“I don’t either, but we’ll figure it out.” He picked up a remote off the side table. “Flat? Maybe that does just what it says?”
The motor started whirring and her head lowered, bringing nearly immediate relief.
“Better?” he asked, squatting next to her.
“Not even remotely pain free but better.”
Gray reached out and brushed the hair off her face. “What else can I do?”
“I don’t know.”
“What will help with the pain? It’s not time for more medicine yet. Some ice? Heat?”
“What did the doctor say about those?”
“To rotate them, ice first.”
Tessa nodded. “Let’s do ice then. Do we even have an ice pack here?”
“I’ll find something.”
“Thanks.” She kept her eyes closed and focused on her breathing until she could convince herself that rolling onto her side was a thing she could do.
She’d broken a bone before. Twisted her ankle badly. Even fractured her growth plate as a kid. None even came close to this. She kind of suspected unmedicated childbirth might come close, but she wasn’t sure about that.
Taking a deep breath, Tessa bit her lip as she managed to roll onto her side in miniscule increments.
By the time Gray returned, she’d made it about halfway.
“Hey! Let me help.” His footsteps hurried across the floor.
“No.” She barely managed to get the word out through gritted teeth. Through sheer force of will, Tessa managed to get herself all the way onto her left side.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she tried to relax. “I’m sorry, Gray. I know you want to help, but I don’t think you can. Pushing or pulling the wrong spot makes it much worse. I don’t think I can explain to you exactly the right way to help me so it doesn’t hurt.” She blew out another breath. “I appreciate you wanting to, but the help at the hospital and in and out of the car...” She let her voice trail off, knowing it would hurt him to know he’d hurt her worse, even without meaning to.
“I’m so sorry, Tess,” he whispered. “The last thing I want...”
“I know. But it’s the way it is.”
“Promise you’ll let me know when there is something I can do?”
“I will. I promise.”
He held up a small towel wrapped around something. “I found some peas. How about I prop it up against your back with some pillows to hold it in place?”
“That would be great.”
She felt him situating the pillows near her back then gently place the peas against her back.
“Is that the right spot?” Concern filled his soft voice.
“Toward my shoulder a little and up toward the ceiling just a smidge.”
Tessa could feel the pressure change and winced when he hit the right spot. “There.” Her voice sounded strangled, even to her own ears.
The pillows shifted a bit to hold it in place a little better, and then the pressure lightened a little. Slowly the cold started to seep through the towel and her shirt.
“Do you want me to stay with you?” Gray reached out from behind her to move the hair off her face again.
“I’m okay. I’m going to try to rest. Spend some time with your aunt.”
She felt something against her hand.
“Your phone is right there. Call me if you need anything.”
“I will.”
His footsteps went toward the door then stopped. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Maybe she’d be able to fall asleep.
The footsteps told her he’d left and headed downstairs.
Barely coherent thoughts fluttered through her head. Sickness and health. Better and worse. Those were really being put to the test quickly.
Gray wouldn’t go anywhere.
He meant every word of his vows. She knew that.
It didn’t mean things wouldn’t change someday.
When he fell in love with someone else.
Because he didn’t love his wife.
And it wasn’t like he’d been in love with her to start with then fallen out of love.
She’d rejected his suggestion of a date, and then a week or so later, married him.
Who did that?
Would Gray really leave her someday, hurt her?
Not on purpose.
That wasn’t the kind of man he was, the kind of man he would ever be.
Would he resent her someday? For not loving him the way a wife should love her husband? For never making him a father?
He loved kids. Wanted a bunch of them.
She’d decided she was okay with not having children, though deep down, she didn’t really mean it, but at least it was a conscious choice.
Tessa couldn’t stop her mind from going ‘round and ‘round in ever-widening circles, chasing down rabbit trails that ended with scenarios so unlikely that, even her in drug-induced haze, she knew would never happen.
Maybe she watched too much Dateline.
Gray wouldn’t hire a contract killer so he could run off with Jazz - or anyone else. Or no one at all.
But muscle relaxers and narcotics didn’t make for coherent thoughts.
The cold seeped through, finally numbing the pain, just a bit.
As she started to finally drift off to sleep, Gray came back to take the peas off.
Tessa didn’t open her eyes, but she had to have imagined what she thought she heard Gray say.
Because “I love you” in a soft, tender voice wasn’t a thing he’d ever said to her before.
When he tried out the “I love you,” Gray was almost certain Tessa twitched.
Was she awake?
More likely, it was involuntary as a result of him removing the ice pack.
He headed down the stairs to spend some more time with Mama Beach only to meet her coming up.
“I’m going to take a quick shower then go to bed.” She stopped a stair below him. “Make sure to come get me if you need help with Tessa.”
“I will.” He kissed her cheek. “But I don’t think she’ll want any help. Thanks for being here.”
“Of course.”
Gray had been debating where he’d sleep. He’d finally decided on the couch. It would be a welcome relief after a sleeping bag on the floor the last few nights. He’d taken many a nap, and even slept more than one night, on that couch.
