Part 22 (2/2)

Right now, the only thing Taige really needed to dwell on was the art of breathing.

Since waking in agony to find tubes shoved in her chest, she realized that breathing was a lot more complicated than the typical person realized.

The window was down. It was hotter than h.e.l.l outside, but she needed the feel of the air on her face, the wind moving through her hair. Cullen sat next to her, speeding down Highway 180. It didn't seem like he could go more than a minute without glancing over at her. ”Are you okay?” he asked. It was only the tenth time he'd asked since they'd pulled out of the hospital parking lot. And that was a huge improvement over the first day or two after she woke up. Then she hadn't been able to take a breath or blink without him asking.

But she didn't mind.

She was awake for him to ask, right?

But Taige did sincerely hope that he wouldn't stil be asking her that every ten minutes or so for too much longer. Of course, it would be easier to lie to him if she could move without hurting, if she could breathe without hurting. She'd always healed pretty fast, but she'd never been hurt this badly before.

With all her heart, Taige hoped she wasn't ever hurt this badly again. The st.i.tches in her chest itched, her muscles hurt, her bones, breathing. Just breathing took some effort right now. She had to concentrate and make sure she didn't breathe too deeply, because if she took regular breaths, it hurt. Yeah, it was an art, trying to breathe just deeply enough that she managed to get enough air, but not so deeply that she made those abused muscles and healing tissues and bones ache.

Logically, she knew she shouldn't have left the hospital yet. They'd only been able to take the chest tubes out a few days ago, and the lung specialist wasn't too thrilled with her lung function either. The fact that they had let her leave the hospital was nothing short of a miracle.

The doctors hadn't wanted to let her go, but she'd made up her mind that she wasn't going to stay in that d.a.m.n hospital another day. Even if she had to walk out on her own two feet. So what if she collapsed before she made it to the parking lot?

Fortunately, Cullen had offered a compromise. She could leave the hospital, go home, and a private duty nurse would visit her twice a day for the first few days. Cullen had said he'd be staying with her. It wasn't like she'd be alone, and she'd be a h.e.l.l of a lot more comfortable if she was some place-okay, any place-other than the hospital.

She wanted to go home, and if that meant promising to eat three square meals a day that included lots of leafy green stuff, chugging down sixty-four ounces of water, and popping vitamins, then she'd do it. So long as she got to go home.

Then Cullen drove right past her house. She glanced at the gravel drive that disappeared into the trees and then back at him. ”Cul en . . .”

But before she could ask where they were going, he did turn.

Her heart skipped a beat or two and, forgetting herself, she gasped. Once she'd recovered from the pain that caused, she blinked through her tears and stared at the house in front of her.

It had been on the market for nearly two years. It was beautiful, custom-built from the ground up, and the price tag was a little high. But the For Sale sign was missing from the little patch of gra.s.s by the mailbox. ”What are we doing here?”

He glanced at her. ”I bought it.”

”You bought it.”

He slid her another glance and then looked away. Nervous. Cullen was nervous. There was no mistaking that look. ”You bought it.”

No response.

”Why?”

His eyes narrowed. ”Because your house doesn't have room for me and Jillian, and I don't plan on letting you out of my sight for a while. If you don't like it, too bad.”

”Exactly how long is a while?”

For a minute, he didn't answer, and she started to think he was ignoring her . . . or maybe he hadn't heard her. But then, in a quiet voice, he said, ”The rest of my life sounds pretty good to me.”

The sheer, intense emotion in his voice was enough to have her eyes start to burn from tears, her throat go al tight, and her heart swell. Unsure of how to respond to that, Taige didn't respond at all.

They pul ed to a stop in front of the house, and for a minute, they just sat there staring at it. The walls were stone, giving it an old-world look, and there were a lot of windows-really big windows-sparkling in the early morning sun. The door was painted a bright red, and as they watched, it opened, and a small girl came barreling through, running down the steps with a huge smile on her pretty little face.

For a second, Taige almost didn't recognize her.

She hadn't ever seen that girl with a smile on her face. Not once. In reality, Taige knew she'd only physically seen the girl twice. Once when they'd found her in the cabin and then once in the hospital while the girl was in a drug-induced sleep. In al the dreams, al of the weird little visions that had come to Taige over the past twelve years, Jillian Morgan never smiled in them. Not even once. Of course, Jillian hadn't had many reasons to smile during those visions. In truth, no reason.

There was no logic to life, Taige knew. There was no logical way Taige could have dreamed about this girl before she even existed. No way she could have spent so many years searching for a girl who hadn't needed Taige until less than a month ago. Logic had no place in this mess because, as improbable as it all was, it was real. It had all happened.

Cullen glanced at Taige, and she forced a smile. ”Go on. I'm fine.” G.o.d knows, he'd spent so much time at Taige's side over the past few weeks, and that pretty little girl must have missed him something awful. He climbed out of the car and caught up with Jillian just as she reached the driveway. Taige watched as Cul en threw Jillian up into the air and then caught her close in a hug. Tears misted her eyes as she saw the two of them together.

Jillian smiled down at her dad and brought her hands up, cupping his face between them and then leaning down to kiss him. There were no words between them, but there was a love so deep, so strong that Taige guessed the father and daughter really didn't need words.

Then Jilly turned her head and looked into the truck. Her eyes landed on Taige's face, and her smile faded away.

A fist wrapped around Taige's heart. The poor baby. She'd gone through ten different kinds of h.e.l.l, and seeing Taige was going to remind her of that. This wasn't going to work. Yeah, she needed somebody with her for a few days because she wasn't sure she could walk from a bed to a toilet without help, but she'd call Dez. Dez would come and probably be grateful for a break.

Jillian squirmed in Cullen's arms, and he put the girl down. Taige figured Jillian wanted to go inside, get away from her and all the memories that Taige's presence had to bring back. But instead, she walked up and climbed through Cullen's open door, onto the leather seat, until she could crouch on the console like a little cat. ”You still look sick,”

Jillian said with the brutal, frank honesty of a child.

Forcing herself to smile, Taige said, ”I'll be fine.” An awkward silence started to spread between them, and desperate to keep that from happening, Taige asked softly, ”How are you doing?”

Jillian grinned. ”I'm great. We got a beach. A real beach. And it's ours.” She c.o.c.ked her head, and the fat, inky curls fell over one thin shoulder. ”You like the beach?”

”I love the beach. I live on the beach, too.” Her gaze slid to the huge, sprawling house, and she added wryly, ”But I doubt it's as big as your beach is.”

”Can you swim?”

”Like a fish.”

”Can you teach me?”

Taige glanced at Cul en as he approached, staring at Jillian and Taige with intense eyes.

Her heart pounded in her throat as she forced the words out. ”We'll have to see.” She was a little floored that Jillian even wanted to speak with her.

That thought had barely formed in her head when Jillian leaned a little closer and whispered, ”Of course I wanna talk to you. You're my friend.” She smiled sweetly and reached up, laid a hand on Taige's face. ”I'd miss not talking to you.”

Now Taige couldn't speak. She couldn't force the words, and it took several tries and a couple of deep breaths before she managed it. ”You remember talking to me?”

Jillian rolled her eyes, and for a minute she looked exactly like what she should be: a child just hovering on the stage of prep.u.b.escence, convinced she knew every bit as much as any adult ever could. ”Of course I remember talking to you.” Then she glanced back at her dad. ”I think you're going to have to make her get out of the car. She's scared.”

With that, she pulled back and took off running back up the driveway.

Hardly able to speak around the knot in her throat, Taige murmured, ”She shouldn't have to see me, Cullen. It can't be good for her.”

<script>