“Sooner than you think,” she said as she moved back to the computer. “You’ll heal better at home.”
“Can you imagine how much fussing over I’ll get from my mother?”
The statement had them both chuckling—sharing a moment.
“She’ll be the best thing for you,” she offered.
“I don’t know. Waking up the past few days with you standing at my bedside has been nice.”
Chelsea swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to pull the machine which would record his vitals closer to the bed.
He turned his head. “I thought you were transferring floors.”
“What kind of nurse would I be if I left every patient that made me uncomfortable?”
He cringed. “I make you uncomfortable?”
She placed the clip that would read his oxygen saturation on his finger and pushed a few buttons so that the blood pressure cuff on his arm would inflate. Then she picked up the thermometer and scanned it across his forehead, noting the reading.
“Your vitals are looking good,” she said retrieving the clip from his finger. “Can I get you anything?”
“A straight answer.”
No, that certainly wasn’t what she wanted to give him. “You should rest more. It’s early.”
“Time is all the same from my perspective. Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“No,” she said softly as the door opened and another nurse walked in.
“Mr. Walker, you’re looking well this morning.”
“Yeah, feel like crap, though. When do I get to go home?”
The nurse laughed. “You’ve only had our hospitality a few days. You’re ready to fly the coop?”
He shifted a glance to Chelsea and then back to the nurse. “Yeah. The view at home is better.”
The nurse laughed, but the comment cut through Chelsea’s heart.
She signed out of the computer as the nurse took his cup out into the hall to fill.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Chelsea said, as it was part of her training.
“I’m fine.”
“Today is my last day for this week. Then I’m off for three days.” She felt the need to let him know he was safe from seeing her.
He nodded slightly. “I’m sure you’d rather be anywhere but here.”
The thought of not looking in on him was breaking her heart. “I have some Christmas shopping to do. You know, Santa can only do so much on his own.”
He snorted out a laugh. “You always did like wrapping gifts.”
“I’m sure you’ll be home before Christmas. I’ll bet your mom will be happy to have you there.”
“That or I’ll ruin her Christmas cheer.”
Chelsea moved to his bedside. “I don’t think that could ever happen.”
His eyes shifted to lock with hers. “It’s been a long time since Christmas was wonderful.”
Again, his words sliced through her, and it was all her fault. Christmas nearly three years ago was when she’d promised she’d be there when he returned—she promised she’d wait.
“This Christmas will be different,” she offered, but she wasn’t sure if she were assuring him or herself.
“Chels, I’m in a bad way, and I know it. My attitude more than even my wrecked body.” He sucked in a breath. “You’re standoffish to me, and I don’t blame you. I just want you to know it’s been nice waking with you next to me. I know it’s all that’s left, but I appreciate it. You’re going to make a fine nurse. I’m sure your husband is very proud of you.”
Tears began to well in her eyes as the nurse walked in with his cup full of water. “Here ya go. I’ll be back with pain meds soon. I want to see you get some food in you today. You can’t live on Jell-O alone,” she chuckled.
“I’ll try,” he promised.
Chelsea followed the nurse to the door and walked out as Russell turned on the TV. She deserved his hate and his bad attitude. She didn’t deserve his appreciation and praise. At some point, she should tell him she failed at marriage. It would give him some pleasure, she was sure.
She rubbed her fingers between her eyebrows to ward off the headache that was starting.
“You doing okay?” the nurse asked, as she logged into the computer at the nurses’ station.
“Yeah. Just a little headache starting. I’m getting used to these shifts.”
The nurse laughed. “It gets easier. Wait until your night rotations start.”
The very thought gave Chelsea a stirring of anxiety. Once she was done with her schooling, everything would be better. But for now, trying to juggle her schedule, and Lucas’s was killing her. What she wouldn’t give if her parents lived around the corner, like Russell’s did.
Of course, had she been true to her heart, maybe things wouldn’t be so tough. Glenda Walker could have been her mother-in-law and grandmother to her son. Had she waited for Russell, perhaps she’d still be married—to him—and not divorced from the ass she’d chosen over him.
Feeling sorry for herself did her no good. Besides, Lucas was the light of her life, no matter his paternity. She’d never give him up. At this point, she supposed, she only wished for things to be easier. Well, she’d brought that on herself. Now she was paying for it.
As long as Russell was laying in that bed, she’d take care of him. After all, he did say he loved her.
A smile formed on her lips, and the headache began to fade away. Even if it was a drug-induced statement, it still made her happy.
Chapter Four
Numerous noises were coming from his mother as the doctor put Russell’s x-rays up on the light board in his room. She’d sighed, cried, sniffed, and he wasn’t sure what else. His father’s hand rested on her shoulder for comfort. Russell lay there, just as he had for nearly four days, waiting for them to say something positive.
“Everything is healing nicely. We’re going to get PT in here today and get you moving a little bit. You won’t be trying to walk for a few weeks, but you’ll get there.” The doctor took the x-rays off the board. “A few more days and we can release you into your parents’ care. You will still need to be attended to at all times.”
