Shaking my head, the tears once again spilled down my cheeks as I carefully rested my head on the vomit covered steering wheel. I could hear the guys tell Reid where I was, but it didn’t make the situation any better. I was already falling down the darkened rabbit hole, and there would be no bracing for when I hit bottom.
It felt like hours until I heard a car come to a screeching halt and several car doors slam. The guys had tried to keep me talking, but I hadn’t uttered a single word, just silently rocked myself back and forth while still sitting in the driver’s seat.
“What happened?” I could hear Reid yell at whoever was standing around. “Molly Anne?” I could feel his presence even before his arms reached my side. All I wanted to was curl up in his arms and erase the whole thing from my mind. “Molly Anne, you’ve got to talk to me.”
“Move,” I heard Tiny instruct Reid. Seconds later, I felt a pair of strong arms lift me gently from the seat of my car. It only seemed like it took three steps for Tiny before depositing me into the back seat of the car.
“I’m right here,” Reid said softly as he wrapped his arm around me tightly.
My body winced when his arm bumped into my arm, sending shocking waves of pain rippling down the side of my body.
“Are you hurt?” Reid immediately pulled away from his embrace and started to poke and pull at my body.
“My car,” I managed to mutter as the tears continued to fall from my swollen eyes.
“I don’t give a fuck about the car, Molly. Where are you hurt?” Reid grabbed my shoulder to straighten me out, and I winced on impact. Realizing it was my arm that he was squeezing, he instantly let go and gently pried it away from my body. “Tiny, hospital, now.”
“No, no hospital.” Looking directly into Reid’s eyes, I silently begged him not to turn what happened into a circus by taking me to the hospital. Explaining that I jumped down three steps in the parking garage, missed, landed on the bottom step wrong, and then proceeded to reverse my car into something that went crunch was killing me more than the pain I was physically feeling. Not to mention we didn’t need something in the tabloids again.
“No, you’re going to get looked at,” Reid insisted while wiping away a few of the tears trickling down my puffy cheeks.
“Please, Reid. Just take me home. You can call the doctor there.” You could see the battle he was wagering with himself as I pleaded for him not to take me to the hospital.
“Molly Anne…….”
“Please, Reid,” I begged again.
I watched as Reid pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the button to call someone. Taking a deep breath in, I carefully leaned back on the leather seat, and let out a small chuckle. I had just broken my arm, crashed my girlfriend into something unforgiving, puked all over myself and her interior, and now sat covered in vile next to my future husband, only seconds ago hysterically crying and demanding not to be taken to the hospital. Let’s just hope the damn dress actually fits, because it would really piss me off to have all this happen and I couldn’t even zip the damn thing up.
***
“You’re going to need x-rays, Molly,” Doctor Miritka commented, gently placing my now swollen to the size of the monster hiding in Lake Michigan arm down gently.
“I told you,” Reid commented, shaking his head in frustration. I already knew we would be taking an excursion to the hospital at some point, but I wanted to at last clean myself up from the puke before subjecting everyone else to my nastiness. “Tiny! We need to leave, like now.”
“Just give me a moment!” I snapped at Reid while adjusting the pillow situation under my arm.
“No, I told you to go to the hospital, but those damn tears accompanied by the broken voice got the better of me back in the garage. We are leaving……now.” Reid stormed to the closet and pulled a large black duffle bag from the closet.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing.” Reid started to rip clothes off their hangers, and stuffed them carelessly in the bag. He looked like a complete mad man bouncing between both sides of the closet.
“It’s just some radiographs, Reid. They should have you in and out in a couple hours.” Doctor Miritka offered me an apologetic smile while packing up a couple items into his large doctor’s bag.
“Reid!” I shouted across the room. It was as if the man didn’t hear me or the doctor, he just continued his assault in packing up the whole damn room. “Reid!” I yelled again, this time carefully scooting to the edge of the couch to stand.
“Careful,” Doctor Miritka commented while grabbing my good arm gently and helping me to stand.
