Choosing Happiness (18 page)

“What did he have to say? How long am I going to have to deal with the other screw-ups instead of you?” He grinned but Jake could tell he was serious. At least partly. He may not truly believe the other nurses were screw-ups, but his preference, and perhaps affection for Andrea, was clear.

“It’s going to be a while.” Andrea laughed. “At least a couple months from what Dr. Shaw said. At least six weeks in a sling so the bone can heal, and then I’ll start physical therapy. I’m looking at a minimum of two months off.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. We’ll miss you in the emergency room. Things run much more smoothly when you’re around.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Andrea’s face turned pink. She turned and looked at Jake. “Have you met Jake?” she glanced at the doctor again before looking back to Jake.

The doctor looked at Jake a moment, then back to Andrea. “Yes, he came in on the bus with you last night. He was in uniform and at first I thought he was here to question you but he said otherwise.”

“Yeah.” The ghost of a smile formed on her lips. “We’ve been together for a few weeks.” Her eyes never left Jake.

Jake looked at the doctor, he seemed concerned for Andrea. Glad she was doing better and interested in her well-being but Jake wasn’t sure if there was something more to it. Was this guy interested in Andrea? Had there been something between them in the past? A vague uneasiness settled into his stomach as he watched the two of them.

Andrea and Dr. Whirley talked a couple minutes about what had happened the day before then his pager went off. He made his excuses and left at a run. Jake didn’t know what to say. Andrea carefully wiggled to one side of the bed.

“Come here.” She patted the bed beside her.

He stood and moved close. “Do you need something?”

“Yeah.” She let her head fall back again the bed. “I want to feel your arms around me. Lay here with me and hold me.”

He hesitated. He didn’t want to hurt her, but at the same time, how could he deny her?

As carefully as he could, he lay on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. One around her waist and the other just above her shoulders so she could use his arm as a pillow. He wanted to ask about the doctor that had just left but he didn’t want to upset her, instead he watched as her exhaustion won and she drifted off to sleep, feeling safe in his arms.

T
he next day Jake’s partner came back. Ramon wanted to check on Andrea and see how Jake was handling things, as well as ask her a few more questions.

“It’s nice to see you, Ramon.” Andrea said, her head tipped back and resting against the bed. “What can I do for you today?” she gave him a weak smile.

“Well, ma’am. I have a few more questions, but I also wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m all right. I hurt a bit but they give me the good stuff.” She tried to wink but ended up blinking. “Unfortunately the good stuff also messes with my motor skills.” She laughed and Ramon joined in.

“How about your memory? Is that affected?”

“Memory seems to be fine, even if it takes me a little longer than usual.” She laughed again. It warmed Jake’s heart to see her in good spirits. He knew she’d been pretty miserable the day before, mostly because she hurt and they were keeping her pretty drugged up. Today the pain seemed to be less. She’d lost the tight, drawn look she wore when she was hurting, and he’d noticed that she was going longer in between doses. He’d have to talk to the nurse to be sure, but he thought the doses were lower too, at least she seemed less groggy after them than she had.

He listened with half an ear as his partner asked Andrea several more questions about the incident at the bank, some of which she could answer, but not all. She’d quit paying much attention to the captors once they’d shot her. He clenched his fists as he recalled the sound of that gunshot. Taking a deep breath he let it out slowly and forced himself to relax. She was injured but she would recover and be just fine. The men who had hurt her were in custody and would get what was coming to them. He had to be content with that.

“How you doing?” Ramon’s voice changed from all business to a more friendly tone when he spoke to Jake. Jake looked up from where he was forcing his hands to unclench.

“Huh? Oh, I’m okay.” Jake looked at Ramon but couldn’t meet his gaze. Ramon looked at him for a long moment.

“Okay, huh? I’m not so sure about that. You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

“He refuses to go home at night.” Andrea said from the bed. “He sits in that chair and dozes at night but that’s it.” She motioned toward the recliner sitting against the wall where Jake put it when he woke in the morning.

