“Yeah. I wasn’t hit,” he told me. “I almost rear-ended Porter but was able to stop in time. So I’m fine.”
“Good,” I said, then I did something I’d never done before. I reached out and wrapped my arms around Zac’s waist in the biggest hug I could muster. He hugged me back. This was new to us. But I was just so thankful that he wasn’t injured. “Did you call his parents?” I asked when I let him go.
“Yeah,” Zac told me. “Porter was pretty insistent they not come. I told them that and they said to keep them updated and they’d pray.”
The nurse approached and spoke to Laney, but I watched her like a hawk. “He’s back. You can go see him, but since there’s four of you now, I’d go in groups of two.”
“Thanks,” Laney said before turning to me. “I asked really nicely if she’d come get us when he got back from the CT.” There was a pause. The nurse said only two of us. “You go ahead. Through those doors.” She pointed to the same doors the nurse had come out of. “Take a right then the first left. He’s in a curtain area by the nurses’ station.”
“Thank you.” I hugged her quickly then grabbed Tegan’s wrist. “You’re coming with me to interpret.”
He dropped the bags in front of Laney and tried to keep up with me.
After following Laney’s directions, I saw him. He was on the gurney with this black sling thing on his arm and his eyes closed. There was a bruise on his forehead, but that was all I could see from where I’d stopped.
“I’ll hang back a minute,” Tegan said, giving me a nudge. “Maybe I’ll see what that nurse can tell me. Probably nothing as I’m not his provider.”
“Thanks,” I said, but my eyes never left Porter.
My heart thumped against my chest as I approached him. When I got close enough, I touched his hand gently and his eyes popped open. Then I slid my fingers up his arm as I walked closer.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” I wet my lips and swallowed hard. I certainly did not want to cry in front of him. “I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged but then winced. “Not your fault.”
“I’m not talking about the accident,” I told him. “I’m talking about before. I’m so sorry I made you feel like anything less than everything to me.”
He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have left like that,” he said. “If I would’ve stayed and talked to you, I would’ve been in Pittsburgh with you and not here when this happened.”
Now I shook my head. “I love you, Porter,” I said while eyeing his left arm in the brace.
“Come here,” he said quietly.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” A tear fell down my face regardless of how hard I tried to keep it from happening.
“You couldn’t,” he said with his hand wrapped around the back of my neck as he pulled me to him.
“Happy birthday, Rhian,” he whispered.
His lips touching mine was like coming home to a place I never wanted to leave. I let my fingers trace the edge of his jaw as his tongue peeked out to lick my lips.
And then someone cleared their throat and I pulled back quickly, leaving his mouth hanging. But still, he wouldn’t let me go. His fingers slid down my arm until he could hold my hand in his.
A young-looking doctor with blond hair and brown eyes stood before us with Tegan next to him. In another life, I would’ve said he was hot. Now he was just attractive. Nobody could’ve compared to Porter.
“Good news,” he said. “Your CT scan was clear, so we can discharge you with a script for some good pain meds. You shouldn’t be alone for a few days, but he,” he pointed at Tegan, “tells me that you have a good support system to check for a head injury. Right now you look clear, but sometimes things are delayed.”
“Sounds good,” Porter said as he shifted his weight.
“I’ll have the nurse get the paperwork. You can get dressed.”
The doctor left and Porter released me to push himself up then swing his legs over the edge of the bed. Overall, he seemed OK.
“How in the fuck do I change my shirt?” he asked, shaking his head.
“I can help you,” Tegan offered.
“I’ll figure it out,” he said.
“Let him help you,” I pled. He sighed and his mouth opened like he was going to argue. “If I see how he does it, I can help you next time,” I explained.
His eyes met mine with an intensity that hadn’t been there before. “Fine.”
I took a step back and watched carefully how Tegan first took Porter’s jeans and slid one leg in at a time and pulled them up. Before fastening them, he helped carefully slide the hospital gown off and get his T-shirt on. It involved undoing the brace, which Tegan mentioned should only be done for very short periods. Changing and showering. But he’d have to be extremely careful while it was off. Next came the shoes, but when Tegan first went to button Porter’s pants, his hands still then he looked to me.
“Maybe you should help him with this,” Tegan said. I knew it was more for Porter than for him. Tegan was used to this kind of stuff.
“Yeah.” I slid back in front of Porter and fastened up his jeans, feeling the weight of his stare. The heat emanating from him made my breath come quicker and I swore when I finally let my gaze meet his, my breath caught in my chest.
“You putting my pants on isn’t exactly the direction I’d rather this go,” he said quietly. Given Tegan’s snort, it wasn’t quietly enough.
But I smiled. It was the first thing he’d said to me that sounded like the old him.
When we got out to the lobby, I offered to get us a ride share, but Zac scoffed and said we could fit in his car. After dropping our bags in the truck, Tegan, Laney, and I slid into the backseat with me in the middle. Porter sat in front due to his injuries.
“Where to?” Zac asked as he began driving.
“Laney’s,” I said.
