Swirl: The Complete Collection (BWWM Interracial Romance) (Books 1-3)

by Lexi Lewis

  The doctor hadn’t been back in yet, and Reese just wanted to kick everyone out so that he could come back and tell him what all was messed up. Paul was standing by the door while his parents were there, and Reese managed to catch his eye and make a face that he hoped said ‘get them out of here and go find the doctor now’.

  “Reese, you okay, man?” Paul asked, coming closer. “Is the pain coming back?”

  Actually, the morphine was doing its job, but this was his chance. “Yeah, kinda. Could you go see if you can find the doctor for me. I’m supposed to let him know if anything changes.”

  Paul nodded. “Definitely. Come on, Mr. and Mrs. Abbot. Let’s let Reese rest a bit before the doctor comes in. We can go check out the cafeteria.”

  Reese shot him a grateful smile when Paul ushered his parents out, and sighed with relief at the sudden quiet of the room.

  He got to enjoy the solitude for another few minutes before Dr. Smith returned.

  “Sorry for the wait,” he said. “You seemed to have visitors, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “No, it’s okay. Though, you really could have, and it would have been appreciated. So. What’s the verdict?”

  Dr. Smith sighed and opened his file with the x-rays in it. “I’m afraid it’s not good news, really. You managed to damage a significant portion of your body, Mr. Abbot. The fall itself only managed to dislocate your arm and crack two ribs on your right side, but the rolling seems to have done you more damage than the fall.”

  Reese swallowed hard at that. He’d had dislocated arms before, broken bones, cracked ribs. He’d had a rambunctious childhood with a love of the thrill of danger that had turned into a career now that he was an adult. But something about the look on the doctor’s face told him this wasn’t going to be all that routine.

  “What else is wrong with me?” he asked.

  “Your leg is broken in three places. They’re complicated breaks, no doubt aggravated by your tumble down the slope. We reset your arm, but there seems to be a sprain there as well. Between your ribs and your leg, you’re looking at at least twenty-five to thirty weeks of recovery and rehabilitation.”

  Reese’s world screeched to a halt. Thirty weeks? That was about seven months. Seven months of being unable to ride or use any of his boards. That meant missing the rest of the winter games as well as the spring and summer ones as well. It meant bed rest and probably physical therapy for the leg. Oh god. Darkness was starting to creep around the edges of his vision, and he recognized this as him having a panic attack.

  He’d gotten them a fair bit as a kid, and sometimes on the road when he was in unfamiliar places and feeling overwhelmed. He was definitely feeling overwhelmed now. His entire plan for the year was coming crashing down around his ears, and with it, his plans for the next few years.

  Missing out on so much of this year would spell the end for him. Some new up and comer would take advantage of his downtime and elbow their way into the spotlight, and he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

  His chest heaved as he fought for breath, his broken ribs sending shooting pain through his side. The machine monitoring his heart was going crazy, and if it weren’t for the needle in his arm and the fact that his leg was up in a sling, he would have been trying to get out of the bed already so he could get some air that wasn’t heavy with the scent of sickness.

  “Mr. Abbot! Mr. Abbot!” Dr. Smith was saying, trying to get his attention. But Reese was too far gone. He could see his dreams lying shattered around him, and he couldn’t take it.

  Eventually the added pain and stress combined with his current exhaustion took over, and his vision continued to go black until he had passed out once again.

  CHAPTER 4: BEDSIDE MANNER

  Eve knocked on the door of room 408 and then pushed it open when there was no answer. Reese Abbot, twenty-five year old male with multiple leg fractures, two broken ribs, and a sprained shoulder was sleeping in his bed. It was almost impossible to tell that just a couple of hours ago he’d been in the middle of a panic attack and had passed out.

  Dr. Smith had asked her to take over for Cara, the nurse who had been working with him before, since Cara had problems connecting to the patients.

  In Eve’s opinion, Cara didn’t care about connection, but she kept her mouth shut about that and told Dr. Smith that it would be her pleasure.

  She crept into the room quietly and checked the machines, making sure all was well. Reese was nearing the end of his drip from the IV, but Eve had another one ready in case he needed it. She’d have to wait until he woke up so she could ask him about the pain.

  While she had the chance, she let her eyes roam over him. He looked tired, and she could see the mottled bruises around his shoulder where it had been slammed into the ground from what she had heard. Patty was right, though. He was ridiculously attractive. His hair was a curly mop on his . His eyelashes fanned out and nearly touched his cheeks with how long and delicate they looked. She wondered what color his eyes were and marveled at his facial structure before she snapped herself out of it. She had a job to do, and it wasn’t ogling her patient.

  “Right, then,” she murmured, stepping around the flowers on the floor and going to his chart to see what had already been done.

  “Did they send the other nurse away?” a deep, raspy voice asked, and Eve’s head shot up.

  Reese was awake now and looking right at her through bleary looking eyes.

  “Oh. Um…yes. Dr. Smith asked me to step in. I hope that’s alright.”

