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He nods. “Indefinitely.”
I stand and shake my head, my cheeks aching. “Well, fuck you,” I say hushed, walking toward the steps that lead to the garden. Once I reach the bottom, I turn and add a little louder, “Indefinitely.”
SEVENTEEN
Scarlet
“Did you take me because you knew she’d give me shit?”
I turn my head and smile out of my car window. We’re on our way back to the estate after a trip to the hospital.
Lance woke up in pain this morning. More pain than even the likes of him could keep off his face. I happened to be asleep on the chair and caught it before he could hide it from me.
“I took you because I knew you overdid it this week.” I look across at him. “You’re probably the worst patient I’ve ever had.”
“That Annie is a bitch. I don’t like her.”
“She’s the best of the best. She’ll win all the medical awards one day.”
“Better than you?”
“Yes. She’s almost a consultant.”
“I don’t like her.”
“Because she made you squeal like a pig or because she’s better than me?”
I feel his eyes on me and grin. “I didn’t squeal like a pig.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He doesn’t answer me, and I leave him to wallow in his shame. Annie did exactly what I needed her to do today.
She scared him.
Lance isn’t listening to anyone when it comes to healing. Every day since coming home, he’s pushed the boundaries, and then this morning when he woke up, leg still swollen, thinking he’d be walking Bear, I knew I needed backup.
“I know you don’t want to miss anything with Ave, but you really need to listen to what Annie told you today. Your body’s been through something horrific. Give it time to rest and heal. You’ll be surprised how quickly it happens when you start looking after yourself.”
“I feel like I’m letting her down whenever I miss something.”
“You’re not.”
“I have. I did; whilst I was away.”
“She’s young, Lance. What do you remember of being a baby or a toddler?”
He frowns, pain flashing on his face.
I look back toward the road. “She’s going to grow up and remember the time she had with you. Not the time she didn’t.” When he doesn’t say anything, I glance at him. “Why not give it two weeks. Annie said half an hour at a time is all you should be up until the swelling’s gone down, right?”
“Half an hour every two hours.”
“Will you give me five days of sticking to that? If the swelling goes down, we can make it an hour. And maybe if your ribs are healed, you could try lifting some weights again.”
He drops his head back to the rest, his eyes drifting closed. “Do I have a choice?”
“Of course you do. But there’s no way I’ll let you fly if you’ve got swelling like that.” I point toward his leg. I don’t tell him that Waverley wants him to come to Bora Bora because he already knows that. The gentle reminder that we’re going away at the end of next month should be enough.