“Sit down!” Reid boomed while coming out of the bathroom.
“Just stop! You have gone completely ape shit over some broken bones. All I need are x-rays and probably a cast, Reid. Drop the damn bag, come help me down the stairs, and pop some Xanax. You are driving me insane.” My arm started to throb from the yelling, but someone needed to gain his damn attention. “Will you grab me something to slip over my shoulders, please?”
Dropping the bag on the floor, Reid fell to his knees and unzipped the carrier, tossing clothes around until he found something that would work.
“You’re going to clean this up later,” I joked while Dr. Miritka let out a soft chuckle. “Breathe,” I warned Reid again as he slipped the grey cardigan over my shoulders carefully.
Letting out a sigh, I knew the tension racking his body wouldn’t be easy to withdraw from his system. This little incident had the man spinning on all cylinders, and getting a pretty pink cast and some pain killers wasn’t going to satisfy the man anytime soon.
“Thanks for coming out so quickly, Doc.” Reid extended his hand to connect with the doctor.
“Anytime, Reid. I’ll stop by in a couple days for a follow up, Molly. If you sign a release at the hospital, I’ll pull your files and review the case before giving you a call.”
“Thanks so much,” I replied with a smile. Carefully moving the pillow to gain a better grasp, I had to bite my tongue when I knocked into my arm. The last thing I needed to do was elude how much it really hurt with Reid on high alert.
“Careful,” Reid protested as he glued himself to my side. His arms hovered around my body as we slowly walked for the stairs. “Do you want me to carry you?”
“Reid, I’ve got it.” Forcing a tight smile, I tentatively took those first couple steps down, then held my breath the rest of the way. How in the hell had my morning gone from playing guitar in the studio, to crashing down a few steps, ruining my poor sweet baby, and now heading to the hospital for x-rays? With my luck, it was going to be some massive ugly lime green cast clear up to my shoulder. That was going to look real good with the red and black color schemes for the wedding.
Chapter 16
I’ve got enough drugs in me to take out a moose. It’s fine to touch me there.
“Fuck.” My head was still foggy from the anesthetic and I could feel my arm propped up clear to the ceiling, but thankfully, I didn’t feel any pain. Who would have thought missing three damn steps would land me surgery for not one, but three broken sections of my wrist? I always wanted to be a bionic woman, but it wasn’t exactly the time frame I had been thinking to make that massive change.
“Hey, how are you doing?” Reid’s voice cleared through my drug induced fog.
Looking down at my arm, I cringed at the sight of a massive wire contraption sticking out of my body. Sure, it was neatly wrapped in freshly clean white dressing, but underneath that gauze was still some pretty impressive hardware poking out of my skin.
“It’s going to scar.” Dropping my head back on the pillow, I silently pouted at the stupidity of what happened. All of this was over my stupid wedding dress. A dress that I still didn’t know if it was going to fit or not.
“Probably,” Reid snickered from the chair next to the bed. The orthopedic doctors said I would only have to stay one night since they were able to get me into surgery late last night. Obviously,
I slept the night away in a drug induced slumber, since the sun was shining brightly in to the hospital room.
“How are you feeling? Do you need anything for the pain? I can get the nurse real quick.” Reid carefully leaned over my body to hit the call button next to me.
“Sit your ass down, Reid.” Using my good hand, I swatted him away from the button. I didn’t need some nurse walking in here asking me my pain level on some smiley faced chart that only made me want to stab it with a sharp pointy object.
“Molly Anne,” Reid rebutted, holding his hands up in the air for surrender.
“This is not going to look well with my dress.” Laughing, I winced as my body jerked slightly in the bed.
“I’m sure Danielle can come up with something to make it a little more fashionable.”
“Oh, my gosh……Danielle!” Trying to sit up in the bed, I looked around for a phone. I had to call her and apologize for not showing up at the fitting.
