Roommates Box Set #4-6

3. Alyssa

3

ALYSSA

The rest of the afternoon, at least the parts of it I was awake for, flew by. I finally met the doctor, who gave me more information about my injuries and my recovery time.

I ate what I could of a meal, and I felt better once one of the hospital workers helped me get a little more presentable. She brought me a basin of water to wash up with and found a comb for me. It took her and another person to help me to the bathroom, though. That was an embarrassing and painful experience, plus it really brought home the fact that I’d be needing a lot of assistance for a long time.

The thought of returning to Colorado did cross my mind, but again, I rejected it. I’d been waiting for this moment, my first real job and my first taste of independence, since I was five. Finally, I was away from my parents’ influence. They hadn’t wanted their little girl to move across country—or to become an engineer in the first place.

This accident wasn’t my fault, but still, it felt like if I returned home now, it would be a defeat.

I insisted that Spencer go home around dinnertime. He had his family to attend to. After a brief argument, he gave in. He leaned over and gave me a gentle hug and assured me that he’d be back tomorrow.

After a rather bland dinner of my own, I had more visitors—McKenna and Dan from work. They filled me in on everything I’d missed. They’d each met their new teams and were full of enthusiasm about the projects they’d be working on.

After they left, I was a bit glum. I couldn’t help wondering what my day would’ve been like if I hadn’t ended up in the hospital. But it was pointless to think about what might’ve been, so I tried to banish those thoughts from my mind as I nibbled one of the chocolates from the box they’d brought.

The next morning, there were a bunch of people in and out of my room. Nurses gave me instructions about the cast, pain meds, future physical therapy. When one of them handed me a stack of paper prescriptions, it dawned on me that I didn’t have the slightest clue where a pharmacy was.

Luckily, Spencer arrived and was able to take notes on some of the instructions. He ran a school, so he must be smart. Plus, he wasn’t trying to think through a wave of pain meds.

After lunch, the discharge procedures started. There was so much paperwork that my head started spinning—not that it had ever really stopped.

When I finally finished signing a tree’s worth of papers, the man from yesterday morning returned. Though he also had dark hair, he was a little shorter and thinner than Spencer.

When Spencer got to his feet, the differences were even more pronounced. The new man had a short beard, and though his hair was cut short on the sides like Spencer’s, it was a little higher on top. His green eyes were warm as Spencer introduced us. “This is my brother-in-law, Raphael Theriot.”

Raphael moved to the side of my bed. “Thank you so much for saving Lucas.”

Embarrassment flicked through me. Compliments always made me feel that way. “I’m, um, glad I was able to help.” Obviously, I was going to have to come up with a better response when the accident was brought up in the future.

“I mean it.” Raphael put his hand on top of mine. “Lucas is an amazing little boy, and he wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Thank you.”

His smile was sincere, but he looked a little amused, perhaps at my embarrassment. “I told you all of this yesterday, but I don’t think you took much of it in.”

“We spoke yesterday?” I had no memory of that at all.

“Yes, but you were pretty out of it.”

Huh. I guessed I had been. It seemed like I would’ve remembered. Raphael had a unique voice. It was mellow and pleasant, and it was more than clear that he’d been born in the South. But there was some other note in his tone that didn’t sound exactly like the other Southern accents I’d heard in the last few days.

He opened the bag he’d brought with him and pulled out a folded stack of clothes. “I brought some sweats. They’ll be huge on you, but that’s what drawstrings are for.”

“We tried to find something big enough to fit around the cast,” Spencer said. “But if it doesn’t, we can always cut off the leg. Of the sweatpants, I mean, not you.” He gave me a wink.

It astonished me that strangers were doing so much for me. It was a good thing, though. I hadn’t even thought about what I’d wear home from the hospital. Lord knew I was eager to get out of this gown. Briefly, I wondered about the clothes I’d been wearing on Monday. I’d seen how badly my skin was scraped up when I was in the bathroom before. Likely my clothes had fared even worse. Maybe after I got settled at Spencer’s house, someone could go to my apartment and get some of my things.

I’d finally accepted that I’d be staying with Spencer and his family. It was really my only option if I wanted to stay in my new town. Sure, I could get a hotel room, but there was no way I could take care of myself. I didn’t even know how to use the new crutches that were leaning against the wall.

Plus, I was supposed to move as little as possible in the first 48 hours while the cast fully dried. That wasn’t going to be an issue—it wasn’t like I could move much anyway.

There was no way I could manage on my own, and who else was going to help me? McKenna or Dan? Already, I felt like I knew Spencer better than I knew them. And though they’d offered to keep me up to date on work-related things, neither had volunteered to help in other ways. Nor had I expected them to.

So that meant I was going to Spencer’s house.

It took a long while to be discharged. Spencer had obviously taken the day off work—hopefully there was an assistant principal who’d stepped up—but I wondered what Raphael’s job was. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for chit-chat, however.

No matter how gentle the medical staff was, it hurt when they helped me get dressed and then later when they wheeled me out of the building. I managed to keep from whimpering when Spencer and Raphael lifted me into the car, a tall SUV that I would’ve had no chance of getting into on my own.

Once I was settled in the front seat, Raphael produced a large backpack that he gently placed under my bad leg. “I hope that makes it a little more comfortable,” he said. It did, since I couldn’t bend my leg and rest my foot on the floor. Still, I sincerely hoped that the ride to Spencer’s place would be as smooth as possible.

