Chapter 22
Silas held her hand firmly in his as they walked into the hospital. Several of the nurses stopped and told him, “It’s nice to see you again Mr. McComb.”
Sally saw a few looks of jealousy but mostly just people who were being friendly. As they got closer to the room where his father was, she felt her nerves grow tenser.
Silas squeezed her hand and whispered, “It’ll be fine, don’t be so nervous.”
As they walked in the room Sally noticed a man who was the spitting image of Silas, with a little bit more gray in his hair and some wrinkles. If this is what Silas would look like at that age, she knew she would still love him just as much as she did now. His father didn’t look old at all. She put the thoughts of their age differences behind her. Perhaps it was the thought that she would eventually be left alone when he died, because surely he would pass before she would. But she wouldn’t let this love go because of that fear.
His father stood up when they walked in the room and came over and gave Silas a hug. He then wrapped his arms around Sally in a warm embrace. “I’m glad you came with Silas. I haven’t seen him in such turmoil for a long time. But now I can see he’s happy once more.” His father said to her.
“It’s really nice to meet you. Has there been any change in your wife yet?” Sally asked.
“Not yet, but hopefully soon she will come out of the coma. The latest word is that they think her body did this on purpose so it could focus on healing the damage that was done when she hit her head.” He explained.
Silas moved over to the bed and give his mother a kiss on her forehead. “Mom if you can hear me, I want you to know I’m back, and I brought that girl I was telling you about the other day.”
Sally felt a thrill go through her body thinking that Silas had talked about her. She wondered what he had said to her but she didn’t ask him as she knew it wasn’t the right time to do that.
“Hey dad, when was the last time you ate?” Silas asked.
“I honestly don’t know. But I’m not really hungry.” He answered.
“Try to eat something and we’ll stay with mom. I’ll call you if she wakes up before you get back.” Silas stated.
His father grudgingly left to go eat. Silas pulled a chair up beside his for Sally to sit.
“Sally tell mom about yourself. I try to talk to her whenever I’m here. They say that she can hear us and that maybe it will help her recover quicker knowing someone is here waiting for her to wake up.” Silas explained.
“Hello Mrs. McComb, my name is Sally Yates, I work for Silas in his office. I come from Nebraska and it’s a lot different than New York City. I would say our small town is a lot like the one you live in now; very peaceful and quiet. The kind of place where you can trust everyone and can leave your doors unlocked at night with no fear. My whole life I have longed to leave Nebraska and come to the big city. But now visiting this quaint little town I realize how much I miss the peacefulness of it all. I don’t know how many times you’ve been to New York City, but I’m sure if you have been you’ve noticed the difference too. I’m trying to talk Silas into moving his office back to this town, and maybe soon we’ll be neighbors.”
Silas squeezed her hand and looked at her. Sally could see the love shining in his eyes and had no doubt about his feelings towards her.
Silas started talking to his mom about his childhood, recalling fond memories of when he was a child. Sally listened and learned more about the man she was head over heels in love with.
“I think I just felt her squeeze my hand.” Silas commented.
“Great maybe she’s coming out of the coma. Do you want me to get the nurses?” Sally asked.
“Yes please.”
Sally went to find a nurse and brought her back into the room.
“I felt her squeeze my hand several times now. A couple more since you left to find the nurse.” Silas announced as they walked into the room.
The nurse checked her vitals and commented, “Keep talking to her, I think she may be coming out of the coma soon.”
Silas recalled a Little League game he had played in as a youngster. “Remember how loudly you were cheering me on, even when I would strike out?” He laughed.
His mother’s eyes opened and she got a smile on her face, “Of course I remember that! The other parents looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn’t care.”
Her voice was low and Sally filled up her glass with water and helped her get a few sips of it.
“Who is this lovely young lady?” His mother asked.
“This is Sally Yates and she’s going to be my wife one day.” Silas said introducing her.
Sally could see the confusion that passed over his mother’s face, “Nice to meet you Mrs. McComb.”
“Call me Martha; Mrs. McComb makes me sound far too old. Though I do feel really old right now.”
“I gotta call dad and let him know you are awake. I made him go eat something,” Silas said as he stood and took his phone out of his pocket.
“Good thing you made him eat, that fool would let himself starve just to make sure I was okay.” Martha laughed.
Sally could hear the love in Martha’s voice as she talked about her husband.
“Sally come sit by me and tell me about you and Silas. It seems I’ve missed a few things since I fell and hurt myself.” Martha said.
Silas interrupted quickly and told his mom, “I caught Jackie cheating. But you know I was well on my way to a divorce before that; it just had to be when I was ready. Sally is my new Executive assistant, and she made me realize just how unhappy I was with Jackie. So when I also found out she was cheating on me, my only choice was to divorce her.” Silas explained.
“Okay Sally, now tell me how you and Silas fell in love.” Martha said, wanting to hear from Sally what had happened between them.
Sally sat down by Martha and begun sharing the story, one that Silas himself was surprised to hear about.
“Well when I was 16 I knew that I loved the business world. I had always planned to go to college to study business but I wanted to work for company that was doing the right things. So I started searching for cutting-edge businesses and came across McComb industries. I read up on the company and the men behind it. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had quite the crush on Silas at that time. I watched many of his videos and figured he’d be one of the best to work with. So I tried to do well in college and get good grades. I worked with another company in Nebraska for a couple of years before I found a job opening at McComb Industries...”
She continued, “I jumped at the opportunity and sent my resume to Silas. The day I got his letter back about the interview, I was ecstatic. I hoped to impress him at the interview and eventually be hired. But honestly during the interview I thought I had completely messed it up. I was so nervous. He was so much more charismatic in person and I had a hard time thinking straight. I was sitting in front of the man I’d been crushing on for almost 8 years by that time. But somehow he saw through that nervousness and offered me a job. Not on the spot, but a few days later, and accepted it quickly. Once I moved to New York City and worked closely with him, I knew that I had to control my emotions. Since he was married I didn’t pursue him, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still find him very attractive. When I found out he was unhappy I thought maybe my chances of getting to know him better had increased. Then Jackie came into the office and they had this huge fight right in front of me, with both of them were talking about getting a divorce. I was sad for him, but happy at the same time and I felt really guilty about it. But Silas let me know how he felt about me and I knew that we had a chance at something wonderful.” Sally explained.
Martha chuckled, “I like her a lot, and she’s straightforward and pulls no punches!”
“I love her Sally mom, and I asked her to marry me once the divorce is final.” Silas announced.
His father had made it back by this time and heard the news. “That’s great son, we’re really happy for you! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you smile this much.” His dad said.
“Far too long, in my opinion!” Martha added.