I woke up in the hospital less than twenty four hours after returning from New Orleans. In the hospital with a fractured hip like I was an old man. Yeah, that news had been really great for my self-esteem. A broken hip before I was even hitting the early bird specials; I must have pissed someone important off in another life; that was the only explanation for my extraordinary good luck for the past few…forever.

As much pain as I’ve been in over the past few days, I felt nothing but relief that Norah had made it out unscathed. I didn’t remember much when I woke up with a leg covered in bandages and excruciating pain, but I did remember the sight of that big old gold Cadillac barreling towards her excited little body. I’d refused all visitors but Aunt Mae, who’d threatened to call in a bomb threat if I refused her after the first hour of visiting hours, and I couldn’t refuse her. Not really. She’d been the one to give permission for the surgery and I knew that she’d been by my side all those hours until I woke up. She’d earned her right to hover. To mother-hen me.

But three days later, I was done being a coward. I couldn’t put Norah off forever and even if I could, it would be cruel at this point. So I slapped a grin on my face and vowed to be happy and upbeat when Norah arrived, no matter how hard it would be to see Nash. Thankfully, I’d gotten a lower dose of pain meds to dull the edges without making me loopy during today’s visits. I was as ready as I would ever be.

Visiting hours started at eleven and Norah ran into the room exactly one minute later, with Nash ambling in behind her. She had a giant stuffed giraffe, a sunflower and a giant bag of Skittles in her arms but when she saw me, she let them all fall to the floor and rushed to me. “Vivi, I thought you died. You saved me,” she said, choking up as she wrapped little arms around my neck. “I love you, Vivi.”

My heart squeezed because, this little girl, she was incredible. “I love you too, kiddo, and I’m glad you’re all right.” I pulled her back and looked deep into those watery blue eyes. “But no more running out into the street, okay? I’m pretty sure I have a few gray hairs because of you.” Norah nodded and a small giggle escaped.

She went to pick up the gifts and handed them to me. “I promise to look both ways from now on, Vivi.” She stayed close the whole visit and the feel of her warm little body was just what I needed. Other than the pain meds because holy hell, the pain was ridiculous.

“Tell me what you’ve been up to, kid.”

She leaned against the bed with her hands sandwiching my free hand while she told me all about the latest developments in her play. “How do you put on a play?”

“First, you need a stage so maybe the community center or the high school, I think.” Talking about something else, anything else, was nice. It felt normal, like I wasn’t laid up in the hospital with a broken hip. My eyes drifted closed while Norah and I traded ideas on how to get her play into production.

Nash, meanwhile, stayed painfully quiet in the corner. I didn’t know if he was pissed because he blamed me for Norah’s near-miss or if it was just the beginning of what would always be weird as hell between us. Either way, I wasn’t complaining, no matter how much it hurt.

Thankfully, Aunt Mae arrived at the same time as Maddie and Max, taking away the last of the tension in the room with boisterous greetings, hugs, and stuffed animals. “Oh sweetie, you look pale.” Aunt Mae stepped close and put a hand to my forehead. “And clammy.”

I grabbed her hand before she could call the nurse. “I didn’t want to be all doped up from the meds with the kids here, Mae.”

She nodded and took a seat while I chatted with Maddie and Max; Nash still hovered in the corner silently. I was proud of Aunt Mae because she waited ten whole minutes before she found an excuse to get rid of the kids. “Who wants to visit the cafeteria?”

“I do!” Norah shouted.

“Me!” Max followed suit.

“I’ll take them,” Maddie offered and waved as she herded the bundles of energy into the hall.

“And I need to find that doctor to make sure he’s looking after you properly.” Aunt Mae was a lot of things but subtle was not one of them.

There was a long tense silence after Mae fled the hospital room, leaving me and Nash alone. Painfully alone. “So,” I said because I had no other words.

Nash stepped forward until he was right beside me. “I’m so fucking glad you’re all right, Vivi. I nearly died when I saw you hit the ground.” He was so close that his strong masculine scent of wood and citrus mingled with the bouquet he held in his hand. “I thought I’d lost you.” As if he was suddenly too tired, he leaned against the bed and handed me the flowers.

“I’m fine, Nash.” It was nice to hear that he cared but it just made the hurt cut even deeper. Made me wish I could just hate him and get over the awkwardness. “Thanks for bringing Norah to see me.”

He scoffed, spoiling for a confrontation. “Thanks for letting us.” Nash’s words were sharp and cold.

“I didn’t want her to see me out of my mind on pain meds.” I tried to turn away but a sharp shooting pain set my body on fire and I winced, sucked in several deep breaths and just turned my head away. “I’m getting tired.”

“No, you’re not,” he shot back, angrily.

“Don’t tell me how I feel, Nash. I got hit by a fucking car! If you came here to fight then you can just leave.”

