Page 61 of Forever After All

Linc stared at her with silent indecision in his expression. She wanted him to stay, but saying it would make her sound needy. Plus, nobody wanted to spend time at a hospital unless it was necessary.

“Neither of you have to stay with me. You can’t do anything.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Brett said with his arms crossed over his chest. “Especially since we don’t know what’s wrong yet.”

“Concussion and bruised ribs. You’re free to go,” Jess said.

“Nice try, sis,” Brett said with a playful grin. “You’re stuck with me.”

Linc nodded and took a step back. “I’ll get Ridge to help Thea until I get there. Call me when you know something.”

“Ten-four,” Brett said as he slapped a hand on Linc’s shoulder. “Thanks for staying with her.”

Linc locked eyes with her again, and the words almost slipped out. She didn’t want him to go, and maybe she was imagining it, but he didn’t look like he wanted to go either.

Linc took one step back, then another. “I’ll call you.”

“Thanks, man,” Brett said with a wave over his shoulder.

Jess turned her head to watch him leave, and the pain in her head and side wasn’t what brought tears to her eyes.

Chapter18

Jess

Jess groaned and squirmed in the hospital bed with a wince. After almost twenty-four hours confined to one spot, she was ready to claw out of her skin.

“You want to walk again?” Linc asked from the recliner beside the bed.

Brett stayed with her until they got a report. Concussion and two bruised ribs. No internal bleeding, and no lung damage.

Linc showed up before the sun, saying he’d taken the day off. In the years she’d worked at the ranch, she’d never heard of him taking off for himself. He’d taken some time off when Brett needed his help dealing with Thea’s family, and he’d cut his shift short by a few hours to come rescue her from a bad date.

Never for himself. Now he was cutting out precious pre-season hours for her, and despite her arguments, he was staying.

“She told me to give it a rest. I don’t want to rest. I want to get up and walk around by myself.”

“The nurse didn’t mean that you couldn’t walk anymore. She was just concerned you were going to overdo it.”

Jess threw her hands in the air. “How can I overdo it when I’m not doing anything?”

Linc rubbed a hand over his mouth, trying and failing to hide his smirk. “You don’t quit, do you?”

“What does that even mean? Why would I quit anything?”

Linc leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “I mean, you don’t rest. Do you ever get tired? Overworked?”

She gave him the courtesy of actually taking a second to think about his question and her answer. “I get tired, but I like what I do. I’d rather be working than sitting around wasting time. What about you? You’re cutting hours right now.”

Linc rubbed his hands together. “You know, I don’t like resting either, but you need a ride home.”

Jess sighed and gave up the fight. “Thanks for coming to get me. I know you don’t like missing work, and I don’t either. Mr. Chambers is lucky to have us.”

“We get some time off work, and we want to go back,” Linc added. “We’re quite a pair.”

Jess laid her head back onto the pillow. Being told to quit or give less than her full effort went against her instincts. Her legs itched to be up, but not just walking. She wanted to be helping, doing.

Everyone else knew how to relax. Why didn’t she understand it?

---