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My jaw dropped open some.
“She turned them all down,” he went on.
“I know she just got divorced. She was married to a real dick,” I said.
The curtain moved back and Saryn strolled in. “You do know it’s just a curtain, not a door, right?” she asked while she pushed the papers in my direction.
I pointed to Pete. “He was the one who brought it all up.”
Saryn looked at him. “Doctor, is that true?”
He looked up at the ceiling. “Was I just paged?”
With a look that could have pinned him to the wall, Saryn cleared her throat and said, “No. My shift is over. Lucy will take over from here.”
Pete watched her walk away, then turned back and glared at me. “Thanks a lot, asshole. I have to work with her.”
I laughed. “Well, I have to build her little girl a playhouse.”
He handed me a prescription. “For the pain.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“Truitt, look at your damn ankle. It’s swollen three times its normal size. You need to stay off it. That’s an anti-inflammatory, as well. Just fill the prescription, please. You’ll only need it a few days.”
I took the prescription. “I don’t have time to stay off of it.”
He looked at me with one of those looks you get from your father when you’ve nearly pushed him to the edge and he’s about to lose his shit.
With a very exaggerated sigh, I replied, “Fine. I’ll take a day off.”
“Take two.”
“Can I go to the office, at least?”
He gave me a thoughtful look and nodded. “Keep it elevated and iced.”
I sighed. “Damn. You drive a hard bargain.”
He smiled in triumph.
Standing, I grabbed the discharge papers and prescription, then walked through the curtain Pete had pulled open.
“Hey, Truitt, can you let Roger know he needs to pay me the hundred bucks on Friday night?”
I turned and faced him. “Why does he owe you a hundred bucks?”
He smiled. “I won the betting pool. We all picked dates for when you’d be back into the emergency room and I won.”
My mouth slacked in shock. Then I snapped it shut and glared at him. “I hate all of y’all. And I’m not hosting card night next week!”
Pete let out a roar of laughter as I limped my way out of the ER.
Saryn
LILIANA JUMPED FOR joy as my mother and father stood there, smiles on both of their faces. I stared down at the drawing in front of me, then looked back up at them.
“This is a joke, right?” I asked, looking to my father first, then my mother.
Her smile faded slightly. “No, it is not a joke. We’re having a playhouse built for Liliana.”
I shook my head slightly in disbelief. “Mom, this is not a playhouse. A playhouse is what Daddy made me and Ryan. Some wood nailed together up in a tree with a ladder to climb up it. This is…this is…”
My eyes jerked back down to the drawing in my hand.
“Fine, it’s a play-castle. But nothing but the best for our grandchild,” Momma said.
“It’s…it’s…it’s bigger than the cottage we live in!” I nearly shouted.
“Oh, it is not.”
I gave her a look.
“Well, we can scale it back a bit if you’d like.”
“A bit? Mom, there’s a drawbridge!”
My father laughed. “That one was my idea.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I can’t afford something like this,” I stated, my hands shaking as I held onto the drawing. It looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had seen it before.
“That’s why your mother and I are paying for it.”
“Daddy, I don’t want Liliana getting spoiled right off the bat.”
My mother took a step forward, her arms crossed over her chest. “Excuse me, but we haven’t gotten to properly spoil our only grandchild at all yet. A few trips up to visit her and go to an amusement park is nothing. This isn’t just for Liliana, someday Ryan will have kids, and you’ll have more.”
“That is the last thing on my mind, Mom.”
“Then let’s focus on little Liliana. Look how happy she is!” my mother said. The three of us looked down at my daughter who was standing there, staring up at us with a wide smile on her face. She hadn’t seen the drawing, but as soon as she heard the word playhouse, she wanted to go to it right that moment.
“Paygound! Where is my paygound, Mommy?”
When I glanced up and saw the triumphant grin on my mother’s face, I felt a bit of anger returning. I already knew the answer, but I had to ask. “Who’s set to build this?” When I glanced back down, I saw a stamp. Imaginations Unlimited. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to my mother. She had that look on her face. She was up to something.
I smiled softly, but of course I already knew it was Truitt’s company. I will admit I had looked him up on Facebook after I separated from Tim. “What is Imaginations Unlimited?”
