NIK
I’M JOLTED OUT OF MY sleep by a sudden spike of pain shooting through my leg. I can’t help but growl at the white-coated offender that caused it, standing at the foot of my bed. “What the hell are you doing?” I grit out, none too nicely.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Jensen. I had hoped to examine your leg while you were out from the morphine. My apologies for the pain I caused. I’m Dr. Tamayaka, the orthopedic surgeon. Your nurse called me while I was on vacation, and begged me to come back early to see to you. I’m most glad she did. We need to get you into surgery straight away.”
“What? Surgery?” I ask, not awake enough to register what he’s telling me.
He nods. “Yes, Mr. Jensen. We should be able to have you in surgery in the next thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes? Is it so bad that it has to be done right now?”
His urgency has helped to wake me up a good bit, but I’d been concentrating so hard on him that I failed to notice my leg was uncovered. I can see for the first time how bad it actually is.
I think I’m gonna be sick.
Everything between my knee and foot looks like it’s been through a meat grinder. It’s swollen, twisted strangely, and there’s a large, gaping, bloody hole where my shin used to be.
Holy hell! God, please don’t let me puke.
I bring my right hand up to my face as fast as my morphine haze will let me and cover my mouth. The fact that I feel drunk off my ass from that morphine isn’t helping my nausea any.
I think I may die if I have to puke.
Thinking of the pain that would cause literally makes me want to cry, and I don’t cry.
They’ll have to kill me to put me out of my misery if I do–if the pain doesn’t do it first that is.
The doctor must notice what has to be my ash white face, because I feel the sheet lay against my leg again.
“Sorry about that,” he says. “I’m afraid there is no choice, but to operate as soon as possible. The bullet shattered quite a bit of your tibia, so we’re going to have to put in a rod, plates, and some pins to repair the damage. Despite the antibiotics you have been receiving, there are signs of infection beginning. They must be removed quickly before they spread. The sooner we get you into surgery the better,” he explains.
“Probably better fix it then,” I say, groaning in unison with my queasy stomach. Then another horrible thought hits me. “I’m not gonna lose my leg, am I?” I ask, my voice a lot more unsteady than I care for.
“If we had waited until Monday that could have been a possibility, but it’s very unlikely right now. I will do my best to have you walking normal again in a few months, Mr. Jensen,” he says, trying to sound reassuring I suppose. It helps, but only a little. “I’m going to get everyone started in the operating room now. I will see you shortly.” With a formal nod in my direction, he turns and leaves quietly.
“Son of a bitch,” I groan into the room, covering my face with my hand again.
“You’re not talking to me, are you?” Lacey asks walking in, her voice carrying a teasing tone.
“Sorry, no. Just to life in general. I don’t think I realized until now how bad of shape I’m in.”
She pats my shoulder, smiling at me. “But we’re gonna take good care of you, and get you outta here as soon as we can. You’re gonna be back to normal before you know it. I promise.”
I’m not so sure I believe her right now.
She holds out a clipboard and pen. “This is the consent form for your surgery. Do you have any questions before you sign it?”
“No, but umm, is Ellie still here? And my sister and them, are they close by? I’d like to see them again, before they take me back,” I ask, my voice shaking a bit as I sign the form.
I sound like a scared little boy. I fucking hate it.
“Ellie’s still here. They all are. They went downstairs to eat while you were sleeping, but I can have ‘em here in a jiffy. I’m gonna send them in one at a time, so who do you want to see first?”
“Ellie,” I say without hesitation.
Lacey’s smile grows bigger, her eyes twinkling. “Okay, I’ll go call them right now.” She pats my shoulder one more time before walking out.
I immediately work on calming myself down. I’m not gonna lose it in front of Ellie, I refuse to upset her again.
Get it together, Nik. You need to suck it up, and take this like a man for heaven’s sake. You didn’t die. You’re not gonna die. Everything is gonna be fine.
I keep repeating my little mantra until I hear muffled voices outside my room. Another minute goes by, then my door slides open. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as Ellie slips through the curtain into the room. She’s smiling a little, but she’s also nibbling on her lip and wringing her hands. Her shoulders are curled in like she’s trying to hide, too. Seeing her so nervous makes my chest hurt with a different kind of pain.
“Hey, I was afraid you left,” I say softly, not wanting to scare her any more than she already is. I hold my hand out, hoping to coax her over.
Her eyes dart from me, to my hand, and then to the floor, but after a few seconds she walks over and wraps my hand up in both of hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry. I didn’t leave, and I promise I won’t. I’ll stay as long as you want me to. I meant what I said before. I’ll stay with you through all of this if that’s what you want,” she promises me.
I can see in her eyes that she means it, and it makes my stomach feel funny, but in a good way.
I can’t explain what she’s doing to me, but I like it.
“I know it doesn’t make any sense. We hardly know each other, but I need you here. I don’t know why, I just do,” I tell her, sounding like some kind of sap. I’m really beginning to think the morphine is making me emotional.
That’s the excuse I’m gonna use anyway.
