Page 22 of Hard Hat Hottie

All of a sudden, I bolt upright. “Where’s Mom? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, Harry. Joyce is with her. She feels terrible for you. She’s going to help you out around the house for a while until you can manage better.”

“She doesn’t need to do that. Joyce does too much already.”

“Listen, numb nuts. You can’t do everything yourself. Let people help you,” Matt barks. I’ve never heard him sound so testy. “Sorry. I worry enough about you and Mom while I’m away. You’ve always put her first, only asking me to help once. Now you’ve barely woken up from surgery and are trying to push Joyce out the door. Let her help you.”

“I wish I could stay,” Ellie adds. “But we’ve gotten the restaurant up and going, and it’s much busier than I ever expected. I don’t have anyone else who can stand in for me.”

“I’d never ask you to do that,” I reassure her.

“We’re aware.” Char rolls her eyes. She lifts her paper cup to her lips and takes a sip of coffee. “I’m here. If I have to, I can move my appointments around. You want me to come and stay with you for a while, Harry? It might be tough getting undressed with one arm,” she says in a singsong voice, smirking playfully at me. How long have they been sitting here waiting for me to wake up? “Or you could hire that pretty nurse from the ER to come home and take care of you.”

Matthew sits up taller in his seat. My eyes bounce between the three of them, and I notice Ellie’s cheeks are flushed. But, unlike Char, she’s a natural redhead with fair skin. It doesn’t take much to make her blush.

“Um, which pretty nurse?” Matt asks.

Ellie smacks his arm with the back of her hand.

“No, babe. For Harry. Not me.” He leans in, wrapping an arm around her while pulling her chair closer to him with his left hand.

“She was wearing the oddest uniform I’ve ever seen.” Charlene laughs. “But your brother was completely smitten. He practically pledged his utter devotion to her right then and there.”

“What the hell? You’ve lost your mind, Char.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then you’re right.”

She gives me a quizzical expression.

“It was the medicine.” Quickly changing the subject, I ask, “When do I get out of here?”

“I think you can leave tomorrow,” Charlene answers. “They’re just holding you overnight since the surgery happened late afternoon.”

“What time is it? I can’t just go home? Seems like a waste staying here overnight.”

“Can you please cooperate? Just relax. Let them bring you pain medicine,” Charlene scolds.

“And a sponge bath.” Matt waggles his brows.

“Hell no.”

“Well, it appears my brother is back to normal. So, we’re going to head to the house and check on Mom.” Matt stands from his chair and turns to help Ellie to her feet.

“Call me if?—”

“We’ll do no such thing. Just get some rest, so you’ll be ready to break out of here tomorrow,” Matt says.

“I’m ready to leave now.”

“I’ll be by in the morning to check on you before work,” Char says, giving me a kiss on the head. “Please don’t give these poor folks a hard time.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble. As they each exit the room, I flop back, trying to adjust my position in the bed when a searing pain tears through my arm, and I wince.

“I’ve got some more pain medication for you, Mr. Hightower.” Turning, I find an elderly nurse bringing a small jug of water and some pills in a medicine cup.

Maybe it’s not such a bad idea I’m here one more night after all.

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