Page 36 of Tacos & Toboggans
He held up his finger before he walked over to the bed and grabbed my phone. Once again, I noticed the lilting gait and remembered the brace from earlier. All I could assumewas that he’d been hurt in the service, but there was no way I was asking him about it when my brain was so befuddled. “I’ll leave you to get ready and go heat dinner,” he explained, handing me the phone. “Take that into the bathroom with you in case you have a problem. You can call me.”
“Do you want me to come over when I’m ready?”
“No, I’ll be back to get you in fifteen. I don’t want you to walk over by yourself since you’re still unsteady from the medication. Also, don’t shower. That will be an endeavor you’ll need to undertake once you’re a few days out from surgery. We’ll pick up a bath chair and a cast cover for your arm. We’ll also ask one of the girls from the gang to be here before you shower for the first time. Falling while that arm is in a splint would be bad news.”
“Yes, captain,” I said, giving him a salute, which did odd things to his eyes.
“Colonel, actually,” he said with a shrug.
“Wait, seriously?” I asked just as the conversation in the food truck came back to me. “When you said you were in the service, I thought you meant before medical school.”
“I retired from the army about nine years ago,” he explained. “But I was already a physician when I joined up, so I went in as a major. It didn’t take long to work my way to colonel.”
“Why did you leave?” I asked, curiosity overruling my good sense not to pry into his personal life.
“It was time.” The answer was simple, but something told me the truth was anything but.
Jaelyn sat at my dining room table, eating a bowl of chicken noodle soup from the diner along with fresh bakery rolls. Ivy had dropped it off earlier before heading back to get her kids ready for their evening of fun. I was grateful since mycooking skills were decidedly lacking, and I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of Jaelyn.
A niggle of worry had been at the back of my brain since our discussion in the cottage. I couldn’t help but wonder if she knew that I was an amputee by the way she watched me when she thought I wasn’t looking. I hadn’t told anyone in this town that I’d lost my left leg, so it wasn’t likely, but the thought made me sweat. Did it matter? Yes and no. I’d felt that way about it since it had happened nine years ago, and not much had changed. Oddly, no matter how many times I changed jobs and cities, that feeling stuck with me. I was worried it always would. The smart thing to do was to tell her, and I would, once she was no longer taking narcotics and her mind was clear. While I didn’t know everything about her, I did know she’d have plenty of questions and would want a clear head for the discussion.
As evening approached, the clouds gathered and the temperature dropped, but the sky hadn’t opened yet, so with any luck, the trick or treaters would get their fill of candy before the last rain of October fell. When I returned to pick her up, I helped her into one of my warmer flannel jackets that would wrap around her sling since she’d need it outdoors tonight. The air was crisp with the scent of rain and fallen leaves. I was grateful. We’d finally get that cold air I’d been wishing for, now that November was here.
“I can’t eat another bite,” she said, pushing the bowl away. “Mason’s soup is always so filling.”
“I agree,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “And those rolls are out of this world.”
“Bells Pass Bakery for the win,” she said with a smile. “It was nice of Ivy to bring it over. You’re too busy to cook.”
“Ha,” I said, holding up my finger. “More like because I can’t cook and she knows it.”
“There’s that,” she agreed with a wink.
How I wish she’d stop winking at me. Every time she did it, I wanted to push her up against a wall and steal a kiss until she was breathless. Thankfully, I was smart enough to know that wouldn’t be welcomed, appreciated, or appropriate. That didn’t mean it wasn’t my gut reaction every time.
A glance out the window told me it was time to move out to the deck before the doorbell started ringing. I stood and helped her up. “Leave the dishes, I’ll get them after the tricks and treats are over. Let me help you out to the deck.”
“I can walk, Major,” she promised. “I’m steadier on my feet after that nap.”
“Maybe, but it hasn’t been twenty-four hours since you had anesthesia, so I’d rather ensure you don’t faceplant on my front porch going over the threshold.”
The word brought around a vision of me carrying her across it, her wearing a white gown. I bit back an eye roll at myself. Like this woman would ever marry you, much less let you carry her over a threshold when you’re held together by baling wire and grit. Well, okay, so very expensive baling wire, but the same idea, nonetheless.
Once she settled in the chair with a pillow under her arm, I went back in for an ice pack and the candy. She tucked the ice pack inside her sling, but I shook my head.
“Who taught you how to ice an injury?” I asked, removing it again.
“Uh, did I do it wrong?”
“In this case, yes,” I explained, taking the pack and resting it in the crook of her elbow over her shirt to protect her skin. “Since the splint is so thick, the cold will never seep through enough to impact the swelling.”
“I was too out of it to notice what they did last night, to be honest.”
“That’s not surprising, but by putting the ice at your elbow, it will cool the blood as it goes down to your wrist and hand. That’s the only way to effectively ice an injury that’s splinted the way yours is. Once they replace it with a removable one, you can then apply ice to the wrist. For now, this is the best you can do.”
“Wait, I won’t have a hard cast?”
“Like a fiberglass one?” I asked, and she nodded. “While I’m not your doctor, so I can’t say for certain, my guess would be no. Since the surgery repaired the fractures and we don’t have to worry about the bones becoming unaligned,” I said, sliding my fingers off kilter until she nodded. “They’ll make youa custom brace. We call it a spica thumb splint. They’ll trace your hand and then make it right there, so it fits you comfortably. It will be strong and hold the arm properly, but it will feature Velcro straps that allow you to open it and remove it for physical therapy. You’ll have to wear it in the shower, but they’re made from a material that you can dry off and put right back on.”
