Hardball (18 page)

Aside from baseball, being left-handed was an advantage in a scrap, too, because the other guy often had no idea how to react to jabs and punches coming at him from a different angle. In Brooklyn, where he’d grown up, knowing how to fight was more important than just about anything. And as a teenage baseball phenom, his southpaw curveball had baffled the other kids, even much older players. He had mowed down the batters like a scythe slashing through wispy stalks of dry wheat.

Nate remembered the day when one of his elementary school teachers taught the class that the word “sinister” derived from the Latin word meaning “left”. That was cool. It meant vaguely dangerous or threatening, and that suited him just fine.

But now, without the use of his left arm and hand, he felt like a pathetic, one-winged bird. The simplest things had become difficult, like opening the fridge door.

He was struggling to slather peanut butter on a couple of slices of toast when he heard the front door open. Dropping the knife on the granite counter, he ambled to the hallway just as Holly shut the door behind her. She leaned into him and he kissed her slowly and deeply, his tongue tasting all the heady sweetness of her.

He thanked God for Holly. She was the only thing right now keeping his sense of anger and frustration at bay. When he opened his eyes this afternoon to see her standing by his bed in that damn hospital cubicle, her emerald-green eyes full of worry and affection, it had been like someone had thrown him a lifeline.

“I like that welcome,” she sighed in her pretty, southern-tinged voice. “You must have missed me.”

“Big time.” Nate clumsily brushed a lock of auburn hair away from her face. “It’s been hell trying to get the peanut butter onto my damn toast.”

“Beast!” She slapped him on the ass as he dodged away from her. “You’re feeling a little better, I gather, since you’re back to the lame jokes.”

“It doesn’t hurt that much except when I move the arm. The sling’s good, but I’m sure I’m going to keep trying to use this arm unless it’s glued to my body.”

She walked with him down the hall, rubbing his back in sympathy, but then laughed when she saw the mess he’d made in the kitchen. He’d slopped more peanut butter on the counter than he managed to get on the bread. She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Having a little trouble with the right hand, are we?”

He grimaced, his frustration spiking again at the thought of how long it would take him to get back to normal. “This thing better heal fast or I’m in trouble. I’ll have to hire a cook.”

“Now there’s a thought,” she agreed, wiping down the counter with a Handi-wipe. “But for now, why don’t you let me make you something better? How about an omelet and a salad? Got any eggs?”

“In the fridge. Thanks. Maybe this invalid thing won’t be so bad after all.”

“I think you’d better find that cook,” she said with a little snort. “And in the meantime, get out of the kitchen. Oh, wait.” She rummaged around in her purse, extracted a pill bottle, and twisted the cap off. “Here are your meds. Take two now, and go relax. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

“Thanks, Doc. You’re the best.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and left the kitchen, but not before he saw the happy, almost shy smile that lit up her beautiful face. He hesitated, and his chest muscles seemed to pull tight. Not painful tight, just strange tight. He frowned, rubbing his pecs, but then chalked the odd feeling up to the stresses of the day.

They ate at the glass-topped table in his kitchen, both too tired to talk very much. They discussed his upcoming rehab, and Nate made a few lames jokes about it. Though Holly chuckled at his attempted humor, he could see something weighed on her mind. Something besides his injury.

“I know you’re worried sick over me,” he said in a teasing voice, “but I get the feeling that something else is going on in that mighty brain of yours. Want to talk about it?”

Holly sighed. “Really, it’s nothing you should worry about.”

He thought she was trying to hide her discomfort for his sake, but wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “What’s going on, babe?”

Her mouth turned down at the corners as she clearly weighed telling him. He knew her enough by now to understand that her instinct would be to coddle and protect him, but that was crap. If something was bothering her, he wanted in on it.

“Oh, it’s just some nastiness with a guy at the hospital,” she finally said. “I don’t take well to being yelled at. I got enough of that from my parents to last several lifetimes.” She gave a shrug, as if it didn’t mean that much.

Nate bristled on her behalf. “What’s the bastard yelling at you for?”