  He shrugged his good shoulder. “The other one didn’t smile or even really look at me. I’m probably gonna be here a while, so it might be nice to have someone who actually acknowledges me as a person here.”

  Eve smiled. “Well, I promise I will acknowledge and speak to you for the duration of your stay, Mr. Abbot. Now. You’ve reached the end of your IV, which means the morphine you were on is no longer in your system more than likely. How bad is the pain right now?”

  He seemed to consider it. “On a scale from one to ten? About a seven.”

  “Huh. That’s actually not too bad, considering. Would you like something else for the pain?”

  Reese shrugged again. “I guess. It doesn’t seem as bad as it did before, but I’m just sort of…numb right now.”

  Eve frowned at that and stepped closer to the bed. “What do you mean? Which parts of your body are numb?” That could be bad if he was losing feeling.

  He shook his head and then winced. “No, no. I mean…emotionally numb. No, that sounds really stupid. Mentally numb? Something like that. I can still feel everything fine. No need to worry about that.”

  “Oh.” Eve was quiet for a minute. She had been updated on the seriousness of Reese’s injuries, and she supposed it made a lot of sense for him to feel like he was numb if he was having trouble dealing with it. She could only imagine how she would feel if someone told her that she was looking at more than half a year without being able to do the things she loved. “You must really enjoy your job, then,” she said.

  He looked at her, and she was startled by just how pale his eyes were. She had never seen such a light shade of gray before, and if she hadn’t already thought he was attractive, then she definitely would have once those eyes settled on her. “It’s not even a job to me,” he said. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. When I was a kid, I would try to jump my bike over creeks and rocks and my friends. Anything that would be still long enough for me to get over it, basically. And then I learned how to skateboard and snowboard and ski, and it was like…like I had found myself. It all made sense.”

  “It was your calling,” Eve murmured.

  “Yeah. I guess that’s as good a way to put it as any. It’s all I’ve ever been good at, and now…” Reese sighed. “Now I’m going to be in a bed for seven months.”

  “You’re not going to be confined to the bed, Mr. Abbot,” Eve said. “They can get you a walking cast, and your ribs shouldn’t give you too much tr
ouble as long as you don’t move around too much. They’ll be all healed up in six weeks, tops.”

  He sighed again. “Yeah, okay, so I won’t have to be in bed the whole time, but I can’t ride or board like this. This is going to put me back so far.”

  She really could understand his frustration. But Dr. Smith had asked her to do her best to put him in a better mood, so she pasted on a smile. “Mr. Abbot, I understand how you feel, believe me, I do. I know what it’s like to be so close to something you want, only to have it yanked away due to things you can’t control. It’s awful, and it feels like the whole world is going to collapse around you. Like your dreams are just shattered, and there’s nothing you can do to put them back together again. But you can’t give up. You can’t let it end there. Opportunities are all around you, Mr. Abbot. I’d think someone like you would be daring enough to know how to reach out and grab them.”

  Reese was quiet, looking at her with narrowed eyes. It seemed like he was going to argue for a minute, but then he just tilted his head back and sighed once more. “Yeah, you’re probably right. And you don’t have to call me ‘Mr. Abbot’. That sounds so weird. My name is Reese. We’re probably going to be seeing a lot of each other so it makes sense to be on first name terms, right?” Those eyes found hers again.

  “Sure. I’m Evelyn, but everyone calls me Eve. It’s nice to meet you, Reese.” She glanced up at the clock in the room. “I have to go see some other patients, but I’ll be back. Can I bring you anything? More morphine?”

  He shook his head. “Not right now. I think I can handle the pain for the time being, and I hate feeling jacked up on pain killers.”

  “Alright. We’ll see how you’re feeling when I come back. It should be dinner time by then, so I’ll bring you a tray. It’s Salisbury steak night in the cafeteria.”

  “I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a good thing or not,” Reese said.

  Eve grinned at him. “Oh, you’ll find out.” She waved over her shoulder and headed out into the hall, checking her list of patients to check up on.

  For the next hour she chatted with the patients, made adjustments to IVs, and reported to the doctors. She got a text from her neighbor who picked Devin up from school when her shifts prevented her from doing so herself. He often stayed late at school to get help with his math homework, and Eve felt bad that she couldn’t be the one who helped him.

  Her aunt reminded her constantly that she was the one who worked and kept Devin fed and clothed and happy, and that she shouldn’t beat herself up for the things she couldn’t do for him. It was hard not to sometimes when she knew how much he still lacked.

  But there wasn’t a lot she could do about it either way, so she texted her neighbor back, thanking her as always, and went on with her shift. She got off at seven, which was just about an hour away at this point. Devin would probably be interested to hear about her newest patient and his love of defying death with his stunts, but she didn’t want her little brother getting it into his head that he could do those things, so she wasn’t sure yet if she would tell him.

  He loved hearing her talk about work and the different people she got to meet, and she always ended the night by sitting on the edge of his bed and telling him stories until he fell asleep. It would probably make him happy, so maybe she would tell him.

