“You’ve sustained a very serious injury, Mr. Woods. Your body will need time to heal. If you try to rush the process, you could do irreparable damage.”
“What counts as strenuous activity?”
“Sports, manual labor?—”
“But I have to work.” How the hell would I be able to look after my animals and keep up the ranch?
“Don’t worry about that now. Just take it one day at a time, and make sure to line up plenty of help for when you get home. Your mobility will be severely hampered, so everyday tasks like bathing and cooking may require assistance for the first few weeks. My staff and your physical therapist will obviously give you a lot more information later and help you obtain any accommodations you may need, like handrails for your toilet, or a walker.”
I muttered, mostly under my breath, “Sounds like a freakin’ nightmare.”
When I shifted a fraction of an inch and grimaced in pain, she dialed up the dosage on my meds and told me, “A nurse will be in soon to replace your IV bag, and the surgeon will stop by in a couple of hours. In the meantime, try to get some rest.”
After she left, I was completely overwhelmed. What the hell was I going to do? The last thing I wanted was to be a burden to my loved ones, especially Hal. He was planning to come for a visit this next week, after the fashion show was done. If he sawhow broken and helpless I was, he’d want to stay until I was healed, so he could take care of me.
Every part of that was upsetting. I wanted to take care ofhim, not the other way around. And what if staying with me ended up costing him his dream job? He was definitely going to get offers after he showed his collection, but if he told them he couldn’t start for several months because I couldn’t take care of myself, those offers might go to someone else. I’d never forgive myself if I cost him his big break.
Maybe if I hadn’t been scared, spiraling, in pain, and heavily drugged, what happened next could have been avoided. Instead, I was an absolute mess when Hal called.
As soon as I saw his name on the screen, I started crying. I didn’t want him to see that, so I turned off my camera before answering the video call.
“Hey, sweetie,” he said. “How was your rugby match?”
Instead of answering his question, I blurted, “We need to talk.”
“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”
“I don’t think you should come here next week. In fact, I think we should take a break. Not forever but maybe, like, six months. Or four. Something like that.”
“Why?”
“You have other things you need to focus on right now. Not me. You need to think about your career. You’ve been workingso hard. You deserve to have your dreams come through. I mean, true.” Fuck, the stronger dose of whatever was in that IV bag was starting to hit. I could feel the fog closing in.
He asked, “Did you and the team go out and celebrate after the game? You sound like you’re drunk.”
“I’m not drunk, and I want to make sure you understand that I’m not breaking up with you. We’re just gonna take a break for six months, but hopefully less. Please don’t forget aboutme during that time. Unless you want to. I don’t want you to, though. You’re so great, and I love you so much, Hal. You’re way out of my league. Like, way,wayout. Fuck, do you realize how amazing you are?”
“Ryder—”
“Don’t call me for six months, okay? I don’t want to have to lie to you and tell you everything’s fine. Please take really good care of yourself, and kick ass at the fashion show, and say yes when they offer you a super amazing job. I need to go now. I love you.”
I was vaguely aware of my phone clattering to the floor, right before I passed out.
14
Hal
After Ryder ended the call, I stared at the phone in my hand for a long moment. Then I tried calling him back, but it went to voicemail.
I went upstairs and knocked on Vee’s bedroom door. When he yelled for me to come in, I stepped inside and said, “You still have the number for some of Ryder’s teammates, right? I have Tank’s, but he’s out of the country.”
“I do. Why, what’s up?”
“Ryder and I just had the weirdest conversation. He said he wants us to take a break for the next six months, but he also told me he loved me, twice. He sounded like he was drunk, or very stoned. If he went out partying with the team after their match, I want to make sure someone’s looking out for him.”
Vee had been sitting back with his feet on his desk, painting his fingernails black. He sat up and said, “That’s weird. He always struck me as the most responsible one of the group.”
He gingerly picked up his phone, trying not to smudge his wet polish. It took all of a minute for him to message one of the rugby guys and get the whole story. I read the messages over hisshoulder and murmured, “Oh, no. I need to pack a bag and get to Texas.”