Her smile turns sweeter, and she rubs the back of my hand with her thumb. “Okay then. It’s decided. I’m staying.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, smiling up at her as the knot in my stomach loosens a little. Her brows furrow, and she starts worrying her bottom lip again. I squeeze her hand. “Hey, you okay?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry about running off earlier. I didn’t plan on you finding out that way,” she whispers. “I had hoped we would get a chance to talk so I could explain, but Leia beat me to it. Did you notice my ring when we were at Starbucks?”
“Yeah, right before those bastards walked in. And I’m sorry about my sister, she can be... difficult.”
Her pretty face twists into a wry grimace. “She’s not so bad.”
“Yes, she is,” I laugh. “But she’s my sister, I put up with it. So, I’m guessing it’s not a wedding ring then, since you said you weren’t married. Do you wear it to keep the creepers at bay?” I have no clue what I want her answer to be. My brain is really too mushy to care right now. I’m just glad she isn’t spoken for.
Or is she?
“Wait, are you engaged to someone?”
God, I hope she isn’t.
She shakes her head, and looks down at our hands, but I don’t miss the tears gathering in her big blue eyes. “I was married. I’m a widow. My husband died two years ago. I’ve never taken my ring off.”
Fuck. I never would have thought… I’m such an asshole.
“God, Ellie, I’m so sorry. That…”
Tears start running down her cheeks, but she shakes her head. “It’s okay, you didn’t know. We can talk about it later when you get back up here, and have a chance to rest some more,” she whispers.
All that pain I’ve seen in her makes sense now, and it breaks my heart. Losing my parents was the worst experience of my life. What I’m dealing with now will be a close second, but I can’t imagine losing a spouse. I pull her hand up to my lips and kiss her fingers.
“I’m sorry. Thank you for staying with me, it means even more to me now.”
She wipes her eyes and nods her head while attempting to smile, then clears her throat and takes a few deep, shaky breaths, trying her hardest to keep herself together.
She’s killing me. I may lose it in front of her after all.
“I better go so Leia can come see you. Cash and Scott are waiting, too,” she says, avoiding my eyes while leaning down to kiss my forehead. “I’ll see you soon,” she whispers over my skin.
I reach through her hair, and gently grab the back of her neck when she goes to move away. I pull her back down and kiss her forehead softly. I really wish I was kissing her lips, but that can wait. I slip my hand out of her hair so she can stand back up. She pulls away a little and stares at me, eyes wide. The emotions in them are changing so fast, I can’t keep up.
Finally, she gives me a wobbly, teary smile. “I’ll be right here when you get back.” She squeezes my hand one more time before letting go and hurrying out the door.
I don’t get time to think about what just happened between us before Leia comes walking in, smirking at me. “Look who’s making her cry now.”
I scowl, and wave her over. “Hush and come here.”
She leans down and we kiss each other’s cheeks. “I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier. The pain makes me cranky,” I apologize.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you. You know I can’t help being protective of you. Especially now.”
“I know. It’s okay. But did you fix things with her?”
“Yes, Nik. Ellie and I are fine,” she huffs at me, rolling her eyes, then glares at me suspiciously. “You really like her, don’t you? It’s more than going through the robbery together, isn’t it?”
“I don’t really know what it is. I do know from the moment I saw her she made me feel things I never have. And yes, I know we only had a few minutes’ worth of time together before all hell broke loose, but something was definitely there. I’m sure going through what we did yesterday probably has something to do with it though.”
She looks at me, her brows drawn together and her mouth tight. “Okay, but remember, you hardly know her. Take things slow, okay?”
I huff a tiny bit and wave my hand over myself. “I don’t have much choice, do I?”
She smirks. “No, thankfully you don’t. How bad is your leg anyway?” she asks, turning and reaching to pull the sheet off my leg.
“Leia, don’t!” I warn her a bit too late.
She drops the sheet, her face a mask of horror. “Holy fuck! Why in the hell did they leave you like that? I’m going to kill that bastard doctor when I see him!”
“Leia, calm down. The doctor I needed was gone, but he’s back now, and he’s gonna fix it today. He said I’d be walking again in a few months. So please, chill out. I can’t deal with one of your fits right now.”
“All right, all right. I’m sorry. I’ll calm down, but after you’re better there will be a lawsuit if they haven’t done everything perfectly.”
“Okay, sis. Whatever you say. Give me a kiss, and I’ll see you later.”
She kisses my cheek again. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Behave while I’m gone.”
“Yes, brother dear. I promise to be a perfect angel,” she says smirking, then heads towards the door.
“Yeah, right.”
Cash and Scott come in right after her. “Hey guys.”
“Hey. We gotta make it quick. The nurse said the guys from surgery are on their way up here to get you,” Cash tells me.
Shit, that sure didn’t take long.
Scott walks over and shakes my hand. “You’re looking better than you did yesterday. I’m glad to see you awake. You scared us shitless.”
“Sorry about that. Sorry about work, too. I hate it, but I think you’re gonna need to find someone else to finish up the year for me.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll find someone. You concentrate on getting better. I’m sure you’ll be ready for the fall semester when it comes around.”
“I sure as hell hope so.” I smile, but I really don’t find it funny at all. Spending my summer being an invalid is not my idea of a vacation.