Reid just leaned back in the plastic chair and shook his head. “She was here last night, Molly Anne. Don’t you remember having a conversation with her before going into the operating room?”
My eyes grew wide in fear. I had no recollection of that conversation, and the thought of what could have been agreed upon during said conversation could just possibly be the end of civilization as we knew it. “Please tell me you were there the entire time?”
“Oh yes, and the changes you made to the wedding are going to be great.” A crazed smile spread across Reid’s face, and my stomach lurched from under the ugly hospital gown.
“No, no, no, no,” I cried out. She knew damn well I was drugged and it would have been the perfect opportunity to get what she wanted out of the upcoming nuptials.
“I’m pretty sure you asked for a massive ice sculpture of a guitar that when you poured a shot near the tuning knobs, it traveled down the neck, through the body and came out the plug in…….how did you put that again?” Reid paused dramatically before laughter burst out of his mouth, leaving him doubled over. “Oh, that’s right. You wanted it called a penguin’s pecker. Because, after all, in the arctic there had to be massive amounts of shrinkage.”
Groaning, I smashed my good hand into the nurse’s call button. “Drugs, I need drugs right now.”
***
After what felt like hours stuck in the hospital bed, staring at the ugly tiled ceiling and plain white walls, the doctors were finally letting me out of the joint. Of course I was heading to Reid’s place and not the apartment, and with enough drugs to keep me flat on my ass for the next couple days, but none the less I wouldn’t have a nurse checking my vitals every damn hour.
“I had Tiny bring some clothes by earlier when they were changing your bandages.” Reid carefully sat the bag on the bed next to me, and pulled out a tank top and pair of yoga pants. “Need help?”
“Yeah, I’m doubting I can slip something over this metal artwork by myself anytime soon.”
“Well, luckily, I am completely capable of undressing you. But, truth be told I’d rather keep you naked.” Reid let out a smirk, and placed a hard kiss on the top of my head. Walking over to the door, he pulled the dividing curtain, then wiggled his eyebrows. “So, have you ever done it in a hospital?”
“Just unsnap the back of this, please.” Groaning, I rolled my eyes at his advances. There were no sexual encounters happening anytime soon. “Sorry, my dick hand is out of commission for a while.”
“That’s the sad truth right there. Let’s get you naked since it’s the closest thing I’m going to get until they take those rods out of your skin.” Reid glanced down at my arm and recoiled. Cautiously, he reached around my neck and unsnapped the top few buttons of the hospital gown.
“I’ve never been picky about clothing, but damn, those gowns are awful.” Laughing, I shrugged the scratchy blue fabric off my shoulders and slid my good arm out of the arm hole.
“Titties,” Reid exclaimed while reaching out and copping a feel.
“Seriously?” Batting his hand away, I raised a finger at him, silently warning him to try it again and see what happened.
“I couldn’t help it. You just had them out there; free range titties.” Reid showed no remorse for copping a free feel while I was out of condition for beating the crap out of him. “I love you, Molly Anne. But, you seriously have the worst luck ever.” Unsnapping the sleeve on my casted side, Reid let the garment fall on the bed. “You’re beautiful, even if you look like Frankenstein right now.”
“Asshole. Now, help me get a top on before someone walks in here and gets a peak at the little girls.” Reid’s hand darted out one more time and swatted at my little boobies. “You are relentless.”
“I’m kind of digging this helpless side of you, Molly Anne. I mean, all you can do is sling insults at me, but with only one functioning arm, I can rest assured no objects being thrown, nor will you risk kicking me on the odds of falling down and meeting the floor.”
“I’m never going to survive this. There better be some fucking fantastic drugs coming from the pharmacy this afternoon. Otherwise I’m calling Megan, and she is hauling my crippled self back to the apartment before I hire a hit man to kill you.” Putting my head down, Reid slid the tank top over my mangled arm and carefully over my head.
“Are you wearing panties?”
