“That’s fair enough,” Doctor Marsh laughed. “Lucky for me, I’ve got a built-in cheat sheet.” He held up the tablet he had tucked under his arm, waving it slightly before turning it back in his hands. “See, I get all the names right here, matched to the room number. Easy.”
“I imagine you need the cheat, much more than we do,” Adam said, drawing Doctor Marsh’s attention in his direction. “We have seen four doctors, maybe eight nurses, the girls in the radiation department, a number of members of the hospital’s blood-sucking team …” He let his voice trail away, lifting his coffee to take a sip. “But then,” he said. “You have all of that, plus the patients. And what? A hundred on a floor?”
“Just about that, maybe.” Doctor Marsh kept his eyes on the tablet in his hands, scrolling and tapping as he read through the medical charts stored on the device. “It makes it that much more of a blessing to have good electronics like this, though. Everything syncs up easily, and you can get to anyone’s results at almost any time.”
“If you know how to use all that stuff,” Adam mumbled, scowling.
In the chair beside him, Michael felt Renee’s shoulder move against his as she crossed her legs. Peeking over at her from the corner of his eye, he caught her lowering her face to hide a smile and lowered his own face as well. Across the room, Cameron caught his eye, her own eyes sparkling with humor.
As the moment passed, Doctor Marsh cleared his throat – and with a glance that encompassed the family members filling the room, he gestured toward Eva with the tablet in his hand. “Alright, well. Here’s what we’re looking at this morning, Mrs. Kingsley. At this point, I think we’ve got you hydrated again – but I’m still seeing some other things that haven’t quite straightened out yet. Your potassium is still pretty low, so what I’d like to do is order another supplement for your IV. But because it was so low, I’d also like to keep you one more night, just to be sure that everything works out before I send you home. I do think we can be reasonably sure you’ll be sleeping in your own bed tomorrow night, though.”
Eva sighed. “That’s fine, then,” she answered. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to Harmony. “Is it possible to postpone the cake tasting tomorrow afternoon? I know you could do it yourself, but I did really want to be there with you.”
Harmony smiled. “It’s already done,” she said. There’s a little time before the wedding still, so we’re not in a huge hurry. You know me, I just like to be prepared. We’re scheduled for next week, and the bakery was really cool about it. They even offered to send something to the house as a get-well soon.” She shrugged, her smile growing wider. “So I guess when you get home, we’ll be having cake for lunch.”
“Awesome!!” Logan shouted. Cameron looked at him sternly, shaking her head in amusement as he widened his eyes and pretended to go back to reading the book that had been propped in his lap.
“And you’ll walk into the bakery for your appointment much more sure of your preferences,” Doctor Marsh laughed. “Lucky for you, you’ll be home soon enough. Sounds like it’ll be a fun time.”
“That is, if this little hog leaves any for anyone else,” Cameron muttered, playfully elbowing Logan, who pretended not to notice – except that he couldn’t help making a few quiet snorts behind the pages of his book.
At this, Michael laughed. “I’m beginning to understand why they only let two people in here at a time.”
Doctor Marsh shook his head. “Actually, we’re pretty lax about that in general. It’s a rule, but only so that we can use it to keep things quiet when we need to. You’d really be surprised though, how many of these rooms never see visitors.” He sighed quietly, tucking his tablet back under his arm and glancing up at the clock. “Alright folks, I’m off to finish rounds. Save me a piece of that cake, mister.” Reaching out as he edged through the room to the door, he ruffled Logan’s hair and left.
“I wonder if he’ll be your doctor the whole time you’re in here,” Renee laughed. “He’s fun!”
“I wonder if Mom was serious about me not saving any cake,” Logan grinned, a devilish sparkle in his eyes. “That would mean she let me eat it all.”
“You wish,” Cameron answered.
