Page 37 of The Cutting Edge
I grab the remote tethered to the bed and press the nurse call button.
“How can I help you? squawks the voice at the other end.
“Coco’s feeling a bit faint. We may need some help in here.”
“Is she conscious this time?”
“Yes,” I say, feeling oddly proud of myself.
“Hang tight, we’ll be right there.”
“Thanks for this,” Coco says, taking a break from her deep breathing, “for, you know, taking care of me right now. I’ll bet you’re a really great dad.”
“Thanks, that means a lot.”
Nurse Steven blasts through the doorway like he’s making an entrance at the city’s hottest nightclub, dragging a beeping cart behind him like an entourage. “What’s got you troubled, Miss Coco?”
She sits up straight from her position between her knees. “I just started feeling really dizzy and warm.”
Nurse Steven looks me up and down from head to toe and back again, “Mmhmmm.” He flips on the lights, which makes Coco cringe and grabs a paper bag from the cabinet. “Uh oh -- is that light still bothering you?”
Coco nods, and he reaches over to flip the switch off again.
"Head between your knees again. Breathe into this, honey, and tell me if you feel like you’re going to pass out again. In through your nose, hold for four, out through your mouth.”
“It’s getting better,” she says. “I don’t feel like I’m on one of those centrifuge rides at the amusement park anymore, so that’s a big improvement.”
“Good, good,” says Steven, taking Coco’s pulse. “Deep, slow breaths.”
“Is this the concussion? Or something else?” I ask.
“Mmmm, that’s hard to say. Coco’s attending physician will be here to talk to her first thing in the morning, though. Hopefully, that will bring some clarity."
“Hopefully.”
“I’m feeling significantly better,” says Coco, sitting up straight and taking another deep breath. “I think I’m okay. Disaster averted.”
Nurse Steven taps away at the laptop on his rolling cart, asks Coco a few more questions, and then pushes his cart towards the door.
"Push that call button and let me know if you start feeling dizzy again, "says Nurse Stephen. He winks at me and tosses a wave over his shoulder, "Taa-taa!”
“Do all the women you make out with get overheated and dizzy?”
“Yes,” I say assuredly. “Don't feel bad at all. It's a very common occurrence."
She grins, "Good to know." "Nothing to be alarmed about, "I say. Kissing her softly on the top of her forehead, I allow my lips to linger for an extra breath and then leave it there. As much as I was enjoying where this night was going, it's very clear Coco needs some rest.
Standing up, I cross to the restroom. I run cold water over a washcloth, wring it out, and bring it back to Coco. "Sometimes when I feel woozy it helps to have a cold washcloth on the back of my neck."
She accepts the cloth from me and presses it first to her forehead, and then the back of her neck. After a minute or so the color begins to return to her cheeks.
“Much better,” she says. “Now where were we?”
Chapter fourteen
Coco
WhenIwakeupin the morning, Logan’s sexy, giant, muscular frame is sprawled out across the recliner in my hospital room.
