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“Looks like you’re busting out of here today.”
Fuck yeah. I knew Dr. Clark would come through for me. I knew it was a fucking crazy idea, but I needed to get the hell out of here. “Where are my clothes?”
The nurse laughed. “Your daughter said she would bring you something to wear home. She’ll be here in an hour.”
“Harlyn?” What happened to Dr. Clark?
“If that’s your daughter’s name. I just talked to her on the phone. She said she’s getting your home nurse all set up and then will be over.”
I was surprised Dr. Clark wasn’t going to be the one to take me home. The home nurse this woman was talking about must be Dr. Clark.
“So, before she gets here, I thought we would get you cleaned up so you’re not a smelly mess for your new nurse.”
“I’m paying the new nurse a pretty fucking penny. She can handle me smelling.”
Then pulled the blanket back from my legs.
I was a fucking cripple. I knew it had been just a blanket, but at least it concealed the casts on the bottom half of my legs.
“Come on, you’re the only one I’ve got for the day so we might as well as make the most of the rest of our time together,” she laughed.
By the time I was sponge bathed and sitting back in the bed with just my underwear on, I was fucking exhausted. I used to be able to go for sixteen hours plus at the fucking track, and now, a shower was too much for me.
“I’m fucking weak,” I grumbled.
The nurse chuckled and helped me to lie in the bed. “For every day you’re in a hospital bed, it takes a good four to five days to recover.”
“I’ve been here five days,” I complained.
“So, it’s gonna be a good month ‘til you start feeling like yourself.”
“Bullshit.”
“Oh, there’s that sunny personality I’ve missed at work the past week.” Harlyn breezed into the door and tossed her purse on the chair by my bed. “It’s only ten o’clock and you’re already calling bullshit?”
I laid my head back on the pillow. “I need a new fucking body. This one doesn't work anymore.”
Harlyn laughed. “I think it’s just a little banged up right now, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to make a full recovery. Your nurse waiting for you at home is going to make sure of that.”
“Any reason why you’re here and she’s not?”
“I’m gonna go grab the discharge paperwork since your daughter is here. I’ll be right back.” She walked out of the room, and Harlyn smacked me on the shoulder.
“Would you shut up. Mave doesn’t want anyone here to know she’s staying with you.”
“Why the hell not?” I was paying her some good money.
“Because this hospital is where she works, and she doesn’t want it getting around that she does house calls for grumpy old patients.”
“I am not old,” I growled.
“Right, right.” Harlyn slid the duffle bag off her shoulder and dropped it on the floor. She crouched down and ruffled through it. “You seriously have no shorts. What the hell do you wear in the summer?”
“Pants. I’m at the track or in the shop all of the time.”
Harlyn popped back up and held up a pair of blue shorts. They were the type people wore to the gym or to play basketball. Neither of which I did so it didn’t make sense for me to own a pair.
“I’m not wearing those.”
She rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah you are, unless you want to live in a hospital gown for the next couple of months.”
“Why didn’t you bring me some fucking pants?”
She looked down at my legs. “Because I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t fit your calf in your jeans, let alone your whole leg.”
Dammit. I hadn’t even thought about that. “They didn’t have black?”
A smile spread across her lips. “They did.”
I looked at the bright ass blue shorts. “But you got those.”
She nodded. “Sure did. I figured you needed a little color in your life since you’re such a crab-ass.”
“I am not crab-ass. Have you not heard about my motivational pep talks before races? I’m a regular Sammy Sunshine when I’m not laid up in this bed.”
She dropped the shorts on the bed and ducked back down to rummage through the bag. “Your last motivational pep talk, if we’re really going to call them that, was from Wikipedia. Remy said you read it word for word off of your phone.”
“And we fucking won, didn’t we?” I didn’t know what the hell she was getting at. At least I had taken the time to look for some words to get their asses in gear.
She looked up at me. “Roc. You told them, ‘Never let anyone treat you like a yellow Starburst. You are a pink Starburst.’”
“I would like you to tell me how that isn’t motivational?” I was a regular fucking poet as far as those asshats were concerned.
Harlyn huffed and shook her head. “Remy is right. You really are a lost cause.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Tell Remy to stop talking about me and get his ass moving on getting the car ready.”
She stood and held up a bright yellow t-shirt. “The car is ready. They tested it yesterday and they’re all on the way to the Laketon Nationals. I talked to Remy on the way over here.”
My brain couldn't register what she had said because I was fucking blinded by the shirt she held up. I shielded my eyes with my hand. “How in the fuck did you get a shirt the exact same color as the sun?”
“You don’t like it?”
I peeked at her from behind my hand. “I’m pretty sure the astronauts in space can see that shirt right now.”
She balled it up and tossed it at me. “Ha, ha.” She stood up, kept one arm behind her back, and rested her other hand on her hip. “Though I’m going to be the one with the last laugh.”
“Why’s that?”
A smile spread across her lips. “Because those are the only clothes you have to go home in.”
“You’re fucking kidding me. What happened to the clothes I came in with?”
I had been wearing a pair of jeans and a King Racing shirt. What I wore all of the time.
“They cut your pants off of you, Roc, and I think I took your shirt home.” She tapped her finger on her chin. “Or was it Remy who took it home?”
“Why the hell would Remy take it home?”
She laughed and patted my arm. “I think he brought it to my house so I could get it washed up so you had something to wear home.”
