Allie looked out of the plane's tiny window at the billowing clouds below. Leaving Connor was one of the hardest things she'd ever done, but she had made the decision for two reasons. The first was Connor, himself. He needed the time to himself to get straightened out, she had reasoned. Despite his protests, she knew he would function better without her there, and learn to cope on his own without having to rely on her. He was making progress, slowly, frustrating him out of his mind, she knew, but she could still see the improvement. Allie winced, recalling the first time the doctors made him try to get up on his leg. She'd never heard so much cursing in her life. By the time, he fell back into his bed, he was dripping with sweat, completely exhausted. But now, with the aid of a walker, he could make it halfway down the hospital corridor...on a good day. A therapist would be coming to his apartment every day now, to continue exercises to strengthen his leg.
The nightmares were something else altogether. She thought about the three episodes he had experienced in the hospital. The first time she was jolted awake and petrified, not knowing what to expect...or what to do to help him. He had suddenly jerked upright in the middle of the night, yelling, soaking wet with sweat, his eyes staring straight ahead. Then, by the time the nurse got to the room, he had slumped back on his pillow, and sleeping soundly. The next two times he had done this, she had tried to soothe him, rubbing his brow, knowing that he probably was not even aware of her. She knew these were temporary, but Connor was beyond frustrated.
On the other hand, she smiled to herself, being in such close quarters for three weeks was not such a bad thing. She'd heard lots of stories of his childhood, and the mischief he and Mark had gotten into when they were younger. Once he was off most of his pain meds, and they were pretty sure no one would be barging in his room, she would snuggle up to him on his 'good side' as they called it, and have semi-intimate moments, Connor joking that now, he would only have one thing on his mind when his leg healed, and she'd better watch out.
His family couldn't have been sweeter, or more considerate of their deepening feelings for each other. One night, a steak dinner was delivered to his hospital room, courtesy of his parents. They seemed to have a busy, full life of their own, so, in Allie's mind, they cared about their grown children without being intrusive. Catherine picked her up one day when Connor had a long therapy session, and took her out for shopping and lunch. Allie now had five outfits to her name.
She recalled the night that her father had come to the hospital to meet Connor. It was the first time she'd seen him after the fire, and fresh tears had welled up in her eyes as she recounted the harrowing night with Connor, the gunmen, and the inn. She had pushed it all to the back of her mind after getting to the hospital, too worried about Connor to even think about the inn. She could tell immediately that her father liked Connor, just by the way he shook his hand. She had sighed contentedly, eyeing the two sweet and handsome men in her life.
She leaned back in her seat, gazing languidly out of the window, but only seeing the image of Connor...dear Connor, sleepily telling her he loved her.
The second reason she was returning to Gerard's Cliff? She had a buyer for what was left of the inn.