by K. F. Breene
I sighed. She was pushy, at best. Sweet as pie when everything went her way, which with me, was never if I could help it.
I checked William to make sure he was sleeping, gave an embarrassed glance to the nurse’s supporters, which were supposed to be on my side, then let her inspect me. I knew if I asked to go anywhere else she would give me a speech and strip me herself. I’d been down that road. She was stronger than she looked.
When she was done fixing my shoulder holster thing, she had me turn around so she could put on the salve—she didn’t trust me to do it myself. As I turned, mid eye-roll, I noticed William looking at me. I stopped abruptly. We locked eyes—I was caught.
“Now, turn around or I will turn you around. Remember last time? It hurts, remember?”
I finished turning. There was nothing for it. I didn’t know how long he’d been watching, but the pain on his face was pretty clear. When Camille was done she said something about unruly children and put my shirt back down.
“Since he is awake, you need to take some muscle relaxer. I won’t make you take the pain medication, but you at least need muscle relaxer. I will personally--”
Eyes still locked with William, hating the look of uncertainty and ignoring the questioning, I said, “Sure. Anything you want. I’ll take whatever you want.”
She hitched in her familiar tirade, not used to being complied with so easily, and looked around me. “Oh. Is that all it took to take care of yourself? Future note.” And out she walked.
And they said William always got his way? He could learn something from nurse Camille.
I sent a plea to Adam, who just shook his head. He couldn’t get me out of this one.
“Jessica,” William said, very quietly. “How did all that happen to you?”
Thank God my bruising had dramatically reduced in five days. There was a lighter pallet of color and more yellows and browns than blues and purples. Still.
I looked around the room for help. No one wanted to trade places with me for all the world. I knew they would back me, but it wouldn’t matter.
I sat back down with a straight back.
“By saving my youngest son’s life,” Denise said firmly. “And for that she has my gratitude.”
It was sweet, but certainly wasn’t going to get me out of trouble!
“Jessica,” William said again.
This was awful. I was squished between Camille and William. One wanted to heal me, one would soon want to tear me apart. Maybe I could just sick Camille on William and save myself the trouble.
“Jessica.” William repeated, interrupting my reverie.
I sighed. “William, you aren’t strong enough for stories about my silly adventures. Let’s wait until a full recovery.”
“Jessica.” It was a whisper now.
“He has a right to know, Jess,” Adam said.
I knew Adam would gang up on me. I just didn’t know it would be quite so soon. It sucked that Lump wasn’t here to fortify my side.
“Well, fine. Adam, you saw the whole thing, you tell him. I am going to go get a coffee. Does anyone have a dollar?”
“Stay Jessica,” William begged.
“William, if you want the story, I am going to get a coffee. If not, I would be happy to stay.”
“Will you come back?”
“Of course I will. I don’t have keys or a purse or any idea how to get home.” I was a little irritated, if only because I knew what lay in store for me. I figured I would be mad now since I later I would be yelled at.
Tom held out $5.
“Thanks Tom.” I turned and left.
On the way down to the cafeteria I got lost. I then found a coffee cart and waited in a line. I got it, drank it too quickly, sat and watched the bustle for a while, and went to accept my fate.
I bet Superman never had these problems from the people he saved.
As I walked back in the room the conversation stopped. I grudgingly looked at William and saw the pained expression I knew would be there. I sat in my chair.
“I think you should go home.” His voice was even and resolute.
I stopped mid-way down with a look of disbelief.
Any other time tears would have come to my eyes immediately. Rejection like this was hard to live through. Especially in front of people. But this time he could shove it up his hole, as Claire would say.
I dare one of them to try and throw me out.
“F-off.” I said, continuing to sit down, not caring about what others thought of my naughty slang.
“Jessica, I want you to go home. I don’t want you here.”
“Oh shut up. I didn’t sit and sleep on this uncomfortable chair for five days to be told to go home before you were allowed to go with me. So if you want me home, you better get better and go with. That place is not my home until you are there with me.
“And one more thing. If any of your body guards tries to throw me out, I will sick Camille on you. I am legend here. Just ask for the report Madga is filing on my aggressive behavior.”
I leaned back in the chair with my arms folded.
“Who is Magda?” Tom asked.
“One of the nurses on the third floor. She tried to stick me with a needle when I was trying to get up here. They did that trick when I tried to follow William after the ambulance dropped us off. I was ready for it this time. I...well, the report she filed says I hit her hand and pushed her against the wall. Luckily, the other nurse didn’t see anything, and the nurses up here didn’t hear any of the story, or my name, or who I was going to see, so the paperwork said I sneaked out and the claim was trashed.”
“You did that to come up here? To me?” William hadn’t stopped looking at me since I walked in the door.
“Of course. What good was it to stay on the third floor?”
“You could have rested, Jessica. And healed. They said you refused pain medication in case I woke up.”
“Well. Yeah. What if you had woken up last night and I couldn’t wake up with you because I was on meds?”
My resolve to stay strong was weakening. The pain and fear and worry of the last five days was starting to come through.