“I’ll get outta the way so you can talk to Cash. I’ll see ya when you get done.”
“See ya later, thanks for coming,” I tell him as he walks out. Cash braces his hands on the bedrail and looks down at me. I hate the worry written all over his face. “What is it? You’re making me nervous.”
He gives me a small grin and shakes his head. “Nothin’ man, I just hate seeing you like this. How’s your pain? You can’t let it get that bad again.”
“It’s okay right now, but trust me, I’ll stay on top of it. Did you see that shit?” I ask, pointing to my leg. “Cause I had no idea it was that bad until the surgeon woke me up poking at it a while ago.”
He winces hard. “Yeah, I’m afraid so. They didn’t have it covered up while you were still out from the anesthesia. Those bastards did a number on you.”
“Tell me about it. It scares the shit out of me, but I think I may have come close to dying yesterday. I still don’t really know how bad it actually was because I haven’t met my other surgeon. Did you talk to him?”
“I haven’t, but Ellie and Scott did. I’m sure they can tell you what he said.”
Maybe I won’t forget to ask them after I wake up from my second round of anesthesia.
“Are Ellie and Leia really all right with each other now?” I know he’ll tell me the truth.
“I had to get on Leia’s ass a few times, but I think they’re good now. They both want the same thing, which is for you to get better. They should be fine.”
“What do you think about her?” I know he knows who I’m referring to, so I don’t bother being specific.
“I wasn’t sure about her at first. We had a few tense conversations actually, but I like her.”
“Tense conversations? Why?”
“Nik, she pretended to be your fiancée to get up here,” he tells me.
I smirk at him. “She did?”
He shakes his head and rolls his eyes, grinning the whole time. “She was afraid they wouldn’t let her see you if she didn’t. I didn’t trust her. All I could think was that she was in on the robbery, and you were the target. We both know how easily you fall for a pretty face.” He pokes my arm to stress his point.
“You seriously thought she was part of that? I appreciate you for looking out for me, but you’ve been watching too much TV,” I laugh at him as gently as possible.
“That’s what Hank said, too. It sounds idiotic now, but I wasn’t there to see how it went down. All I knew when I got here was that this strange chick was pretending to be your fiancée, and she was extremely attached to you already. I had a right to be suspicious.”
“Yeah, I guess I can understand that, but what about now that you know her better? By the way, it pisses me the hell off you know her better than me.” I scowl at him.
“I bet it does,” he laughs again, then he looks away and sighs before shaking it off. “Like I said before, I like her. She’s a tough cookie, and for some reason, I’m assuming because you protected her, she’s decided to be your guardian. She’s like a mama bear when it comes to you.”
“Oh, I’ve seen how tough she is. Did she tell you she slapped one of the robbers when he had guns on us?”
“Are you fuckin serious?”
“Yeah, I’m serious. The bastard was saying really crude shit about her, and by the time I had decided to kick his ass for it, she’d already slapped him. Of course, everything went to hell after that…”
Now that it’s over, I can’t believe we got out of there alive. Weird thing is, I’m more freaked out now than I was when it happened. I could have died. Fuck, I almost did. What if I hadn’t been able to protect her and she had gotten killed?
“Hey, you all right?” he asks, squeezing my shoulder.
I take some deep breaths, laying my head back and closing my eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay. Foggy because of the morphine, I think.”
Maybe he’ll believe that.
There’s knock on my door. “Your ride’s here, Nik,” Lacey calls out. Her voice is way too chipper for the occasion.
Cash smiles down at me warily, and grips my hand in his. “I’ll see ya soon, bro. Behave for ‘em.”
“I’ll try my best,” I tell him, forcing myself to smile back as he leaves.
Lacey waves in two guys in green scrubs. They come and start unhooking me from everything in the room.
“I’m Jack and this is Mike. We’re going to be your chauffeurs today. You lay back and enjoy the ride,” Jack says, smiling. He sounds as happy as Lacey did.
Do they honestly think acting so happy is going to take my mind off the fact that I’m headed to surgery? I’m not a damn five-year-old.
I start to panic like one though when I realize my leg is gonna have to be unhooked from the ceiling, and laid on the bed.
“Uh, Lacey? Please tell me you have more pain meds for me before they try to move my leg.”
“I sure do, hon, they’re next on the list,” she says, coming over to me. “It’s not morphine, but it’ll make you high as a kite as soon as I start it. You’ll get super sleepy right after that. You may still feel a little pain, but nothing like you would if I didn’t give it to you. You ready?” she asks, smiling again.
“I can’t wait,” I say, more sarcastic than I mean to.
She smirks, sticking the needle in my IV and squeezing the plunger thing.
Hello high! Woah, that was fast.
My eyes slam shut, and I feel like I’m floating off the bed. I like this stuff. I feel them moving my leg around which causes a mild wave of pain, but a second later I already don’t give a shit. I do groan the first time they move the bed under me. Again, I don’t care.
“You wanna tell these folks bye, Mr. Jensen?” someone yells over my head.
I pull my eyelids up and see Leia and Scott wave at me then float away. Cash bumps my fist, I think, and the last thing I see is a blurry Ellie smiling down at me.