“Well, if I’m going to keep being stuck here,” Eva muttered, glaring at the IV taped to her arm, “I’m going to be bored. And I know you want a shower, honey.” She shook her head as Adam prepared to protest, holding up a finger to silence him.
Adam took the finger that was pressed to his lips, kissed the tip of it, and settled his wife’s hand in her lap. “I am not leaving you here,” he said.
“Go, I’ll be fine. I’m tired anyway, maybe I’ll take a nap while you’re gone.”
Adam made a face. “Woman,” he said, warningly. “What kind of husband leaves his wife in a hospital?”
“The kind who has a wife who doesn’t need coddling. Go on, all of you. Take showers, have a decent lunch in a bit, take a nap. And when you come back, bring books. It’s boring in here, and I’m sick of staring at that,” Eva grumbled, glaring at the TV.
“I’m not leaving you here alone,” Adam retorted.
“What if I stay?” Renee spoke up from her chair. “I know Harmony’s on the road tomorrow for the show this weekend, and Cameron, you have Logan. And I thought I heard you say Mac was coming home this afternoon?”
"He is," Cameron answered. "I could ask Marie to get him from the airport, though, so Logan and I can be here.”
“Go,” Renee told her. She shrugged. “You’re all tired, and I slept alright last night. The studio is closed today anyway, so I don’t have classes to teach – and you guys are like family to me, so that’s all there is to it,” she said, shrugging again. “I’ll stay.”
“Renee –“ Adam started, but Michael cut him off.
“I’ll stay with her,” he said. “Go home, Dad, and get some rest. We’ll be here.”
“You were here all night, son.”
“So were you,” Michael answered. “I’ll stay, you go home and rest. Take Evan with you, and he can start carrying things downstairs for tomorrow. Then you can come back refreshed, and I’ll go tonight after dinner. I’ll spend the night home, and I can meet you back here in the morning to help with Mom when they send her home. She’s gonna have a hard time getting around with the leg and the wrist both in casts.” He saw Eva’s eyes widen indignantly, but pressed on. “You can’t even do crutches, Mom – you won’t be able to lean on them with your wrist.” Eva rolled her eyes in protest, turning her face away, and Michael turned back to his father. “Go,” he said softly. Meeting Renee’s eyes, he swallowed, unspeakably grateful for her willingness to stay and look after his mother. Moments like these were why she made his “family” list in the first place – why she had come to mean so much to him. Nodding to her, he turned back to his father. “It’s cool, Dad. I’ll be here. Um, we’ll be here.”
Chapter Twelve
Once Michael had gotten his father’s agreement, the room cleared quickly. Cameron and Logan went to wait for Mac’s flight to come in at the airport, Adam and Evan headed back to the Kingsley house to rest and prepare for Eva’s return, and Harmony went home to check her travel bags. Wrestling required a lot of travel, so she kept a bag already packed, but she would need to make sure it had everything she needed, and rest up before her evening flight. Within half an hour, only Michael, Renee, and Eva remained in the room.
“Well,” Renee sighed, standing. She ran her hands down the thighs of her jeans, and then turned to settle one hand on Michael’s shoulder. “If you’re staying with us girls, and Miss Eva is spending another night here in Chez ‘Opital –“ this with a playful wink toward Eva, “– then I’m just gonna pop down to the gift shop and get some of that dry shampoo stuff.” She shrugged, her face flushing slightly as Eva’s eyes lit. “Well, I know you won’t be taking baths or showers anytime soon with those casts on, and everything is gonna be a mess for a while, but we can still at least try to keep you feeling fresh.�
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“I think I might love you,” Eva teased. Renee laughed and Eva turned serious, raising her eyebrows as she said, “I mean it, though. I can’t tell you how awkward it is to be stuck in this bed like this. No showers – and that’s just one day! I feel disgusting already, just anticipating the next six weeks.”
“Yeah, but we can wrap those up, right? So you can take showers without them getting wet?” Michael ran a hand through his hair, contemplating the cast on his mother’s wrist. “They make bag things for that, right?”
