Page 6 of In Love with a Ranger

“Sorry. But yes, I think that’s it. Just watch the bulging discs for any numbness in your toes or legs. I’m sure the doctor will be in soon, but I wanted to give it to you straight.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, and we'll take care of each other,” Austin smiled. “I had someone give me a pep talk once, saying the things I needed to hear even if I didn’t want to… and I realized that it was done with tough love. You don’t need to be coddled by your mom – you need space – and by all that is holy, do not tell Mama Beck that I said that.”

“I won’t,” Gideon promised, looking at his brother-in-law. “And thank you.”

“You bet.”

Austin stood up and yawned, nodding.

“I’m not going to be able to drag your mother and father from your side for a few days – plus Giselle is a basket case. I’m going to go home, calm her down, and call you in a week to see what you want to do.”

“Just be here,” Gideon said grimly. “I don’t want my mother hovering over me like I’m a child every time I wince, grunt, or struggle with those crutches propped in the corner of the room. I’m assuming that is my new mode of mobility for the next several weeks or months until this cast comes off.”

“You got it – and I’ll be back soon.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

Gideon was never one to sit idly by or let himself slump down into a funk, but these changes sure tested his limits. He couldn’t get comfortable. His leg always ached, and the medicine made him nauseous which was ironic because he’d been accused in the past of having a cast-iron stomach several times by his friends. If nobody else would eat it, he’d pick it up and sample the unidentifiable dish. Life is an adventure, why not live it to the fullest?

Except his adventure was coming to a significant crawl – if not a ‘stop’. The crutches bothered him, and while he loved his parents dearly, he had to draw the line yesterday and ended up hurting his mother’s feelings.

“Open your mouth, baby…” his mother began, taking over and rolling his tray away from him, cutting into his baked chicken like he was three.

“Mom, I can feed myself.”

“You should probably rest. They talked about doing physical therapy for you this evening, and I don’t know why they keep insisting you need to get up and move around. Your leg is injured. In fact, I think we should probably put a pillow under your heel or…”

“Mom, I’m going to do what the doctor says because I’m getting out of here as soon as possible.”

“Oh, I know,” she said, ignoring him and continuing to remove his chicken from the bone as he reached for the tray again – and she slid it away. “Your father flew home last night to get your old room ready. Gary is coming over and getting a few things that he had in there from when you two used to share a room. Remember that? Y’all used to play soldiers and…”

“I’m thirty-five, and I am a soldier.”

“You are a veteran,” she stressed gently, smiling at him, and paused. “Want me to cut the corn off the cob for you too, sweetie?”

Gideon paused, took a deep breath, and hesitated. He was perilously close to blowing up only because he was feeling like a child and struggling with all of this – not because he was truly mad at his mom. Remember that, he thought calmly.

“Listen to me when I say that ‘I love you, Mom,’ but you and I are about to have a few choice disagreements,” he said bluntly, not looking away from her surprised face. “I am a soldier and will always be one in my head, heart, and soul – so don’t dismiss me. I am old enough to cut my own food and eat it by myself. I do not need a pillow under my heel – and I absolutely need my physical therapy because I’m getting the heck outta here as fast as possible to figure out what to do with my life next.”

“You’re coming home…” she interrupted, confused that this was even up for discussion.

“Actually, I’m not,” he replied firmly, not backing down. “I’m going to visit someone in Wyoming who has a cabin for me to stay in – and I’m going to recoup there. If I come home again, it will be to visit and say ‘hello.’ I’m sorry, Mom, but I haven’t been home since I was eighteen, and I don’t plan on letting a little inconvenience completely take me down.”

“Inconvenience?”

“Inconvenience,” he repeated bluntly. “This – all of this – is just a speed bump in the road of life, and while it’s not fun… it just is. I’m going to get past this, figure out what to do next, and throw myself into it bodily.”

“Just like you did out of the airplane?”

“Yup,” he quipped, knowing she was also getting a little testy. Her cheeks were turning ruddy, and she wouldn’t look at him now. “I’m going to laugh, enjoy my life, and if flinging my body out of a plane gets me the thrill that I need to feel satisfied… then so be it.”

“You could have killed yourself, Gideon,” his mother whispered tearfully, rolling the tray of food to him and putting down the utensils. “You don’t know how it felt to get that phone call and…”

He laid his hand on hers.

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