Porter turned slightly to look at me over his shoulder. “Home.”
“Laney’s,” I said again, giving him a hard look. “The doctor said you shouldn’t be alone for a few days.”
“So stay at my place.”
I shook my head. “Tegan is staying with me at Laney’s.” I glanced to her next to me. “I hope that’s OK.”
“Yup. Good with me. I can stay at Zac’s if we need the extra room.”
“But my place has my bed,” Porter argued.
“My place has my bed,” I countered. “And a single story so no chance of you banging your arm on the way up or slipping and falling. And a very good physician’s assistant in the next room.”
“I get your bed?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Absolutely. I’ll sleep on the floor so Tegan can have the couch.”
“Or you can sleep in my bed,” Laney offered.
“See? All worked out.”
Porter sighed long and hard. “Fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
After dropping the three of us off, Zac and Laney offered to go to Porter’s apartment to get him some more comfortable clothes to sleep in and his toothbrush. Things like that.
Even with all of Porter’s resistance and complaining, he fell asleep in my bed almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Of course he spent the time I was helping him change trying to convince me to sleep in the bed with him. No way in hell. I wasn’t going to chance rolling over onto his left shoulder and causing him any pain.
Good thing the doctors gave him some excellent pain meds before we left. Said it’d take
him through the night, but I should get the script filled first thing in the morning. I snuggled into Laney’s bed after getting Tegan all set up on the couch.
In the morning, I dressed and had a quick bite to eat in the kitchen before heading out to get anything I thought Porter would need. Tegan promised he’d help with anything Porter needed while I was gone. I’d hoped to get back before Porter even woke up.
First stop, the pharmacy to drop off the prescription. They said it’d be twenty minutes, so
I hopped off to the grocery store to grab the things I knew he liked.
“Whoa there, Rhian,” Maddie said when I almost plowed into an older lady with my little cart. She was alone. “Did you drink a bunch of energy drinks this morning?”
I chuckled after apologizing to the older woman. “No. Just in a hurry.”
“I hear Porter was in an accident last night,” she said. I assumed Laney had told her. “How’s he doing this morning?”
“I don’t know,” I said while shaking my head. “I left before he got up. I want to have his pain meds there when he needs them.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Do you want me to head over there to sit with him? I can be late for work. My sister won’t care. She’s the one that asked me to stop here on my way in.”
“No thanks. Tegan’s there with him.”
Her cheeks turned a little pink when I mentioned my brother’s name and I didn’t want to think about why.
“Oh, your brother’s in town?” she asked, looking everywhere but at me.
“I made him come in with me last night because he’d understand all the medical stuff when I got to the hospital. He won’t be here long.”
“Oh.” She shrugged. “Makes sense. I’ll stop by to check on Porter later,” she said, waving as she walked away.
Oh, lordy, I did not want to think about my brother and Maddie right then, but they were both being a little obvious that they were attracted to each other. No. Porter was the focus.
I checked out at the store, swung back by the pharmacy, and headed straight back to Laney’s. But then I thought better of it and swung by the bakery to grab the guys some doughnuts. If ever there was a time for doughnuts, it was now.
Porter was already sitting on the couch when I walked in, a bag in both of my hands.
“How are you feeling this morning?” I asked him.
“Great,” he said right away with a smile that said he was the opposite of great and Tegan snorted.
I narrowed my eyes on my brother when he didn’t elaborate.
“I’m going to put these in the kitchen and you can have some pain meds if you want them,” I told him.
“No thanks.”
“Don’t be a hero,” Tegan countered. “Take the drugs. The less pain you have, the better your body can heal. Which means the less time you’ll be in pain.”
He sighed deeply, sat back, and winced. “Fine.”
As I passed my brother, I nodded my head toward the kitchen to indicate that he should follow.
“What’s going on?” I asked in a hushed tone in hopes Porter wouldn’t know we were talking about him.
“He had a bit of trouble getting out of bed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rhian, I mean a fractured clavicle hurts like hell. Getting up from lying down isn’t going to be comfortable for a few weeks.” He glanced out at Porter then back to me. “And I don’t think he’s used to asking for help or even used to receiving help when he doesn’t ask for it.”
I chewed my bottom lip as I considered that, then said, “Yeah, probably not.”
“Be patient with him.”
“Will do.” Then I saluted him, which brought out a giggle from me.
When I came back into the living room, I had a glass of water and the correct dose of medication that the bottle said he could take every four hours.
“Here ya go.” I handed first the pill then the glass to him.
“Thanks.” He downed it all then leaned forward to set the glass on the table.
“I think you should veg out on the couch today. Take it easy. Nap. I’ll do anything you need me to,” I told him.
His eyebrow arched. “Anything?”
Tegan made a disgusted sound in his throat, but I couldn’t help the laugh that flowed out of my mouth.
“Take it easy there, big guy,” I said, trying to rein that laugh in. “Wouldn’t want to hurt you anymore than you already are.
“As if you could.”
But then he laid his head back and closed his eyes.
