Authors: MJ Summers
The next morning, Claire had to go back for another brain scan. Cole left for a few hours to get showered, changed and to eat something. Claire called Janet to update her on how she was doing. She shared with Janet what Cole had told her about the condoms.
Janet sounded sceptical, "I know you want to believe him, hon, but seriously? It doesn't sound right to me."
"I know," Claire sighed, "I'm just going to wait and see. Keep my guard up. I'm sure we'll talk about it some more and then I'll just have to go with my gut. If I had listened to my instincts with Fuckwit, I would have left him years ago. I just kept ignoring that voice in my head screaming for me to leave him."
"What is your gut telling you about Cole?"
"As insane as it sounds, I think I believe him."
"Hmmm, are you sure it isn't just your vajayjay wanting you to believe him?" Janet replied.
Claire laughed and then winced in pain, "Ouch. Shit. No more jokes."
"Sorry, Claire. You okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I should get some sleep."
"Okay, sweetie. I wish I was there right now. This sucks. I would totally kick his ass for you and then take care of you myself," Janet said, her voice full of regret.
"Good night, you."
"Good night, Claire. I love you."
"Janet?"
"Yes?"
"I figured out the difference between Cole and Fuckwit. With Fuckwit, I wanted it to work even though everything inside me told me it was all wrong. With Cole, my gut is telling me he's the one, but my brain is looking for reasons for it to fail. I'm terrified of how I feel about him. I'm falling hard and I have a horrible feeling that if I let this whole thing go on too long, I'll be crushed if it doesn't work out."
"In that case, go with your gut, Claire, but keep your eyes open for the truth."
"Will do sensei. G'night."
* * *
At that moment, Cole was back at the ranch, trying to get through as much work as he could as fast as possible. He called the towing company that had Claire's car and got them to take it over to his mechanic to be repaired. Ben came by the office to take over, bringing with him some cinnamon buns that Alicia had made for Claire. Cole went over some instructions for Ben for him to take over while he was out of the office and then hopped in his truck, his heart beating a little faster to see what type of reception he would receive when he got to the hospital.
When he arrived in her room, it was empty. He stood by the window, waiting for Claire to come back in, a pit in his stomach. After their conversation the night before, he wasn't sure if he could regain her trust. Their relationship was so new and it had certainly been tested a number of times in a matter of weeks.
After a few minutes, Claire was wheeled back in by a porter. Cole smiled at her, but his eyes were full of concern. Seeing her so beat up made his knees go weak again. Claire gave him a little grin when she saw him. Her pulse quickened at the sight of him, as it always did. Surely her heart couldn't be wrong about him? Cole walked over and helped her out of the wheelchair and into the bed.
"Thank you," Claire said, her eyes moving to the tray of cinnamon buns on the night table. "Are those for me?"
Cole nodded, "From Alicia. Can I get you one?"
"Only if you'll have one with me," Claire said, "I hate to eat alone."
"I won't turn down that request," Cole said, grabbing two napkins and placing the buns on them. "So, how did the tests go this morning?" Cole asked, his eyes searched hers for some sign of how she was feeling about him.
"Pretty good, I think. They said everything looked the same as yesterday, so that's good," Claire said, carefully placing some of the bun into her mouth.
"I am so glad to hear that, Claire. Nothing is more important than getting you well again."
Claire gave him a thoughtful look, "Cole, about our conversation last night, I really want to believe you. You have been nothing but wonderful to me since I've known you and my gut is telling me to trust you, so I'm going to try really hard to do that. It may not be all that easy for me to do, I hope you understand that."
"I do, Claire. You've been hurt before and when you've been hurt, it changes how you see the world."
"It really does."
Cole stared at her for a moment before he spoke up, "You know, the morning after your accident - before we knew what had happened -Alicia told me you left to meet your ex. I spend a good part of the day thinking you had gotten back together with him. When we found out where you were, I felt awful that I had been willing to believe the worst of you when here you were in the hospital."
"You thought that? Really?" Claire asked, feeling a little hurt.
"Yeah, well, we kind of broke up that evening, then he showed up and you disappeared. I didn't know what to think. This whole thing is still pretty new. Trust is something that takes time to build."
"It is. We might have to slow down a bit," Claire replied, looking down to avoid meeting his eyes.
"Maybe. There's no rush, right?"
"No, there isn't."
They ate in silence for a moment before Cole looked back over at Claire. "You know what, Claire? Even if it is all pretty new, you really are the only woman I want to be with."
Claire's heart swelled at his words, "I feel the same way about you, Cowboy."
That afternoon, things grew more comfortable between them. Claire listened
as Cole described what it was like to babysit a bunch of horny twenty-somethings in excruciating detail. Cole was shocked and angry on Claire's behalf when she told him about her dealings with Fuckwit. He held her hand as she fell asleep, then sat beside the bed reading while he waited for her to wake up.
