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There was no denying the shadows of pain I could see in his eyes, the strain around his mouth, and it made me furious. “Don’t. Be. Dumb?You’rethe one telling me not to be dumb? The number one absolutely best thing you can do for recovery is rest. In case I need to remind you, that means sleeping. How can you possibly be sleeping well if you’re in agony? I mean, Jesus fuckingChrist, Jake!” I broke the seal and tore the cap off the medicine bottle. “There are no awards for suffering more, you know. You’re not going to get a medal for this whole”…I lowered my voice, and said gruffly…“Hi, I’m Jake Walker, I’m so tough I don’t take pain meds even when I’ve had a whole fuckingorganremoved from my body.” Switching back to my normal voice, I finished with, “Dumbass.”
“Are you done?” His gray eyes were dancing with amusement and it was almost enough to make me smile. Almost.
“If you take two of these and go to sleep, then yes, I’m done.” He held out his hand and I dropped the pills in it, watched while he popped them in his mouth and chased them with a big gulp of water.
“I don’t sound like that, by the way.”
“Sure you don’t. Lie down.”
He eased back down, shifting onto his back gingerly. Figuring he might need a blanket, I hunted around in the hall cupboards, finding a thick fluffy one. By the time I got back he was already asleep, the pain creases gone from his brow and his hands resting loosely on his chest. So fucking gorgeous. My fingers tingled with the urge to brush his hair back from his brow and I let out a sigh.Don’t do that.
He was asleep, I could get out of here now. I grabbed my purse and pulled the front door open, only to step back with a gasp of surprise. “Oh! Hi, Gabe.”
“Hey.”
“Sorry, I was just dropping off some banana bread and Jake was spiking a fever, so I stayed to sort it out.”
“I know. I got your text.”
Oh. Yeah.
“You don’t have to apologize for being here, you know.”
He was smiling at me reassuringly, so I took a deep breath to calm my jangling nerves. “Anyway, he’s had a dose of antibiotics and taken some pain meds, so he’ll be out for a few hours at least.”
“What the fuck?”
“What the fuck what?”
“How did you get him to take anything for the pain? We’ve all been trying since he got home, but he’s been totally against them. Ally actually said this morning that if he didn’t agree to take one, she’d crush it up and hide it in his dinner, like trying to give medication to a dog.”
I laughed. “Well, I don’t know if there’s any trick to it. I just said there were no awards for suffering unnecessarily and he was being a dumbass.”
“I see.”
Hmph. Glad somebody did. Me, I wasn’t sure. I just said, “Well, I’ve got to get going. Let me know if he needs anything else.”
“Will do.”
CHAPTER4
Jake
Opening my eyes to see Emma leaning over me was sweet, pure torment. Her hand on my face, her eyes full of gentle concern, she was like a ministering angel. Until she wasn’t.Dumbass.I would have laughed at that, if it hadn’t hurt so much.
The last thing I wanted to do was take those meds. I hated the feeling of being out of control, of sinking into oblivion and not being able to drag myself out. It was too much like falling into the bottom of a beer bottle. But I knew she was right: it was stupid, and I was being stubborn. A dumbass, if you will. And the truth was, I had a very hard fucking time saying no to her. So, I took the pills.
I took them again when she came back the next day, went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and handed it and the pills to me without a word. And the next day. And the next. I couldn’t deny the quality sleep was starting to make me feel a lot better. Plus I was only a little more than a week into my recovery and the doctors were pleased with my progress. So that was something.
I heard Emma’s car pull up in the driveway and hastily ran my fingers through my hair, wincing when I hit the bump on my head. Why was I fussing about my hair anyway? Stupid. Even so, I took a moment to give thanks for the fact that the bandage had come off, the bruising on my face had faded significantly, and I looked less like I’d gone twelve rounds with a heavyweight boxer than I did a few days ago.
My heart squeezed hard in my chest when Emma pushed the front door open, taking a moment to adjust to the dim interior. Weak sunlight filtered in behind her, framing her like a halo. Without a word, she headed into the kitchen, to the medicine cupboard.
“No.” I hadn’t realized I was going to say that. It just popped out.
“Jake—”
“I don’t mean no, not at all. Just not right now. I’m not in that much pain and don’t want to sleep yet, don’t want to be knocked out.”
