Page 53 of Last Chance Love

“Because it’s like I told him yesterday, he should bea lotworse than he is. Taking a hit like that should have done, I don’t know, a lot more than this. He’s going to be in pain for the next few days, at the very least, if not longer. And he’ll be one big bruise for the next few weeks.”

“And what would be your medical advice?”

“He’s going to need to rest for at least a few days. Not extreme bed rest, but no heavy lifting, no overexerting himself, no?—”

“Excuse me?” I asked, eyes wide. “There’s no way in hell you’re going to confine me to?—”

“No doing anything that could exacerbate his symptoms,” Reed continued, eyes narrowing on me. “And if he decides to be difficult, you can deal with him however you see fit. I won’t argue.”

“Good, then you can take care of him,” Mona said as if she’d been waiting for one of us to say something she could jump on.

“I…what?” Reed asked, startled. He whirled around on her. “What?”

Mona smirked. “And who is he going to listen to? I could threaten him, but I like this plan better.”

“He’s got to work at the clinic,” I protested, knowing full well the clinic would struggle if he was with me all the time to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to. “And I can’t just stop being a mentor.”

“Well, no, that’s true, but it’s good that you’ll have a doctor on hand to know when you can finally be up and around, now, isn’t it?” she asked brightly, gesturing toward Reed. “When he says you can work, he’ll determine how, and you’ll only do it when he’s around to make sure your stubborn ass doesn’t go overboard. Half the time you’ll be in the field, and half the time you’ll be here.”

“Us swapping half and half, back and forth?” I asked in disbelief.

“No, him being there to keep an eye on you when you’re out in the field, and then you come back here and help in the clinic with whatever they need. You may not be a doctor or nurse, but I’m sure an extra pair of hands or someone to run the front desk wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Mona said, her eyes finding mine but constantly going back to Reed who still had his back to me and was staring at her.

Mona’s eyes eventually locked onto him, and they stared at one another without saying a word. Or at least nothing verbal. Still, I could practically feel the full-fledged argument the two had through the smallest expressions. The trouble was, I could only get one half of the conversation, and Mona was a hard read on a good day, let alone when she was keeping her cards close to her chest.

Reed’s shoulders tightened before turning on me and glaring. “You better behave.”

My eyes widened. “What the hell? How am I suddenly the one in hot water?”

Mona smirked. “I do believe he expects more trouble out of you than I would. Maybe I should keep an eye on you from here on out just to be safe.”

“Thanks,” I growled at Reed, who rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Mona pulled out her phone and checked it briefly before tucking it away. “Good, I’m glad we could settle things. Reed, take care of him, and Leon, don’t get yourself more hurt, or you and I will have a talk.”

I was at a total loss, something significant had just happened, and I was completely left out. It left me with the uncomfortable feeling that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes that I wasn’t party to, but Reed was. Yet I couldn’t hold too much against him when I had secrets I’d kept from him. I only hoped he wasn’t keeping somethingtooimportant from me.

“Should I bother asking?” I wondered with a raised brow.

“You should bother with feeling better,” he said with a shake of his head. “You ready to get out of here?”

“I’d say yes, but how much paperwork do I have to deal with before I’m let out?”

He grinned at that. “Give me a little bit. It won’t take long.”

I sighed, shoulders slumping because I knew what that meant, and had to prepare myself to wait until the afternoon before I’d be free.

REED

“You don’t have to do this,” Leon complained as we walked along the outer edges of the cabins. They were set up in a messy circle, with the inner ‘circle’ being the four-man cabins for the Tier Threes, the next ring was two-man cabins for Tier Twos, and then finally, the outer ring for the Tier Ones, who all had their own, private cabins.

“Yes, I do,” I told him with a snort. “I know how stubborn you can be when you’re told you can’t or shouldn’t do something because you’re hurt. And I’m not getting my ass in trouble because you decided to do too much.”

“I don’t think I could get up to too much trouble like this,” he grumbled as he walked slowly. No doubt, every step felt like his whole body was getting punched all over again. “I’m not seventeen anymore.” The same stubborn petulance and almost indignant tone, as if he couldn’t believe I wouldn’t trust him despite having repeated proof of how ridiculously hardheaded he could be.

“No, but you do sound like a child who missed their nap,” I said because I was still human, and poking fun at him when he was pouting was too hard to resist.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” he said, and I had to chuckle silently so I didn’t risk setting him off. Leon could take a ribbing with good spirits, but he was in pain and probably not happy that he had been assigned a babysitter for the next couple of weeks, so I didn’t want to push too hard.

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