Page 4 of Winter Frost

“Ew, that was gross, Autumn. He’s our dad,” Noelle snaps, slapping Autumn’s arm.

“Girls, please behave. This woman is here to work and not be harassed. Besides, after your mother, I’ve sworn off women.” I ignore their baser comments because they’ve been ready for me to date since their mother ran out on me. They hoped that if I got right back out there, I wouldn’t be so heartbroken. What they didn’t realize was I wasn’t heartbroken. I was pissed, and my ego and pride had been torn down. I’d given their mother everythinga man can give to a woman who never had any intention of loving him.

Our marriage was one of convenience. What I hadn’t fathomed was how convenient it had truly been for her. She cheated from day one of our marriage. Noelle was supposedly conceived during our honeymoon, but it was clear she wasn’t. I can’t even begin to describe how insulting that is. I had to look these bastards in the eye, unaware that they fucked my wife. The more I thought about it, the more I hated all of them. I wanted to gut Ryder, but he would pay one day.

Noelle slapped her hand to her mouth. “You’re gay, dad?”

“No, you damn knucklehead. I just don’t need that damn headache.”

“It’s more like heartache.”

“Ouch, that’s not cool. The man just had a heart attack. Poor choice of words,” Autumn says. The doorbell rings a moment later and Noelle walks to answer it since I’m stuck in this stupid recliner. I’m told to behave, which is hard to do because I’m more than capable of walking. Although I do get winded quickly. I promised my girls I’d be here and I don’t want to leave them alone and abandon them like their mother did, so I’ll follow directions. Although the second my nurse steps through the foyer and into the living room, I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.

“Dad, Autumn, this is nurse Jacqueline Frost.”

“Hello, I’m glad to meet you,” she says with her light brown eyes that shine brightly. Her cocoa-colored hair is wrapped up in a bun and my chest is pounding out of control.

I use my excuse to keep sitting because at this moment she’s created a reaction at me that hasn’t happened since well before that bitch of an ex-wife ran off.

“Mr. Sager, how are you feeling today?” I wonder if she can see the heated skin on my face, or the rapid pulse on my neck. This isn’t a good idea. Having her here would be a terrible idea.

“Wonderful, actually. We don’t actually need your services.”

“Now don’t start that nonsense. Dad, we talked about this already.”

“Mr. Sager, don’t begin this BS with me. Let’s get off on the right foot. I’m here to get you better and not tolerate your bullshit. I know you want to act tough and pretend nothing’s wrong, but obviously there is no you wouldn’t need me, and you wouldn’t happen in the hospital having suffered a heart attack and a setback months later. The area’s resources are limited. I’m here to assess you and bring in the rehab specialists like your Occupational and Physical Therapists. I’ll just come in and check on the progress to ensure that you’re following the assigned protocol.”

“That won’t do. I was told I’d have you as a nurse, and that was it. I don’t need all the extra. I’m just a little out of sorts, not completely disabled like others who are suffering. I told John it was unnecessary.”

“Are you going to be a big baby about this?” We stare each other down and she says, “I can manage your program. It’s not going to be detailed, anyway. Like you said, your needs aren’t as great as other patients.”

“Oh, hot damn, I like her.”

Yes, so do I, and that’s the problem. She’s gorgeous and tough; there’s just something about her as soon as she entered the room that made me captivated.

“Fine. I’ll behave, but you better have a great program to help me get on track. No more telling me I need to rest all the damn time. I have a genetic predisposition, and my heart skipped a damn beat. My arteries weren’t clogged. Other than that, I’m fit and healthy. So please don’t give meI’m too weak to get back on track.I’m not trying to take over the world. I’m just trying not to turn into a fat ass who watches TV all day and gets old and lazy with nothing to do so that I end up disabled forever.”

Her eyes widened, and she blew out a breath, sending a stray strand out of her face. “Well, I like that attitude, Mr. Sager. You’re going to need it for the weeks to come.”

“And enough with the Mr. Sager nonsense. Call me Evan.”

“Okay Evan, you’ll do what I say, and I’ll get you back on track to be running around and be a big pain in the ass to your daughters and your girlfriends.”

“Sorry young lady, I don’t have not even one girlfriend.”

“Young lady? Ha, those days are long gone. I’m twenty-eight. Anyway, shall we get started? I’m going to take your vitals and some measurementsregarding your strengths.” She gives a pointed look at the girls, who start smiling and giggling like the little children.

“I have a bunch of questions I need to ask and once I’m done with that, we can start a little bit of stretches for the first day and then I’ll be back tomorrow. How does it sound?”

“It sounds easy,” I scoff.

“We’ll see how easy it is by the time I’m done.” She smirks at me as if she knows some magic secrets that I don’t know. She asked her questions, which are all annoying yet basic questions. After she’s done though, I have to look away becauseI can’t reach over and kiss those beautiful lips. I’m grateful that her questions pissed me off enough to fight off the urge to taste them.

“Now it’s time to take your measurements. These will determine the strength that you have and the ability to move. Going forward, these will be the baseline and then we’ll determine how far we can work each and every day.”

One by one, we go through her tests. They seem pretty straightforward.

She nods and makes notes without giving me any comments. I wonder what she’s thinking because she isn’t saying anything. At points, she’s so close to me I can breathe in her scent and it’s captivating. It’s a mix of fruit shampoo and body wash and it intrigues me.

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