Mama Beach expected him to sleep with his wife. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally hurt Tessa by rolling over into her while he slept. She had her phone and could easily call him if she needed something.
He found a pillow and blanket, and turned off all of the lights, except for the one under the microwave.
It took a while, but he eventually fell into a deep sleep.
He woke to his phone buzzing. Before he even answered the call from Tessa, he was on his way up the stairs.
“Are you all right?” he asked softly without turning the overhead lights on.
“Is it time for my meds yet?” she asked, the pain in her voice tearing at him.
“Not yet.” He checked his phone. “The timer has another half an hour on it. Can I help you with something else?”
“This is going to sound silly,” she warned.
“Anything.”
“Can you untuck the sheet and very slowly and carefully pull me to the other side of the bed?”
Gray blinked. “Sure. Can I ask why?”
“I need to use my left arm to lever myself into a seated position and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, but I’m on the wrong side. I can’t roll onto my right side at all.”
Made sense. “Do you mind if I turn the light on?”
“No.”
That helped. He never would have suspected that there were two fitted sheets, one on each half of the bed.
He went to the other side and untucked the corners before walking back to the door side and reaching over to untuck the middle. As he did, Tessa had b
een slowly lowering herself onto her back, her lip caught between her teeth and her eyes closed, pain etched across her face. It broke Gray’s heart that he couldn’t be more help.
“Are you ready?” he asked, gripping the sides.
“As I’ll ever be. Go slow, though, please.”
As carefully and gently as he could, Gray slowly tugged the sheet over to the side. Small whimpers came from Tessa, but he had a feeling she would have preferred to let loose with a giant yell.
When he was halfway to the other side of the bed, he stopped to give her a break. “How close to the edge?”
“I need to roll over onto my side and not fall off.”
“Ready to finish?”
“Yeah.” Her eyes were still closed. “By the time we finish this, it’ll be almost time for my meds, won’t it?”
“Pretty close,” Gray confirmed.
Once he had her in position, it took her nearly ten minutes to maneuver herself to sitting and then stand.
“I need to go...” she muttered, making her way across the floor in a shuffle.
Gray understood her meaning. He couldn’t help her there unless she really needed it, but even then that’s what Mama Beach was here for as well. “I’ll go get your pills and something for you to drink. Do you want another round of ice?”
“Please.” She reached the en-suite bathroom and pushed the door shut, though it didn’t close. Rather than finish the job, she left it, trusting him not to invade her privacy.
Downstairs, he found a thin towel, a bag of corn, and a bottle of water. She was still in the bathroom, but he didn’t say anything until a number of minutes had passed.
“You okay, Tess?” he called.
The grunt he got in return sounded angry at the insinuation she might need help. He waited a few more minutes and was about to call out again when he heard the water running in the sink.
Dried tear tracks stood out on her cheeks as she slowly worked her way back over to the bed. “I’m sleeping on this side,” she told him.
“That’s fine. I’m sleeping on the couch. The last thing I want to do is accidentally bump you in the middle of the night. Can I help you lay back down?”
Tessa shook her head. “I’ll do it.” She held out her hand. “It’s close enough for me to take my meds.”
He handed the pills to her then the drink.
When she finished, reversing the process took nearly as long as standing up did, but eventually she was back on her side so he could prop the pillows up to hold the corn in place. This time, he knew almost exactly where to place it. “Right there?”
“Just a bit toward my legs.”
He moved it.
“Right there.”
Gray manipulated the pillows to hold it in place. “Do you want me to stay or come back in twenty minutes or so?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He took that to mean she wanted him to stay. A cozy chair on the other side of the room beckoned. Hoisting it up, he moved it until he could sit near Tessa.
Slumping in the chair with his legs stretched out in front of him, Gray reached for her hand. “I’m so sorry, Tess.”
“It’s not your fault, Gray. I missed a rung. That’s all. Things happen. I’m going to be fine, remember? The doctor said I’d be extremely sore for a bit, but there wasn’t anything truly wrong.”
He knew that, but he still couldn’t help but feel responsible for his wife’s pain. Rather than argue with her, he simply held her hand until they both fell asleep.
10
Three days later, Tessa hurt like she’d never hurt before - and prayed she never would again.
One step at a time, she worked her way down the stairs, praying she’d make it without falling.
But she needed her medicine, and Gray wasn’t answering his phone. She only knew he’d gone outside. She had no idea where Mama Beach was.
She would have breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the bottom of the stairs except the pain was still too great.
Shuffling toward the kitchen, Tessa took the shortest route she could, but it came at a price.
A scream ripped from her as she cut the corner a little closer than she meant to and bumped her side.
“Tess?” Gray sounded both puzzled and concerned. “What are you doing?”
“Need meds,” she managed to spit out between her teeth as they ground together.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t back half an hour ago. Mr. Grant’s cows were out and needed to be rounded up.”
Tessa leaned against the left side of the door frame. It didn’t hurt quite as bad. “Did you get them all?”