Pain flared every time the car turned, but at least I had an interesting view as Spencer drove. We traveled through a part of town I wasn’t familiar with. It seemed to be on the opposite side of Lake Boise from my apartment and workplace.

The businesses that lined the streets were in older buildings. Most seemed to be in good repair, however. This area of town had a rather stately feel to it.

Then we were driving through a neighborhood with large houses, in big yards with tall trees. They looked a lot different than homes in Colorado, in ways I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Spencer drove on until we were out of that neighborhood and houses were few and far between.

He slowed when we reached a cul-de-sac. Only three houses were visible, and they were surrounded by thick woods. The trees went on for as far as I could see, dwarfing the houses, which were by no means small. Evidently Spencer’s was the middle one. He pulled up the steep driveway, and I winced when the car bounced.

His house was two stories and had a Southern farmhouse feel to it. It looked old, but well cared for. I imagined generations of families living there, which was the opposite of what my family had done. My parents had constantly sought bigger and better homes as their wealth grew.

On the left side, there was another house of about the same age, but smaller. On the right, there was a big expanse of land with a house and a large barn. That was interesting. Was there a farm next door?

Spencer lifted me easily out of the car, ignoring the crutches I still hadn’t tried. As he carried me to the front door, I was torn between taking in the details of his house and enjoying the feeling of being in his strong arms. No one had carried me like this since I was a little girl.

He made it look easy, too. Of course, he was a big man. A big man with big muscles. Probably every part of him was big.

God, what was I thinking? This was no time to think about sex—I could barely move. Maybe the pain meds were screwing with my brain, but I couldn’t help the way my pulse sped up from being this close to the hot principal.

Raphael followed with the crutches and a bag of stuff from the hospital. Once we reached the porch, he moved past Spencer, opened the screen door, and unlocked the main door. Then he held it open as Spencer moved inside.

“The bed’s ready?” Spencer asked his brother-in-law. Raphael nodded. “Alyssa, would you prefer to go rest, or would you like to sit out here for a while?”

Truthfully, I was tired, but I hadn’t sat in a real chair in quite a while. Now that I was wearing actual clothes—though they’d ended up cutting off the right leg of the sweatpants Raphael had brought—I was eager to put even more psychological distance between me and the hospital. “I’d love to sit, thanks.”

Still holding me with little apparent effort, Spencer and I looked around the living room. There were large leather sofas arranged around a flatscreen TV on the wall. Toys and books covered the coffee table and end tables. It looked like a nice, homey space, but it was a bit dark in here.

Spencer seemed to feel the same way. “Let’s go in the kitchen.” The room we entered was light and airy, owing to a big window over the sink and the sliding glass doors that led out to a deck. In front of the doors was a large table that looked like it could seat at least eight.

The maple-colored wood had scratches on it, and it made me wonder exactly how long Spencer’s family had lived here. The dining room had a lived-in look, as if it was well used to large family meals, board game nights, and more.

He set me down gently on a wooden chair at the kitchen table, and I tried to sit up as straight as I could—something that hadn’t been possible in the hospital bed. Any kind of movement made my leg ache, but I figured that wasn’t going to change for a while.

Raphael brought an ottoman from the living room and placed it in front of me. “You’re supposed to keep your leg elevated as much as possible,” he reminded me as hebent down and carefully lifted my cast up. Even with his gentleness, I couldn’t help but grimace, and he stopped immediately.

“Maybe something not quite as high?” Spencer suggested. Raphael disappeared down the hallway and returned with a wooden stepstool with a cartoon character on it. He’d plucked a throw pillow off the couch, and when he lifted my leg up again, it didn’t hurt as much.

From this vantage, I could see the cast better. The plaster looked very thick. The only parts of my leg not covered were my foot and my upper thigh. There was a slight bend at the knee, but other than that, it was pretty straight and completely rigid. I wondered how long my leg would be frozen in this position. As I thought about it, I wiggled my toes. It was a little chilly in here, perhaps because the house had been empty.

Spencer followed my gaze. “Do you want a blanket?”

“Actually, I’m wishing I had some socks.” I’d always been a fan of warm, fuzzy socks. “I wish I had my clothes here, too.”

“We’ll get them for you,” Raphael said. “That’s on the agenda for this evening after dinner.”

“In the meantime, I think I’ve got something you might like.” Spencer left the room.

That would be great if they could get my things. I couldn’t wear borrowed clothes forever. I’d have to give them my keys, but at the moment, I couldn’t remember where they were. Then it dawned on me. “My car’s still at the park.”

“No, it’s not,” Raphael said. “Flynn and I got it last night.”

“Flynn?”

“My brother,” Spencer said, his face tightening as he returned. That must be the man I’d seen flying the kite with the kids yesterday. The one who’d held my hand after the accident.

“I didn’t see my car out there.”

“We parked it at his house because there’s more room. There’s a big lot on the other side of the barn,” Raphael said.

“He lives next door?”

“Yes.”

Spencer showed me a pair of purple socks that looked handmade. “Our neighbor on the other side knits. These were actually made for Charlotte, but they’re pretty big and loose. I think they’ll fit your feet.” Charlotte? From the size of the socks, I figured that must be the little girl.

Spencer knelt down and stretched a sock wide, pulling it up over one foot before doing the same to the other.

Wow. Having two handsome men literally waiting on me hand and foot was going to take some getting used to.