Fashioned for Love (A Silver Script Novel Book 3) (8 page)

Lance stared up at the lilac curtains. He needed to get up and move, but his legs and hand were screaming at him. He’d weaned himself off the meds like he told Debra, but after all the times he’d gotten in and out of bed the day before, he was hurting.

He had to make sure the show was ready to go, and he really needed to get out of the apartment and over to the theater. It just wasn’t going to happen. He had a hard enough time making it when he was physically fit, but how would he make sure everything was perfect when he couldn’t even get out of his wheelchair.

There was a tap at the door before Debra peeked her head in. “Hey, I have some breakfast for you. Do you want some ibuprofen with it?”

He nodded. “That would be great.”

She walked in and helped him sit up. Her hair was still damp and smelled of strawberries. He breathed in deeply, allowing himself to relax. “I’ll be right back with your tray.”

Lance watched her go, amazed that she was there and willing to help him. He opened his laptop and pulled up his email. Most of them were from Nikki, but there were also a few about orders that he needed to answer. He hadn’t had a chance to ask Nikki about the orders for the awards ceremonies, so he couldn’t answer those yet.

“Here you go.” Debra entered with a tray carrying orange juice, toast, and scrambled eggs. “I hope you like eggs.”

“These look fantastic.” He set the computer down and took a bite. “Much better than anything I’ve had before.”

Debra blushed and waved away the compliment. “I think you’re just used to hospital food.”

“Maybe. But they’re still good.”

“Is there anything else you need?”

Lance hesitated. “No, I’m fine. Thank you. I’ll just be answering emails and phone calls all day. You can head to work if you need to leave.”

She shook her head. “David told me if I leave you, I’m fired.”

“Sounds like him.” He took a bite of toast and wiped off the crumbs. “Actually, can you help me into the living room. I don’t want to get food on your sheets, and I need to get up and move.”

“Of course.” Debra took the tray and left the room.

Lance sat up, wincing when he put too much weight on his hand. He probably should have had the bandage changed before he left the day before, but he just wanted to leave. He twisted so his legs hung over the side of the bed and scooted forward until his feet touched the floor. He’d just stood to do it himself when Debra came into the room.

“Oh, no you don’t.” She quickly put her arm around his waist and helped him into his chair. “Remember what happened last time?”

“Yes, but that was several days ago. I’m a lot stronger now.” But he wasn’t, and it was frustrating him. He still felt incredibly weak.

Debra pushed him into the bathroom. “Do your business and I’ll help you into the living room when you’re done.”

“Thanks.” Lance washed himself and slowly unwrapped the bandage on his hand. If Debra didn’t have anything to replace them, he’d have to send Nikki for more. The last of the gauze stuck to the wounds on his fingers and he gasped in pain as he pulled it free.

The hand was still a mess, but it was good he’d unwrapped it. The incisions needed air, and he wanted to try to get some strength back into it. He pushed his chair close to the sink and shaved, then studied his face in the mirror. The scratches were nearly healed, but the bruising around his eye looked worse. It was yellow and purple. Hopefully, it would be gone by the fashion show, or he really would stay backstage. He pushed himself away from the mirror and out into his room to get changed into clean clothes.

It was hard to put everything on, but he wasn’t about to have Debra help. It was a little easier to maneuver without the bandage on his hand, but it made his hand hurt to try to use it. By the time he had his pants on, he was ready to scream. He forced himself to put the shirt on so he could go out into the living room. He grabbed his laptop and set it on his lap before leaving the bedroom.

Debra looked up from her work with a smile, but dropped her pen when she caught sight of him. “What’s wrong? Your face is white.”

Lance shook his head, not wanting to admit how much pain he was in. He scooted close to the table where his breakfast sat and took a bite of toast. The throbbing in his hand was bad enough that he couldn’t swallow the bite because of the nausea that kept washing over him.

“Hey.” Debra put her hand on his face and turned him to face her. “I want to help, but I can’t if you keep hiding what’s wrong. You’re in obvious pain. Please tell me what I can do.”

Lance clenched his good hand into a fist to fight past the worst of the throbbing. She was right, even if his pride didn’t want to admit it. “I shouldn’t have taken the bandage off my hand before I changed clothes.”

Debra took his hand in hers and lightly touched where the incisions were. “These are inflamed. Did they look this bad before?”

He nodded. “They’re supposedly healing and according to Dr. Peterson, it’ll only get worse before it gets better.”

Debra stood and left the room. When she came back, she had a first aid kit. “I haven’t gone through this, so hopefully we have what we need.”

Lance tried another bite of food and a drink of orange juice while Debra went through the kit.  He needed food in his stomach if he was going to take the ibuprofen. She finally held up a roll of gauze in triumph.

“Dad told me I should always carry this, and I hoped I had some. I’ll have to thank him for the kit when I see him next.” She carefully wrapped his hand, wincing whenever he jerked in pain. “Sorry. I’m out of practice, but this should help.”

“You’re a lot more careful with it than the nurses were.” Lance smiled at her. “Thank you. Where did you learn to wrap so well?”

Debra put the kit back together. “My parents wanted to make sure we were prepared for everything.”

“Well, for my sake, I’m glad you are.” The pain was still there, but manageable. He finished his breakfast, and set up his laptop. It felt better working at the table instead of in bed like he’d been doing. He was able to concentrate better, even though the emails took three times as long to type with his hand wrapped up.

Debra sat down next to him and slid the laptop over to sit in front of her. “What do you want to say?”

“I can do it. You have your own emails to worry about.” He reached out to take the laptop back, but Debra glared at him.

