* * * *
By that afternoon, the doctors were happy to report Pete seemed on the mend. While still weak and not completely out of the woods, his vitals were strong, his blood work indicated he was responding to the antibiotics he was receiving, and he would most likely be moved from ICU into a regular room the next day.
After finishing their lunch, Eddie and Tom returned the ICU. Pete was propped up in bed and teasing a nurse about her bedside manner.
“Hey, you’re looking even better than this morning,” Tom noted.
“I feel a little better, too. They won’t let me eat anything yet though. Said I’m on a clear liquids diet for now until my gut heals.”
“And clear diet doesn’t include tapioca pudding,” the nurse interjected.
Pete snorted. “Can’t blame a guy for trying, sweetie.”
“Listen,” Tom said. “Now that we know you’re going to be okay, I’m going to get our houses boarded up. I don’t know what the storm is going to do, but that way, you don’t have to worry about ours. The storm shutters can stay up on ours until we get back and I can take them down.”
Pete grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Thank you, man.”
Tom didn’t miss the emotion in the big man’s voice. “Hey, you’re family. God knows you both were there for us, and for me, even when I didn’t deserve it. This is the least I can do.”
“So you guys haven’t killed Ty yet, huh?”
Tom smiled. “No, but Nevvie might.” He related the dump tank story and by the time he finished, tears of laughter and pain rolled down Pete’s face as he held his gut and tried to stop laughing.
“Holy…fuck! I can’t believe… Wait, it’s Ty, I can believe it.” He finally got himself under control. “You need to get your ass back out there before she drops him down one of those geysers or something.”
Tom waved the suggestion away. “I’m not going back until I know for sure you’re okay. Ty’s a big boy. If he gets to be too much of a pain in Nevvie’s ass, she’ll put him on a plane to Seattle and come back with Dad and the kids.”
“Poor Nev,” Pete said. “She’s a real champ, you know that?”
“Tell him about the puppy,” Eddie said.
“Puppy?” Pete asked. “What puppy?”
Tom nodded. “Hold on to your gut…”
By the time he finished that story, Pete had reached for his morphine button and hit it for a dose of pain medication. Once he managed to stop laughing, that was. “Holy fucking shit!”
“Did you tell him about Mitchell?” Eddie asked.
Tom laughed. “Maybe I should wait until his morphine kicks in.”
“What happened?” Pete asked. “Tell me. I want to know.”
“It’ll hurt.”
“Fuck that. It’s worth it. This is hysterical.”
Pete’s howls of laughter rang throughout the ICU as Tom told the story. “So…let me get…this straight,” Pete gasped through peals of laughter. “Ty left Nevvie and Dad behind, had a surprise puppy waiting for her when she returned from airport…and gave her a shit bath?”
Tom nodded. “Yep. That sums it up.”
“Fuck…me…” More laughter rolled from him. “He should write a fucking screenplay about this.”
Tom smiled. “No one would believe it.”
“We’d believe it,” Eddie said. “We all know Ty.”
* * * *
Tom left the hospital later that afternoon. Eddie promised to call him if Pete’s condition changed for the worse. Otherwise, Tom would come back at dinner time and bring food for Eddie.
He stopped by Pete and Eddie’s house to walk and feed Tom-Tom. He’d stop by again before he returned to the hospital.
At home, he changed into work clothes and started pulling the storm shutters out.
Should’ve fucking got the automatic ones.
At the time, he couldn’t force himself to justify the additional expense when he knew he could easily put the shutters up by himself. Now, they could easily afford the cost, and he wasn’t sure how the hell he would finish putting up their shutters, much less Pete and Eddie’s.
He dragged the corrugated metal shutters from their storage spot and, based upon numbers written on each shutter, deposited them at their proper window. With that done, and starting with the smallest windows first, he began installing them. Two hours later, he was almost done and ready to collapse. He’d tackle Pete and Eddie’s shutters tomorrow.
After a quick phone call to Eddie, he grabbed a shower, stopped by to walk the dog again, and returned to the hospital. The pain pill would have to wait until he was home for the night and in bed.
Being hosed down with shit by Tyler is starting to look really good right now compared to all this.
* * * *
Nevvie quit waiting for the next metaphorical shoe to drop. It wouldn’t help her to have fun if she was constantly waiting for the next “bad” thing to happen. It didn’t hurt that the rest of their afternoon and evening was as fun as their morning. And getting word from Tom that Pete’s condition continued improving helped her lighten up even more.
That night, Nevvie was too exhausted to do more than curl up in bed with Tyler. “I miss Tommy,” she said.
He kissed the top of her head and snuggled her closer. “I know, pet. So do I.”
“I’m sorry you won’t get much of a chance to work the next few days.”
“Uh, yes. It’s all right.”
“How’s the book coming?”
When he didn’t answer her immediately, she looked up at him. “Ty?”
She heard him let out a deep sigh. “Well…”
After another moment of silence, she propped herself up on one elbow. “What is it?”
“I’ll be honest with you. Up until the events of yesterday, it wasn’t going very well at all.”
“Say again?”
He explained his writer’s block. When he finished, he turned his blue gaze on her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, sweetheart.”