She got up to retrieve the coffee pot from the counter, and didn’t answer until she’d refilled his cup. “It’s a weird situation. His five-year-old son needs a heart valve replacement as soon as he’s healthy enough for the surgery. But the father’s balking at giving his permission.”

Nate frowned, not understanding. “What, is he nuts?”

“He keeps saying the boy’s been through enough.”

Nate scoffed. “I can see that in theory. I’ve been around children’s hospitals long enough to know the score. But how bad is this kid’s situation? It can’t be bad enough to make a father do something as weird as that.”

“No,” Holly said firmly. “It absolutely isn’t. I mean, the boy’s going to be in for a tough haul, and lots of things can go wrong. No question about that. But he’ll pull through this current crisis, and I can save his life with the operation. Isn’t that all that counts?”

He loved that Holly had such confidence in her skills. Nate knew what it took to be a winner, and his brilliant, sexy doctor had it in spades.

Reaching out, he covered her hand with his. “That’s where I’d be, if it was my kid. Maybe the guy will come around in time. He’s a jerk, but he’s probably scared out of his mind.”

She shook her head. “Normally, I’d agree with you. But Lance Arnold’s different. I’ve never met any parent remotely like him. I don’t get any sense of fear in him. He oscillates between indifference and anger.” She sighed, looking unhappy as she reached for his plate. “And he doesn’t spend a lot of time with his son. The nurses and residents have all remarked on it. Most parents of five-year-olds practically live in their kids’ rooms.”

Nate thought about that as she started to load the dishwasher. “You’re right. One of the parents is usually there when I’m visiting a kid.”

Holly paused, leaning against the kitchen counter. He could tell by the tension in her shoulders how much the situation was bugging her.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “For a father who claims to be so close to his son, Arnold’s showing precious little sign of it. It’s really disturbing.”

Nate stilled, struck by a swift, ugly thought. He knew almost nothing about the case, but his gut was sending him a loud and clear signal. A bad one, too. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it sounds to me like the guy would just as soon be rid of his own son.”

Her mouth dropped open. But then she bowed her head and stayed silent, pondering his words. After a few moments, she closed the dishwasher, sat back down, and cradled her face in her hands. “Oh God, Nate.”

“You’ve been thinking the same thing, haven’t you?” he said. “But you haven’t wanted to admit it.”

She dropped her hands and gazed straight at him. Her complexion had paled, and she looked like she might be sick.

“Yes,” she said in a low voice. “I haven’t wanted to believe it. I told myself the guy was grief-stricken and so beaten down he couldn’t think straight. That explanation was all that made sense. After all, he’s a single parent trying to cope with a child whose health has been precarious his whole life.” Now her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed, as if she was getting pissed off. “But, honestly, I have to say I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve given Arnold the benefit of every doubt, but I keep coming to the same conclusion. For whatever reason, the man wants his ordeal to be over. Not Tyler’s ordeal.
His
.”

Nate’s gut clenched with anger over the poor kid’s situation, and the fact that Holly had to deal with it. “But you can force him to let the kid have the surgery, right?”

She exhaled a weary sigh. “Yes, of course, but it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. The hospital has to get a court order if we’re to override Arnold’s parental rights. Depending on how strongly he decides to fight, that could be a real problem. We’d likely win in the end, but it’s never easy to convince a judge to abrogate a parent’s control over a child. And if we get the wrong judge, we could even lose. I’ve seen it happen.”

Nate couldn’t believe his ears. “Come on. How could any judge sentence a kid to death when there’s an alternative?”

“It’s more complicated than that.” She held up the coffee pot and when he nodded, she poured him another refill. He didn’t really want any more, but he sensed she needed something to do, even if it was taking care of his sorry ass.

“Arnold’s lawyer could put me through the wringer on every conceivable complication and negative outcome,” she continued. “And I’d have to admit them all, because there really are a lot of things that could go wrong. Plus, it’s possible that he could survive for a long time with the faulty valve he’s got now. I’d put the chances of
that
happening as low, but every case is different and they’ll find a dozen examples to support their own position.”

