Chapter 11: Flynn

I knew Chelsea’s mother would’ve never been able to take care of her in the condition she was in. From what the doctor was telling us, Chelsea would have issues getting up to walk and cleaning herself for a while, which meant she wouldn’t be able to do things like cook and clean for herself. Her mom was inundated with responsibilities around her ranch and was still the prime caretaker of Barber, and it killed me to think about Chelsea not being taken care of in the way she needed to be.

When we had all this information, it was just before Chelsea had woken up, and when I suggested it to Mrs. August, she had thrown a fit. She accused me of calling her a terrible mother, and I had to hold her close and tell her that I meant absolutely none of that. I explained to her the sheer amount of time it would take to take care of Chelsea, even if she was sleeping a great deal because of her pain medication. Chelsea would have doctor’s appointments to get back and forth to, and she would need help in the shower as well as getting clothes on. Mrs. August was tough, but she was also older, and lugging around Barber whenever he needed help was more exertion than she could take some days.

And that was no secret to the community.

I told her I’d be there to help her and that I’d give her a key to my home. I told her she could come by anytime she wanted to visit and check up on Chelsea, and that I’d keep my phone on me so she could call whenever she wanted. It was quite the fight with her, but when Barber finally intervened, he was able to talk some sense into her.

And finally, she relented and agreed to let me take Chelsea home to care for her.

I stayed by Chelsea’s bedside and lived in the few clothes I kept slung in the back of my truck. When she was sleeping, I went up to the local laundromat and cleaned my clothes up, and when I needed a shower, I used the little one that was attached to Chelsea’s hospital room. She was still groggy from the antivenom and the pain medication she was on, so she slept more than she was awake. But, that didn’t bother me. It gave me a lot of time to think on some things.

I made some phone calls and moved back riding lessons for the next two weeks. I figured if I could get Chelsea up and going on her own halfway through the month, then I could at least resume giving lessons to the boys who had aspirations of riding in the rodeo one day. I made a call to Bradley and told him I’d pay him money if he would come over and take care of my animals so I could focus on Chelsea, and he said he could switch off with his dad. I tried to get him to agree on a price, but he refused to be paid.

Figures, with a selfless man like him.

So, I told him I’d offer him free work in return. If he were gonna come take care of my animals free of charge, then I’d offer him the same courtesy. I told him he could take me up on that offer anytime he’d like, and it could be a way for him and his father to take a vacation. Far as I knew, they’d never taken one-- not since his mama died anyway-- proclaiming that it wasn’t a family vacation without the entire family.

But sometimes you just needed a break from work.

I told him how Chelsea was and he promised to stop by later on. I told him to seriously consider my offer, even if he and his dad just sat around the house and did absolutely nothing. That wasn’t a vacation, that was just being lazy, and Bradley laughed through the phone before he hung up.

Now, it was just a matter of fixing up things in the house before Chelsea got there. I had a spare bedroom across the hall from mine, but the issue was it was upstairs. I had a room downstairs that I could clear out, but that required furniture to be moved and I wasn’t sure I could pull that off in the amount of time I had. So, since Chelsea was still sound asleep, I went off in search of the doctor.

“Ash! Hey… hey, Ash!”

She turned around with a small smile on her lips, and I caught myself before I approached her.

“I mean, doctor. Hey, doctor.”

“What can I do for you, Bullhead,” she lulled.

“I have some questions on how to make Chelsea safe and comfortable given her condition.”

“Alright. Shoot,” she said.

“Stairs. Yay or nay?”

“If she’s got help, no problem. But, she might get dizzy looking down them with the concussion she’s got, so a general ‘nay’ unless someone’ll help her down every single time.”

“Alright. What about diet? Anything I should stay away from with her swelling and stuff?”

“Anything that prompts inflammation will be bad, but if you just stick to a healthy diet that isn’t rich in breads, you’ll be good. Lots of water, no soda, and absolutely no caffeine.”

“Chelsea’s not gonna like that,” I mused lowly.

“No one ever does,” Ash smirked.

“Whose care is she being released into?” she asked.

“Mine.” Ash pursed her lips.

“Bet her momma didn’t like that.”

“Not at first, but I gave her a key to the house so she could come by whenever she wanted.”

“That’s good,” Ash smiled, “you’re a good man, Flynn.”

“Thanks,” I sighed.

“Just… know your limits,” she warned.

“What’s that mean?”

