Page 18 of Words Unspoken

He watched her in return. He wanted to tell her what Dr. Hemmond had said. He wanted to ask how Max and Noah had taken the sight of him. If they made jokes about the turban bandage. He really wanted to know if he could change into the sweats he had brought along instead of being in this silly hospital gown. Michael wanted to urge her to get some sleep, but he knew she was stubborn. For some reason, Ann had appointed herself his guardian and he was not about to complain even if he could. Having an idea, he moved over on the bed then pointed to her and patted the space beside him.

“What?” she shook her head. Ann had nearly been dozing upright. He motioned for her to come, and she went to the bed. Gently he took her hand and a belt loop, urging her to sit then lay down beside him. “I am pretty sure I am not supposed to share the bed with you.”

He put a finger to her lips then wrapped an arm around her. Ann closed her eyes and snuggled up to him. “If they come in tell them I am just listening to your heartbeat to make sure you are alive.”

She was rewarded with a small puff of amusement from Michael. They both knew he was not going to say anything. He rubbed her back and in moments Ann was breathing deeply, lost in sleep. He must have drifted off himself because the next thing he knew, Kelly was holding Evan and Elle had Ethan and they were making their way into the room quietly.

“I brought Ann a few things,” Elle set down a bag on the chair. She came over to the bed. “I don’t think Noah did justice in describing the diaper on your head.”

Against his better judgement, Michael smiled. Noah could not have chosen a better woman to alleviate his seriousness.

“You are rocking the head gear,” she hefted Ethan to a better position on her hip. “I like your nurse. She complimented my babies so that pretty much made her my friend.”

Kelly grinned. “They are cute. I think they are going to look as good as the other Mr. Rameslys when they get older. I bet they will be a duo of trouble when they hit the teenage years and discover girls.”

Elle groaned. “I am not ready for the toddler years that are already here. Do not talk about teenagers yet.”

“Happens before you know it,” Kelly tapped Evan under the chin.

Elle turned serious, “How are you?”

Michael shrugged using his free shoulder.

“Yeah, I feel that way some day’s too. I suppose you can get away with it since you have a hole in your head,” she motioned to Ann. “How long has she been asleep?”

Michael looked at the clock on the wall. He held up two fingers.

“A couple minutes? Twenty? Two hours?” Elle stopped as he nodded. “Noah said she was pretty wiped. Nice of you to share with her.”

Again, he shrugged.

“Not much of a conversationalist right now, are you?”

Michael gave her a look of caution. He was not ready for this conversation. However, Elle, being who she was, plunged ahead.

“I think there are two ways of looking at it,” said Elle. “One, you got a crappy deal. It sucks. But you are alive. Or we can go with scenario two which is that I love the sound of my own voice, so you taking up less word time is great. Plus, I am a pro at twenty questions and now you and I are going to be playing a perpetual game.”

He raised an eyebrow, amused at her.

“Okay, so I am not great at twenty questions. It will make it even more fun, trust me. You will be trying to communicate that you want me to run to the store to get beer or something and I will be yelling ‘Price is Right’ or ‘it is a movie’.”

He chuckled. He conceded that she was probably right.

Elle sat down in the empty chair. “I have decided we are commandeering your beach house for Thanksgiving. Do not argue with me. There are enough of us with Piaget joining the family and the twins. You finally cannot say that you need to work so all of us can be there. I am going to make a big dinner and stuff you men so full of gravy and turkey, you will need to wear drawstring pants to watch the game. You still have that wide screen television there, right?”

He nodded. He had upgraded it to even larger and high definition. Michael had no idea why because he rarely ever watched television.

“Good. That is settled then.”

“How is the headache Mr. Ramesly?” Kelly asked.

Michael paused and considered it. He was pleasantly surprised to feel that the gnomes had retired their wooden clogs and were just dancing around in sock feet. This was very pleasing especially since he had not taken any medication in the last while. He held up four fingers.

“Evan and I are going to visit the nurse’s station and get you a couple of painkillers,” she clucked to the twin she held and danced him out the door.

“Really, I do like her,” Elle said. “I am glad she is your nurse. I feel like she will make sure you get the best care.”

Michael nodded.