Page 106 of Her Marine
“Hey, I wanted to check if you’re still good with picking me up on Wednesday. My flight is due to land at two, and Killian’s appointment is at one forty-five.”
“Yeah,” Ziggy responded. “I’m still available to pick you up. I’m off, so it’s no biggie.”
“Thank you, and thank you for letting me know that brother of yours isn’t doing what he’s supposed to.”
“Anytime. It’s nice having another person besides my parents that I can snitch on him to. Especially since I know that he’s more likely to get unbearable punishment from you,” Ziggy finished with a laugh. Journee couldn’t help but join in, and she didn’t miss what sounded like Killian snorting in the background.
The two women said their goodbyes, and Journee sighed, irritated that her boyfriend wasn’t doing what he was supposed to.
When she made it home, it was a little after eight, and she decided to take a bath, pour herself a glass of wine, and warm up the last slice of peach cobbler she had from a few days before.
Killian called her while she was in the bathtub, but Journee decided to call him back when she got out. She figured she would try to make him sweat it a bit, though she was sure nothing made him sweat.
After her bath, she moisturized, pulled on a pair of boy shorts, and dressed in one of the two shirts she’d found in her bag when she’d made it home that belonged to Killian. She hadn’t taken them and thought it was cute that he’d packed them into her suitcase.
Journee warmed up her peach cobbler as she poured her glass of white wine, wishing she had ice cream to go on top of it. She grabbed a fork from the drawer and her peach cobbler when the microwave went off and took her dessert and wine into the living room. She turned on the television, flipped toInvestigation Discovery,and found they were in the middle of an episode ofDeadly Recall.
She watched while she ate her dessert, setting the plate on the coffee table when she finished. Journee returned to her bedroom, grabbed her phone, and video-called Killian. The phone rang as she went back down the hall. She’d just settled onto the couch when he answered.
“Hey, Tigress.”
“Hey,” she greeted, grabbing the remote to mute the television. “Tell me why you’re doing exercises you aren’t approved to do.”
“Ziggy was exaggerating. I was doing an approved exercise. I modified it a bit.”
“You modified it to make it easier?” Journee questioned, staring at his face on the screen, already knowing that was not what he was doing.
“No, but I’m fine. It’s been three weeks, and I return to the doctor in four days. They’re going to look at my progress, modify and approve more exercises for me to do,” Killian responded.
“You don’t know that definitively. They may decide to keep you on the same regiment. You could also hurt yourself before the appointment and cause a setback.”
“The only thing I have to worry about is my wrist, and it’s been seven weeks. It’s healed.”
“You need twelve weeks to be sure that it’s healed properly. It could feel fine and not be fully healed, which isn’t the only thing you have to worry about. You had a sixteen-inch-long gash on your side, not to mention the one on your chest and leg. Yes, they’re healed and scarring, but you don’t need to strain them,” Journee replied.
“It was a small modification, baby. Nothing major.”
She was trying not to be upset with him and not to fuss at him, but she wasn’t succeeding. He didn’t think it was a big deal, and she understood that people knew their bodies, but his had gone through a trauma. While much of his healing had taken place while he was in a coma, and she knew he was eager to return to his typical day-to-day. He needed to wait until he was given the all-clear to do so.
“Regardless of how small, you shouldn’t have done it, and you knew I would be upset, which is why you waited to do it until I wasn’t there. What happened to not doing something that would slow down your recovery or make me worry?”
“I meant it. What I was doing isn’t going to slow my recovery and wouldn’t have worried you if you saw it,” Killian responded.
“What were you doing?”
“One-handed pushups.” Journee was about to tell him that wasn’t a good idea when he continued. “With my uninjured hand.”
She sighed. “Please stick to what’s been approved until your appointment. I know you know your body better than anybody else, but do it for me, please.”
“You know I’d do anything for you, Journee. I’ll wait.”
“Thank you,” she responded, picking up her wine glass and drinking.
“Tell me how your event went.”
For the next two hours, Journee talked to Killian, telling him how the event went and asking him how the day with his mother went the day before. When she began to yawn, she turned the television off, took her plate and glass into the kitchen, and rinsed them before sitting them in the sink.
She ensured her front door was locked and went down the hall to her bedroom. She turned on her bedside lamp, plugged her phone in, and placed it on her phone prop as she got into bed.
