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“Considering…”
“Considering he was crushed by a car,” I murmured softly to Carmichael’s statement.
“Yes,” the doctor confirmed. “I was able to repair both legs. He now has pins in his left and right tibias, holding it together.” He paused. “His knees were okay, but he does have a fracture of his left fibula that we’re thinking will heal with his continued bed rest for the next six weeks.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “His right hip was also crushed in the accident, and we did a full hip replacement.”
I felt my belly drop.
“His left hand was broken, and that’s in a cast,” he continued. “He has seven rib fractures, bruised kidneys that we’re going to pay very close attention to today, as well as slight brain swelling due to the force of his head hitting the ground.”
“That doesn’t sound like he’s lucky,” Carmichael whispered, her voice horrified.
“True,” the doctor conceded. “However, he could be dead. He could’ve lost both his legs. He could’ve had brain damage. Ultimately, he was a very, very lucky man.”
I drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“Shit,” she whispered. “Just shit.”
I walked toward Carmichael and drew her into my arms.
“I think we both need a hug right now,” I told her.
She clung to me tightly while the doctor watched on in silence.
“He’s able to have visitors,” he said. “We considered placing him in the intensive care unit until tomorrow, but we feel that he’s going to be doing just fine for the step-down unit he is in.” He paused. “You’ll both be able to visit, but just a heads up, he’s likely not going to be very coherent today, so it might be good to come back tomorrow.”
Yeah, right.
“Yeah, right,” Carmichael echoed my thoughts.
He rolled his eyes, and it was then that I decided that I liked this doctor.
A lot.
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said to him. “Can we go see him now?”
He nodded his head. “He’s in room twenty-one fourteen.”
***
Flint
Eight hours later
I woke to a pounding in my head, a heavy weight on my shoulder, and the realization that I wasn’t dead.
I blinked open both eyes just to get an eyeful of crazy hair that was in a mass of tangles on my chest.
The heavy weight on my shoulder moved, and suddenly Camryn was standing over me with a worried expression on her face.
“You’re awake!” she cried out.
I grinned. “Yeah.”
“Are you in any pain?” she asked.
“None at all,” I lied.
She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead gently to mine.
It made the headache pounding away at my skull explode.
I didn’t move a muscle.
Not because I was hurting, but because I didn’t want her to move.
“You’re such a bad liar,” she whispered. “God, I love you.”
I felt something inside of me settle. “I love you, too.”Chapter 17I hate it when healthy me does the grocery shopping.
-Text from Camryn to Flint
Camryn
“You have to go back to work,” he told me.
He’d already had this same conversation with Carmichael, and she’d actually listened.
Me? Not so much.
“I—”
“You’re going back to work,” he interrupted my explanation as to why I wasn’t. “And that’s final.” He looked at me with concern on his face. “When they move me today, you won’t have any reason to stay because I’ll be in town and not two hours away. You can rest at home. You can also get here in a moment’s notice.”
I shook my head. “I’m not sleeping at home without you.”
He softened slightly.
“Then that’s fine,” he said. “But you can still go back to work. It’s time, baby.”
I looked down at Flint’s battered and bruised face and realized that he was right.
Flint was okay.
And I think he needed me to go just as much as I didn’t want to.
“They’re moving me to Gun Barrel in a half an hour. You are going to have to drive yourself anyway. You can’t leave my truck here.”
True.
All of it true.
I looked down at my hands.
“I’ll be okay,” he promised. “Nothing will happen to me.”
I smiled at him, then sighed and dropped my head down to rest on his forehead.
“I’m not sure…”
With that, he pointed at the door. “Go. I’ll text you when I get to a room. And when you come visit me at lunch, I fully expect you to bring me something good to eat.”
I felt tears threaten to spill over, but his argument was sound.
I could visit him at lunch.
I could also get to him fast if it was needed. If he needed me. Or maybe if I needed him.
“I’ll take Dooley with me,” I said softly. “And when you get to your room, I’ll bring him to you. When I come for a visit after I get off, I’ll let him outside…sound good?”
His smile was infectious, even if I still had that urge to cry.
“Yes, ma’am.” He paused. “Now come kiss me.”