“Look, I know you think you can do it yourself, but I can do it faster. My emails are caught up, thanks to Erin, so let me help you. Otherwise, there’s no point in me staying home.” The stubborn flash in her eyes only made her beautiful. It was part of what Lance found so fascinating.

He sighed. “Fine. I need to tell them that the magenta tulle is not what we ordered for this line, and that it has to be the light coral I’d asked for.”

Debra’s fingers flew across the keyboard before turning it toward him. “How’s this?”

Lance skimmed the email. “Perfect. Go ahead and send it. Then I need another email to Ella to tell her that she needs to check the storage room for any coral dresses she can find. I have a feeling we’ll need more than what the company plans to send us. It’s the last I’ll be using them if they’re going to mess up the orders like they did.”

Debra went into another email and typed out the message, changing parts where Lance pointed them out. Once they were through his emails, she turned the screen back toward him. “There, now you can go back to your designing, and I need to go make a few phone calls.”

Lance reached out and caressed her cheek. “Thank you. For everything.”

She leaned into his hand. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh, hey, can you grab my phone off the bed? I forgot it.”

“Of course.” She walked into the guest room and brought it back out. “Here you go.”

He took the phone and smiled as she left the room with her own phone. He checked the message and his stomach dropped when he heard the three messages from his parents and the one from the hospital threatening legal action.

Not that they had a chance in court. He’d paid his bill, and he had every right to leave. He deleted the message and sent a text to his parents to tell them he was fine and would be home later.

He called Nikki to make sure everything was okay and to thank her for bringing him the razor and extra clothes. She gushed about how wonderful Debra was. Lance smiled into the phone and waited for her to finish before changing the subject back to the awards ceremony gowns. They were nearly done, which meant he could pass the word along.

Once that was done, Lance pulled up the files he’d been working on. The dresses were nearly done, so he tweaked a few and added more color to them. Once those were ready, he started on the men’s line. The sports coats were cut longer than he normally liked, but he liked how they complemented the gowns they’d go with.

“Wow, those are amazing.” Debra leaned forward to set a mug of hot chocolate next to the laptop and her arm brushed his.

Lance took her hand and kissed it. “This was something I came up with in the hospital, but I was too drugged to make them work. I’m hoping they’ll be ready for the show in France.”

Debra set her other hand on his shoulder. “They’ll stand out, that’s for sure. I love that cut. I haven’t seen it for a while.”

“It’s been out for years, but I figured it’s a great time to bring it back.” Lance stretched to ease the muscles in his back.

Debra moved away, and Lance felt the loss of her so close. “The hospital called me to see if I knew where you’d gone.”

“They called me too. I guess I should probably call them back. Tomorrow. If ever.” Lance grinned. “Okay, so now that’s done. I better go do some therapy.”

“I have a few weights and stuff you can use. They’re in the study. Where I tend to avoid them.”

“Thanks.” Lance wheeled himself toward the study, wincing at the pressure on his hand. Maybe he needed to go back on some of the painkillers. Most of what Debra had he wouldn’t be able to use. There was no way he’d try to use the weights. He started the leg raises and flexed his feet. The pain was worse than it had been for a few days, and he growled in frustration. He had no choice but to call the hospital to get some meds called in, or he wouldn’t be able to function. Maybe his doctor would do it, though.

Debra stood in the doorway when Lance turned to leave the room. “Things are that bad, huh?”

“Bad enough I have to call my doctor. And I really don’t want to do that.” Lance stretched his legs out in front of him. “I’d just hoped to have some miraculous recovery where I’d be walking by the show. I’m not sure I’ll be okay by Christmas at this rate.”

Debra knelt down in front of his chair and took his hands in hers, holding the bad hand delicately. “You were just in a major accident. It’s only been a week and a half. Give yourself some time and it will happen. If you push yourself, it will only make things worse.”

He smiled. “I’m not used to taking things slowly.”

She studied his face for a moment. “It’s time to go for a ride I think. After you call your doctor.”

“Where are we going?”

“Out. I figured we could go on a walk and get you out of the apartment. The weather is supposed to be pretty mild today.”

Lance followed her. “Fair enough. But could we please run by my office? I just want to check on a few things.”

“Your doctor would fire me as your caregiver, but I think it would help your assistants if you can go in. But we’ll only be there for a few minutes. I don’t want to wear you out.” Debra picked up his phone. “What’s your doctor’s name?”

“Dr. Carter. I can dial it myself, you know.” Lance gathered up his laptop and the files he’d been looking at and organized them the best he could.

She smiled and put the phone up to her ear. “I know, but I can do it easier.”

Lance sighed. “At least let me talk to him.”

“Hello? I need to talk to Dr. Carter’s nurse, please … thank you.” Debra handed Lance the phone.

When the nurse came on, Lance explained the situation to her. After listening to the lecture about how he should still be in the hospital, she promised to pass on the message and get right back to him. Lance hung up and set the phone next to his laptop before going to his room to change. Except that the only other clothes he had were dirty from the day before. He really needed to go home and get his things. Just not yet.

He brushed his teeth and combed his hair the best he could before going out to find Debra. She had changed into a pair of dress pants and a blouse that accented her curves perfectly. Her hair was down—his favorite style on her.

“Ready?” She pulled on her coat.

“As ready as I can be right now. We might need to run by a store to get me something nicer to wear. My employees might have a heart attack seeing me in sweats and a T-shirt.” He pulled his coat on and zipped it up.

Dr. Carter called as they left the apartment and after yet another lecture, he agreed to call in a prescription. Lance thanked him and hung up just as the elevator door closed.

A cool wind blew through the city, but the sun was out, melting the snow on the sidewalks. Debra flagged down a taxi and helped Lance into the taxi while the driver put the chair into the trunk.