putting her hands to work on someone else. “Absolutely, handsome.”
He gave a small smile and reached out, trailing his finger along her arm. “I don’t want to do this alone anymore.”
“I know, baby.”
His throat worked as he swallowed. “No, I mean, I don’t want to do any of it alone. I didn’t realize how one-dimensional my life had been until you came into it. And then again when you were gone.”
A rush of warmth whirled in her stomach, because that feeling? She knew it all too well. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“You’re my person, too, babe,” he whispered and she put a finger to his lips because she wasn’t sure she could hear this and keep it together before his parents came in. But he kissed her fingertip and lifted her hand away. “I go to bed at night thinking about you and all the things I want us to do together. I wake up in the morning hating that you’re not by my side and then hating myself even more for pushing you away.
“I don’t know how to say this with fancy words, sugar. I’m a lineman and a Marine, not a poet or a songwriter. But you mean something to me that no one else ever has. I feel fucking whole when I’m with you. Like you’re a part of me I didn’t know I was missing until suddenly there you were, fitting so perfectly into place.” He flatted her hand out over his heart. “I could go on doing this without you because I don’t want you to see all of my weaknesses, but the truth is...I like the man I am with you a hell of a lot better than the asshole I am when I’m not.”
Not poetic? Silly boy. She tipped her head to the side and laughed softly, emotion building in her chest. “I like you better when you’re with me, too.”
“Yeah? Well, I happen to love you, so...”
Oh, my God. She sucked in a shaky breath and closed her eyes. She’d imagined him saying those sweet words lots of times and in lots of different ways, but nothing compared to reality. The honesty in his eyes. The clarity in his voice... “You do?”
“Yep. Pretty sure I have for a while now. That’s why I did what I did.”
Ah, hell. “In that case, you’re forgiven.”
He laughed and lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. “Glad to hear it, sugar. Gonna keep trying to make it up to you, though.”
“You won’t have to try too hard. Turns out I’m head over heels in love with you, too.”
He cocked the eyebrow that wasn’t split. “It’s because I’m hung, right?”
Snorting, she dropped her forehead to his shoulder.
“The tats?”
She shook with silent laughter. “Try again, Superman.”
“Maybe you should help me—”
The door opened and his parents walked in. Of course, Lena started to cry immediately and Brody hung his head, blowing out a shameful breath. Jenny shifted away to give him space, but he held onto her hand, keeping her close.
“Stay,” he said simply and she was transported back to that first night when she’d asked him to do the same.
She’d stay with him forever if he asked her to, so the answer was easy. “Always.”
***
Coming clean to his folks proved to be exactly as difficult as he thought it would be. His mom sobbed through the entire confession and seeing tears well up in his old man’s eyes, too? Definitely didn’t make Brody feel like the Marine they were once so proud of.
But Jenny...goddamn. He couldn’t have done any of it without her.
“You’re very lucky to have both of them,” she said later in the evening, after they’d shared the carryout Chinese his parents had brought for dinner. Their company had been great, but their doting not so much. And, to be honest, he’d just wanted time alone with his girl.