“I wish you had.”
“I wanted this trip to be perfect.”
“There’s that word again. Stop saying it. Nothing is or ever will be perfect. Forget perfection. It’s more important to have fun.” She lay back down next to him. “What can I do to help you with the book?”
“Nothing at this point, love. I’m going to try the ideas I had yesterday and see if anything pans out.”
She gently poked him in the side. “You used to call me your muse. Why didn’t you ask for my help?”
“I didn’t want to laden you with my burden, angel. You already do so much.”
“But that’s what I’m here for. That’s what Tommy’s here for, too. We help each other out. We lean on each other.”
“Yes, love.”
* * * *
Nevvie, finally getting used to the time difference, awoke before Tyler the next morning. While she started the coffee, Andrew sat up and yawned.
“Good morning, Nev.”
“Morning, Dad.”
Harley, sitting up in his crate, wagged his tail.
“I bet you want to go outside, don’t you?” She gave the little dog lots of credit. Even for his age, he did very well. So far, he’d only had two accidents in his crate.
Harley’s entire butt started wiggling at the attention.
“Want me to take him?” Andrew asked.
“No, I’ll get him.” She pulled on her new hiking shoes, grabbed a baggy, and put the leash on the puppy. She picked him up and carried him outside.
“Brr.” Glad she wore jeans, she still shivered when she stepped outside. It was crisp and cool, but so quiet and peaceful. She couldn’t believe it didn’t sound like anyone was up and about yet on such a beautiful morning.
Harley did his business quickly, and she praised him. “Such a good puppy!” She scooped up his waste, picked him up, and walked over to the nearby community garbage can.
The puppy whined, then barked.
“
Shh, it’s early. You’ll get us in trouble.” Seven o’clock in the morning already, and daylight was still filtering in over the mountains to the east. Yet it was still really quiet in their immediate area. She heard sounds of people up and moving around close by, but all the campers in their section still seemed to be asleep.
The puppy growled.
“Hey, don’t be like that. What’s wrong?”
That was when she heard the snort.
Still a good fifty feet from their RV, Nevvie looked up.
Directly behind their RV lay two bison. She hadn’t spotted them earlier because Harley had headed toward the front of the RV.
Nevvie froze. “Oh, fuck!” she whispered.
The bison, even though lying down, were nearly as tall as her at the shoulder. At least, that was the way it looked to her.
Harley growled again. She clamped her hand around the puppy’s snout. “Shh! You want them to stomp us!”
She was still standing there, frozen in place and too scared to move closer, a couple of minutes later when Andrew opened the RV door.
“Nevvie, are you all—”
“Shh!” She pointed at the end of the RV. When he made to step out she frantically waved him back inside. “Bison!” she hissed.
Looking perplexed, he stepped inside and closed the door.
Thirty seconds later, she heard Tyler scream, “What?” inside the RV. Under nearly any other circumstance, it would have been funny to her, the way his footfalls echoed down the length of the RV as he ran to the door. It exploded open.
She held her palm up to him and pointed at the bison again.
“I know, love!” he whispered. “Get in here! They’re dangerous!”
She gave him the you-are-a-total-dumbass look and shook her head. She was not walking back to the RV.
She just wasn’t sure what the hell she was supposed to do.
That was when the sound of a truck caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder and, with no small measure of relief, spotted a green Park Service truck rolling her way.
Carefully, she slowly backed up, allowing the ranger to pull between her and the bison. He reached over and opened the passenger door for her. “Are you all right, ma’am?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Just rattled.”
He laughed. “Is that your panicked-looking husband hanging out the door of that RV over there?”
“Yes, that’s my dumbass.” She shooed him back inside. Tyler frowned, but withdrew into the RV and closed the door.
“What now?” she asked.
He shifted the vehicle into park. “I have people on the way. We’ll just sit here so I can keep an eye on them. Once we get them to move, you can get out.”
“Thank you so much. I didn’t even see them when I walked out. It wasn’t until I turned around I realized they were there.”
“Yeah, they can be really quiet when they want to be. You did the right thing not going back. They probably ignored you because you were walking away from them and they didn’t perceive you or your dog to be a threat.”
She hugged the puppy closer to her. “I’m just glad it wasn’t a bear.”
“Well, that’s why I was already out here. We had a report of one at the other end of the campground, but we spooked him back out.”
Two more Park Service vehicles rolled up. It took three men and ten minutes, but eventually they persuaded the bison to get up and leave the area.
“Okay, ma’am. It’s safe now.”
As Nevvie got out, she saw people exiting RVs all around them. Now she felt like the dumbass. Of course it was quiet. No one had wanted to be the ones to get gored by the bison.
Tyler burst out of the RV and ran over to her. In the open doorway, Andrew had a hold of Adam’s arm, preventing the boy from running out after his father.
“Mommy!” Adam happily squealed. “Did you see the bison? I took pictures! They didn’t eat Harley, did they?”
“Love, are you all right?” Tyler said.
“Jesus, yes, I’m fine. You saw me sitting in the truck. Duh.” She looked around him to call out to Adam. “Harley’s fine. Bison don’t eat dogs. You stay right there. Don’t you dare leave that RV!”
