with you for at least a few days. I see your mother lives with you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He wasn’t going to tell her that his mother was traveling. He also wasn’t staying. He could sign himself out against medical advice, and would, if they tried to hold him. He’d rather go home tonight. Be with Daralyn alone. “Staying overnight isn’t necessary. I’m pretty experienced in caring for myself.”
“I see that here,” the doctor responded, holding up the tablet, but then gestured to his general state, the cough that kept grabbing him, even now as she spoke. “But not here. Give it one night, Mr. Wilder. I think it’s a very good idea.”
“I think your mother would agree,” Daralyn said.
He glanced her way. Her expression was hard to read, but the emphasis she put behind the words had his brow rising.
That had been a threat. If he didn’t agree, she’d call and tell Elaine.
She met his gaze only a second before she demurely glanced down and away, folding her hands before her. It didn’t change the set of her mouth at all. She meant it, and wasn’t backing down.
He narrowed his eyes, but brought them back to the doc. She’d apparently picked up the veiled threat as well, because amusement was laced with the concern.
“Sounds like it’s three against one. It’s difficult to resist a woman’s will, Mr. Wilder,” she said.
“Tell me about it,” he muttered.
By the time they settled him in a room, he was so tired, he was practically unconscious as the orderly helped him onto the bed. He slept, though a recurring prick of urgency roused him every once in a while, his need to ensure Daralyn was still there, that he hadn’t imagined her.
The room had a sleep chair, and she set up operations there. She’d called Johnny and Amanda first. Then, once it was a reasonable hour in their time zones, she’d called his mother and brother. He tuned in for some of it, but kept drifting in and out.
“No, he’s okay, Elaine. He really doesn’t want you to cut your trip short. Johnny and Amanda will help with the store, and you know there are plenty of neighbors who will help if I need it. Please stay there, finish your trip. I’ll take care of him.” A pause. “I promise. When he wakes up, he’ll want to call and talk to you, I’m sure.”
The hope being that he wouldn’t be hacking like a pack-a-day smoker by then. Which was how he’d sound if he talked to his mom now.
Daralyn was franker about his condition with Marcus and Thomas. While they’d be more likely than his mother to listen to her when she said they didn’t need to come home, he suspected she wanted a second opinion on his condition, and how she was handling things.
She’d always been the type of person who, once she knew her help would be welcome, would quietly step in and handle something. But as he listened, he realized there was a different quality to this. In the past, she’d projected a certain jumpiness. Any indication her help wasn’t welcome would make her back off immediately.
He couldn’t pin down what the new ingredient was in her manner, so he gave up trying to figure it out for now. When she was done with the calls, she turned on her side so she could reach out from the chair, lay her hand on his forearm.
They had him turned on his side, keeping him off that pressure sore, pillows propped between his knees. The doc had said he’d been close to getting a couple there, too.
Amazing, how having her back here with him could bring total clarity. He really had been such a dumbass. He knew it. Shame would eventually set in, but that was the nice thing about exhaustion, drugs, relief, and the sight of his girl close by. Right now, things were okay.
“Wasn’t the way I wanted you coming home to go,” he mumbled. “Are you…home? Or just visiting?”
The question was out before he could stop himself. His heart about squeezed itself into pulp, because her expression didn’t immediately change, holding that thoughtful but hard-to-read look.
“Dr. Taylor and I agreed I was ready to come home,” she said at last. “I was planning on coming home today, taking a morning bus back, but then…I just couldn’t wait. One of the staff at the treatment center was driving to the beach after his shift last night. He offered to take me home.”