know anything other than what you did to Joci and the aftermath of her injuries. Linda's right. Meeting with them, somewhere neutral, might at least let them know that you won't be stalking them or trying to harm them in any way."
Rubbing the space between her eyebrows, which had just begun to throb, she sighed. "I didn't know they were thinking I'd be stalking them or try to harm them."
"I don't believe that they are. But, if you were Joci, what would you think about the person who nearly killed you and your baby?"
Closing her eyes, she slowly rotated her head in circles to relieve some of the newly formed tension
"God, I hadn't thought about that. I'll try and call Dog today, if he'll accept my call."
26
Chase watched as the nurse looked at the monitors alongside his bed, wrote things on his chart, then checked his IV. The last thing she did was pull a thermometer from the little beige carry case on the tray, slide a protective sleeve on it and then looked at him. "Open your mouth, please."
He did so as he listened while the box attached to the electronic thermometer beeped, counting off the seconds as it registered his temperature. When the final beep sounded, she gently pulled the thermometer from his mouth, looked at the display and wrote his temperature down on his chart.
"Not bad for what you've been through. Slightly elevated. 101. How are you feeling today?"
"I'm feeling better than yesterday, but a bit sore everywhere."
"Well, you took quite a ride in your truck and even though you had your seatbelt on, and the air bag deployed, the pulled muscles as you rolled over and over will take a while to heal. How's your head though?"
"Not as bad as last night. The light doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it did but still seems a bit brighter than it should."
"Well, I’m sure that the reason is the concussion you suffered from all the jostling in the truck."
"Did you find my phone?"
She looked at him, her brows furrowed before she opened the top drawer on his bedside table and looked inside. Not finding his phone, she checked the second drawer and came up empty.
"Do you remember where it was when your accident occurred?"
"My pocket, I think."
The nurse turned and walked to the narrow closet across the room and opened the door. His jeans had been hung in the closet and she dug around inside his pockets until she turned with a smile. "Got it."
Bringing it to him he pushed the button only to find that the red low battery light was on.
"Shit," he muttered.
"Need a charger?"
"Yeah."
She chuckled. "We've got a drawer of them at the nurses’ station. We all bring our old chargers in when we get new phones, so patients have them. If you don't mind me taking your phone, I'll run and see if I can find a charger to fit."
He handed his phone over and lay his head back and closed his eyes.
The next thing he noticed was the smell of food. Opening his eyes, his tray table had been wheeled up to him, and a fresh tray of food lay on top. His stomach roiled and he worried he'd throw up. Reaching out he pushed the tray of food away, then pulled his sheet up over his nose to mask the smell a bit.
His nurse walked in the room and looked at him. "The smell getting to you?"
"Yes."
"Can you try to eat something?
He closed his eyes and thought about eating but his stomach rebelled again.
She took his food tray and carried it from his room; to say he was grateful at that moment would be an understatement.
A few moments later she came back in and lay packets of saltine crackers, two cups of applesauce and a cup of coffee on his bedside tray.
"When you feel up to it, maybe you can nibble at these. Low odor. But, you should try to get a little something in your stomach to build your energy."
"Okay."
She then pointed to his bedside table. "I found a charger and plugged your phone in. You were fast asleep."
Slowly, he turned his head so it wouldn't throb or cause him to toss anything that had managed to stay in his stomach from last night. There lay his phone and he reached over for it. Picking it up, he pushed the button on the side that unlocked it. The bright light caused him to close his eyes a second or two