Luke
Luke
L uke woke up in horrible pain as he tried to sit up. “I wouldn’t do that if I was you,” Ranger said. “Just lay back and take it easy.”
“Where am I?” he mumbled. His jaw was wrapped in some sort of gauze and what felt like an ace bandage as he ran his fingers over it.
“You’re in the hospital and you have a dislocated jaw—but they popped that back into place and the face sling is a nice touch that the doc gave you to keep your jaw immobile. He said not to talk much.” That wasn’t going to be a problem for Luke because every time he tried to open his mouth, his entire face hurt like a son of a bitch. He had no problem keeping his mouth shut if it meant not causing himself any extra pain.
“You also had a broken nose, but the doc fixed that while you were passed out from the pain of him resetting your jaw. He said that it will take you a few weeks of downtime, but you’ll live. How’s the hearing?” Ranger asked.
“Better,” Luke mumbled.
“Yeah, mine is coming back too, so I figured yours would be about the same,” Ranger said. “Sorry about almost getting you blown up.”
“Ruby,” he grumbled. Luke was sure that he had seen her standing over her bedside earlier before they took him up to get x-rays done.
“She’s upstairs, getting checked out,” Ranger said.
“Upstairs,” Luke slurred. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask—why his girl needed to be checked out was first and foremost in his mind. Luke tried to sit up and Ranger practically pushed him back down.
“She’s good,” Ranger said. “When the doctor found out that she was pregnant and held against her will today, he told her that it would be a good idea to get checked out. She and the baby are both doing well,” Ranger said. “They’re just taking precautions and are doing a sonogram while they have her, but she should be released about the same time as you will be, and I’ll make sure that you both get home. Well, I’ll get you back to Ruby’s place. Yours is off-limits until the police clear it and then, I’m assuming you’ll want to add a few walls and all that.”
Luke closed his eyes and groaned at the thought of his house being blown to bits. “Again, sorry about all of that, but it could have been worse. If Millie had been a few minutes later, we would have been blown to bits, not just your house.”
“Hey,” Millie said, rolling Ruby into the small ER room. Luke tried to sit up and Ruby shook her head at him.
“No,” she insisted, “don't do that, Luke. You need to lay back and relax.”
“The baby?” he mumbled.
“Is fine,” she said. “He’s a trooper, just like his daddy.”
“It’s a boy?” Ranger asked.
She smiled up at Luke and nodded, tears spilling down her beautiful face. “It’s a boy,” she said.
“I’m betting he’ll have a lot more to say when his jaw heals and the pain meds aren’t making him drool,” Ranger assured. His friend was right—he’d have a whole lot more to say when he was feeling better. For now, he’d be happily content with knowing that his woman and his baby were both going to be all right and most importantly, were safe.
The nurse from earlier walked into his room and mean mugged everyone standing around his bed. “I thought that we discussed you getting some rest. Are you sure that you don’t want to stay the night so that can happen?” she asked Luke.
He shook his head, and the nurse rolled her eyes at him. “I promise to let him rest,” Ruby said. “I’ve been ordered to spend the next three days on bed rest too, so I think I’ll be able to handle that part of Luke’s recovery.”
“And I can check in on you guys and bring you food since you’ll be right next door,” Millie offered.
“I’ll be by to check on you guys too,” Ranger cut in.
“This is beginning to all sound very unrelaxing again,” the nurse said.
“We’ll take care of our friends,” Ranger said. “When can they be released?”
“I have the papers for both of them now,” the nurse said, waving the papers in the air. “I just need to go over a few things with you both and then, we can get you two out of here.”
“That sounds like heaven,” Ruby agreed. “Thank you.”
Luke half-listened to the nurse’s instructions, knowing that he’d be spaced out for the next few days felt like a good plan. She gave Ruby his meds, went over what he could and couldn’t eat, and told her to call or bring Luke back to the ER if he had any trouble. He didn’t plan on there being any trouble for either of them though because he wanted Ruby to rest too.
“Let’s get you two home,” Ranger said. “We’ll have you both right as rain in no time.” Luke almost wanted to laugh at his friend’s optimism, but he was in too much pain to even crack a smile.
The next four weeks were kind of a blur for him. He’d spent most of that time sleeping and trying to get past the pain in his face. Luke had broken his nose one other time when he was just a kid and got into a fight with Gary Jones. His mother told him to stay away from that boy, that he was bad news, but he just couldn’t listen. And when he came home with a bloody, broken nose, his mother had a field day with the “I told you so’s.”
They had been cooped up in Ruby’s little apartment, and if everything worked out tonight, that wouldn’t be for too much longer. He had Ranger and Millie help him out, finding a house for him and Ruby. He wanted to bring home their baby to a home that they loved, not Ruby’s little one-bedroom apartment. So, he found what he hoped would be Ruby’s dream home and he was going to take her there tonight after his final doctor’s appointment that would hopefully clear him for going back to work, and more importantly, going back to his life.
But there was so much more to tonight than showing her the house. If all went well, she’d love the house and also agree to be his wife. It was a big step for both of them, but he felt that they were both ready—he just hoped to hell that Ruby agreed.
“You ready for your big doctor’s appointment?” Ruby asked, walking into the kitchen from the bedroom. She had worked a full day and had come home to change and was ready to take him to his appointment.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m dying to get back to my life and if everything goes well this evening, I’ll be cleared to do just that.”
“I’m excited about that too. It means, you’ll finally be taking the trash out, right?” she teased.
“Ha, ha,” he drawled. “Yeah, I’ll be able to take the trash out and drive again—the whole nine yards. I think it’s time for me to start holding up my end of things before this little guy gets here,” he said, rubbing her belly.
“Well, that sounds like heaven,” she agreed, resting her hand over his.
“How about after my appointment, you let me take you for something to eat, and then, I have a little surprise for you,” he said.
“What kind of surprise?” she asked, looking him over skeptically.
“You don’t like surprises, do you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. She rubbed her hand over her belly and smiled up at him. “But some surprises are okay.”
“Yeah—he’s the best surprise ever,” Luke agreed.
“I guess I could go for dinner,” she mumbled as if it was going to be a chore. “And I’ll stick around for the surprise.”
“Good,” Luke said, giving her a quick kiss. “Let’s get this doctor appointment over then, I can’t wait to give you your surprise.”