walked into where Juss was sitting on the bed, dressed and ready to go home. “I have some good news for you, Justin.”
“I never have to come back?” he asked, hopeful.
She chuckled. “You don’t need to have your scheduled scans next week like we talked about, because you had them all yesterday.”
“Does he still have to come in for an appointment then?” I asked.
“Yep. You both can’t get away from me that easily,” she said with a wink. “I know we talked about moving to fortnightly appointments, but we might need to hold off on that for another week or so. We can start focusing on some coping techniques for stress.”
“Doctor Anderson already did that,” Juss said.
“Yep, and we’ll be going over it again,” she said brightly. He wasn’t getting out of it, obviously.
“I know how to start,” Juss said. “Never see my mother again. That’s it. Step one and only.”
Doctor Chang frowned, but I agreed with Juss. “She’s not welcome at our place ever again.”
“Well,” she said. “At least we know where to start.”
I went to Juss and rubbed his back, kissing the side of his head. “If and when you ever decide to see her again, it’ll be on your terms. Not hers, okay?”
He nodded and looked up at me, giving me a small smile. “I’m so tired, babe.”
I pulled him against me and held him, which was kind of awkward since he was sitting on the bed. But he didn’t mind, because he sighed and relaxed in my arms. “We’ll be home soon,” I whispered, rubbing his back.
Doctor Chang studied Juss for a moment and mouthed, “I think he’s asleep.” Smiling, she pointed to the door. “See you next week.”
I didn’t dare move, even long after she’d gone because, yeah, Juss had fallen asleep against me. He was kind of side-on but his neck was well supported, so I left him right where he was. He woke up when the nurse brought his discharge papers, and he didn’t even argue about the wheelchair he had to use to leave. That’s how exhausted he was.
He slept on the way home and barely stirred when I woke him up to get him out of the ute. I helped him up the stairs and he walked himself straight back to bed. He was out like a light, so I put everything he might need on his bedside table and went downstairs.
Of course, Davo and Sparra had stopped what they were doing. “How is he?” Davo asked.
“He’s okay. Tired as hell, probably will be for a while. I doubt he’ll be down here working this week, but we’ll see.”
“Fair enough,” Sparra said.
I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. “You two got a second? I wanna run something past ya’s before I start making phone calls.”
Davo nodded. “I could always have a coffee.”
With three fresh brews, we sat at the breakroom table and they waited for me to start talking. “It’s been a shit few months, and I know my time has been split between here and everything else. That’s not fair on you guys, and I just want you to know that I really do appreciate it.” They were both about to argue or say something to downplay my thanks. I put my hand up. “I mean it. And anyway, I’ve been thinking of something I could do to make things run easier and smoother for you two. And for the business, but mostly for you two. I think yesterday proved to me that I can’t always be here. Juss’ health has to be a priority. I mean, this place and you guys are a priority too. So I can’t do all this on my own. I can’t manage this and you guys and Juss and emergencies and whatnot. So I was thinking I needed help.”
“What kind of help, Dallas?” Davo asked.
“I don’t want to hire another mechanic. I love our little team and I don’t want to replace Justin because his station will be his until he’s ready to come back to it. And I don’t want to spend every minute of every day in the office because that’s not what I love doing. I wanna be working on bikes. It’s what we do, right?”
Sparra nodded. “Yep.”
“So I was thinking I might hire an office manager. Someone to take care of the phones, the bookings, the orders, the . . . everything that I’ve been slacking on, basically. Everything that Davo’s pretty much been doing in my absence.