  She was still smiling at the thought when she brought the tray in to Reese. He was sitting up, using his good arm to flip through the channels on the television on the wall.

  He sighed and pointed to the television when he saw her. “Look, they’re already talking about it.”

  Eve turned and saw that the local news was on, the reporter standing at the foot of the snow covered mountain.

  “From what we’ve been able to learn from Abbot’s representation, he is in stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and more information is still needed about Abbot’s status for the rest of the season’s competitions. I’m sure his fans will be heartbroken to hear that he will most likely not be returning to this competition at the very least. We’ll keep you updated as information becomes available. Reporting live from Mt. La Crosse, I’m Abigail Simmons.”

  “Wow,” Eve said, bringing the tray over and pulling the extendable legs down to have it stand over Reese’s lap. “They move fast, don’t they? You’re not even in casts yet.”

  Reese sighed. “That’s pretty much how these things go. You don’t stay on top for too long because as soon as you fall, someone’s reporting about it.”

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Don’t you watch the reports on ESPN or the local sports channels?”

  Eve laughed at that. As if she had time to watch ESPN. Hell, as if she had the money to afford cable channels. She had Devin made due with the local stations and whatever DVDs they could find on sale when she had extra money. And neither of them were at home for long enough to really miss television anyway.

  “No,” she said. “I work a lot, and I’ve never really been into sports. No offense.”

  “None taken, I guess. You’re probably going to get your fill of sports talk in here, though. Especially if Paul’s around. He’s just going to want to talk about my options.”

  “Who’s Paul?”

  “My agent.” Reese picked up the fork on the tray and poked at the food. “What is this supposed to be again?”

  “Salisbury steak. It’s a favorite around here.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “Whose favorite? People who’ve had their taste buds removed?”

  She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t the most appetizing looking thing that the hospital had ever made, but it wasn’t like it was inedible. But Reese was probably more used to fancy meals and private chefs or whatever, so the lump of brown meat in greasy gravy with peas probably wasn’t high on his list of things to eat.

  “Look, you may as well get used to it. You’re going to be here for a while, and unless you plan on having your agent bring you meals every day, you’re going to have to eat the food. Unless you want to be in that bed for even longer than you already will.”

  It was a low blow and she knew it, but from the determined set of Reese’s jaw, it was exactly the right thing to say. He sighed and grabbed the plastic knife, sawing through the meat before plopping the piece into his mouth.

  He made a face, but chewed and swallowed diligently. “I guess it’s not so bad.”

  Eve grinned at him. “Very good. Now. I’m going to get your IV all set up again with more morphine because trust me, you’ll want it in a bit. And then the doctor should be back to set your leg and get your cast worked out.”

  “And where will you be?”

  “At home because my shift is over in ten minutes,” Eve replied. “But don’t worry, the night nurse isn’t bad, and I’ll be back in the morning to make sure the oatmeal doesn’t kill you.”

  Reese wrinkled his nose, and Eve could feel those pale eyes on her while she worked. “Aren’t nurses supposed to be reassuring and warm and all that?” he wanted to know.

  “Sometimes. Mostly we’re supposed to adapt to the situation, and I don’t think you really want someone to coddle you. So I’m doing what feels right. Feel free to let me know if it’s not working for you.” She smiled and injected the morphine into the IV. “There, you’re all set.”

  “Thanks,” he murmured. “And yeah. The teasing is much better than being coddled.”

  She was usually really good at figuring out what people were going to want, so she smiled at him. “I knew it. I’ll see you tomorrow, Reese. Try to hang in there until then, hm?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll do my best. See you tomorrow.” He waved his good hand, and Eve grinned and let herself out. Her shift was officially over, and she sighed as exhaustion made itself known. It hadn’t even been one of the longer, more trying days that she had gotten used to over the couple of years she had been working at the hospital, but she was tired and looking forward to sitting on the couch in her apartment.

  There was just
enough time left in the day to go home and help Devin with his homework and make sure he got a bath and was properly fed before he had to go to bed, and she focused her mind on that as she drove home.

  Eve always tried to switch her mind from work to Devin when she was home so that he wouldn’t have to feel like she was neglecting him for her job any more than he probably already did. He never complained about having to stay with other people or her coming home at night instead of being there to greet him or pick him up from school, but it always made her feel bad because of the sheer amount of change that Devin had already dealt with in his life.

  She wanted to be able to give him something stable. Something he could hold on to and rely on, but Eve knew that making sure he was fed and clothed was more important at the moment. And that meant working as hard as she could so that they would have the money for it.

  That was just how things were right then, and all Eve could do was hope that one day things would change. They had to.

  With a weary sigh, Eve got out of her car and climbed the stairs to her apartment, bypassing it at first to knock on the door next to hers.

  A pretty woman in her mid-thirties answered the door with a smile. Carla had been watching Devin for as long as he had been living with Eve, so they knew each other well by now. She was a short woman, short enough to make Eve feel tall, but she had kind eyes and a warm smile.