The ranger laughed. “You folks have a good day.”
“Thank you.”
She headed back to the RV with a very nervous Tyler close behind. She handed the puppy to him. “Here. Take him. I need coffee.” She climbed into the RV. “Well, I don’t need it to wake up, because now I’m completely wide awake, thank you very much. But I want it.” She made herself a mug and slid into the dinette while Tyler handed Harley over to Adam.
Andrew laughed. “That certainly was a bit of excitement.”
“Dad!” Tyler said, obviously distraught. “How can you laugh? She could have been killed!”
Mindful of Adam, Nevvie quickly used the shut-up-right-now voice on Tyler. “No, I wasn’t going to be killed or even hurt.” She looked at Adam. “I followed the rules. I didn’t get close to the bison.” Andrew sat down in the dinette opposite Nevvie.
The little boy frowned. “But you went outside, Mommy.”
“Yes, because Mommy was foolish for not looking around first. I learned a lesson. Do you know what that lesson is?”
Adam appeared to chew on that for a moment, then the little boy smiled. “Don’t wake Daddy up and tell him there’s bison outside or he’ll scream like a girl?”
Tyler handed Andrew a paper towel to clean up the sprayed coffee Nevvie choked all over him as she started laughing. Then he drew a cup of water and handed it to her.
“Here, love.”
She put it on the table. She was still trying to laugh and choke and cough all at the same time.
* * * *
After breakfast, Nevvie left everyone else at the RV and went to the general store to pick up some groceries and supplies. Before going inside, however, she had to call Tom.
“Hey, baby girl. How’s Yellowstone?”
“First of all, how’s Pete?”
“They moved him to a room this morning. He’s still bitching up a storm that he’s only allowed clear liquids though. So all in all, I’d say he’s doing damn good.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yeah. And the storm might fizzle out after all. I’m still going to board up their house, though. Just in case. I finished ours last night.”
“Bet your morning wasn’t as eventful as mine.”
“Oh? Why? What’d Tyler do now? And does he still have his nuts?”
“Yeah, but first, where are you?”
“I’m here with Pete and Eddie in the room. Why?”
“Put it on speakerphone.”
“Hold on.” She heard a click. Then the line sounded different. “Okay, Nevvie. We can hear you.”
“Hey, Pete. How you doing?”
“Just peachy, babe. You kill Ty yet?”
“Not yet.”
“I heard about your little addition. And, uh, your bath.” The sound of his laughter made her want to cry happy tears.
“Yeah, well, you ready for something else?”
“So, you saying I need to hit my morphine button before I start laughing?”
Eddie chimed in. “I’ll hit it.” She heard a beep.
“Okay,” Nevvie said. “You know how all good stories usually start with ‘once upon a time’?”
All three men said, “Yeah?” in unison.
She said, “This one starts with, ‘You’re not gonna fucking believe this…’”
By the time she finished the story, the three men were howling with laughter, interspersed with Pete saying, “Ow! Ow!”
“Wow, Nevvie,” Eddie said. “I’m surprised you haven’t shipped him out to Seattle yet.”
“Not yet. I’ve thought about it. Haven’t done it yet.” But she smiled because at least she knew if Pete sounded that good, he was on the mend.
After finally saying good-bye, she hung up and sat there for a minute, smiling. Mayb
e I should write a book. I could call it You Ain’t Gonna Believe This.
* * * *
Fortunately for Nevvie’s and Tyler’s nerves, there were no more you-won’t-fucking-believe-this moments for the next couple of days. Pete was sent home, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression that hit the Keys, and Tom called Nevvie to let her know he’d booked his flights to return to Bozeman and would arrive there at two o’clock the next afternoon.
She breathed a sigh of relief. They would still have several days in the park, so Tom wouldn’t miss everything.
Early the next morning, she left Tyler, Andrew, and the boys at the campground and headed north. She’d have to wind around the park’s main road to reach the North Entrance, and from that point on she knew how long it would take her to reach Bozeman. But the gorgeous drive was worth it. Tyler planned to spend the morning working, and Andrew would keep the boys entertained with games and movies.
Nevvie found a parking space and walked into the terminal. After consulting the arrivals board, she found she still had at least twenty minutes before Tom’s flight arrived. She sat and made herself comfortable.
When he walked out into the terminal, she smiled and rushed over to greet him. She went to hug him, but he put a hand out.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He pretended to be sniffing. “Just checking.” He grinned.
She playfully swatted him on the arm. He engulfed her in a hug.
“You okay, baby girl?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’ve got to get my checked bag and we can head out of here. I need lunch though. I’m starving.”
Once they were back in the car and heading east, he stretched back in his seat, cheeseburger in hand. “So, is he still alive? Or when we get back to the camper will Dad be claiming he got eaten by a bear or something?”
“No, he’s still alive. Since the bison incident, it’s been fine. We’ve had fun.”
“You did good, Nevvie. I’m proud of you.”
She felt herself blush. “I didn’t do anything. Well, except not kill Tyler. I should get brownie points for that.”
Love Slave for Two Collection [Box Set 7] Page 105