“They say you aren’t healing properly because you wouldn’t go home to sleep. You are hurting now. I can see it.”
“But William, you are hurting worse. I couldn’t indulge. Not with you...like that.” My voice cracked.
“What if I lost you?”
“What if I lost you? I couldn’t bear it, William. I couldn’t bear to see that bull attacking you. I couldn’t bear to watch and do nothing. Not when I could have done something. Not when it was in my power to stop it. Or try to stop it. I would do it again. I will do it again if I have to. That’s all the explanation I can give you. Please don’t send me away.”
I was crying by the end. I had my head down on the bed and was crying into it.
“I can’t hold you Jessica. I can’t move to hold you.” William’s voice told me he was in pain for what I had said. For what I had suffered. He didn’t know the half of it. Try to sit vigilance to someone in a coma of all things.
After a while, when the tears subsided, I noticed that his family had left. They obviously wanted to give us a moment. When I straightened up, William’s familiar eyes were on me.
“Jessica,” he said, “I don’t want you to get mad, but I would like you to go home. I would like you to sleep in our bed tonight. You can come back bright and early in the morning, but tonight, please do me the favor of sleeping in our bed.”
I wiped another tear.
“I will be moved shortly to a room on the second floor,” he continued softly. “They reckon I’ll be here another couple days before I can go home. I’ll have to be an invalid at home for a while, but I can go home. All I have to do now is heal. So I am safe. You saw me through the hardest part, and I will forever thank you. I felt your presence the whole time. You helped me find my way back. I said as much to the others. But now, for me, please get some real sleep.”
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As I looked into his eyes I knew I couldn’t say no. I stayed here out of worry for him. He was sending me home out of worry for me. It was only fair.
I nodded.
He sighed in relief. “Good. I can’t wait to hold you, love. Only a couple more days. Until then, it is your turn to get better. Someone is waiting for you downstairs to take you home. Let them.”
“Okay.” I got up. Our kiss was sweet and heartfelt. I let my fingers trail across his face, told him I loved him, and left.
When I got to the lobby I didn’t see anyone. No one outside, either. I went to the cafeteria and saw everyone at a table. Lump had joined, and Gladis.
Everyone looked up as I neared.
“Well,” Gladis said, “did he talk you into leaving?”
“Yeah. Only fair right? Granting a sick man his wish?”
Everyone nodded. Tom stood up. “I will be taking you home, Jessica. The rest are going to visit and make sure the move to the second floor goes well. Too many chiefs.”
I nodded. I was so drained I didn’t care for humor. I already missed William. I was already worried about him.
I felt Denise’s hand on my shoulder. “Heal for him. He needs you healthy. Sick men are a lot of work.”
I nodded again, tears springing to my eyes.
I let Tom lead me away and put me in the car.
“Jessica,” he said as we started driving, “when Adam told the story, he tried to leave out a lot of what you did. Willie saw right through it. Adam did try to keep his word. I thought you should know.”
“I knew he would eventually give me away. He always does. It was probably better this way because William didn’t have the strength to get as mad.”
Tom chuckled. “Well, the Davies family will be eternally grateful to you.”
“You shouldn’t be, really. I almost got him killed once. Only fair that I tip the scales back to zero.”
“Except that I doubt he will ride a bull after this. Not after what happened. Not after you saying you would risk yourself again. If he doesn’t do it for himself or his family, he’ll do it for you; even though I know you won’t ask. Maybe especially because you won’t ask.”
“Least I could do, Tom.”
I was met with silence.
“Sorry,” I continued, “I’m not at my most witty right now. I didn’t know what else to say.”
“It has been a long week.”
“Yes. It was. Longest week in history, I think.”
I noticed that we were going to Gladis’s house. “Oh Tom, I guess no one told you. Uh, I am living at William’s now.”
He laughed. “Yes, I know. I am just picking up someone that missed you is all.”
When he stopped Tom told me to get out and grab my buddy. It dawned on me that he meant Fred. I opened the car and called his name. He would come at my call. Discipline got a little lax where my laziness got in the way.
Sure enough, Fred came running at a dead sprint. He was so glad to see me he jumped up onto my lap to get at my face. He licked and licked despite me pushing him away. I finally got him settled down and in the back seat. Tom had leather, so said nothing needed to be put down.
“Ginger?”
“She’s at the ranch. We tried to leave Fred there, too, but he kept bothering every ranch hand and visitor—he’s no longer used to the outdoor life with a bunch of dogs.”
I laughed. “He’s a people dog, now. Good boy!”
I walked in my house with a sigh. Home. Without ceremony I put my crap down on the little round table, locked the door, and fell into the bed in a heap. I was asleep moments later.
As promised, William was released from the hospital a few days later. However, he was bed-ridden and checked by a hired nurse. Aside from moral support, I didn’t actually need to do all that much for him. Just another difference between a poor man and a rich man—and I was not complaining!
