Page 72 of Whisper of Surrender (Whisper Lake 2)

CHAPTER 22

“Okay, Mister Steele.” The day nurse, Rita, entered the room waving Ethan’s release papers in her hand. “I just need your John Hancock and I can get you out of here.”

Thank God.

Ethan couldn’t wait to sleep in his bed again. To take a shower in his shower. To not be woken up every few hours to have blood drawn or his blood pressure taken. What should’ve been a two-day hospital stay, at most, turned into a six-day stint after an MRI that revealed inflammation in his brain. When he’d fallen down, he’d hit his head on a rock and it had caused cranial swelling. Nana kept making the same joke that he wasn’t as hardheaded as she’d thought.

He took the pen and signed where the green and red arrows indicated.

“Boy, things sure are going to be a lot quieter on the floor without you here. It’s been like Grand Central Station in here. You are quite a popular guy.”

That was another reason he was looking forward to getting home. When he was home he could not answer the door. Here, anyone that stopped by had access to him. He supposed he could’ve requested not to have visitors, but he’d felt bad that people were driving all the way from Whisper Lake to see him. It was more than two hours round trip.

“Where is that beautiful girlfriend of yours?”

“Work.” Ethan didn’t look up from the paperwork.

Everyone at the hospital loved Jess. And why wouldn’t they? She was, as everyone was saying, “a breath of fresh air,” and “as funny as she is smart and pretty.” Also she was “the total package” and had “hutzpa and class, a winning combination.” The entire medical staff at Grace Memorial seemed to be smitten over his fake girlfriend that he really loved and knew now that he should never be with.

Just another reason that he was ready to get out of here. If he heard that he should “lock that down” or “put a ring on it” one more time from virtual strangers, he was going to lose it.

Ethan had never been under the illusion that life was fair. He’d been found in an alley when he was less than a week old. His first few years were spent in not-so-nice foster homes. The only parent he’d ever known died just as he was becoming a man. One of his best friends, Patrick, died of a freak brain aneurysm, leaving his sister Ali to raise his twin sons. Jess had spent most of her life unable to breathe. Carter was gone, leaving Lori to raise Carly and Jilly alone.

There were worse things in the world than his realizing that he and Jess could never be together, but right now it was ranking pretty high in the life-isn’t-fair category.

He knew he was feeling sorry for himself and taking it out on people that were doing their jobs, like Rita, or going out of their way to support him, like Jess, who’d been at the hospital every day. She worked in the mornings and cleared her schedule in the afternoons to come and see him. And each time she did, he told her she didn’t need to come and he hardly spoke to her.

He’d tried to “break up” with her, several times. But she wasn’t having it. She said that if they broke up now, everyone would feel sorry for him and assume that she was the girl that bailed on her hero boyfriend.

It wasn’t a secret that Jess was a force to be reckoned with, he just never thought that she’d be using her forces to try and keep them together and he’d be the one trying to separate them. Sooner rather than later he knew that he needed to have a serious conversation and end whatever it was they were, he just hadn’t found the right words yet.

Or, more likely, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Well, I bet that lovely girlfriend of yours is happy to finally get you home.”

“We don’t live together,” he snapped.

“Yet.” Ethan heard a familiar female voice.

He looked up and saw Jess standing in the doorway. It was barely nine a.m. He’d made sure to get discharged right after morning rounds so that no one, especially not Jess, would be here. He was going to Uber home and then hole up in his house. He knew that he’d be facing Nana, since she had a key, but everyone else he’d planned on ignoring completely.

“But you never know what the future holds.” She smiled, and to anyone that didn’t know her, they’d think it was a happy, genuine smile. He knew it was a challenge.

“What are you doing here?” his gruff voice did nothing to hide his irritation.

“Good morning to you, too, Mr. Sunshine.” Her voice dripping with sweet saccharin sarcasm. “I’m coming to take you home.”

***

Jess was tryingto keep a positive attitude and not take Ethan’s attitude personally but he was really testing her patience.

He’d spent six days in the hospital and in that time she’d tried everything to lighten the mood, from her usual dry sarcasm to just all-out jokes. It hadn’t worked to put a dent in his shitty demeanor but it at least amused her and the nurses. She’d hoped that his overwhelming negativity would improve when he was released. So far, not looking good.

She glanced over at him and saw he was rocking his perma-scowl as he stared out the window. They were close to an hour into his freedom ride and he’d barely spoken three words. And those words were, “I’ve got it” when Jess tried to help him with his seat belt.

“So, I’ll drop you off, get you settled, and then go and get your prescriptions.”

“I don’t need you to get them.”

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