Chapter 5
Chapter Five
The loud noise had been Bram and Bobby rolling an ultrasound machine through the house to the guest room.
Bobby had “borrowed” it from a friend. It looked like one you’d see at a doctor’s office.
It was big, with a screen, a table of buttons and knobs, and a bunch of cords dangling from it.
Bram’s chair next to the bed had been moved so that the machine could go there.
“Couldn’t you ‘borrow’ a portable one from where you work?” Wyatt asked as he eyed the clunky machine.
“Never shit where you eat, kid,” Bobby said, and turned his attention to me as Roe laid me on the bed.
“It kept me up all night, worried I’d get a call that you had taken a turn for the worse because you refused to go to the hospital.
I’m pretty sure you’re fine now, since it’s been twenty-four hours, but I want to make sure. ”
After I took some pain meds, Bobby had me lie flat on my back, which hurt a lot.
Then he helped me pull my shirt up to my breasts.
“You need to eat more,” Bobby grumbled as he squirted a pile of gel just above my belly button and slid a T-shaped wand-looking thing through it, spreading it all over my abdomen.
I frowned at the ceiling. I was over everyone bringing up my weight.
“Her mother didn’t allow her to eat,” Wyatt said from where he and Roe stood on the other side of the bed.
“Because she wants Lottie to look a certain way,” Roe added.
“I must be perfect. The perfect daughter. The perfect student. The perfect girlfriend,” I numbly droned.
“If I’m not, I’ll embarrass her. If I do, I am useless.
I’m pathetic. I’m nothing like her. I’m like him.
Fucking nothing. Fucking scum. I will never be anything, just like him.
” I let out a little scoff. “She said it so many times over the years, I used to think she was talking about the man I thought was my father. Now I’m not so sure which father she was speaking of. ”
The silence that followed was enough to grab my attention. I glanced at Roe and Wyatt first, then Bobby, all of whom were staring nervously in Bram’s direction. He was standing by the foot of the bed. His back was to us, and his hands were laced behind his head.
Bobby cleared his throat. “Why don’t you step out for a minute, Bram?”
“If I leave right now, Bobby, I’m going to prison for murder.” The stillness and threat in Bram’s voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“You’ve been handling things well so far. Don’t—”
Bram turned slightly and cut Bobby off with a hard look. “I haven’t begun to handle anything yet.” He stormed out.
“Roe, call your dad and tell him to get his ass over here now,” Bobby ordered.
Roe pulled his phone out of his back pocket and left the room.
I glanced at Wyatt, feeling worried. There were so many questions racing through my head.
Wyatt was staring after Roe.
“Wyatt,” I said, and my unease was apparent even in my hoarse voice.
His attention flicked to me. Whatever I let show made him raise his brows before he climbed onto the bed and sat against the headboard next to me. He ran his fingers through my hair near my temple. “Everything is fine. Bram just needs some air.”
“He’s upset.” I didn’t mean to point out the obvious. I just didn’t know how to voice my concern about the “going to prison for murder” comment. He’d left the room. Did that mean he was going to go murder someone?
“Everyone has a tipping point,” Bobby said as he continued to move the T-shaped thing around on my stomach. “He’s kept it together for longer than I would have. He just needs a friend right now to help remind him not to act rash, and no one gets through to him better than Noble.”
“What about his wife?” I asked.
They didn’t answer right away, and Bobby gave Wyatt a stern look. Like he was silently telling him to stay quiet.
“She left for work,” Wyatt said.
Bobby returned his attention to the ultrasound screen. “I don’t see any internal bleeding or anything concerning. I’m going to move to your ribs now.”
Just as he said that, he moved the T-thing to the ribs that I was scared were broken. The moment he added a little pressure, I gasped and flinched away.
“Sorry. Try to bear with it and I’ll do my best to be quick,” he said.
I nodded and he continued.
Wyatt took my good hand. “You can squeeze my hand.”
I did just that when Bobby went over the spot that made me want to scream again.
“I don’t see any fractures. I think you just have rib contusions. It means the muscles and tissue around your rib cage in this area are damaged. The symptoms are very similar to broken ribs. That includes the pain.” He pulled away. “Wyatt, go get me a towel.”
Wyatt kissed my forehead before climbing off the bed and heading into the bathroom.
“It could take four to six weeks to fully heal, or it could take as little as two. It depends on the severity,” Bobby told me.
“Get lots of rest and don’t stop yourself from breathing in deeply.