He sighed. “I didn’t come to argue. Dammit Vivi, I came to make sure, with my own eyes, that you were all right. Shit woman, I thought I’d lost you.” His blue eyes were bright. More like stark and I could read the sincerity in them just as well as the fear he still carried. “Vivi.” My name was an anguished moan on his lips and that only deepened my own hurt.

How could someone care so much and not see it? “I’m sorry you were worried, Nash, but I really am fine.”

“You fractured your hip, Vivi. That’s not fine. You have a long recovery ahead of you,” he said sounding almost as depressed about it as I felt. But then Nash straightened his spine and his expression changed from resigned to determined. “You’ll stay with us and I’ll take care of you.” He was so matter of fact, like his decision was final and I wouldn’t dare argue.

It was so cute when men thought they were in charge. “That really isn’t necessary, Nash.” But he was already talking over me.

“Of course, it is. I work at home which means I’ll never be far from you.”

That wasn’t the selling point he thought it was. “If I need help then I’ll hire a professional. There’s no need to put yourself out on my account.” Being confined to a hospital bed wasn’t the best way to put your foot down but if I let Nash take care of me, my feelings would grow stronger instead of weaker. And I really, really needed weaker feelings for him.

His raven brow dipped into a confused frown. “Why hire someone when you have me?”

I laughed before I could get my already frayed emotions under control. “Because I don’t have you, Nash. I appreciate the offer but it’s not necessary. Or a good idea.”

“Why?”

I sighed and let my gaze slide to the clock. Ten minutes until the nurse came in to check on me and pump me full of pain killers. “Because letting you take care of me when I’m so vulnerable would only remind me of all things you could give me, if you wanted to. It’s kind of you to offer. You’re a good friend and I appreciate it but I’ll take care of it.” I tried for a smile but the tears were too close to the surface and I’d already promised myself I wouldn’t cry.

He stayed with me until the nurse came in and did her regular checks, bent close to kiss me on the forehead and then he left.

And still, I refused to cry.

A weeklong stay in the hospital and they were finally giving me my walking papers. Sometime today. Eventually. As usual with hospitals and doctors, there were no concrete answers other than I would be released today. The nurse had woken me up good and early—just after six…in the morning—and now I just waited. And waited.

Just before noon, the good looking young surgeon entered with his head down, eyes glued to what I assumed was my medical file. “Hey Vivi, how are we doing?”

“We’re achy and we’ve been better but now, we’re mostly ready to go home.” I hadn’t slept in my own bed in two weeks and even though sleep, for the next few months anyway, would be near impossible, I was longing for my own bed

His lips twitched and I could see the last name Morgan scrawled on his scrubs. “Good news for you, then. I’m going to give you a couple weeks to heal but then I want you to start physical therapy right away.” He scribbled a note and tore the sheet off, setting it on the table near the wall. “I’ll give you some crutches to help you get around because I don’t think you’ll use a walker.”

“Absolutely not, Doc.”

Dr. Morgan bit back another smile and wrote out two more prescriptions, one for antibiotics and one for pain relief. “Do you have someone to care for you during your first few days home?”

I nodded without providing any further information. It wasn’t a lie, but two nurses had already given me sad pitying eyes when I told them I hired a private nurse to help with after care. “Yep. And I’ll be sure to parrot back all the information verbatim.”

“Good. I’ll see you back here in four weeks, hopefully doing much better.”

I snorted. “Don’t get my hopes up, Doctor.”

“It will take some time,” he said, his deep New Orleans drawl more pronounced when he was being human. “But Vivi, you’re young and healthy so there’s no reason that my recovery plan won’t work. No reason but you.”

“I’m holding you to that, Dr. Morgan.” I pointed at him seriously, and he smirked.

“Take care of yourself, Vivi.”

Take care. That’s what I had to do now so I called Maddie. “Hey babe, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. They’re letting me out, do you think you could pick me up?”

She was quiet for a long moment and I knew that pause. “Sure, I just need about fifteen minutes to wrap up the customers at the store. Cassie, the part-time girl I use, didn’t come in today,” she explained.

“It’s okay, Maddie. Business comes first. I’ll figure it out and talk to you soon, okay? Bye.” It was rude to hang up on her but I’d invite her over for a meal or offer a weekend of babysitting to make up for it. I just didn’t want to argue about it. “Excuse me, Nurse?”

A dark skinned woman with a short curly hairstyle and pink scrubs popped her head inside the door. “Yes?” She wore the tired look of nurses all over the world, and she had my sympathy.

“Is there any way I could get a wheelchair to go and get my prescriptions while I wait for my ride? I have to pick up the crutches.” Just like that her expression softened.

The woman clucked her tongue and stepped inside my room, going to a locked closet on the other side of the room. “I don’t know why they don’t get the prescription filled themselves for things like crutches and walkers.” She pulled a wheelchair from the closet and set it near the end of the bed. “I’ll have a volunteer come and help you out. Hospital policy,” she explained and headed for the door. “Take care of yourself, honey.”