“No, they just took the catheter out a little bit ago.” That was the biggest lie the damn hospital staff had ever told, claiming that it didn’t hurt when they removed it. That tube had to have had spikes that dug into your skin, so when they ripped the sucker out, it destroyed your insides just enough to be a massive bitch.
“Yeah, I’m glad I wasn’t here for that part. That hole is for pleasure and not weird medical tubing.” Shuddering, Reid offered his hand to help me slide to the edge of the bed. “Careful.”
“I’m the one attached to this contraption, thus making me pretty aware of how careful I needed to be.” Reid tossed me a dirty look, and bent down to the floor to slide my yoga pants over my legs.
With my good arm, I braced myself on the railing of the bed, as Reid slid his hand under the crook of my elbow. Once I was confident in my standing ability, I nodded to him and he slid the pants up the rest of way.
“Even though you smell like a hospital and disinfectant, I’d still do you.”
“Why are you so hung up on sex right now? Is your pecker in dire need of some attention, because I hate to break it to you, buddy, but the only thing it’s seeing is some lube and the palm of your hand for an undisclosed amount of time.” Lowering myself back on the bed, I laughed at the thought of Reid pleasuring himself. That man had never done anything alone, and until me he had girls on speed dial to take care of that kind of shit. Look what love did to a person; they had to service themselves with their partner is out of commission.
“I’m a male.” Shrugging his shoulders, Reid pulled out a pair of black flip flops from the bag and tossed them down on the floor in front of me. “You got this?”
Nodding my head, I slid my feet into the shoes and released the tension in my shoulders.
“I’m going out to the front desk to see about those discharge papers.” Pulling the curtain back, Reid exited the room and I swore I heard several girls swoon over his presence on the surgical floor. It 2qw amazing how easily one could forget that he 2qw always so recognizable to the public, when I only saw him as Reid Chambers, the man who had sex tattooed on his brain.
***
“I can do it, Reid.”
Pushing his hands away, I slowly lowered myself on to the couch in the living room. Grabbing a pillow from the end of the couch, I slid it under my arm and let out a deep sigh. No nasty hospital smells, no scratchy gowns, no beeping from the damn heart monitor I was hooked up to. Just a nice quiet space, with comfy furniture, and no prying nurses or other patients. Snuggling down in the white fluffy couch, a large bag hanging from a bookshelf caught my eye.
“What is that?” I asked loudly, knowing that Reid
was probably hovering somewhere in the kitchen.
“What? Your dress?”
“My what?” I exclaimed loudly. My body became ridged and I sat up a lot faster than I wanted. “What is my wedding dress doing here? You didn’t look at it, did you? Please tell me you didn’t peek.”
“Calm down there, killer,” Reid said loudly as he rounded the couch. “Danielle brought it by this morning, Tiny said. She texted me earlier, saying that she would come by tomorrow once you got settled in better and you guys could take a look. This is the first time my eyes have seen the bag containing the dress, so don’t worry about me looking at it.”
“Tiny!” I yelled loudly while craning my neck around in hopes to see the large man.
“What’s wrong, Molly Anne?”
“I need him to get the dress out of here. There has got to be some rule about you being in the same room with the dress. That’s got to be, like, bad luck or something, and we all know I can’t afford for anything else to go wrong right now. Tiny!” Panic was overtaking my body, over a stupid dress. Either I was way too strung out on pain killers, or I was freaking riding on the crazy wedding train express.
“What’s wrong, Molly?” Tiny appeared in the living room in seconds, looking at me with deep concern in his eyes.
“The dress, get the dress out of here.” Pointing at the culprit hanging in the pristine white garment bag across the room, my heart continued to pound as Tiny gave me a questioning stare. “I don’t want Reid seeing the dress; please just do something with it.”
Tiny and Reid exchanged a few silent glances back and forth before he walked over and grabbed the dress.
“Where do you want me to put it?”
“Just put it in the guest bedroom, Tiny,” Reid spoke up, offering me a reassuring smile.
Invisible Crown Page 11
