Chapter 20
Feeling exceptionally happy because of the events of the day, when Shay’s phone rang on his way to his truck, after clocking out for the day, he answered with a laugh.
“Hello.”
“Mr. Hall?”
Shay pulled his phone back and looked at it, didn’t see the caller ID, then brought it back to his ear with a frown.
“This is Shay Hall, who is this?”
“Oh, hi, sorry, this is Dr. Amelia Johnson. I’m calling because I finally got to go over everything Caleb was able to send me earlier. Do you have a few minutes for a few questions?”
“Yes,” Shay said, and instead of getting into the cab of his truck, he leaned against the bed of it. He saw Faith approach, and waved her over. He mouthed who was on the phone, and put it on speaker. “You’re on speaker, Dr. Johnson, and Faith is here with me.”
“Faith?”
“My girlfriend, she brought me to see you when I first got injured.”
“Ah, sorry. Do you want her to listen in on our conversation? I’m only asking because of doctor patient confidentiality.”
“That’s fine, I’d only tell her what we discussed anyway. She is my contact person.”
“Okay, then let me ask you a couple of questions. How many of the Oxy pain pills did you take?”
“None, I even gave the full bottle to Caleb this morning and asked him to dispose of them for me.”
“Wow, okay, what about the other pain pills? Do you need a refill for those? I’m going to need the name of your local pharmacy so I can send it in.”
“Nope, I haven’t taken anything for three weeks. I gave those to Caleb too, to dispose of.”
“Oh, wow, okay, and what is your pain level now? Between one and ten?”
“Zero. Doc, I don’t know whether you heard me or not, but my answers are not going to change.
I have no pain, I don’t wear my brace after I get home and shower.
It’s off all night. I’m talking from like six or seven at night, until six the next morning.
I don’t take any pills, and I have no twinges or numbness.
Caleb gave me a small brace just this morning because the other one was too cumbersome.
Last week, I returned to mucking out the stalls, and though I didn’t do the wheelbarrow as much as I should have, I still used it. ”
“Why didn’t you do it as much as you wanted to?”
“Because I still wore the brace you gave me, and frankly, doctor, it was a royal pain in the ass not being able to use my knee.”
“I see,” she was silent, and both Faith and Shay exchanged looks when they heard papers rustling in the background. “It shows that you’re due in to my office in two weeks. I’ll be out your way in a week and a half, if you can see me then, we can get this put to bed.”
“Just call me with the date, time, and location, Doctor, I’ll be there.”
“Thank you, Mr. Hall. I look forward to seeing you soon. In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing, and if you need anything contact Dr. Lassiter, then myself. I’m sure, that between the two of us, we can help you.” They rang off, and when Shay looked at Faith, he shook his head at her.
“What?”
“Did you get the impression that she didn’t believe me about the pills? Or my pain level?”
“Yeah, it makes me wonder.”
“About?”
“How many of her patients lie to say they’re in pain just to get more drugs from her, especially the Oxy.”
“Damn, I never thought of that, but I gave my pill bottles to Caleb this morning. He even opened them, dumped the pills in his hand, and counted them. The look he gave me was pure shock when he saw all the Oxy there. I think if he didn’t see the proof for himself, he wouldn’t have believed me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Now, are you headed home?”
“I am, it was an extremely successful day, but I’m ready to go home and soak in a hot tub full of bubbles.
” She rotated her arm with her hand on her shoulder, then rubbed her lower back, and started to do circles to work out the kinks.
“I forgot how stressful racing is on the body.” She looked at him with a grin.
“Granted, being off the back of a horse for two years might have something to do with it. As much as I hate to admit this, I’m not getting any younger. ”
Shay chuckled along with her, gathered her in his arms, and held her loosely as he looked down at her. “Can you hold off on that bath?”
“Why?”
“Because I thought we’d go home, cook supper together, then we could take a bath together. I also have a lotion I can massage into your shoulders and lower back.”
“What type of lotion?” She gave him the stink eye.
“The type I used on you after one of our particularly arduous sexual encounters where I dominated you.” He waited until she looked at him with a frown. “The one when I used the flogger.”
“Ah, I remember both that session and the massage you gave me afterward. If you’re talking that lotion, I’m in.”
“I thought you’d say that.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then turned her toward her own truck, swatted her on the ass, and laughed when she glared at him.
They climbed into their separate vehicles, because Shay had gone to see Caleb that morning, they had driven separately.
Shay waited in his truck until Faith left the parking area, and slowly followed her home.
They parked before their cabin, and went inside, waving to Tony and Staci as they left their vehicles and went into their own cabin.
He liked that since moving to Colorado, he had been able to maintain his friendship with Tony, but not be together all the time like he had while they both lived in Pennsylvania.
He knew now that not only did he check on Tony after his surgeries, but he had also done it because he had been lonely.
That was his shame to bear alone. Maybe one day he would tell Tony how he had felt back then, but until that day came, he would keep it to himself.
Now, he lived with the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and loved everything about his life on the ranch and with Faith.
He paused as he looked around him, and knew as soon as that one word popped into his head, it was what he had been feeling in his heart for weeks now.
