Page 150 of Broken Daddy
“That was heaps for me,” she told him. “Honestly. You eat.”
He eyed her suspiciously, but started eating without argument. As he was finishing up, the nurse walked in.
“Oh, I see you found some better food,” she said with a smile. “The doctor will be doing his rounds soon and then I wondered if you wanted a shower.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Hayes said as he tidied up all the packaging.
The nurse gave him a surprised look. “Oh, well, it would likely be best if I helped.”
“Why?” he demanded.
“I can show Devi what to do so she can shower on her own in the future.”
“I’m her fiancé. I’m here to help her. She doesn’t need to do it herself. Now or in the future.”
Fiancé?
“Well, it still helps for the patient to know how to do things for themselves,” the nurse said stiffly.
“Devi doesn’t need to know. She has me and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll get her into the shower after the doctor has been in,” he said.
The nurse’s face grew stiff and she tensely took Devi’s vitals before leaving.
“Why are you saying you’re my fiancé?” Devi asked when she was out of the room.
“Told them that so that they would give me information about your care.”
Oh, that made sense.
She couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like if it was true. A deep longing filled her even though she knew that would never happen.
“And because I intend to take care of you.”
“But you won’t always be here.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked. “We’ve been released from our job by Sondra. I have nowhere else to currently be.”
“No, I mean, when you return home,” she said. “I’ll be here alone. Although I don’t know how long I’ll be in the hospital for.”
They’d probably release her soon. She couldn’t stay in here forever.
He opened his mouth to say something, but then the doctor entered the room. Hayes sat there, taking in everything the doctor said.
“Miss Dawson? Devi?”
She glanced up to find the doctor staring down at her kindly. Her cheeks grew red as she realized he’d been talking to her while she’d been daydreaming.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
“How are your pain levels? And is there anything else you need to ask me?”
“Oh, my pain level is fine,” she said. “How long will my arm be bandaged like this? When will I be able to start rehab? And when do you think it will be better?”
“Her pain level isn’t fine,” Hayes said in a low voice with a frown at her. “She’s lying because she doesn’t want to make a fuss but I’ve seen her wince a lot.”
“You must be honest with us, Miss Dawson,” the doctor told her. “We’ll see if we can add some more pain relief. Physical therapy can start tomorrow, it will be gentle and I’m afraid things will take a while. It’s not something that can be rushed.”
Right.