“So why the hell isn’t the shirt here instead of this neon yellow thing?”
“Because I washed it and then I forgot to bring it along.”
“Of course you forgot,” I grumbled.
“Chin up, Roc. You should be bouncing off the walls being thankful you’re going home.” She lowered her voice and leaned in close. “Mave is one of the best doctors in this place. You somehow sweet-talked her into nursing you back to health.”
I rolled my eyes and spread the shirt out in front of me. I didn’t like the damn shirt, but there wasn’t a thing in this world that would keep me from going home today. I tugged it over my head and stuck my arms in the holes.
“I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.”
“Okay, Vito,” she laughed. “You may have offered her a crap-ton of money to come stay with you, but I’ve been your daughter for a long time. There isn’t enough money in the world that could persuade me to spend a whole month with you. I’d go absolutely batty.”
I tugged the shirt over my body and sat back in the bed. “Well, then it’s a good thing she’s staying with me and not you.”
“I give her a week before she runs for the hills.” Harlyn swung her arm from behind her back and slapped a pair of shoes on the bed.
“You took my shoes too?” I growled.
Harlyn beamed down at me. “Sure did. I got these amazing slides for you, though.”
“I’ll go barefoot. You are not putting those fucking things on my feet.”
She scoffed. “As if you can actually do anything about it.”
“I’m not a fucking doll you can dress up, Harlyn. I will roll out of this damn hospital naked before you put those fucking shoes on me.”
“Whoa, whoa. There will be no naked rolling around here.” The nurse who had given me a bath walked in with a clipboard and a small stack of papers. “What’s all of the ruckus about?”
Harlyn plopped down in the chair next to the bed. “He’s being a bear, but at least I got him into the shirt so I guess I’ll relent on the shoes.”
“And what a...bright shirt it is,” the nurse snickered. “Let’s get your also-bright shorts on, and then we’ll go over all of this paperwork.”
Half an hour later, I was sitting by the curb of the hospital entrance waiting for Harlyn to pull the car around.
“Try not to give your daughter too much hell, Roc.”
I tipped my head back and looked up at the nurse. “If you ask her, you should be saying a prayer for my nurse.”
She shook her head and laughed. “She’ll be in my prayers.”
Harlyn pulled up in front of me and rounded the front of the SUV with a smirk on her lips. “Did I forget to mention I raided your garage and borrowed a car?”
“Think you failed to mention it.”
Of course, she had helped herself to my new Range Rover. The Range Rover I had just bought last week and had only driven home from the dealership.
“It drives like a dream. I can drive it around for you while you recover so she doesn’t have to sit in the garage, lonely.”
I wheeled over to the passenger door. “It’s a fucking car, Harlyn. It doesn’t get lonely.”
She opened the door. “No, but I might get lonely without it.”
“I probably should have told you to bring a car if possible. They’re much easier to get into than higher up vehicles,” the nurse murmured.
After a good five minutes of fumbling, grunting, and a shit-ton of cursing, Harlyn and the nurse managed to get me in the car and the door shut.
Harlyn started the truck then pulled her phone out.
“Who the hell are you calling?”
She glared at me. “Remy. There isn’t any way in hell that Mave and I are going to be able to get you out of this car.”
Her phone rang though the car as she pulled out onto the road.
“Hey, babe.”
I cringed at Remy calling her “babe.” I was still dealing with the fact that my daughter was dating one of the crew.
“I’ve got the package, but I’m going to need help getting it out of the car.” She looked over at me. “It’s heavy and disagreeable.”
“Babe, we’re on the road.”
“Oh, shit. How the heck did I forget that?”
“You got a lot going on. Hold on.” The phone was muffled but I could hear Remy talking to someone.
“You hungry?” Harlyn asked.
“Burger. Fries. Milkshake.” A few days of shitty hospital food was a week too much for me.
She rolled her eyes and flipped on her blinker. “Burger and fries, no shake,” she countered.
At least she had agreed to the burger and fries and hadn’t tried to talk me into a salad or some shit. “Fine. Hit the drive thru.”
“Har?” Remy called.
“Still here.”
“Brooks said he’ll give Christy a call and see if Susan can come over and help you out. Between you, Mave, and Susan, you should be able to get Roc into the house.”
“Again, why the heck didn’t I think of that?” Harlyn laughed. “I’ll call you after I get Roc settled.”
“Sounds good. Love you.”
I cringed and turned my head to look out the window.
Harlyn laughed. “Love you, too.” She ended the call and reached over to nudge me. “I saw that look.”
“I don’t ever need to hear that again. Just so you know.”
“One day, you’ll get used to Remy and me being together.”
“Right,” I drawled. And pigs could fly.
Harlyn pulled into the drive thru, ordered me a greasy cheeseburger and large fries. “Don’t get used to this,” she warned as she handed me the bag of food.
I pulled out the chicken sandwich she had ordered for herself and handed it to her. “You aren’t going to be around, little girl. I’ll eat what I want.”
“That’s what you think.”
We ate our food in silence, and about two minutes after I finished, my eyes got heavy, and I dropped the empty bag on the floor.
“Sick of being fucking tired,” I grumbled.
“Sleep, Dad. We still have about half an hour until we get to your house.”
My head hit the headrest, and I closed my eyes. Hopefully, when I woke up, this would all have been a dream, and I wouldn’t be a helpless cripple.
*
