Page 4 of Owning the Prez’s Ol' Lady

Chapter Four

Sandman

My head felt like a ton of bricks. The headaches weren’t as bad as they were in the beginning, but I still had days where my head throbbed like I’d been chopped up by a thousand ice picks.

“How’s my favorite patient today?” Imogen’s sweet voice practically sang as she flounced into the room without a care in the world. The woman has almost single-handedly saved my life.

“G—good,” I stuttered out.

I was surprised Ranger wasn’t here sniffing around. Since he laid eyes on Imogen, the man has been at my bedside practically every day. The poor guy really has a thing for her, but Imogen doesn’t seem interested. She has some weird hang-up about bikers, one that she won’t explain.

She frowned. “Still stuttering I see.”

“Ye—yeah.”

“The doctors say that it should clear up on its own, eventually. Today we’re going to work on your mobility, Jesse.”

She helped me to my wheelchair and wheeled me down the hall, stopping at the physical therapy room.

Parking the wheel chair, she helped me to my feet. None of my brothers knew how much I was progressing. I actually could walk on my own now, but I wanted to make sure I had full strength before returning home.

“Good!” she exclaimed, her eyes shining as her smile widened. “Jesse, you’re doing amazing!”

The first steps were always the hardest, but I found it easier to move the more steps I take. Now, if the rest of me could catch up to my feet, I’d be sitting pretty.

“I—It’s ge—getting e—easier.”

“It will. But I’m so happy with how much you’ve progressed. What’s changed? What sparked this sudden motivation to move?”

The look of sheer panic and dread on Shasta’s face right before she fled my hospital room returned to my mind. I felt bad for her. The pressure the rest of the guys put on her to be their woman was a bit much. They should’ve just let her do things on her own. Did I want to be with her? Yeah, but I also knew that my love for her, despite the physical connection we shared, was more of a friend level than anything else. It is hard to be in love with someone when your heart is conflicted about another.

Hyper focused on walking, I didn’t even notice the familiar frame filling the doorway of the physical therapy room.

“Looks like you have a visitor, Jesse,” Imogen said, redirecting my attention to the woman who stood in the doorway.

Lindy.

Our eyes met, and I could see the indecision in her eyes—the pity too.

“Hey, can we talk, Jesse?”

Imogen smiled and took a few steps back. “I think you’ll be okay on your own for a few minutes, Jesse. I’ll leave you two alone.”

My neck bobbed in slow motion.God, why was everything above my neck moving like a snail?

Lindy forced a smile, hugging her waist with her arms as she stood far enough away to keep her distance. A few weeks ago, she was sitting by my bedside, helping me. Now she was treating me like a leper.

“W—What d—do you want L—Lindy?”

She frowned.

“Are you getting any better?”

“I—I’m walking. “J—Just n—not talking w—ell.”

Her teeth worried her lip, and she kicked at the carpet on the ground.

“I’ve tried to figure out how to tell you this a million times, Jesse.” Carefully, she lifted her head, and for the first time since I’ve known her, vulnerability swam in her beautiful gray eyes.

---