You need to expand those lungs. It will hurt, but I think your pain should start to ease after a week or two. ”
One to two weeks of this. Wonderful.
Wyatt returned with a towel.
Bobby used it to clean the gel off me. “You’ll sleep better propped up a bit. Hugging a pillow will help with discomfort, especially if you have to cough or sneeze.” Bobby pointedly looked at Wyatt. “No sex for a while.”
The corners of Wyatt’s mouth lifted. There was a glint in his eyes that told me he had a response to that, but he didn’t utter a word.
“Waiting until she’s fully healed would be ideal, but most couples don’t wait that long. I’ve broke two ribs before, which has a longer healing period. I was in my late twenties at the time. I lasted two weeks before I had to have my old lady. I bent her right over the couch,” Bobby said.
That was far too much information for me, but Wyatt looked like he was enjoying himself.
“If she,” Bobby emphasized as he pointed at me, “and I mean only if she can’t wait however long it takes for her to fully recover and she feels she can handle it, you do all the work. Try to stick to oral, but if she wants to go all the way, don’t put too much weight on her and no rough stuff.”
If I hadn’t been so stunned, I would’ve felt mortified.
“Do I need to explain the importance of condoms and that if you knock up Bram’s daughter, he will kill you?” Bobby asked.
Wyatt’s smile never wavered. “No, sir.”
“If you’re not the boyfriend, pass that on to Roe or Reid. I can’t tell which one of you is,” Bobby grumbled.
“Understood,” Wyatt said.
Bobby frowned, looking a little disappointed, but moved on after he finished wiping me off. “I’ll be back in a week to remove your sutures.”
Pulling down my shirt, I nodded.
Bobby unplugged the ultrasound machine and rolled it out of the room.
Wyatt helped prop me up with the pillows and found the TV remote on the bedside table. “Why don’t we watch some TV?”
I didn’t care. The pain meds were kicking in, and I just wanted to numbly lie there.
After getting comfortable next to me in the bed, Wyatt found an action movie for us to watch. “Do you need anything?”
I shook my head.
He held out his hand to me. “Want to hold my hand?”
I placed mine in his and closed my eyes.
“Can I give you something before you go to sleep?”
I opened my eyes, meeting his. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. Not just any necklace, but the bloodstone one Ms. Clark had given me. “I found it under the seat in my car. Roe said you had been looking for it.”
I felt a tug on my soul seeing it again.
“Do you want to put it on?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He helped me while being careful of my tender neck. Once it was on, he gently straightened the pendent and let it drop to my chest. “It’s an interesting stone. I like the red wave that’s swiped through it.”
I picked up the pendant and rubbed it between my fingers. “It was a gift from one of my teachers. She’s into crystals and called it bloodstone. She said it would give me courage and protect me.”
He took my other hand back in his. “I hope it works.”
Up until the evening, I was in and out of sleep. At one point Bram attempted to bring me soup on a tray again. He looked calmer, but closed off.
I wasn’t hungry. Worried I’d upset him, I forced myself to take a bite of the earthy orange soup. It was tasty and familiar. After I took four bites, Bram left after telling me that he’d be in the garage if I needed him.
I didn’t eat anymore and asked Wyatt to set the tray on the side table for me. He seemed reluctant to do so; he’d also wanted me to eat. I had to explain that if I continued to force myself, I would probably puke it all up. He relented then.
Until it started to get dark, no one else showed up.
Wyatt lay quietly with me, playing one movie after another.
His phone kept going off. One time I managed to see who he had been texting back and forth with.
It was a group message with Roe and Reid, neither of whom I had seen in hours.
I only asked Wyatt about Roe and why he hadn’t come back.
Wyatt simply told me that he would be back later. That he had to run an errand.
I was just resting with my eyes closed when I heard rustling.
“Looks like I beat Roe and Reid back,” said Mac’s voice. “I have more bags in the car.”
I felt Wyatt move. “I’ll go get them.”
“Is she sleeping?” Mac asked, and I chose that moment to open my eyes.
She was standing next to the bed staring down at me with bags in her hands.
She was dressed in comfy-looking, berry-colored sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt.
Her face was bare and her hair was piled onto the top of her head in a messy bun.
There were bags under her slightly swollen eyes. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said back.
She winced at the sound of my voice, but quickly recovered. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here.”
“I understand why.”
She nodded. “My early childhood was pretty fucked up.”
“I know.”