“I think so. He didn’t answer his phone, but I put all the ones I found back in the field. I texted him so he knows.”
Pop Pop hadn’t actually farmed or ranched on the land in decades, but he rented most of the property out to a couple of neighbors who either ran cattle or hayed it.
“But it meant I wasn’t here to get your medicine for you, or let you know I was on my way, and for that I apologize. Go sit in the living room. I’ll get it for you.”
“Thanks.” She waited to push off the wall, then realized he wasn’t going to go into the kitchen until she had moved out of the way.
It was probably best that way, but it meant she had to psych herself up to move. Once she did, the trek to the living room didn’t take long. What took longer was deciding where to sit.
She’d discovered the recliner wasn’t the best plan when the bed didn’t work out the first night. The sofa and big chair she and Gray often shared were likely out as well.
Another chair, one she’d never seen before, might do the trick. Padded, but not overly cushioned and nearly the right height for her to just slide her rear end onto. It wouldn’t be tall enough for a kitchen bar, but definitely taller than a regular chair.
Crossing to the chair, she tried to work out in her mind exactly how she’d manage to sit down with the least amount of pain.
Every movement was being calculated in relation to pain. How to get out of bed, how to stand up after visiting the bathroom, how sit back down. At least there was a walk-in shower available so she didn’t have to climb over the tub to get in like at her old apartment. The jetted tub looked so inviting, but getting up would be an absolute nightmare, and therefore, completely out of the question.
Fortunately, she’d been right about the height of the seat and sitting down was comparatively easy.
Unfortunately, she was still reminded that the pain wasn’t getting any better. In fact, it was getting worse.
Gray appeared with her medicine and something to drink. “I think we need to take you back to Urgent Care. It’s worse, isn’t it?”
Tessa nodded. It was all she could do.
“Let’s give the meds a little while to kick in, then I’ll take you to town.”
She gave another nod, leaning her head against the high chair back. With her eyes closed, Tessa focused on her breathing, hoping it would lessen the pain somehow.
The chair wasn’t a place she’d normally sit, but it was turning out to be the most comfortable spot she’d been since she got home, not that she’d been many places but bed.
Focusing helped the time pass, albeit slowly. After a while, she felt herself starting to drift and her head became a little fuzzy. “Gray?”
“You ready to go?” His voice was nearby but she hadn’t paid enough attention to the living room layout to know exactly where he was.
“I think so. They’re starting to kick in.”
Ever so slowly, she moved until her rear end nearly hung off the edge of the seat. Positioning one leg back and the other forward like a runner, she rested her hands on the arms of the chair but forced herself not to push up on them.
Instead, she lifted herself with her legs, wobbling a bit, but managing to get upright. The height of the chair helped. It wasn’t nearly as hard as the bathroom had been.
Gray stayed next to her as she walked to the SUV. Sean had let t
hem borrow it indefinitely while he drove Heidi’s car. Getting in and out of it would have been a nightmare. The height of the SUV was so much easier.
The muggy, August heat assaulted Tessa as she made her way across the porch and down the steps.
She stood in front of the open door and tried to figure out the best way to get in. Sit down and swing her legs around? The twisting motion hurt, and she avoided it whenever possible.
Instead, she positioned herself alongside the car, and awkwardly put her left leg in and slid sideways until she made it to the seat.
Gray wrapped the buckle around her as she inwardly lamented how the simple act of getting into the car had left her feeling sweaty and gross, thanks to the weather.
“Thank you,” she whispered, grateful she didn’t have to do it herself.
“It’s my job to take care of you, Tess.” The gentleness and emotion in his voice made her wonder if she’d heard him right the other day after all.
Did he love her?
What did it mean if he did?
She didn’t love him.
Not yet.
But if he kept taking care of her like this, it would be extremely easy to go from loving him like the best friend he’d always been to loving him like the husband he now was.
It wasn’t a terminal illness or even anything threatening, but watching his wife deal with the pain wasn’t something Gray ever wanted to do again.
He’d thought ahead and took her prescriptions with them to Urgent Care. The wait wasn’t long, but they hadn’t let him come with her to x-ray.
That had taken eons. She told him later the Urgent Care machine wasn’t working right, so they put her in a sleek wheelchair with no arms and took her over to the emergency room.
She had to keep herself upright and deal with a bumpy walk over. That part of the hospital was due for a renovation.
This time, the tech had to make her lay down on the table for the x-rays rather than taking them standing up. The process of getting up and down were both painful.
Gray had a feeling he’d be tempted to let out a string of curse words regularly if it had been him.
Fortunately, the doctor hadn’t seen anything new in the x-rays.
“Just a contusion,” he’d said. “But a really bad one. Your rib bones are bruised as are all of the muscles and tissues around them. It could be two months or more before you feel back to normal. It will definitely be weeks before you can go back to work or return to a modified version of your daily routine.”
Small Town Girls Don't Marry Their Best Friends: Contemporary Christian Romance (Beaches of Trumanville Book 3) Page 7