Ramone eyed him for a minute then looked back to Andrea. “Any word when they’re gonna let you out of here?”

“It should be in another day or two, barring complications. They want to get me off the stronger medications before they send me home.”

“Makes sense.” He looked back at Jake. “Knowing him, he’ll probably refuse to sleep anywhere but here until then.” Jake narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ramon and wondered what he was up to. “Anyway,” Ramon turned back to Andrea, all business once more. “Thanks for answering my questions. I’m glad you’re doing all right and hope you get out of here soon.”

Andrea responded with thanks for his visiting and Ramon left. Once he was gone, Andrea turned her eyes to Jake and watched him a few minutes.

“Why won’t you go home?” She tilted her head to one side as she waited for an answer, her eyes never leaving him. Jake scrubbed his hands over his face and pushed one back over his close cropped hair.

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep there anyway. I’d rather be here with you.”

She watched him a moment longer, seeming to sense there was more to it, but she didn’t push.

“I’m tired.” She scooted to the edge of the bed. “Come up here and hold me while I nap.” Needing to have her in his arms, he didn’t hesitate to join her on the narrow bed.

***

A
couple days later, the whole family gathered again at the hospital as Andrea was released. The doctor that had come by every morning to check on her had given Jake and Andrea instructions on how to care for the injury and wound and told them there was no reason for her to stay longer. They’d let her family know and Andrea had supervised as Jake gathered up stuff that had been brought to her. Her things and the flowers and balloons sent by friends and coworkers had been hauled out to his pick-up while she and her family had waited on her release paperwork. He made it back from his third trip in time to see her settling into a wheelchair one of the day nurses had brought in.

"Are we ready?" Jake looked from person to person.

"Yep," Andrea said. "I'm ready to be home."

"Are you sure you won't come home with us, dear?" Sophia asked for about the fifth time.

"I'm sure, Mom. I want to be home. I want my own space, my own things around me and to sleep in my own bed." Andrea told her again, as Ben took the handles and started pushing the chair out of the room and down the hall.

Jake laid his hand on Sophia's arm, delaying her a moment and letting Ben, Jeanie, Andrea and the nurse get a little ahead of them down the corridor.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm not going to be letting her stay alone. I'll either stay with her or take her to my place." He kept his voice low so the rest of the group wouldn’t hear them. Sophia patted Jake’s hand with her own.

"Thank you, dear. That does make me feel better." She looked down the hall at her children. "Sometimes it's hard having raised such independent children. But it’s rewarding at the same time." She smiled at him and they continued down the hallway, catching up with the others as they waited for the elevator.

They reached the ground floor and Ben pushed the wheelchair out the doors to the loading area where Charles was waiting with the car. After carefully loading Andrea into the front seat, Jake kissed her cheek and promised to meet them at her place. He watched Charles pull out and headed out to his truck in the parking lot. He didn't realize until he opened the door and saw the passenger’s side open too that Ben had followed him.

"What are you doing?" he asked his friend.

"Riding with you. What does it look like?"

"What about your wife?"

"Jeanie'll meet us there. I wanted to talk to you."

"And you figured your best bet at getting me to talk was to trap me in a truck with you?"

"It's always worked before," Ben said reasonably.

Jake rolled his eyes. He knew there would be no talking Ben out of this so he didn’t bother and got in the driver’s seat. He waited until Ben was in, had closed the door and buckled his seat belt before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

"Spit it out if you want to talk." Jake pulled out into traffic.

"What are your plans?" Ben asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid here, Jake. You know what I mean."

Jake sighed before beginning. "I don't have a lot of plans right now. Andrea and I have a lot of talking to do. I'm not making any plans until we do that."

"All right, I can go along with that. But tell me this, if you had whatever it is, what do you want?"

"Andrea."

"Is that all?"

"I'd prefer safe, whole, happy, and mine, but if that's not how it works out, I'll deal with it. If she has to be with someone else to be happy, I'll deal with it. I'll be one grouchy, surly son of a bitch, but I'll deal."

