Page 22 of All I Want for Christmas Eve

“It’s still snowing,” I say. “Not as heavy as before, but the roads aren’t safe yet. I looked it up, and they won’t clear it for up to 12 hours after the storm finishes. There’s no use in getting on the road if we crash again on the way to the doctor.”

Adam sighs with defeat. “Okay. Then I guess we’re going to be delayed by a few days, because this storm doesn’t seem to be letting up.”

“Even if we could get to Fairbanks, I think the planes are grounded,” I say as we reach the garage door, and enter the house. “So there’s no use in rushing anywhere just yet.”

“What are you going to do?” he asks me.

“Well, first I’m going to put you to bed,” I tell him. “And we are going to use the RICE protocol. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.”

“Isn’t there enough ice around?” he grumbles.

“Don’t be a baby,” I tell him, smacking his butt lightly as he enters the house.

He turns around to look at me in surprise. “Did you just slap my ass?”

“And so what if I did?” I ask him. “Get your fine ass to bed, and get some rest.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answers, with a mock salute. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to call my sister, and ask if she can go home to Minnesota instead,” I tell Adam. “Then I might get some work done on my computer. I’m glad we didn’t pack my office yet.”

“Did you ever hear about the very first computer?” he asks, as he limps toward the bedroom, groaning with pain.

“No, I haven’t.”

“It belonged to Adam and Eve. It was an Apple with limited memory—just one byte, then everything crashed.” He turns back to grin at me.

I can’t resist a smile, but then I roll my eyes. “Ha ha. You seriously need to get some rest, Adam.”

“I will,” he promises. “And as soon as you’re done with your sister, you should join me in bed. I believe we have some unfinished business.”

“You’re too injured for any sort of business,” I tell him.

“My leg is injured, but my other parts are perfectly fine,” he says with a wink. “You should take them for a test drive, and find out.”

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