The nurse had it easy the first day, mostly because William hurt too much to cause a fuss, but as time wore on he got more ornery about his confinement. He wanted to move to the living room to watch TV—no, without the cursed sickbed. He wasn’t sick, damn it! He was perfectly fine to go outside to get the paper—undo these tubes! He didn’t care in the slightest the extra work involved in constantly doing and undoing medical monitoring equipment—it was his house, he would move around as he pleased.
Being that the nurse was no Camille, William got away with quite a lot before I got home. Too much. I had to put the hammer down nearly as soon as I walked in the door. Then, like a child, he’d get a choice: he could either move the healing bed into the living room and watch TV from there, or he could stay in the bedroom and watch that TV. But he would remain in the bed for another week, like the doctor said.
"No problem, honey, if you want to get the paper, then Nurse Hatchet—me—will wheel you out for all the neighbors to see so you can get it. How’d that be?" He never liked that offer.
When he did get out of bed, he set up shop in my library/office. He moved all my papers around, he didn’t put office supplies back where they went, and he never cleaned up after himself. I was okay with sharing everything—like with a new sibling, you get used to that in the end. But him leaving a mess in my personal world, which was always hyper organized, sent me into a fit.
I stormed into the living room, threw pens at him, and threatened him with locking that door. Being that he was bitchy from being an invalid, he tried to pick a bigger fight, saying he knew how to pick locks. Then I turned into a five-year-old.
He had a collection of baseballs he’d gotten signed through the years, and other corresponding memorabilia, on display in a hallway curio cabinet. I ravaged it. I messed it all up, stuff on all different shelves, this player’s ball on that player’s shelf… I screwed it all up, closed and locked the cabinet, and wandered away.
The phone call I got the next day was a screaming William. I put the receiver on the desk and let him yell. The apology I got when I got home was heartfelt.
My office stuff was 95% put away from thereafter.
Sometimes you just had to be the alpha dog.
In three months he was finally healed enough, and strong enough, to go to the ranch and check on the bull riding. It was way past time in William’s mind. The ranch and its projects were his baby, and even though Adam had his own ranch growing and prospering, William didn’t fully trust him. Nothing personal to Adam, but in William’s mind, if he wasn’t doing it, something was missed.
I got home from a busy day to William shouting, “Hurry up! We’re late!”
Refusing to let him harry me, I put my stuff on its table, made my usual route through the door, into the kitchen where I got some water, and into the living room where William was dressed in spiffy jeans and a crisp plaid shirt.
“Nice to see you, too, dear,” I muttered as I stood in front of him. “I thought we weren’t supposed to be there until seven?”
William looked at me impatiently. “We aren’t, but I want to drive by the ranch and see how things look. I also want to get there early.”
I sighed and nodded. “Alright, let me change.”
I busied myself with changing and getting ready. William was on the couch, waiting “patiently” for me to be finished. Once I was out of my work clothes, into my crap clothes, and had my hair back in a ponytail, I went out to meet the monster.
“Okay.”
He looked at me with barely contained excitement. Then he got serious and his aura seemed to dull somewhat. “I wanted to talk to you before we went, Jess.”
His face was somber, almost sad.
“What’s up William?” I asked as I climbed into his arms.
He hugged me tight and put his head in my hair. He sighed in content. “I don’t think I am going to be able to make the San Francisco trip. Can we postpone a little until I have my dancing feet back?”
I laughed, straightened, and kissed him on the tip of the nose. “Of course, you ninny! Talk about stating the
obvious. C’mon, let’s go. You were squawking about being late two seconds ago, now you are dilly-dallying.”
We got to the ranch, tried to drop off Fred and Ginger, but they wouldn’t get out of the truck, so we gave up and did a drive around William’s property so he could check everything out. He was a hands-on type, and it showed. Adam had kept up with everything, instructing the various ranch hands what was needed and when, but William still made notes and muttered about changes he’d make.
When we got to the bull area the regulars were already there. Early. Adam milled around, not doing a good job of looking busy, eagerly waiting for William to get out. It was clear how much Adam missed William. And just as clear the reciprocation, when William bustled over, a huge smile on his face to match Adam’s.
They had talked on the phone nearly once a day, mostly about ranch stuff, but they hadn’t seen each other in three months. William hadn’t wanted Adam to see him weak and vulnerable. That was a long time for BFF’s, but they were men, and not prone to squealing. Instead, like men, they shook hands forcefully, squeezing each other’s arms and clapping each other on the back.
“Good to have ya back, man! Just weren’t the same without ya!” It was as close as Adam would come to screaming and dancing around like a tween.
William just nodded and looked around. I could tell he had missed it.
Adam saw me and crossed the space in a couple strides, his smile bubbling over into his crushing hug. He was allowed to show affection for a girl. Thankfully I’d changed my clothes—he left a big body’s worth of dirt on me.
“Hey Jessie girl! Good to have you back!”
“Ow!” I wheezed.
“Adam, she’s still sensitive.” William grabbed Adam’s shoulder.
“Oh right. Sorry.” Adam put me down immediately. “Just damn glad to have you back!”
Ty nearly danced up next, ready for his manly shake and his back slapping. Then another few guys. I shook my head with a half-smile and joined the girls, who were in their usual spot at the side of the arena.
