26. Think Positively
THINK POSITIVELY
“ H ow are you feeling?” Daphne asked Aster a few weeks later. It was the end of July and he’d had surgery to remove the bone fragments pinching a nerve and causing him pain and nerve damage.
She went to the hospital to sit with Raine even though Raine told her she didn’t need to take the day off.
To her, it wasn’t up for debate.
Her brother had been there for her and she was going to be there for him.
His surgery went well and he’d been discharged, but she followed Raine home to Aster’s house. She’d made dinner for them too and brought it along so that Raine wouldn’t have to cook.
“Fine,” Aster said. “Just groggy, but those are the drugs.”
“You haven’t taken any pain pills yet,” Raine said.
“I doubt I’ll need much,” Aster said. “It was laser surgery. Not even that much of an incision.”
“Don’t try to be a hero,” Daphne said.
Aster snorted. “I might know a thing or two about that.”
“Ha ha,” she said. Her brother yawned. “Go lie down.”
“I’m not going to lie down and I’m not going to bed. This was nothing. I’ve had much worse things happen than this. They removed some bone fragments. Theo repaired a nerve that had been torn. Nothing more.”
“You’re going to be out of commission for a bit,” Raine said.
“Not long,” Aster said. “One week.”
She saw Raine growl. “Aster. You have to be out for two weeks and then you aren’t supposed to use your arm until you’ve gone through physical therapy. You don’t have an appointment for PT until after your check-up with Theo in ten days.”
Daphne was going to say the same things, but Raine beat her to it and it was better not coming from her.
“Yeah,” she said, standing behind Raine.
Aster shot them both an annoyed look. “I can go sit in the office and look things over,” he said. “My right arm works just fine, but I won’t be lifting or crawling under anything. I’ll wear the damn sling for the first week and be careful. I’m not an idiot.”
“If you argue with your future wife it might be considered idiotic,” she said.
“You tell him, Daphne,” Raine said, giggling.
“Sit down before you fall down,” she said, nudging her brother onto the couch. His eyes were a little glossed over.
“I’m not going to fall down,” Aster said. But he sat on the couch and put his feet up.
Raine went to get a few pillows for him to put under his arm and get comfortable.
“I’m going to put dinner in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, just pull it out and put it in the oven for thirty minutes on three fifty.”
“What did you make?” Aster asked.
“Baked Ziti. There are meatballs in another container and some extra sauce and a loaf of bread.”
“Thanks,” Raine said. “I appreciate it. Looks like I’m going to be playing hall monitor with your brother for a day.”
“He was ornery after he was shot too.”
She’d taken a week off of work when he’d been discharged to look after him. It’s not like either of their parents were going to do it and Aster really shouldn’t have been left alone.
She hated even going back to work after that week but knew she had to.
Aster was stubborn and all they did was fight. It just told her that her brother was on the mend.
“You’d be too if you had to lie around,” Aster said. “You can’t sit still any more than I can or Raine.”
She looked at Raine. “He has us there.”
“I’m going to get you some water and your pills. Take one now,” Raine said. “Then you can have another before bed. Even if you don’t think you need it, it’s best to keep it in you for twenty-four hours. You heard Theo, right?”
“Yeah,” Aster said. “I heard him and remembered.”
The fact Aster wasn’t arguing over taking the pill was something though.
Raine came back with water and a banana, handed the pill over with the glass, then took the glass back and set it on the counter, giving her brother the banana. “Eat something so you don’t get sick on the pain pill.”
“Are you going to be this bossy with a kid?” Aster asked. “I don’t believe you’re like this with your students.”
“I’m not,” Raine said. “But I’m not responsible for them like I am you. I need you on the mend. We’ve got a wedding in less than three months.”
“I’ll be fine,” Aster said, snorting. “Did you think I wouldn’t be able to pick you up or something? I could do it now if you want.”
“No!” she and Raine shouted at once.
Daphne grinned and the two of them went into the small kitchen. He’d try to do it just to prove a point.
Not that her brother couldn’t see or hear them, but they did just walk away to let him lie down.
Raine nodded her head for them to go out back on the deck. “How long is he going to be like this?” Raine asked.
“I think he’ll be feeling fine tomorrow. Next week he’ll be ready to pull his hair out sitting around. He just can’t do it. It might be best if he does go to work. Zane will keep an eye on him. Everyone else will too. They are all little mothers there.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Ivy already said she’d check in on him daily. She’s at the plant most days.”
“That will drive him insane,” she said. She knew Ivy was a bit excitable for her brother.
“Yep,” Raine said. “And it will keep him in line behaving too.”
“I’m just glad this was a minor thing and he got it taken care of,” she said.
“Hopefully it’s the last thing he has to deal with from his gunshot,” Raine said. “But if it’s not, then we’ll deal with it together.”
“Do my parents know about his surgery?” she asked. She hadn’t talked to her parents in a few weeks and didn’t think it was her place to let them know about this.
“I don’t think he told them,” Raine said. “I mentioned that he should at least text them.”
“I won’t say anything. Not that they reach out. I think they are still pissed neither of us gave them any money. Not my problem,” she said. “I want to say I can’t believe their gall to even ask for it, but I’m not surprised.”
“Based on what I’ve been told, neither am I,” Raine said. “Tell me how things are going with you and Abe. Maybe we can try to have dinner with you guys next weekend.”
“Abe’s mother is flying into town for a few weeks. She’s coming next week. She wants to meet Laurel and me.”
“That’s so exciting,” Raine said. “We’ll figure out a time to meet him. How do you feel about meeting his mother? Aster says you haven’t dated anyone in a long time. Or that he knew of.”
“I haven’t,” she said. “No one long enough that I was meeting their parents. And I’m nervous about meeting his mother.”
“There is no reason to be,” Raine said. “But I understand too. I’ll be nervous meeting your parents for the first time at the wedding.”
She laughed. “There is no reason for you to be nervous over that. I hope they come.”
“Do you think they won’t?” Raine asked, sounding hurt.
“I’m sure they will,” she said. Because Aster was paying for their stay.
He wanted their parents at the wedding and he knew if it was a free trip to them, they wouldn’t say no.
Honestly, she was pretty sure Aster only wanted his parents here for Raine and no one else. She couldn’t blame her brother for doing that nice thing for his future bride.
Raine nodded. “Did you get a chance to look at the link I sent you for the dresses?”
“I did. You don’t care which color or style we get?” she asked.
They were given the designer and the material and told the three of them could pick any of the seven colors, but Raine only wanted one color each in the bridal party.
She loved the freedom she got with this.
“No,” Raine said. “I want everyone to feel good and comfortable in their dresses. And you want to look sexy for your boyfriend, right? You are going to bring him I hope. It’s not like he won’t know people there. Laurel and Easton will be invited.”
“I plan on bringing him if things are still good in a few months.”
Raine frowned. “Why wouldn’t they be good?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You never know anything.”
“True,” Raine said. “But if you think something bad is going to happen, it’s like you’re manifesting it. Think positive.”
“I never used to think positively before I moved here. Now I feel I do it all the time.”
“Just continue to do it then,” Raine said. “Good things are happening all around you. Including to you!”