"You scared the shit out of me," she mumbled.
"Yeah. Sorry about that."
"Don't be sorry. Just don't do it again."
"Can't promise that, Tay-Tay.”
"I know." She searched his face. "How's the pain?"
"Manageable." Hudson shifted against the pillows, wincing slightly. "The ribs are the worst. The wrist is just annoying."
"And the concussion?"
"Great."
"Huddy."
"I'mall right. The doctors cleared me. If I rest and don't do anything stupid for six weeks."
Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Not do anything stupid. You. For six weeks."
"I can rest. I'm great at resting."
"You've never rested a day in your life."
Hudson grinned. "There's a first time for everything."
The first week was brutal.Hudson wasn't good at sitting still, or being useless. Even worse at letting other people take care of him. And Taylor was relentless—bringing him food, making sure he took his meds, dragginghim to follow-up appointments even when he insisted he was fine.
"You're worse than a toddler," she said on day five, watching him try to make coffee one-handed.
She took the pot from him and poured the coffee herself. "You're impossible, you know that?"
“Yeah, yeah.”
Hudson took a sip, then immediately regretted it because the movement pulled at his ribs.
Taylor's apartment was small but bright. Big windows overlooked the street, plants everywhere, stuff on the walls Hudson was pretty sure she'd made herself. It felt lived-in in a way his own place never had, probably because he was never there long enough to make it feel like home.
"So," Taylor said after a minute. "How’s everything besides—“ she gestured vaguely at his broken wrist, “this?"
He squinted at her. "That’s a very casual way to pry."
"Well… Are you seeing anyone?"
"Are you for real?"
“Huds. You’re almost thirty and as far as I know, you haven't had a real relationship since—" She stopped, counting her fingers. "Actually, I'm not sure you've ever had a real relationship."
He set down his coffee. “I'm deployed nine months out of the year. Not exactly conducive to dating."
"You're not deployed right now."
"I'm injured. Also not conducive to dating."
Taylor gave him a look that said she wasn't buying it. "You know what I think?"
"That I'm devilishly handsome and impossibly charming?"
