Page 28 of Saving Veronica
“Thought you’d want to do that.” William smiled at her. “I just told Finn he should step in and fill your shoes while you took some time off.”
“Thank you. This would work for him to get to know the business and get his feet wet. He could plan this fundraiser for Grady from start to finish.”
“But what?” Finn asked, as he took a bite of his burger and looked at the others in confusion.
“Brainstorm,” Maggie said, as she studied the handsome man sitting in bed, devouring his meal. “What did you learn about Grady in the little time you spent with him?”
“He loves animals. He loves people. He’s generous, friendly, and caring.”
“So, what does that tell you?” Eric asked, after Finn remained silent.
Finn closed his eyes and leaned back in the bed. Then he grinned, snapping his fingers. “Animals. Do something with the animals. For the animals.”
“Go on.” Maggie beamed at him.
“Okay, this is just off the top of my head, but it’s the beginning of August now. Ronnie and I will be in our casts for the next eight weeks. That puts us to the beginning of October. What if we have a costume party, or to be more specific, what if we have a Halloween party and have people bring their animals dressed in costumes. Hell, even Major has his own flak vest. He even has medals earned while serving, sure it’s for safety and recognition, but how many people have dogs or cats that they dress in sweaters and such.”
“That will give you eleven, almost twelve weeks to pull this together,” William said.
“What else could possibly be involved?” Finn frowned, worried when the other three laughed, until they were holding their stomachs.
“You’ll need a venue, decide on snacks, or a dinner, raffles, entertainment.”
“Great,” Finn said, and they looked up when a nurse walked in the room with a pair of crutches. Everyone stood back, and laughed when Finn refused to get out of bed.
“Mr. Larson, the sooner you get up and use the crutches, the sooner you can go home.
“Sorry, but I’m not going to get out of this bed with my ass hanging out. Get me a pair of scrubs or something. I don’t know where my clothes are, and I refuse to walk around in this.” He pinched the hospital gown and brought it away from his chest.
William and Eric grinned as Eric placed a small duffel on the bed next to Major. “Didn’t know what was wrong with you, so I ran home and went through your stuff, I brought you a couple tee-shirts, shorts, and sweat pants.”
“I’ll take the shorts,” Finn said and then shooed everyone out, so he could get dressed. Normally he’d go commando, but he found a pair of boxer briefs and pulled them on, a pair of sweats, then one running shoe and grinned when he saw the crutches leaning against the foot of the bed. He swung his legs over and laughed when he saw that his cast was camouflage. Finn used the crutches and was out in the hall before anyone realized that he was there.
“Where’s Ronnie’s room? I’d like to go see her,” he said, and ignored the nurse as he followed Maggie to her granddaughter’s room.
“Fine,” the nurse called after him. “I’ll tell the doctor to get your discharge papers ready.”
“Thanks.” Finn grinned over his shoulder.
Chapter 10
‘Thirsty.’Ronnie thought. She was so thirsty. She slowly opened her eyes, surprised to see white walls. Slowly she moved her head and didn’t see any people, but lots of white walls and machines. She even looked up to see if she could see the sky through the trees. That was when she realized she was in a hospital. She closed her eyes and tried not to panic. She did a mental commentary of what she remembered but nothing came to her. The last thing she remembered hearing were screams. She slowly opened her eyes when she heard the door open and saw several men in white coats walk in. Based on the color of their scrubs, she realized the attendings were doing rounds with the interns. She decided to play with them.
She lay there when someone walked to the side of the bed and another asked questions. Someone opened her eyes to shine a light in them After he finished, she left her eyes open and the intern jerked away from the bed.
“Problem?” came a stern voice from the foot of the bed.
“Her eyes are open,” the intern said, and stepped back when several older men rushed to her side. Ronnie looked around, but latched eyes on one man in a white coat. She knew the others were around her, but she zeroed in on only one man. When an older man looked her directly in the face, filling her vision, she stared at him.
“You have a tube down your throat.” She nodded and he continued. “I’ll remove it, so please do as I say.” Five minutes later, Ronnie was coughing and wheezing. She opened her eyes when she felt a straw at her lips.
“Thanks,” she croaked out after wetting her throat and lips.
“I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Ronnie said, but kept her eyes on the man at the foot of her bed. She was poked, prodded, lights shone in her eyes. She quirked a brow at the guy, and smirked when he mirrored her expression.
“Do you know your name?” The first doctor asked.