He couldn’t wait to tell Faith how he felt, but first, they had to get through supper, a hot bubble bath, some serious loving, and then his woman was due for a long overdue massage.
With a grin on his face, he climbed the stairs, and walked in the front door.
Knowing his own feelings made the house feel different.
He had noticed since coming back from Kentucky that he didn’t live in a house or cabin any longer. He now lived in a home.
A week later, Shay looked up and frowned when he saw Erin, Naomi, and another woman walk toward him.
He was leading a horse out to the track to stage, and would wait until Faith was done racing to wait for further instructions.
Pedro hadn’t made it yet, but was due any day.
He liked that he was learning stuff every day, and he loved the conversations he and Faith had over dinner at night.
He had thought that it would be awkward working and living together, but it wasn’t, and he enjoyed their time together.
“What’s up?” Shay asked as he joined them.
“Who’s that?” Naomi pointed to Faith out on the track.
“Champ.”
“Damn,” she said with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to come out before this.”
“Don’t be. I know you’re just as busy as everyone else.” Shay nodded, then turned to the other two women. “Erin, Dr. Johnson, what brings you here?”
“I just interviewed Dr. Johnson to open her own office over at Broken Two. We’re going around to all the ranches so she can see what she might have to deal with.”
“I had mentioned to Ms. Riceman that I wanted to check on you. I saw that you’re not limping?”
“Nope, and I’ll be honest with you, I forgot to put the brace on this morning.
The smaller one Caleb gave me. I haven’t even had a twinge.
” He wasn’t going to admit that he and Faith had overslept, took a shower together, and started playing.
When they finished, they hurried to get dressed, not wanting to be late.
They had made it with two minutes to spare before they clocked in.
In his rush to dress, he didn’t put on the brace.
“If you have the time, I’d like to examine you.”
Shay looked around and frowned when Tony arrived then, and threw something to him. He caught it, and grinned when he saw he held his own pair of shorts.
“Sorry, I heard why Dr. Johnson was here, so I ran to your place to get you something to change into.”
“Thanks,” he said as he handed the reins over to Tony.
He only paused long enough to see Faith as she walked over, still on the back of Champ.
In ten minutes he had changed, and came out of the bathroom in the barn.
He sat down on a bale of hay and grinned at the doctor.
“Not your ideal exam table, but that’s all I can do. ”
“You’re fine,” she said with a laugh, and donned a pair of gloves, she picked up his leg by his calf, moved it all around, and had him walk back and forth several times. She even had to lean down to practically stick her nose on his leg to try and find the bruise. She sat back on her haunches.
“You are officially healed. No need to come into my office. Proceed with normal activities as before the kick. If you’re in any pain, do what you did before.
” She removed the gloves, Shay stood and helped her to her feet.
Because it was almost eighty degrees outside, he decided to leave the shorts on before returning to work. He did turn to her with a raised brow.
“Will you be coming here to work?”
“Yes, it’s exactly what I want. I’m not only an orthopedic doctor. Before I became one, I spent five years as a family practitioner.” At his look, she smiled. “Family doctor.”
“Ah. When do you think you’ll be here permanently?”
“Probably not for another month, but no longer than six weeks. I still have four weeks on my current contract to fulfill. I don’t want to leave them hanging. I’ll go back to the clinic and give my notice. I’ll tell them I won’t be renewing my contract.”
“Well, congratulations, Dr. Johnson.”
“Please, call me Doc, or Amelia, I don’t like to be so formal in a family setting. That’s what I’ve experienced during this tour with Ms. Riceman. You are all a family.”
“We are, and welcome,” he said with a grin and held out his hand. As they shook, he leaned in, and whispered, “Erin might yell at you for calling her Ms. Riceman.”
“Oops, yeah, she’s already done that a few times.” They turned and walked back over to the track, and they watched Faith as she took off on the back of Ball Buster.”
“Damn,” Amelia whispered.
“Yeah.” Shay didn’t say anything after that, but he divided his time between Faith, and watching Naomi’s expression. She turned to him with a grin.
“Yeah, Cole and I did good hiring Faith.” She stepped back, and the three women went back to where they came from, and Shay got back to work.
Later that night, after catching their breath from their lovemaking, Faith leaned up on an elbow and stared down at him.
“What?”
“I know it’s none of my business, but what did you and Dr. Johnson discuss?”
“I’m healed, I don’t have to go see her next week. I can resume normal duties, and if I’m in pain, just take over-the-counter pain medication.”
“Was that all?”
“No, she’s accepted a position with Erin to open her own practice over at Broken Two. She was a doctor of family medicine before becoming an orthopedic doctor. She says she is still licensed to do both.”
“Which means?”
“Which means if you need a doctor for normal stuff, you can go see her.”
“Oh. That’s good that she’s that close.”
“Yes.” He nodded and rolled over to look at her intently.
“What?’ she asked after several minutes of him staring at her.
“I love you,” Shay said quietly. No fanfare, no bells and whistles, just straight up truth.
“Thank God.” She breathed out, then grinned. “I didn’t know how to tell you the same thing. I love you.” They kissed gently, and it was almost two hours before they fell away from each other, both breathing hard. They fell asleep with their fingers entwined between them.