Page 68 of Jump Back On

"Yeah, but it's Friday," I reminded her.

"And you willnotbe riding tomorrow!" she snapped, her voice raising enough to carry just a bit. "J.D., you'll be lucky if they let you out of here."

"She's right," a man said as he pulled the curtain back and stepped into view. "José, you managed to break four ribs on your right side. Three more have tears in the cartilage. We found significant bruising in your abdominal cavity, and your spleen now has three stitches in it. The rupture was able to be controlled, so we didn't need to remove it."

"Damn," I grumbled.

"And," the doctor went on, "your knee was dislocated, but due to the unrepaired tendon issues, we could reset it easily. I recommend surgery for that, but with everything else you had, we thought it could wait." The man crossed his arms, giving me that official look doctors were so good at. "I have no idea how you didn't break your femur, but the bruise on the bone means you're going to need to take it easy for a while."

"How long's a while, doc?" I asked.

"Eight weeks."

I just shook my head. "Ain't happenin. How about two?"

"Six," the man said.

"Four," I countered.

But this doctor wasn't the bedside manner type. "How about eight?" he asked.

Cody had to shove a hand over her mouth to hold back her laugh. "Take the six, J.D."

"Aw naw, Cody. I can't do six! I gotta ride at Nashville. Mama will be there."

"And if you end up paralyzed in the next accident?" the doctor asked.

I just shrugged that off. "Then I'll be rich enough to buy me one of those scooters like that genius guy had. The kind I can drive with my chin. See, I got this all figured out."

With a heavy sigh, the doctor just looked down at Cody. "Six weeks or he's risking bigger problems."

She nodded. "Then six weeks it is."

He gave her a smile I didn't really like. It wasn't the kind that proved they were conspiring against me. Nope, this one looked like he assumed her good looks were all I'd care about. Like he thought she was just some little buckle bunny or something. Yeah, well, fuck that. She was mypartner!

I pushed myself higher in the bed, intending to say something about that, but a rush of pain blanked my mind. I gasped. Immediately, Cody was on her feet, but the doc also turned to make sure I hadn't fucked shit up too bad.

"José," the man said, "your entire right side is damaged. You can't get up without help. You cannot sit up without help. You most certainly will not be walking." As he talked, he helped get me more comfortable in the hard-ass hospital bed. "That's why you need at least six weeks to recover. This isn't going to heal quickly, and if you want to keep doing this bull riding thing, you should take the time to recover the right way."

Yeah, but my mama always watched me at Nashville. I had finals coming real quick after that. Naw, I'd figure this out. I wasn't sure how, and I could take a bit off. Still, none of this was good news.

"J.D.," Cody begged, "just let us help you?"

"Ok, baby," I relented, knowing who had the real pull here. "But I gotta figure this out."

"And we'll do that together too," she promised.

The doctor patted her shoulder. "Ok, miss. We need to get him moved up to his room, and I think you have some friends of his to update, right?"

She nodded, so he gestured to the side. I was pretty sure there had to be a door that way, but from here, I couldn't see it. The curtains around me blocked almost everything in the room but the equipment I was hooked up to.

"I'll have someone let you know when we have him settled," he promised her.

"Ok," she said, glancing back at me. "I'm not goinganywhere, J.D. Neither is Tanner."

I smiled, which was enough for her to head off. Damn, but I liked how she wanted to linger. I really liked how she was hovering over me. That girl made my heart do some damned stupid things, and if she was serious about me missing Nashville, then I would. For her, I'd do any-fucking-thing.

Unfortunately, the doctor hadn't left with her. Nope, the man was standing at the end of my bed, his arms still crossed over his chest.

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