Page 72 of All Autumn
He told us Connor’s room number, and we headed to the elevator. “Jenny and I will say a quick hello, then get out of your way,” Dylan said. “We’ll leave her car here so the two of you will have transportation.
Adam took the keys Jenn handed him. “Thanks.”
When we walked into the room, Connor was watching a nurse as she slipped a pillow under his ankle. “Don’t see why I can’t go home,” he said, sounding both groggy and grumpy.
“Mr. Hunter, you have a concussion. That is not something to take lightly,” she responded.
I smiled. “Stop harassing her, Connor.”
He turned his head our way and then winced. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hello to you, too,” Adam said.
Connor snorted, then winced again. “Note to self: Stop moving, laughing, or blinking.”
“Even blinking hurts?” I asked, going to him. When I reached the bed, I put my hand on his. “You scared the holy crap out of all of us.”
“Sorry. Wasn’t my intention to take a slide down the mountain, believe me. And yeah, even blinking hurts.”
The nurse handed him a small remote. “If you need anything, or if you start feeling nauseated or dizzy, just push this button.”
“’Kay.” He dropped the remote onto his lap.
Dylan and Jenn moved to the bed. “We wanted to make sure you were alive and breathing before we headed home,” Dylan said. "The doctor said you might get to come home tomorrow. We’ll stop by and see you when you’re back in the valley.”
“Aren’t you going with them?” Connor asked me when they started to leave.
“I thought I’d stay.”
“Don’t want you to. Sleepy.”
And just like that he was out. I told myself that it didn’t mean anything that he didn’t want me here, but it felt like a rejection and that hurt. In my head I knew he wasn’t rejecting me, that he probably wouldn’t even remember this conversation tomorrow. It was the ache that had sliced through my heart at his dismissal that had me backing out of the room. I was falling for a man who would eventually move on.
That wasn’t good, not for me. I didn’t do hurting anymore.
38
~ Connor ~
“Hey, beautiful. Are you avoiding me? Call me.” I disconnected, frowning at the phone’s screen. I’d been home—well, at Adam’s house—for two days, and not a word from Autumn.
Dylan and Jenn had stopped by, Jenn’s parents had paid a brief visit, Mary had shown up—blue hair this week—and even Hamburger had appeared with three mason jars of cherries soaking in moonshine. He’d taken them out one by one as if they were treasures—and hot damn, they were—setting them on Adam’s coffee table in front of me.
“Three, Hamburger?” I’d said. “I might have to fall down a mountain more often if this is what I get.”
He’d reared back, slapping his coverall-covered knee, laughing like a deranged man. “Connor Hunter, you’re a funny man.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ya do that again, ya hear me?”
“I hear you.”
Adam, sitting on his sofa next to me, had snatched up one of the mason jars. “He has a concussion, Hamburger. The doctor said he can only drink two of these. I’ll just take the third one. Don’t want his doctor mad at him.”
Hamburger had laughed so hard that his face had turned red. The man was easily amused.
Yeah, I’d had well-wishing visitors, but not the one I wanted. Adam had hovered over me like a mother hen since he’d brought me home from the hospital, and I’d finally convinced him to go to the jobsite for a few hours.
My head ached a little now and then, but it was my ankle that bothered me. The thing throbbed like a sonofabitch. The good news, other than a slight case of hypothermia, Rusty was unharmed and back home in South Carolina with his parents. I’d do it all over again to save the kid. He’d sent Adam and me a nice e-mail, thanking us for finding him. Attached was a picture of him standing in his yard, waving to the camera.
But what was going on with Autumn? I couldn’t drive yet, or I’d go see her. When Adam returned, I should get him to take me to her house. Her silence was driving me crazy.