“Flynn, this is Chelsea. There isn’t a person around here, new or old, that doesn’t know y’all’s story. What she did rocked this little Oklahoma town, and there are just as many people worried about you as they are about her.”

“I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn't be reminded of that every once in a while.”

The silence that hung between us was tense. I didn’t stop to think about how this would look: a boy whose college love abandoned him the morning after graduation suddenly comes back into town, half kills herself, and then that same boy takes her in to rehabilitate her as he sees fit.

“I’ll be careful,” I assured her.

“Good,” she smirked.

“Oh! Another thing to keep in mind: no cars. People with concussions get motion sickness very quickly, so once you get her home, no more gettin’ in that truck of yours.”

“What about grocery shopping and stuff?” I asked.

“Don’t leave her alone. Which means you’ll need to do that while she’s still here.”

“Thanks for lettin’ me know,” I said. “Uh… when are we looking at discharging her?”

“Well, I’m gonna check back in on her tonight before I go home, but if all looks good and her brain swelling has continued to dissipate, we should be able to send her home tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Thanks, As-... I mean, doc.”

“Anytime, Bullhead,” she winked.

I trotted back to Chelsea’s room and saw her father sitting by her bedside. He was drawing circles on the back of her hand while Chelsea slept, and when he slowly rose his eyes up and connected them with mine, I gave him a slight nod and left. I knew he’d stay with Chelsea until I got back, and that meant I could get some stuff in my kitchen before tomorrow. I reached in and grabbed my wallet off the corner table and told Barber I was going grocery shopping, and he shewed me off and down the hallway. I’m sure he wanted to spend some time alone with his daughter, and if I played my cards right, I could even set up her bedroom before I came back.

I made my way to my truck and headed to the grocery store and stocked up on all sorts of things. I figured the easier it was to eat, the more inclined she would be to eat, so I picked up ingredients for many different kinds of soups. I knew Chelsea loved my cabbage stew, so I picked up a couple heads to get marinating in a pot before I headed back to the hospital. I picked up some apples and some peanut butter, thinking maybe if she wanted a snack that would be a good one. She was a glutton for homemade macaroni and cheese, so I piled in the ingredients and made sure that was a staple in her diet.

Plus, if I made too much, it was easy to spoon out and reheat, which would give her some of her independence back. I had a feeling it was going to be very hard for Chelsea to let me take care of her, being all independent like she was. So, I was determined to give her as much as she could do on her own as I possibly could.

I grabbed vegetables for a stir fry and tried to remember the meats I had in my deep freezer, and after grabbing some stuff to make pancakes and bacon for breakfast in the morning, I headed on up to check out. I’d only been in the store for 45 minutes, and if I got this stuff home and put up, I could rearrange her room a bit before she arrived tomorrow.

I got back to my house and checked my phone to make sure no one from the hospital had called. I hauled the groceries in and got everything put away, and before I did anything else I washed down both heads of cabbage and placed them in a pot of water. I salted and peppered it before throwing in some other seasonings, and I covered it just to let it sit on the counter. Chelsea loved the broth from this soup more than anything, and I wanted to make sure she had plenty of it.

I bounded upstairs and busted through the door to the spare bedroom and immediately got to work. I stripped the bed sheets and put new linens on it, I dusted down the furniture and the fan, I cleaned up the attached bathroom and placed fresh towels out for her to use, and I made sure the good toilet paper was on a roll. I ran the vacuum quickly over the carpet and made sure the lamp by her bed had a working bulb, and when I felt like everything was done, I wiped the sweat from my brow.

And then, I heard my phone vibrating downstairs.

I took off down the stairs and skidded into the kitchen, and when I saw Chelsea’s number pop up on my phone, I felt a rush of panic clench my throat shut.

“Chelsea? Are you alright?”

“It’s just me, Flynn.”

“Hey there, Mrs. August. Everything alright? I’ve got food in the house for Chelsea, and her room all made up.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she said.

“Are y’all alright?” I asked again.

“Chelsea’s askin’ for ya is all. Figured I’d call and see where you were.”

Chelsea. My Chelsea. My wonderful, soft, spunky, sassy, sensitive Chelsea was asking for me. She was wondering where the fuck I was, and all I was doing was sweating in the middle of my damn kitchen.

I’d taken too fucking long.

“I’m getting into my car right now. Tell her I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“I’ll let her know,” Mrs. August said.

“Oh… Flynn?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Thank you,” she breathed.

“It’s not a problem. I promise,” I lulled.