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A throat clearing—loudly—broke us apart.
Blake sat back in his chair and swiped his bottom lip with his thumb.
The nurse bustled in with her cart. She went right for my IV and swapped out a bag. “Visiting hours are over, Mr. Carson. I also need to get Ms. Copeland up and moving for a few minutes, then down for the night.” She rattled a little plastic cup in front of me.
“What’s that?”
“Just Ibuprofen,” she said crisply.
I tossed them in my mouth and accepted the small cup of water.
“You can come back tomorrow, Mr. Carson.”
Blake stood up. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”
“Tomorrow,” the nurse said again.
He slid his fingers through the tangle of my hair. “Forty minutes, and not a minute more.” Then he strode out.
“I’ll have to have him forcibly removed.”
I laughed as the nurse flipped back my blankets.
“And why is that funny?” she asked.
Oh, if she only knew. “Good luck with that one.”
She unstrapped my leg from the immobilizer. “Do you need to use the restroom?”
Now that Blake was no longer in the room, I could focus on other things. As I swung my feet to the floor, it was actually sort of an imperative. “Yes, please.”
She pushed a wheelchair over to the bed. “At least you have manners, unlike your young man.”
I pressed my lips together to stop the grin. “My grandmother wouldn’t have it any other way.”
By the time I’d gotten up and taken care of business, and finally gotten back into my bed, it was a good while later. My drugs had long since worn off and the Ibuprofen was as effective as an aspirin for a hangover.
“Do you want to try just a splint to sleep?”
“If that means I can sleep on my side, then I’m all about it.”
The nurse smiled. “I think we can make that happen.”
By the time we got me situated, I was sore enough to beg for another of those lovely shots the doctor had given me.
“I’ll see what I can do.” She gave me another pillow to prop me on my right side with my left elevated. Suddenly she stiffened. “Mr. Carson—”
I touched her hand. “He’ll only start yelling, then there will be supervisors and doctors called. It’s not worth the hassle, is it?”
I was facing away from the door, so I couldn’t see his face, but I could imagine he had his Arctic Bitch Face on.
She sighed. “You need to let her rest.”
“I’ll see that she rests.”
The nurse shook her head. “I hope he’s worth it,” she muttered as she pushed her cart across the room.
Blake dragged a reclining chair from the corner and situated it on the right side of my bed. He waited for the nurse to leave, then lined it up to run parallel to my bed. He sat down. “Sleep, Grace.”
