Page 75 of Gamble
“I say experienced. Confident. Sexy.” She leaned forward, refusing to let him off the hook. “Next?”
“Maybe not now, but when you’re my age, I’ll be seventy!”
“Stop.” Her voice carried a note of authority that surprised them both. “We don’t need to plot out the next twenty years today. Just know that I care about you. I want to help you right now. You saw me through my humiliation with Tristan in Vegas, and I want to see you through your recovery. We can sort out the rest after.”
For a long moment, they stared at each other, the weight of possibility hanging between them. Elijah spoke, his voice rough with emotion.
He squeezed her hand. “I missed you. God, Reagan, I missed you so much.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Despite still being angry at you for ghosting me, I can’t deny that I missed you too. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m not going anywhere.”
“The next week is going to be hell. Recovery from hip surgery is no joke. I’ll be weak, probably grumpy, definitely not at my best?—”
“Good thing I took the week off then.”
His eyes widened. “You what?” His voice cracked with surprise.
“I took vacation time. I’m going to take care of you whether or not you like it.” She gave him a smile that was equal parts sweet and challenging.
The look he gave her in return was intense it made her pulse race, but before he could respond, Dr. Jennings appeared in the doorway.
“Well, well,” the doctor said with a knowing grin. “I see my patient has some excellent nursing care lined up.”
“Dr. Jennings,” Reagan stood and extended her hand. “Reagan Murphy. I work here in surgical.”
“Of course, I recognized you,” he said, returning the greeting. “So, you’re the beauty who helped deliver my old friend his best birthday ever,” he said with a wink.
Reagan could feel the blood rushing to her face with embarrassment as she shot Elijah a look that could kill.
Dr. Jennings chuckled as he released her hand. “Don’t worry. Elijah and I go way back. In fact, I owe more than a few mortgage payments to one of my most frequent patients here.” He thumbed in the bed's direction, and his grin softened. “I’m thrilled that you’ll be taking such good care of our stubborn patient. Elijah’s told me quite a bit about you, and he’s lucky to have you in his corner.”
“Has he now?” Reagan glanced at Elijah, who had the grace to look embarrassed.
“Don’t worry, all good things. Now, let’s talk about what recovery is going to look like.” Turning to talk to Elijah, the doctor gave his post-op instructions. “Normally, I’d admit full replacement patients for an overnight, but I know better than to try that with you. You’ll just check yourself out later whether or not I order it. So, having learned my lesson, I’ve arranged for you to go through all of your day one post-op activities today, and we’ll see if we can get you home to your own bed before dinnertime.
“You know the drill. We’ll need to remove your catheter and monitor you through your first urination. You’ll need to get out of bed and on your feet to take the new hip for a short spin around the nurse’s station and you’ll need to eat and drink the meal we’ll send in, keeping it down for at least an hour. If you can manage all of those things, I’ll release you into the capable hands of Ms. Murphy here and let you convalesce at home. I’m sending you home with the pain meds you love to hate. Don’t be a hero. Take them when you need them.” The doctor delivered a stern look toward his patient before adding, “I’ll need to see youin my office on Friday and, assuming all is on track, you’ll need to start daily physical therapy sessions.”
“I know the drill,” Elijah countered. “I don’t need daily PT,” he groused.
Dr. Jennings turned to Reagan with a smile. “You’re gonna have your hands full these next few days, young lady. Good luck with this difficult patient. He’s a stubborn one.”
“Don’t I know it,” she answered, shooting Elijah a warning glare. “But I can be stubborn when I need to be, so this should be interesting.”
Leaning down, she placed a quick kiss to Elijah’s forehead. “I’ll leave you two to finish up your post-op instructions. I’ll go out to the waiting room and let Nalani know you came through surgery okay. She’s been as worried about you as I have been.”
Reagan stepped out of Elijah’s room, beelining her way to the family restroom just down the hall. Once inside, she locked the door before leaning her back against the hard wood. Her heart was racing. Being around Elijah again did that to her. She was both relieved and confused. Residual anger at how he’d abandoned her warred with a deep need to take care of him. She couldn’t deny that seeing him helpless in the bed was affecting her already complicated feelings for the man who had swept her off her feet in Vegas.
Walking to the sink, Reagan turned on the cold water before scooping up some liquid to splash on her face. The shock of cold helped her snap out of her spiraling worry.
“One day at a time, Reagan,” she announced to the empty room. “Just take things one day at a time.”
Seven hours later,Reagan was helping Elijah move from the hospital’s wheelchair into the passenger seat of her Honda Civic, trying to ignore his obvious discomfort at needing help.
After she slid in behind the wheel, Elijah muttered, “The house is a mess,” as she started the car. “I couldn’t take care of shit before surgery.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Reagan said, pulling up his contact in her phone just before starting the GPS navigation to his house.
“You already have my address?” he asked with surprise.