Dr. Olsen came back to see Claire in the late part of the afternoon. He said the test results looked really good and that she could go home the next day, but no working or other physical activity for the next couple of weeks. He gave her a pamphlet on brain injuries with a list of things to look for in case the trauma to her head had further symptoms over the coming days.
Cole slept on the chair beside her again that night, even though Claire tried to persuade him to go home and get a good sleep. "Your back must be killing you. You seriously do NOT need to stay. Come back in the morning."
Cole gave her a serious look, "Three days ago, I thought we were breaking up. Two days ago, I thought you might not live. If you think I'm going anywhere, we should send you for more brain scans. I'm staying right here with you," he kissed her softly and pressed his cheek to hers.
"Mmmm, careful," Claire said, "Dr. Olsen said no physical activity for at least two weeks."
"Oh, I don't think he meant sex, do you?" Cole said, shaking his head and trying to sound serious. "We could ask him but I'm pretty sure it's okay."
Claire smiled wistfully at the thought of them having sex.
* * *
The next morning, Claire was released from the hospital. Cole drove carefully back to the ranch and set her up in his cabin to finish recovering. He brought over a lot of her clothes, toiletries, her tablet and some books. He made sure she got into bed and brought her a coffee and some lunch.
"I have to run down to the office for a bit. Your cell phone is right here if you need me. You're supposed to take your pain meds at 2 p.m. I'll be back in time just in case you fall asleep." Cole gave her a quick kiss, "Will you be okay while I'm gone?"
Claire nodded, "Yes I will. I'm just so glad to be here instead of in the hospital."
Cole smiled and touched her cheek with the back of his hand, "I'm so happy you're here too. See you in a bit."
August
Over the next few days, as Claire stayed in bed, they made some plans for the ranch. All the extra downtime had given her time to think. She had some new ideas to increase business during the slow seasons, including hosting weddings, reunions, a girlfriend's getaway weekend as well as romantic couples’ weekends. Cole's face was full of excitement to hear her ideas when he would pop back in to see her during the day.
In the evenings, he would curl up with her in bed and watch movies and they would talk late into the night. All the talking with no opportunity for sex somehow created a new level of intimacy between them. They were growing closer each day.
The days dragged, feeling lonely and boring for Claire. She tried watching daytime television, but quickly grew sick of it. She used the time to catch up on her reading, and researched marketing ideas for the ranch as well as new recipes on the internet.
One morning, Cole brought Trey over to ask for Claire's help. He had decided to apply for college, having seen what he was missing when the volleyball team came to the ranch.
"I would LOVE to help, Trey! I am bored to tears," Claire smiled, getting up from the couch and walking over to the kitchen table.
"Thanks, Claire. I've been finding all these forms pretty confusing actually," Trey admitted.
The two got straight to work, filling out the forms. After a few minutes, Cole left to get back to work, giving Claire a peck on the cheek before he left. He looked over at his younger cousin, "Now, don't stay too long and tire her out, Trey. She needs to get some rest."
"I won't, Cole," Trey replied, "Don't worry."
A couple of hours later, Trey received a text from Cole telling him to get back to work and let Claire rest. As he started to pack up his things, he shook his head at Claire, "My cousin sure has it bad for you, Claire. I've never seen him like this before. He guards you like you're made of china or something."
"He certainly takes good care of me," Claire smiled.
"Yeah, he does. Sometimes he goes a little overboard with the whole protective thing though. When we went on that trail ride with the volleyball team, he wouldn't let any of us guys anywhere near them. He spoiled what could have been an epic time."
"He did, did he?" Claire asked. She wanted him to say more, but felt wrong asking him about Cole.
"Yeah, he pulled us all aside before we rode out and made it real clear that we'd be fired if we were caught messing around with them," Trey replied, putting his boots back on. "Then the whole time, he acted like he was their dad."
"Well, he won't be at college with you, so I guess you can have some fun. Just make sure you get your butt to class. I didn't do all that paperwork just so you can get laid."
"Oh, yes you did!" Trey said with a loud laugh, as he walked out the door.
As Claire made her way back up the stairs to go lay down, she thought about what Trey had said. It put to rest the nagging questions that had plagued her mind about Cole's trustworthiness. Before she took a nap, she sent Cole a quick text, "
Just going to take a little nap. Cant wait to see you tonight! XOXO
"
* * *
The rest of the two weeks crawled by for Claire. She was healing quickly, her bruising now a faint yellow colour and the bump on her forehead was finally gone. As she healed, she started to feel more energetic, which made it all the more difficult to lay around doing nothing.
When Cole would get into bed at night, they would cuddle and kiss, but he would put the brakes on as soon as Claire would try to grope him or would seem to get a little too aggressive with her kisses. One evening, Claire took Cole's hand and placed it between her legs.