Eva laughed, glancing down at her hand, the fingers sticking awkwardly out from the end of the cast. “Yeah, they make them. I don’t know how easy they are to use though, or how it’ll be to use two of them. Maybe I’ll become very adept at the art of one-handed sponge bathing.” But then she grinned up at Renee, her blue eyes sparkling as she waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe Adam will help.”
“Ergh!” Michael grimaced, turning his face away. “Mom!!”
Renee laughed. “Alright, Michael relax. She’s just teasing anyway.”
“Or am I?” Eva fluttered her eyelashes playfully. “I might be old,” she said, “But I’m still kickin’.”
“Please, you’re not old. I think you’re about the same age as my mom right – around sixty?”
Straightening her blankets around her leg, Eva nodded. “Sixty-two on my birthday this year.”
“Yeah, still young enough to want to stay clean,” Renee winked. “Just in case of a gentleman caller.” She laughed as Michael covered his ears and glared.
“I don’t need to hear this!” he grumbled, his protest only making the women laugh harder.
Renee giggled. “Okay, I’m outta here. I wonder what all they have down there, anyway? I’ll just see what I can find, and we’ll make a day of it. Or, a long morning of it, at least, before Michael and I head out to let you rest.”
“Are you done having the sex talk with my mom now?” Michael asked, his voice over-loud as he pressed his palms to his ears, his face flaming. “Jeez, I feel like I’m twelve or something. Are you two finished freaking me out?”
Eva nodded to her son, still laughing, and waved a dismissive hand at him as he cautiously uncovered his ears. To Renee, she said, “You don’t have to do all this, you know.”
Shrugging, Renee pouted slightly, her lips puckered as she fished in her back pocket. Pulling a plastic card from her pocket, she glanced at it, grinned slightly, and stuffed it back into her pocket. “I know,” she answered. “But it’s what I’d want someone to think to do for me. I’ll be right back.”
Once she was gone, Eva dropped her teasing and just sat back to look at her son. “You look tired, Michael. Are you doing okay?”
Michael nodded, pursing his lips. “I’m alright,” he said. “Business is good, with the end of summer coming. I took a contract a few weeks ago with a rental company, so I’ve got a lot full of maintenance and repairs right now – probably keep the bills paid through the winter, and there’s not a deadline since it’s a revolving job. As long as I keep fixing them so the rental fleet is drivable, they’ll keep sending their cars to me. It’s a big step for me, though; I might have to hire someone on to help carry the load.”
She smiled, patting his hand. “I remember the first time you worked on a car. You remember, tuning up my old station wagon when you were little? I think you were five, and your daddy taught you to help hand him tools because he figured if he couldn’t keep you away from the car, at least he could teach you what to do under one. Remember that?”
“I do,” Michael laughed, picking at the stains around his fingernails. Flattening his hands against his thighs, he showed them to his mother. “But now you can’t ever call me out about washing my hands. No one can tell anymore, if I have or if I haven’t.”
Cringing, Eva glanced disdainfully at Michael’s hands before looking up into his face again. “I hope you have,” she said dryly.
He shook his head. “Of course I have. I even use one of those scrubbers, like the ones doctors use when they scrub their hands before surgery – I clean all around my nails and my knuckles, too, but the stains never come off. I think even if I can retire young, I’ll still grow old and die with dirty hands.”
“Well, let’s not be in a hurry for that now, shall we?” She cleared her throat, eyeing him shrewdly. “But I have noticed something. Your little miss is hanging around a bit, isn’t she? I’m not sure I can believe that’s all about me, you know – I mean, this is only a small fracture.” She raised her arm, showing the cast, and then lowered it to point at the cast on her leg. “And that one isn’t much worse. I’m fine, Michael. No need for all this fuss from any of you.”