"You know she hasn't had time to process what happened in the bank yet. With all the meds and the company in the hospital, it hasn't hit her what could have happened."

"I know.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “She wants to be home. She wants normal. I understand that, but she won't be staying there alone. I'll see to that. I'll stay with her. I'll be there when it hits her and I'll help her deal with it. You and I both know what it's like when the what if's catch up to you. I'm not leaving her to go through it on her own. Hell, she can't even dress herself right now."

"You don't need to remind me you'll be helping her with that particular detail." Ben scowled at him from across the cab.

"Sorry, man, it's the truth. Face it." Jake said flatly. "I already told your mom that I won't be leaving Andrea alone. It seemed to make her feel better about Andrea insisting on going home instead of their place, so they could take care of her."

"I'm glad you'll be staying with her, don't get me wrong. I was worried about her being alone and something coming up that needed both hands. Hell, she can't even drive to get help."

"She doesn't know it yet. I'm sure there will be some argument when she finds out, but I'm not about to let her stay anywhere alone."

Ben chuckled. "I don't envy you that fight and I'm glad I don't have to have it. Thankfully, I get to go home and spend time with Jeanie. All this has driven home how precious every minute is."

A
ndrea closed the door behind her parents. Turning she sagged against it in relief.

"Finally," she let her head fall back against the door. "I thought they'd never leave."

"They're worried about you." Jake watched her for signs of fatigue. "They just want to be sure you're okay and taken care of."

"I'm a big girl. I don't need anyone to take care of me."

“I know you're a big girl, Dee, but you're injured and you've been through something traumatic." He was careful how he put it, he didn’t want to upset her before everything hit her. "They’re gonna worry about you for a while."

"I know, but they hover. It’s making me crazy." She straightened. "I just want some peace and quiet for a while."

"I know," Jake waited a moment, expecting her to tell him to leave, before continuing. "Why don't you go take a bath, relax some. If you don't mind my invading your kitchen, I'll fix dinner."

"I think I will go take a bath. A nice, hot soak sounds heavenly." She sauntered up to stand in front of him. "You are as welcome in my kitchen as you are in my bed but I don't want you to feel like you need to stay. I'm fine."

"I know you are, but I want to stay. Are you going to try to throw me out, too?" He lifted one brow as he looked down at her, almost challenging her to try.

"No, but I might get grumpy and yell at you if you start hovering like Mom."

Jake grinned. "I'll do my best to avoid that." He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "Do you want me to start the water in the tub? Or let you? I can come in and help you take your shirt off in a few minutes if you like."

"Thanks for asking before just doing it. I can start the water, but I'll welcome the help getting undressed." She pulled away from him and headed for the master bedroom and its attached bath.

"I'll go see what I can make for dinner then." Jake went into the kitchen and started looking through cabinets. As he mentally cataloged what he found, he heard the water running in the bathroom. He gave it a few minutes, then fixed her a glass of iced tea to drink while in the tub before taking it to her into to the bedroom.

He stepped into the master bathroom to find Andrea sitting on the edge of the tub, fully dressed, and watching the tub fill. He sat the full glass on the sink before turning to her. He sat on his heels, bringing him to her level so he could look her in the eyes.

"Are you all right?"

Andrea blinked, focusing on Jake’s face. "Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled to prove it. "I was just thinking."

"You ready to get in there?" He nodded to the nearly full tub.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how we're gonna manage this." She tugged at the cloth of her sling.

"Let me think about that while we get you undressed," Jake said unbuttoning her blouse for her. He helped her slip her uninjured arm out of the shirt and then unfastened the sling and slid it and shirt off together, careful to hold the weight of her arm so it wouldn’t hurt her shoulder. "I have an idea, where do you keep your extra sheets?"

"In the linen closet in the hall, why?"

"A pillowcase will make a good makeshift sling, one that can get wet as you relax then this one will still be dry when you're ready to get dressed. As long as you don’t get your stitches wet you’ll be fine." He went to the hallway and retrieved a pillow case from the closet. "Do you have any safety pins?"