Broken Empire A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance - Callie Rose Page 0,10

to prop me up even more. The bathroom had handrails installed in the shower and along the walls, and there were spare blankets draped over the chair in the corner.

It was smaller than the last room I’d stayed in here, but it felt cozier somehow.

I flashed a look at Jacqueline as she directed Avery, one of the staff members, to go heat up some soup. As the other woman turned to leave, my grandmother glanced over at me, and our gazes locked.

It was the first time she’d truly looked at me since I’d arrived.

Her body stilled, and for a few seconds, we just stared at each other across the expanse of the room. Then her lips tightened at the corners, and she blinked.

“Get some rest. You look—” Her voice broke off, her eyes going a little glassy. Then she turned and hustled Philip toward the door, adding over her shoulder, “Please, rest. I’ll have Avery bring you some lunch in a little while. She can help you with anything you need, but I’ll tell her not to disturb you if you’re sleeping.”

Then she closed the door softly behind them.

Gee, thanks, Grams.

I snorted a soft breath, shifting on the mattress. The bolster really helped, actually, and there was one for my leg too, to help keep it elevated. I arranged myself as best I could in a pile of pillows, then closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion that’d been tugging at me pull me under.

If Avery came back while I was sleeping, she followed my grandmother’s instructions and left me alone. When I opened my eyes again, it was dark out. I stared up at the ceiling until Philip knocked on the door and stepped into the room with a tray bearing food. He set it up for me before grabbing several pills from my collection of bottles on the dresser and handing them to me with a glass of water.

As I downed them, he sat on the edge of the bed, clearing his throat.

“I made several calls today, and I’ve found one of the best, most highly recommended rehabilitation specialists on the west coast. I know right now all you need is rest and care, but when the time comes, I’d like to bring him in to work with you. He can do private sessions with you as soon as Doctor Garrett gives you the go-ahead.”

The last pill I’d swallowed sat like a lump in my throat as I gazed at my grandfather. His blue eyes were sad and tired, but not as cloudy as I remembered them being so often before. Part of his recovery regimen after his stroke was supposed to include cutting out alcohol, but I had honestly wondered if he would do it.

I guess he did.

“Thank you… Grandpa.” The word felt foreign but not unpleasant on my tongue, like food from a country I’d never visited. “I—I would really like that.”

“Good.” He smiled at me, making the skin around his eyes crinkle. “Good. I’ll start making travel and accommodation arrangements now.”

“Thanks.”

I meant it. Even with the money the judge had released from my trust, I wasn’t swimming around in cash or anything. My dad’s health insurance from the power plant had covered some of my rehab the first time I’d hurt my legs, although the woman I’d worked with then definitely wasn’t the best or most highly recommended anything.

“Of course.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim black phone. “Here. It doesn’t have all your contacts in it, but I wanted you to have one. Keep it nearby, and text me if you need anything.”

I accepted the cell phone, resting it on the bed next to me. “Thanks.”

My old one must’ve been destroyed in the crash. I decided not to think too hard about what’d happened to it.

He sat with me in comfortable silence while I ate the soup and bread he’d brought, and I wondered if Jacqueline was eating dinner all alone at the massive table in their dining room. When I finished, he repeated what he’d done at the hospital, bending down to press a kiss to the top of my head before retrieving the tray. Then he made his way out the door, leaving me to fall asleep again.

That was the pattern I repeated for the next several days.

Wake up, eat, take pills, sleep.

Philip had hired a nurse to come by several times a day, so she helped me shower and change my bandages. Without meds being pumped directly into