Russell realized that all the years of military training had led him to this moment. He wasn’t about to let his mother wait on him hand and foot for the long term. He was physically in excellent health, minus this setback. He’d be damned if he wasn’t going to be walking in a few weeks, just as the doctor had said—but fully walking, not assisted. No, Russell Walker wasn’t going to rely on aids to help him get around.
“He’ll be in good hands,” his mother’s shaky voice broke the silence Russell hadn’t even noticed had filled the room. He’d been to locked into his own thoughts.
The door to his room opened again, and Phillip Smythe poked his head in as he took off his hat and secured it under his arm. “Oh, you have a full set of visitors. I’ll check in later.”
His mother rose and walked to the door, pulling Phillip inside. “You come in and visit. We’ve been here all morning. I could use some coffee,” she offered, and Russell watched as his father fell into line next to her. “We’ll be back shortly,” she promised as they walked out of the room.
Russell looked at the doctor who was gathering his things. “I’ll be back around tomorrow morning to check on you,” he gave him a smile as he too walked out the door.
“Seriously, I feel as though no one wanted to see me,” Phillip laughed as he walked around to the side of Russell’s bed. “You look better.”
“Get me the hell out of here, and I’ll be even better. You passing through?” he asked as he looked at Phillip’s uniform. “Or did you drop by on your coffee break?”
Phillip took his hat in his hands and ran his fingers over the rim. “There’s surveillance footage of a blue pickup truck following you down the road. The gas station on the corner by the bar caught it on their camera.”
Russell thought back to their first conversation. “You think I was run off t
he road, don’t you?”
“I think there’s a possibility. We’re looking at your truck to see if we can find any other paint on it.”
“My truck is blue, too.”
“My team is good. They’ll know if that was the case. Every blue is a little different.”
“Jake said the truck is totaled. He can’t fix it, and he can fix anything.”
“He’s right. You know you’re lucky to be alive?”
“I’ve been told.” He began to wish that sleep would just take over. Suddenly he didn’t want to discuss the accident anymore.
“Dominic Cleary, does the name ring a bell?”
He wasn’t sure if the beeps on the monitor grew more rapid because of the cuff on his arm or because of the name Phillip had just posed.
“Yeah, I know the name.”
Phillip nodded. “I knew that.”
“He’s the S.O.B. Chelsea married.” His jaw tightened uncomfortably, and his leg tensed so that the pain ripped through him. “Why the hell bring him up?”
Phillip rubbed his chin. “He’s out on parole.”
Russell fisted his right hand as anger surged through him. “Parole? He never hurt her, did he?”
Phillip rubbed the back of his neck. “He was in jail for robbery and kidnapping.”
“That didn’t answer my question”
“Russ, I’d better let you calm down before they kick me out of here.”
“You’d better answer me, damn it,” his voice rose.
Phillip took a deep breath. “He has a record of domestic violence. She has a restraining order against him.”
Russell’s vision began to blur. She didn’t mention that, and he was pissed that she’d been in his presence for days without telling him. But then again, who’d want to brag that their husband was a felon?
“A restraining order? That means he’s hurt her, and my guess is more than once. She’s too trusting a person to have slapped that on him for just getting a little rough one time.”
Phillip checked his watch. “I need to be getting back to…”
“You can’t keep coming in here and dropping questions and walking out.” He tried to sit up, and managed to move only slightly. “What the hell did he do to her to cause her to restrain him?”
Phillip bit down on his bottom lip. “He hit her when she told him she’d filed for divorce, and he took off with their son. They were missing for two days.”
Russell eased back, and he fought the anger boiling inside of him mixed with the sheer sadness that struggled to surface in tears which stung at his eyes. “Son?”
“Lucas. He’s nearly three.”
The room grew warm, and suddenly Russell’s world began to spin. The monitor to his side chirped loudly and within a few moments there were nurses piling urgently into his room. Phillip was pushed out as they readjusted Russell, fiddled with his wires, and added something to his IV. Then the world calmed, and went black again.
~*~
Chelsea cherished the days she could spend with Lucas. They’d watched TV together when he’d awoken at six in the morning. They’d shared a bowl of dry Cheerios for breakfast. Now, he rested in her arms as he napped, and she didn’t have the heart to put him in his crib.
If these first three years had gone so quickly, she made herself sick thinking how quickly the next three would go. The overflowing sink full of dishes could wait until after he went to bed. She was simply going to hold him as long as she could.
With a glance at the kitchen table, which was filled with laundry and books, she realized she had homework that needed to be tended to as well. The very thought of it made her eyes burn, and she closed them hoping that Lucas’s sleep would be contagious.
Just as she felt her muscles relax and her breath begin to sync to Lucas’s, she heard a tapping at the door. Lucas remained quiet against her.
She rose carefully and walked him to the playpen where she set him down. He stirred briefly but found comfort quickly.
Chelsea hurried to the door and opened it to find Officer Smythe standing on her front porch. She pressed her finger to her lips and stepped outside, leaving the door open just a crack in case Lucas were to wake, so she would hear him.
“Lucas just fell asleep,” she whispered as if to set the volume for their conversation.
