17. Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
They wouldn’t let anyone visit me until the doctor checked me out.
I should be grateful Brock showed up and got me out of the pool, but he took one look and tucked me into the backseat of my car, driving straight to Mercy Hospital, which was damn near thirty miles away in Hartsville.
And I was grateful. But I also felt stupid, since it would actually have been possible to get out of the pool at the shallow end—if I didn’t have a fucking concussion.
And I was bored and really only wanted to go home.
Not to mention this fucking headache of the century pounding through my noggin.
Finally, the doctor knocked on the doorframe and entered. “Mr. Corbin. I’m Doctor Franklin. How’re you feeling?”
Wasn’t that the question. “Fine. I guess.”
He flashed his light in my eyes and went through his check. “Head hurt?”
“Yes.” Of course it did. I’d smacked it into a concrete wall or floor or something. I wasn’t entirely sure. The whole incident was a bit blurry.
“On a scale of 1 to 10? With 10 being you’re ready to pass out from the pain…”
“Probably around a four or five, but it fluctuates.”
“That’s normal. We’ll give you Tylenol. Don’t think you’ll need anything else. But you need to rest for the next few days. No sports. No swimming or jumping into empty pools.” He scowled at me.
“I didn’t jump.”
Doctor Franklin patted my leg. “I’m sort of kidding. But I’m also serious. Stay away from the pool. If you get dizzy and fall in again, I’d hate to be you when Brock has to fish you out. Again.” Yep, Doc Franklin knew us. Everyone in the four nearest towns knew us or knew of us.
“Promise.” I held up three fingers as if I’d ever been a scout.
Doc Franklin scowled again and pointed at me. “Behave. I’m sending someone in to cast your arm, then you can go home. I’m assuming Brock will drive you.”
“My arm?”
“You broke your arm.”
“Oh.” It hurt, and I vaguely recalled having it X-rayed, but I hadn’t known it was broken.
“Small fracture. Cast all the same. It’ll come off in about four weeks. Then maybe some PT. For now…” He pointed again as if I were a small child. “Rest. I know that’ll be hard for you, but you have to let the brain heal. Concussions are no joke.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“All right. All done here.” He turned to walk out.
“Wait. Can Brock come back? Or Eddy?”
“Sure. How about the other guy with them?”
“Other guy?”
“Yes, tall, skinny, dark hair up in a bun. Dressed real smart. Drinking the biggest cup of coffee I’ve ever seen.”
“Al? Wow. He totally can come back.”
“I see. Well, I’ll let them know.” He raised his eyebrows and smirked. I was obviously not hiding anything where my feelings for Alfred were concerned.
I sank back into the mattress, oddly comfortable for a hospital, and waited. There wasn’t anything else to do. But it wasn’t long before all three of my friends, if Alfred was actually a friend, barged into the room.
“You crazy nut. What the fuck were you thinking?” Eddy asked, grabbing my ankle under the sheet.
“I was checking out the progress.”
Brock snorted. “More like closely inspecting the bottom of the pool. With your face.”
I flipped him off with the arm that wasn’t broken. “Not my face.”
“No, the back of your head. And seriously, this could have been a lot worse, Jackie.” I didn’t like the way Alfred’s eyebrows dipped in above his nose or the wrinkles on his forehead from doing that.
“Shh…I’m fine.” I waved away his concern. Mistake.
“Look at me.” He squeezed in between Brock and Eddy and gripped my leg until I looked him in the eye. “You worried me. Not cool. Got it?”
“Y-Yes…” Was that a question? I didn’t even know. A mad Alfred was kind of scary. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“I know. But it shouldn’t have happened.” Alfred turned his fury toward Brock, and that was really something to see. “You. Make sure a fence is put up around that thing like yesterday. What if someone else fell in? No. Nope. Get it done.”
Brock shrank a little and Eddy opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything before closing it again. Brock cleared his throat. “You’re right. I’m going to go call uh…Cameron and have them get that fence up today.” He slowly backed out of the room. “Like now.”
Eddy laughed at him. “The wrath of Alfred has begun. Dun-dun-da-dun…”
“Shut up.” Alfred blushed. Damn, he was so cute. I loved him shy and embarrassed, but I loved him fierce and pissed off too. He was totally the man for me. I swear he made those hearts pop out of my eyes.
Shortly after that, the tech team came in to cast my arm, running everyone off. But that was the last thing to do before checking out and Brock wheeling me down to my car.
I fell asleep on the way home but woke up to Alfred helping me out of the vehicle and into the house. “I’ll take it from here, guys. Thanks again.”
“Call us if you need anything.” Eddy gave him a side hug and drove off in his truck with Brock following on his hog. “Now, let’s get you into bed.”
Alfred put his arm around me, helping me toward the house, which was cute because I could walk. I wasn’t dizzy at all. In fact, the pain had even eased off. “I can walk, you know. Arm broke, not legs.”
“Shush. What if you get dizzy or something? You can’t fall again.” He shoved the door open. Of course it wasn’t locked. “You really should lock your doors. You know security is what I do and you, my friend, are a hot mess.”
“I thought you did computer security.”
“I do all security. Why the hell didn’t you have that hell hole fenced already?” Not like he’d ever mentioned it—at least not as far as I remembered.
“Hell hole? It’s a pool. Go look.” I waved toward the back porch.
Alfred’s gaze jumped out to the back but then he grumbled, “No thanks. Bed.” He shoved me a little. I wasn’t sure I liked this Alfred—pushy and obviously mad at me. Maybe Brock and Eddy shouldn’t have left so soon.