Love, Honor, and Betray, Roby, Lawson [i have read the book a hundred times .txt] 📗

he’s even able to breathe on his own. He’s still not out of the woods yet, but Dr. Mason and I feelvery good about all of this.”

“He really is doing as well as can be expected,” Dr. Mason added. “Given his situation and the short amount of time that haspassed. He’s a very strong man.”

“Thank you, God,” Charlotte said, as did everyone else.

“We’re going to monitor him down here for maybe another hour, but we’ll be sending him up to the critical care unit rightafter that. He’s still pretty groggy and probably won’t be completely awake and alert for a few hours, but you’ll still beable to look in on him for a few minutes.”

“Thank you so much, Doctor,” Charlotte said to Dr. Rumeister and then looked at his partner. “And you, too, Dr. Mason.”

“You’re very welcome,” they both said. Dr. Rumeister added, “I didn’t want to say this earlier because it really wasn’t thetime, but I thought you should know that my wife is probably your husband’s biggest fan. She reads all his books as soon asthey come out and even buys them as gifts for friends. She’s also attended your church a few times in the past.”

“That’s wonderful, Doctor, and I hope you’ll tell her how grateful we are.”

“I sure will.”

*  *  *

Curtis was finally settled into his room, and Charlotte and Matthew went in to see him. Charlotte weakened a bit when shesaw the bandages taped down his left shoulder and arm and also on the left side of his head, and she didn’t like seeing thechest tubing Dr. Rumeister had mentioned earlier. There was also an IV being administered and the usual monitors recordinghis vitals.

When the CCU nurse assigned to Curtis left the room, Charlotte moved closer to the bed. “Baby, I’m so sorry, and I promiseI’m going to make all of this up to you. Things are going to be so different when you get out of here.”

Matthew moved closer on the other side and held on to the railing. “You’re gonna be fine, Dad. You’ll be well in no time.”

Charlotte looked at her son, then at Curtis, and then back at her son again. “Matt, sweetie, I need to explain something toyou.”

Matthew kept his eyes on his dad, acting as though she wasn’t standing there.

Finally, he rubbed the top of Curtis’s head and said, “I love you, Dad, and I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Charlotte leaned down and kissed Curtis. “I love you, too, baby.”

This time Matthew hurled her a look of disgust and walked out. Charlotte also left the room. She wanted to catch up to himbut knew it might make things worse, so she didn’t.

After everyone had taken turns looking in on Curtis, Elder Dixon, Elder Jamison, and Janine said they were heading home andwould be back tomorrow. Charlotte’s parents got her house key from her so they could go take a rest as well, but Alicia andPhillip had decided to stay the night at the hospital with Charlotte and Matthew. The waiting room was a lot emptier and quieternow, and Charlotte was glad. There was one thing bothering her, however, and that was the noticeably tense vibe she was gettingfrom Alicia, so she knew it was time they chatted.

“Alicia, can I talk to you?”

Alicia didn’t say anything one way or the other. Just got up and followed Charlotte in silence.

“I just want to say I’m sorry,” Charlotte said, figuring Alicia might sympathize with her since she’d had an extramaritalaffair before as well. “I’m not sure how much Matthew told you, but I’m really, really sorry about everything. I made a hugemistake, and I’ll have to live with that from now on. But I still hope you can forgive me for what I did to your dad.”

“Well, let me just say this. I do love you as my stepmother, and I’ve certainly made a number of mistakes myself, but if Daddyends up dying or having any se­rious complications behind this, I’ll never speak to you again. And to be honest, I reallydon’t want to discuss this with you right now.”

“But—”

“No, don’t,” Alicia stopped her. “Let’s just end this conversation before I say something I’ll regret.”

Chapter 46

Curtis had made it through the night without any major difficulties, and Charlotte, Matthew, Alicia, and Phillip couldn’t havebeen happier. Actually, he was wide awake and acting as though there had never been an accident. He did cough occasionallyand complained about the pain in his chest, but that was pretty much it.

Dr. Rumeister walked in. “So, how’s my star patient this morning?”

“Doing fine, Doctor,” Curtis said, coughing again.

“You really are a lucky man,” Dr. Rumeister said. “You were in a very serious accident, and your injuries definitely couldhave been a lot more severe.”

“This is true, but the Big Man upstairs protected me and kept me in His care.”

“I guess He did,” the doctor agreed.

“So, when are you letting me out of here, Doc?”

Everyone laughed, including Dr. Rumeister.

“All in good time,” he said and Charlotte cringed. Those were the same words Tom had told her on more than one occasion whenevershe asked him why he was terrorizing her, and now she hated them. She never wanted to hear that statement ever again.

“But when is that?” Curtis asked him.

“Well, if things keep going as well as they have been, we’ll get you moved to a regular room by tomorrow and then maybe homein another couple of days or so. Just depends on your lung and how satisfied I am with your improvement.”

“Well, I hope you’re satisfied pretty soon,” Curtis said, teasing him, but then he held his chest again. It clearly hurt himwhenever he breathed too deeply.

“I want that to get better, too,” Dr. Rumeister said. “And it will once your lung is functioning again the way it should.”

Dr. Rumeister studied Curtis’s chart and then placed it under his arm. “Well, I guess I’ll see you sometime this afternoon,then.”

“Thanks a million, Doc,” Curtis said.

“You all take care,” Dr. Rumeister said to the rest of them and then left.

“Daddy,” Alicia