“If you’re comfortable here, I’ll have to head back. Today if possible,” Tegan said in a quiet voice. “They rescheduled my morning appointments, but if I leave soon, I could still do my afternoon.”
“Mr. Responsibility.” I shook my head.
“Yup. Some of us have that.”
Ouch. Tegan wouldn’t have meant it as a dig, but my own insecurities made it one. I swallowed hard and crossed my metaphorical fingers in hopes that the job interview with the school district panned out next week.
I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around Tegan’s waist. “Thank you for coming.”
He pulled me in even tighter to his chest. “For you, anytime. Besides, you looked terrified at the party. I couldn’t let you go alone even if I’d wanted to.”
“Still, thank you.”
He kissed the top of my head then let me go and began packing his bag up with his phone in his hand, buying himself a one-way ticket home. I didn’t think I’d ever told Tegan enough just how much he meant to me, but he and I didn’t need to. We just knew.
Porter slept sitting up on the couch for a few hours. The meds must’ve really been good, as the ER doctor had said. Whatever he needed to get through the day was good by me.
I spent my time unpacking my bag, cleaning up my room, doing some laundry. Basically any busy work I could get my hands on.
When he woke up, I offered him scrambled eggs and toast, which he gladly accepted.
“So besides the obvious pain in the shoulder area,” I began, “how are you doing?”
“Fine. Muscle aches and a headache mostly.”
“What happened?”
He shook his head slowly. “The light was green for me, but the other guy must’ve thought he was too good for red lights or didn’t see it or something because he flew right fucking through it without slowing down.”
“Was he drunk?”
“I think so. Cops took him. They took my statement and Zac’s at the hospital. Guess we’ll see.”
I lightly caressed his jaw with my cheekbones. “You could’ve been killed.”
“But I wasn’t.”
“But you could’ve been and that’s scary enough.” I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and leaned into his good side. His arm wrapped around me tightly. “When Laney called me my heart stopped. I couldn’t imagine you being gone without seeing you again or leaving it the way we did before I left.”
“I was pretty pissed when I got your text about going.”
I groaned and shook my head. “It was stupid. I should’ve had you go with me but when I tried to call you and you didn’t answer, I decided to handle it myself. I wanted to go, do the stupid party, and have it out with my parents. Tell them they could either accept me and who I was with and whatever job I did or we can have a clean break. But I never got the chance. I flew out of the party so quickly when Laney called.”
“You can’t do that,” he said quietly, then he kissed the top of my head the way Tegan had, yet it was also completely different.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” He nudged me up so I could see his face. As if seeing his face would’ve made me understand just how serious he was. “You can’t run off like that because I was mad. I came back the next day and you weren’t here.”
“You did?”
He nodded.
“I sent you a text,” I told him as if that was an excuse.
“I saw it, but by then, trust me, it was better if we didn’t talk. You didn’t even give me much to go on. You don’t have any roots here. You could’ve been staying there for all I knew. You just said to trust you. Which I do but fuck. Give some details.”
My brows furrowed. “I have roots here. You’re here. I love you. You’re my roots.”
“But again, I didn’t know that.”
I wet my lips quickly. “OK. I’m sorry. I won’t do that again, but you have to agree not to get crushed by a car again.�
�
He chuckled quietly yet still winced. “I can’t promise that because of the other fuckers on the road, but I will try my damndest. Besides, I don’t have a car to get crushed in anymore.”
“It’s totaled,” I said. It wasn’t a question. He nodded.
“So I guess I’ll have to start looking for another one. Not what I fucking wanted to do right now since Zac and I are buying the store.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I told him. “You can take mine anytime you need to once you can drive again. It’s not like I have anywhere to go.”
“Thanks. Maybe you can be my chauffeur for a few days.”
“Absolutely.”
“Your brother leave?” he asked as he laid his head back on the couch.
“Yeah. He had patients to get back to.”
“Good.” He lifted his head. “I need a shower but could use some help. Didn’t want him to be the one to help me.”
I giggled at the picture he’d created in my mind. “I’ll help you.”
First, we got him up off the couch. Tegan had told me before he’d left that Porter could bathe or shower without the sling, but then it had to go right back on and he’d have to be extremely careful. I’d promised to make sure he followed the rules.
In the bathroom, I helped him remove his clothing as gently as I could. Then I turned the shower on so he could step in. He kept his left arm bent tightly against his chest. That must’ve been the most comfortable position.
“You’re going to have to get in,” he said.
“No way.”
“You’re going to get all wet anyway and being out there will get water everywhere.”
I took a moment to see if there was another way but couldn’t come up with one that made sense. “You have to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Will do,” he said with such a tired voice that I believed him.
My hair went into a bun so it didn’t get all wet, then I shed all of my own clothing and stepped in with him. The warm water sprayed over me and him. I tried not to notice the little bruises marking his skin, especially the one on his face.
“I’ve looked worse,” he said, which was when I discovered he’d been watching my reaction.
“When?” I asked him.
A Little More Touch Me (The Fallout Series Book 2) Page 19
