Page 63 of Tacos & Toboggans
“She has to be to keep Audrey Violet calm the way she did last night,” Dawson said with a shake of his head. “Honor said she was like the Grammy Whisperer.”
Snickers from around the table occurred, but it was clear I was in the hot seat, the way their attention was focused on me.
“Would be a shame to see her get hurt,” Gabe said, leaning on the table with one elbow, his chin resting on his palm. “Joy would not take kindly to that.”
“Lord, imagine Holly and AJ if they got word someone hurt Jaelyn,” Dawson said, shaking his head.
“Wouldn’t be pretty,” Ellis agreed, biting his lip with worry. “Ivy and Audrey would be harder to corral, though.”
“Listen, as an army doc, I did surgery in the desert inside a tent and sweated less than I am right now,” I said, wiping my brow. “I have no intention of hurting Jaelyn.”
“You know what they say about intentions,” Gabe pointed out. “Even good ones can take a turn.”
“They say that?” I asked, glancing between them, hoping to elicit laughter, but got none.
“You’ve been in town only a few months, and the skills you exhibit indicate you’re a bit advanced for a career in a town this small,” Gabe pointed out. “You have skills big city hospitals would trip over themselves to get.”
“Been there, done that,” I said with a shrug. “LA and Denver. Didn’t care about the lifestyle or the demands of that kind of life, not after living through what I lived through overseas. I can appreciate a city for what it can offer, but when I drove into Bells Pass, it was a different feeling. More like home. A place where you could make a life and enjoy it. Trust me when I say that wasn’t the case in the big cities.Besides, Bells Pass feels small, but that doesn’t mean we can’t provide excellent care for those who live here, right? Would you rather that Alan was sent to Saginaw last night because there weren’t enough providers to go around or a surgeon with the skills to deal with his comorbid conditions? My ego doesn’t require constant stroking. Never has, but if it had, that would have been blasted out of me nine years ago along with my leg.”
The look around the table told me that my status as an amputee was not new information, which meant it had been disseminated between last night and this morning. Good, one less thing for me to do. Now I could use my spare time to take one beautiful Spanish goddess out on a date.
“Respect,” Gabe said, standing along with the other guys. “I’m glad you’re picking up what we’re putting down.”
“Somewhere this side of hurt her and die,” I said, holding my fingers a millimeter apart. I gave them a well-intended salute as they waved and headed to pick up their families. Only Dawson remained, and he refilled our coffee cups as Jaelyn walked into the kitchen.
“Hey,” I said, holding my hand out to her. She looked at it for a beat before she slipped her hand into it, as though she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with that kind of PDA. I could respect that by not kissing her silly in public, but her touch always calmed me, and right now, I could use a heavy dose of that to calm my swirling thoughts and emotions. “All done?”
“We are,” she said with a nod and a smile at Dawson. “Honor will report back to Audrey that all is set up and ready to go.”
“Good,” Dawson said with a nod. “The last thing we want is Audrey trying to organize stuff from the hospital room.”
Jaelyn moved around behind me, but I refused to let go of her hand, so I just slung mine over my shoulder so I could continue to hold it. Dawson lifted his brow but didn’t comment. Smart man.
“I spoke with my contact at the prosthetics company, and he’ll be at New Beginnings on Tuesday. He can’t check the knee offsite, though.”
“Wow, word does travel fast around here,” I said, surprised that he already knew the details.
“We’re efficient,” he answered with a shrug.
“Do you have his number?” I asked, and Dawson nodded, pulling a card from his shirt pocket and sliding it across the table. “Thanks. I’ll call him and see if he can bring a loaner with him on Tuesday. This one will either need to go into the company, or more likely, I’ll need a new one. It is what it is, but I need something to use so I can keep doing surgery. My old C-Leg is around for emergencies, but I’m not sure I could do a full surgery with it anymore. It doesn’t hold a charge long either.”
“Can’t have that,” Dawson said. “I’m sure Corbyn can hook you up with a loaner. Do I even want to know what a new microprocessor knee costs?”
“You absolutely don’t,” I said, laughing at the look on his face. “The one I’m using is six figures, but it's worth every penny when I don’t have to worry about it during surgery.”
Jaelyn stiffened behind me, her hand tightening in mine, but I refused to let her pull away. Prostheses of any kind are expensive. That’s just the truth of the matter.
“My VA insurance will cover it. But there’s no way to get to a VA hospital to have it interrogated. Assuming it can’t be fixed, that is.”
“It doesn’t have a replaceable battery?” he asked.
“Sure does, but this is already the second battery change on it. It's been out of warranty for two years, is already six years old, and I've been abusing it. It’s likely toast. I appreciate the assist,” I said, lifting the card and tucking it in my pocket.
“Anytime. If I can help any other way, just let me know. I’d better get the kids rounded up and head home, too. I’m sure AJ could use some time off that foot.”
“She mentioned she was sore,” Jaelyn said with a nod. “But like really sore and I was kind of concerned.”
Twisting to see her face, I noticed the lines that told me she’d come in here for that reason, and I’d made her sit here through the discussion instead of picking up on the cue. “She started walking on it, right?”