“Thanks, I will.” Since it seemed like it might be awhile before a volunteer made their way to my room, I reached for my clothes and got as dressed as I could without any assistance. Luckily, Mae had brought a calf-length skirt and tank top for me to wear home. It was the best I could do so I leaned back on the bed and waited. While I waited I called several cab companies only to find out they would drive me back home from the county hospital that was closer to New Orleans than Belle Musique, but for double the fare since they’d have to make the trip back in an empty vehicle. I wanted to argue and to scream, but I knew a losing fight when I saw one.

They seemed to be my specialty, lately.

A teenage volunteer came to help me and she was chatty, which I appreciated as I struggled with the indignity of trying to move from the bed to the wheelchair. “You seem kinda young for a broken hip.”

I snorted and absorbed the compliment of seeming ‘kinda young’ before I looked up at the chocolate haired girl with big, doe eyes. “I pushed a little girl out of the way of a moving car and got hit by it for my efforts.”

“Cool,” she said and carefully hung my bag on one of the chair handles and pushed me towards the door. “Oh, um do you want the flowers?”

They were lovely but right now I could barely get myself to the bathroom so I didn’t need more chores. “Could you get them to some of the patients that don’t have regular visitors?”

She grinned. “Sure.”

“But I’ll take the giraffe.”

“Boyfriend?”

I laughed. “Nope. My sort of ex’s kid.”

Her brown eyes went wide as she pushed me towards the elevator and down to the pharmacy where I waited patiently because I still had no clue how I would get home. Aunt Mae had classes at the shop today and I didn’t want her to reschedule them and I wouldn’t call Nash. I would just pay the taxi, since it’s not like I can’t afford it.

“There you are.” I froze at the sound of that dark, angry voice behind me, knowing exactly who it belonged to.

I looked over my shoulder and up at Nash’s big masculine frame. “Hey, Nash. What’s up?”

“What’s up is that I’ve been looking for you for the past twenty minutes. Why didn’t you call me?”

He knew why but he wanted me to say it. “Because I was taking care of it.” Yeah well, life wasn’t always fair, and we didn’t always get the things we wanted.

His jaw clenched and my hands itched to scrape over the few days’ growth there. “You have everything you need?”

“Why?”

Nash rolled his eyes and curled his hands around the chair, guiding me through the thick crowd at the hospital and out to his car. “You’re one stubborn woman, you know that?”

“It’s a recent development but I’m okay with that.” He held the chair and I had to give Nash points for not trying to just lift me into the car. Instead, he waited for me to do as much as I could and only when I turned to him for help, did he lift me. “Thank you.”

“I’ll always help you, Vivi. No matter what I think of you.”

“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” I turned over my shoulder expecting to see Norah and frowned. “Where’s Norah?”

“She’s with Maddie.” That traitor had called him, probably as soon as our call ended, to sell me out.

“Figures.” I was starting to remember exactly why I’d been keeping my distance from people.

“Don’t blame Maddie, she didn’t realize how much you hate me.”

I sucked in a breath and bit the inside of my jaw to resist giving Nash a piece of my mind. “I don’t hate you and you know that, Nash Boudreaux.” Arms crossed, I was the very picture of a petulant child and I didn’t give a damn.

“Could’ve fooled me.” There was a bite, a bitterness to his voice I didn’t understand one bit. He was the one who…nope, I refused to let my mind go round and round like that again only to produce not one solution.

I chose to remain silent for the remainder of the forty minute drive back to Belle Musique. I was grateful for the ride but it was so tense that all the pain shot to my hip. “Thank you for the ride, Nash.”

He said nothing for a long time, just stared out the windshield in my driveway. “Yeah, don’t mention it.” He stepped angrily from the car, grabbing my bags and sitting them by the door before he came back for me and the crutches. “You got this?”

“No time like the present to learn,” I told him, honestly. I had very low hopes for my success with the stupid things, but I would try, because letting Nash carry me just might break me. “You don’t have to hover,” I told him, shooing him forward and into my house.

“I’m not hovering, just being cautious. Excuse me for caring.”

Care. Depending on the context it was a perfectly acceptable word, a compliment even. When it wasn’t the four letter word you longed to hear, it might as well be an insult. “I appreciate it. Really.”

He probably didn’t believe me which was fine because I wasn’t even sure I believed me. “I know. I just wish it was enough.”

Fat chance. “It is. For friends it absolutely is enough.” I made my way inside the house without breaking any additional bones so I counted it as a win when I gingerly fell to the sofa with a satisfied groan.

Nash stood in front of me and I fought the urge to stare up at him. To gaze at him with my heart in my eyes and hope like hell those blue eyes shined with something other than care. “Do you need anything else? Water? Pills?”

I shook my head and smiled. “Not now. I have the crutches and I don’t plan on using the upstairs for a while so I think I’ll be good.”

He wanted to say more, to argue, I could tell. But I wasn’t the only one who knew when to fight and when to leave. “Fine,” he spat out and left. And even though I expected it, the move shattered another piece of my heart.