Chewing on my lower lip, I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. “I don’t want my parents to be disappointed in me. I swear I didn’t miss a pill, Luke. I swear.”
Luke patted the side of his bed. “I need you in my arms, Lib.”
I crawled up as Luke attempted to move. I knew he was in pain. I snuggled up the best I could as he draped his arm around me. “Libby, we decided together when we made the decision to trust just using the pill. What happened is a miracle and I don’t really give a shit what my parents or your parents think. To me, our child saved my life.”
I lifted my head and gave him a knowing look. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I do care. I’m not going to feel bad though. Everything happens for a reason and I really honestly believe that you got pregnant and it saved my life. I was ready to give up, Lib. I was weak and tired. I wanted to make it all go away. Then when you told me you were pregnant, this feeling rushed through my body. I was ready to stand up and hobble the hell out of the place.” Luke placed his hand on my stomach. “This baby is our saving grace.”
Tears fell from my eyes as I let Luke’s word sink in. It was true. In this moment, I believed that our baby was a miracle from God because he knew we were going to need her to pull through last night.
I lifted my head and let out a gasp. “The Lamberts.”
Luke pulled back and looked at me. “What about them?”
“They were on the trail last night and I was ready to give up. I was cold and in pain and you were slowly slipping further away. Mr. Lambert was the one who reminded me about the baby. Not in a direct way, but, it was as if he knew I was pregnant.” Shaking my head, I thought back to last night. “Come to think of it. They weren’t able to find them and the park rangers said someone called and just told them to check the falls trail. Someone was hurt.”
Luke made a face. “Huh. Maybe they called.”
“From where? We know they didn’t have cell phones.” I went to say something else when the door to Luke’s room opened. An older gentleman walked in and smiled when he saw me in bed with Luke. I quickly scurried my way off of the bed. Smiling I said above a whisper, “Sorry.”
Holding up his hands, he smiled. “No worries.” Turning to Luke he reached out his hand as Luke shook it. “Well, Mr. Johnson you’re looking better than you were last night when they brought you in. I’m Doctor Grambs. I performed the surgery on your leg earlier this morning. You had a pretty good break in your right leg.”
Luke chuckled. “I’d say so.”
The doctor glanced to me and smiled. Looking back at Luke he continued to talk. “You suffered an open fracture, or some call it a compound fracture, of your right tibia. We needed to go in and place a plate and screws to help with the bones healing. Typical healing time for this type of fracture is about four months, although it can take as long as six months or longer. I’ll want you to do some physical therapy as soon as possible.”
Luke nodded. “When will I be able to put weight on it?”
“Fairly quickly. I’ll want you to use precautions of course and fracture pain will go away long before the bone is completely healed so I want you to take it easy. Just because it feels better, doesn’t mean it’s one hundred percent better.”
Luke nodded his head. “Yes, sir. I understand.”
Pointing to Luke’s forehead he said, “The gash in your forehead was pretty deep. We ended up putting thirteen stitches in. You’ll need to come back and get those taken out.”
The doctor and Luke talked for a few more minutes before he told Luke to take it easy and get some rest.
I stood and walked the doctor to the door. After closing the door, I leaned against it and smiled. “I guess I’ll have to play nurse to you when we get home.”
Luke gave a pretend disgusted look as he rolled his eyes. “I guess I’ll have to suck it up and take it like a man.”
I began to make my way over to him, I needed to feel his lips on mine when the door opened again. Jeff and Ari walked in. Ari had tears rolling down her face as she rushed over to Luke’s side.
“Oh, my poor baby.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead next to his stitches. Luke’s left eye was black and blue. Turning Ari looked at me. She gave me a quick once over and then walked up and pulled me into her arms. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” Pushing me back at arm’s length she searched my face. I smiled and nodded.
“I’m fine. I promise. Just a sore knee and a broken phone.” Peeking back to Luke my heart dropped. “Nothing like Luke though.” I pushed back my tears as I looked into Ari’s eyes. She placed her hand on the side of my face. “You look tired, honey. You need to get some rest. After your mom and dad see Luke, I want you to let them take you to the hotel.”
I nodded my head. I didn’t want to leave Luke, but I wanted to sleep and rest. I didn’t want to add any stress on my body because of the baby. “I will. I promise. I didn’t want to leave him until someone else got here.”
Jeff was talking to Luke and asking him about his injuries. Luke filled them in on his leg and the bump on his head. I was so thankful he didn’t have any other serious injuries.
Clearing my throat, all three of them looked at me. “Um, I’m gonna head on out to the waiting room and fill my parents in.” Walking up to Luke, I gently kissed him on the lips. “I love you,” I whispered.
He smiled and said, “Before you go—”
Panic set in. Was he going to say something about the baby? We agreed to wait.
“Isn’t there something you want to show Mom and Dad?”
My eyes widened in horror. Luke quickly saw my concern. “What’s on your finger,” he said, clearing up my confusion.