“I’ll be brief then,” Phillip said, taking her lead.
“Is something wrong?” Her hands began to shake, so she fisted them behind her. “Is Russell okay?”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. “You thought of him first?”
Chelsea pressed her shoulders back and crossed her arms in front of her. “You were working his accident. That’s all.”
He nodded, but she was sure he’d seen through that. “My reason for dropping by is different. Dominic was released from jail and is on parole in Texas.”
Her lips began to tremble, and she pressed her hands to her stomach. “They should have warned me. They didn’t warn me.”
“I’m warning you.” He reached for her and took her hands in his. “His parole is in Texas. He’ll break it if he comes into Georgia.”
“He’ll come for Lucas.”
“Do you really think he will? He doesn’t want anything to do with him.”
“He didn’t want anything to do with him when he kidnapped him before either. All he wanted was to hurt me, and he did that.”
“He’s not going to come near you.”
That was a truth she was much too familiar with. “I still have a restraining order, too.”
“You do. All of this is intact. You need to know so that you’re aware.”
“Maybe I should go. I should move. My parents are in Florida with my sister. I could…”
He shook his head. “You need to stay here and finish school.”
“I’m almost done. I’ll take my boards, and then…”
“And then you’ll heal the world.” He smiled. “Until then, I think we need to make a plan to surround you with friends.”
Chelsea swallowed hard. She hadn’t had many friends in the past three years, only one or two she could count on to help with Lucas. Her breakup from Russell had cost her the friendships she’d had with his cousins and with his mother. Of course, that was her own fault. She’d pulled away from them altogether. Why wouldn’t she? She was absolutely embarrassed.
They did still share some common friends. She was still close with Gia, but Gia wasn’t expected to return home until after Christmas, though Dane had returned to check on Russell. And even when she did return home, she’d be much too busy planning her wedding to want to have Chelsea hanging around all the time.
There was Lydia. But Lydia was a busy woman. Chelsea had lost count of the number of businesses Lydia owned in town.
“I don’t have any friends,” she said.
“You have more than you think. But if you’ll forgive me, I actually talked to someone else before I came over. Glenda Walker said they’re going to need help with Russell when he comes home.”
She felt the blood drain from her head. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Really? You have a better one?”
“Why would she do that? Why would she want to do that? And Russell probably thinks that’s a horrible idea. I’d be better off living right here alone.”
“You and Lucas alone? That’s a solid idea,” Phillip narrowed his gaze on her. “The Walkers are far enough out of town you wouldn’t be followed around. There are enough of them, as well, to keep an eye on you and your son. Russell needs your expertise too. I don’t see where this won’t work out.”
“I stabbed them all in the back, Phillip. I walked away from their family.”
“Yeah, well Glenda must have forgotten, because this was her idea.”
Chelsea walked to the porch step and sat down. Her knees had gone weak, and her stomach was unsettled. Phillip joined her, and they sat in silence for a moment.
“Do you think he’d really come here and hurt us?
” She raised her eyes to his to read him even before he spoke.
“Chelsea, he took Lucas to hurt you. What says he won’t do that again?”
“I never told Russell that I divorced Dominic. I never told him about Lucas.”
He rubbed his chin and she could hear the scratching sound his whiskers made against his fingers. “I might have mentioned it to him.”
She could feel the sting of the tears that would break free if she let them. “Icing on the cake, right? Broken promises because I strayed, got pregnant, and then married the bastard.” Her stomach rolled, and she was sure she was going to be sick right there in front of Phillip, who was only there doing his job.
“We are all allowed our mistakes.”
“But no one should hurt other people.”
“It wasn’t as if you were the one who ran him off the road.”
She covered her mouth with her hand. “You think someone did that?”
“There is a small trail that leads to that.” He rested his hand atop hers. “A lot of things can happen when people are apart like you and Russell have been. Sometimes the heart can forget the pain it had. Think about it. He did say he loved you.” Chelsea dropped her shoulders and stared at him, but he only smiled back. “Russell needs you to heal him, and you need them to help you. Chelsea, think of Lucas. Don’t think of the mistakes that led you here. Think about moving forward. The Walkers can help you do that.”
Every sinner had to face their sins, she thought, as she later watched Phillip drive away. Perhaps her penance was in helping Russell heal at home while she was kept safe within the walls of his family’s home.
While Lucas slept, she dug through the stack of mail on her counter that had grown over the past few weeks. Sure enough, there was the notice that her ex-husband was being released.
Her head had been in the clouds for months. Her lack of organization could have cost her and Lucas their lives had she not had someone like Officer Phillip Smythe looking after her.
Chelsea dug through her purse searching for her phone. She scrolled through the contacts until she came upon Glenda Walker’s phone number. She needed to hear it from Glenda herself. She’d know in a moment if Phillip put her up to it or if it had been Glenda’s idea—and she’d quickly know how Glenda felt about her. One thing Glenda Walker wasn’t very good at was hiding her true feelings—no matter what they were.
Walker Revenge (The Walker Family Series Book 5) Page 3