Nate sat there at the kitchen table, frustrated and pissed off. For a few minutes, he had completely forgotten his own pain. Holly had been suffering and it looked like it was going to get worse. But he wasn’t completely helpless, even with his banged-up shoulder, and one thing he wouldn’t allow was this asshole abusing his girl.

His girl.

“Holly, does he scare you?”

She started to answer, then shut up, obviously thinking. He let her take her time.

“Yes,” she finally said. “Some, anyway. I’ve had my share of bullying parents. Every pediatrician has. But there’s something different about Lance Arnold. With the others, it was usually a case of a brief explosion of frustration, often followed by contrition. With Arnold, there’s a cold, constant anger between the flare-ups. Like he knows exactly what he’s doing. I suspect he’s spent his whole life intimidating people.” She grimaced. “And I’m afraid it works.”

Nate clenched his good hand into a fist. “Well, he’s not going to get away with trying to intimidate or abuse you. Not anymore. I’ll kick his damn ass. Bad shoulder or no bad shoulder. You just say the word, and I’ll be having a frank talk with the guy.”

Holly blinked, and her mouth shaped into a surprised O. “Thanks, but I don’t think kicking Arnold’s ass will help Tyler. The man does frighten me a little, but I‘m sure I can handle him.” She cast a small, forced smile. “You should lie down and get some more rest, big guy. You’re wearing yourself out.”

Shit.
She was still worried more about him than herself. Didn’t she understand that he could take care of this guy, even with his arm in a sling?

“I guess,” he answered in a grouchy voice. “But now I’m completely wired.”

She got up, came around the table, and wrapped her arms around his chest from behind. He leaned his head back against her soft breasts. It felt good.

“When do you start rehab?”

She’d obviously had enough of talking about that Arnold guy, so Nate let it slide. But he had every intention of keeping an eye on the situation, whether she liked it or not. “Tomorrow afternoon. Our guys don’t fool around. They’re going to start right away, but take it slow. Do some shoulder movement, to make sure it doesn’t freeze up. Then they’ll get me into the aquatherapy pool.”

She began to massage his temples. “It sounds like they know what they’re doing. Have you used the pool before?”

He sighed with contentment, snuggling his head against her sweet breasts. Her long fingers worked magic as they moved down the base of his skull.

“A couple of times when I’ve had tendinitis. Guys used to be out a couple of weeks with this kind of thing. Deep bruises and strains. But with the pool, they’re sometimes able to be back on the field in four or five days. Not pitching, but maybe doing a little soft-tossing.”

“Miracles of modern technology. Will you be going every day, weekends too?”

“Probably. The team wants players back on the field, not on the disabled list, so they make injured guys work hard. Most of us want to, anyway.”

“Nate, don’t let them rush you back too soon.” Her tone was worried. “You need to take time to heal.”

“I know, babe. I won’t. But it’s going to kill me to sit around while the other guys are out there every day busting their butts to win games. I hope I don’t go completely nuts.”

He made it sound like a joke, but he was worried as hell about the impact of the injury on his career. And now he had to worry about Holly, too, and the fact that some nut job was making her life difficult.

And there seemed to be damn little he could do about either situation except wait.

Holly slowed through the EZ-Pass lane and then hit the gas as she passed through the toll plaza. Traffic over the bridge had been heavy, but now the freeway opened up. This late at night, she thought the road should be free of the usual New Jersey bottlenecks, speeding up the short trip home from Nate’s condo.

For someone who`d spent most of her life in the sexual wilderness, Holly had gotten used to daily sex in a big hurry. Except for the time Nate had spent on the road, this was the first night since the golf tournament that they hadn’t had sex. She already found it strange not to end the day in bed with him.

Sex with Nate Carter was easy to get used to.

But Nate had dozed off on the sofa over dinner, so Holly packed him off to bed, kissed him goodnight, and headed back to her house. She had an early surgery the next morning, so she needed a good night’s sleep. The day had kicked the stuffing right out of her.

Of course, she hadn’t been totally honest with Nate when he’d asked what weighed on her mind. Her answer—that it was the incident with Lance Arnold—was true, but it wasn’t a complete answer. There was Nate’s injury, too.