“Little miss –“ Michael pressed his lips together, still caught on what his mother had said. He felt his eyebrows draw together heavily, and with effort, forced his face to relax. But still, he had to ask. “Little miss what? I don’t have a ‘little miss’.”
Shaking her head, Eva arched her eyebrows in amusement. “I swear,” she muttered. “Men.”
“Wait – Mom, what the hell? Are you talking –“
“– About Renee?” Exasperated now, she rolled her eyes. “She’s a sweet girl with a kind heart, but do you really think she spent the night sleeping in a waiting room chair in the lobby because she likes me?” Eva sighed, her unbroken leg fidgeting beneath the blankets restlessly. Eva was an active woman; Michael could see that being injured in such a disabling way was going to be hard. He could see, too, that she was terribly frustrated with him. “Really, Michael,” she said quietly, closing her eyes as she rested her head against her pillows. “I always thought you were smarter than that.”
“Smarter than – What are you saying? Mom, it’s not like that with Renee and me, she’s … she’s just a friend. Hell, she’s got a date in a few days, some guy who came into one of her yoga sessions!”
Chapter Thirteen
Eva’s eyes popped open in surprise; her mouth dropped open too, before she recovered enough to shut it.“Hmph,” she said.“A date? Renee has a date?”
“Renee has a date,” Michael answered.
“And how do you feel about that?”
He shrugged, ignoring the brief wave of nausea that washed over him, ignoring the nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach.“I’m fine with it. We’re just friends, Mom. She can date– or notdate. That’s none of my business.”
“And do you date? You haven’t mentioned any dates– I haven’t heard of any dates.” Her eyebrows had drawn together now, and her lips had thinned to a frustrated line.
“Well,” Michael hedged, unwilling to tell his mother that the closest he came to dating someone was a series of random hook-ups with a cute bartender he liked but didn’t care for.“Uh, sure. I… date.”
“Well,” Eva echoed dryly, pursing her lips as she avoided meeting his eyes.“I hope you’re… very careful, Michael. On your… dates.”
Grimacing, he bit down on his bottom lip.“Mom,” he said.“I am always careful. I wear my seatbelt. I open doors. I never leave my drinks unattended.”
Eva’s eyes snapped to his, flashing daggers.“Now that’sin poor taste,” she snapped.“If your sister were here–“
“Mom, wait,” Michael said, touching her hand softly to silence her.“Alright, bad joke. But you know what I meant. You don’t have to keep worrying about me. I’m a big boy, remember?”
Finally, she looked up again and met his eyes.“I don’t like seeing my son settle for lonesomeness,” she said sadly.
“What? Evan’s lonesome?” At his mother’s exasperated look, he winked.“I know you can’t mean Drew– he’s happy. Everyone can tell he is. Must be Evan, then.”
Eva rolled her eyes and sighed.“You know what I mean.” But she laughed reluctantly, and the tension between them was broken.
Michael sighed too, nodding silently as he ran one fingertip over the jagged cut that ran along the middle joint of his right ring finger.“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he
said, his voice hardly more than a whisper. He swallowed, pressing slightly against the cut, the sudden sting bringing tears to the corners of his eyes. He blinked them away, releasing the pressure on his finger as he looked up at his mother.“Maybe that’s the life for me. And who says I’m lonely, anyhow?” Shrugging one shoulder, he forced a grin.“Maybe I like having the house to myself– stays pretty clean that way. No delicates always hanging over the shower rod to dry.” Eva turned away, picking slightly at the edge of the cast on her wrist. She slipped a finger between her hand and the cast, grimacing, and Michael watched her sweep her finger back and forth, attempting to scratch her palm.“Does it hurt much?” he asked.
She shook her head.“No, it doesn’t. Because I say it doesn’t, and I choose to ignore the pain. I guess that’s what we’re doing now, right? Ignoring it?” She looked at him pointedly, her mouth drawn into a stern line even as her eyes were laughing.“Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
More Than Friends (Kingsley #4) Page 6