11. Hurt Him Enough
11
HURT HIM ENOUGH
“ D o you want another coffee, Mom?” Hyde asked his mother on Wednesday morning.
“No,” his mother said. “And you don’t need one either. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep.”
“I’m not leaving here until we know what is going on,” he said.
His parents didn’t look much better than him. The three of them had slept in the waiting room, taking turns trying to get updates on CeeCee’s condition.
They’d finally gotten her stable enough and ran all the tests and they had her in surgery now hoping to repair her broken back.
The thought that his sister might not walk again because of a freak blowout on a tractor trailer turning into her was more than he could handle in his life.
He’d do anything possible to be there for his family after they’d been there for him.
“It could be several more hours,” his father said. “At some point, we should take shifts.”
“We can do that when we know more,” Hyde said. “I’m going to get coffee and food. I’ll bring back something for you guys. We have to eat.”
His parents just nodded their heads almost on automatic. He needed to stretch his legs.
All he’d done this morning was send a quick email to Drake and Ryder. He didn’t want to text them too early so an email was for the best. That was a few hours ago.
When he got to the cafeteria, he looked at the coffee and decided maybe his mother was right and he didn’t need anymore.
He grabbed a bottle of water and two bottles of juice, then got a couple of pastries to bring back.
When he was walking down the hall with the bag of food, his phone went off in his pocket. Oddly, he hadn’t noticed it wasn’t making much noise before this when it always did in the past.
But he’d had so much on his mind, that his phone was an afterthought.
He pulled it out and it was a notice his battery was low. Shit. He had a charger in his car and would go grab it for them all to use.
But then he realized his phone was on silent because he’d set it that way last night before his date with Tori.
Holy shit! He had a date last night that he was getting ready for when his mother called. It was the only call that would have gotten through.
He quickly scrolled through messages from friends and family to send Tori a text and saw multiple ones from her.
Yeah, she was pissed.
Ouch, that one hurt. Did she think he was like that after everything he’d confessed to her?
Then he saw the apology.
He didn’t know what to think about things now.
He didn’t expect her to react that way.
Yeah, he should have or could have reached out, but she didn’t need to insult him either.
“What’s going on, Hyde?”
He looked up to see his mother standing there. “My battery is low. I need to get my charger. Here is some food and drink. I’ll be right back.”
“Before you go,” his mother said. “The nurse came in to give us an update. She’s married to Wyatt Fierce. She said that CeeCee is still in surgery with her husband Wyatt, but she popped her head into the observation window. Wyatt gave her a thumbs-up sign and that they were finishing up now.”
He let out a long breath. Wyatt was an anesthesiologist, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know when the surgery would end or how things might be going.
It was the positive note that they needed and the thing with Tori wasn’t important right now, nor something he could let bring him down.
“That’s great news,” he said. “No word on anything else though?”
“No,” his mother said. “We have to wait for the doctor and I’m positive they will not have any answers either.”
He went to his car, got his charger, and returned to plug it in and eat something with his parents. They were drinking the juice and both biting into what he’d randomly bought.
He felt like he had an appetite for the first time too and did the same.
His head was leaning against the wall and his eyes were shut an hour later when the doctor came in.
To him almost finished meant they would have heard something sooner.
“Mr. and Mrs. Person?”
They all jumped up first. “How is CeeCee doing?” his mother asked.
“She came through like a trooper,” Dr. Stoker said.
They’d met him before the surgery while he tried to explain what happened and how they were going to fix his sister’s back. Most of it went over his head, but he’d spent hours reading what he could.
Big mistake, as all it did was let him see what could go wrong.
“She’ll walk?” he asked.
“There is a high probability of it,” Dr. Stoker said. “There was no nerve damage that I could see. She’s in recovery and later I’ll check on her. I’ll want her up and moving tomorrow.”
“After that surgery?” his mother asked. “Are you sure that is safe?”
Dr. Stoker laughed. “Completely. There are rods and pins in her back. No fear of her hurting anything in that aspect, but the sooner she moves, the better. We’ll get her into physical therapy.”
“Mom, Raina’s husband is a physical therapist here. Can we request someone?” he asked the doctor.
“Sure,” Dr. Stoke said. “The sooner the better. Who is it?”
“Cody McMillan. It’s my best friend’s brother-in-law,” he said.
“Cody is a good choice. I’m sure they will work it out. I’ll get the scripts sent over and you can work on that. For now, I can take one of you back, but she won’t remember much for a few hours.”
“You go, Mom. I’ll stay with Dad.”
His mother left with the doctor and Hyde and his father sat down. “You should go home and get some sleep once you see her. I know you’ll want to.”
“You guys need more sleep than me. I’m sure it’s been a long time since you’ve pulled an all-nighter.”
“Longer than I care to remember,” his father said. “But when it’s your kid, you do what you need to. You go see her next and then get some sleep. You can come back after dinner to sit with her. We’ll all have to go home tonight.”
He was too tired to even argue at this point.
When his mother came out, he went back to see CeeCee.
Maybe it was a mistake to see his baby sister lying there drugged up and not aware of what was going on.
She looked so still and peaceful and all he could do was think of death and had to get out of there before he started to shake.
He left quickly, hugged his parents, then went to his car and drove home, where he crashed into bed face first.
Five hours later, he heard his phone ringing and sat up to look for it on the nightstand.
He pulled it closer and saw it was Ryder calling.
“Hey,” he said.
“Did I wake you?” Ryder asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s fine. I need to get up and go to the hospital anyway. I should relieve my parents.”
“How is CeeCee doing?” Ryder asked.
“Good. She came out of surgery well. I see my mother sent a text that she has movement with her toes so that is good. I was going to see if Cody can do her physical therapy.”
“He’ll do it,” Ryder said. “You know that. Just request him, but I’ll mention it to him if you want.”
“That would be good,” he said. “Thanks. I’ll be in the office tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ryder said. “Drake said for me to pass on to take the time you need.”
“Not much I can do. I might stop in to see her in the morning and then come to work. It’s all good.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Ryder said. “I was a little worried about you. You haven’t been answering texts.”
Hyde snorted and flopped back on the bed. “I wasn’t drunk. My phone was on silent until I noticed it earlier this morning when the battery was dying. Then I’ve been sleeping.”
“You know I’m here if you need anything,” Ryder said.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I appreciate it, but I’m not going to spiral down. I promise.”
“I know a good counselor you can talk to if you do,” Ryder said, laughing.
There was no reason to say anything else.
Ryder knew about the one date, but not the second one set up for last night that he forgot about or how Tori reacted to being stood up.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to handle that situation and wouldn’t even waste brainpower on it.
At least not now. Women had hurt him enough in his life and he wasn’t ready to set himself up for it again.
He got up and walked into the bathroom, turned the shower on, and stripped.
The hot water didn’t wake him up, but it felt good, and he stood there for five minutes letting it wash over his body and the stiff muscles from sitting in a hospital chair all night.
Five minutes later, he was out and getting dressed. He shaved since his sister always picked on him about his trim beard. It’d grow back in a few days.
Maybe it was time for a change anyway.
He noticed it was close to five and he was starving. He’d grab something at a drive-thru on the way and eat in his car.
“You smell like grease,” his sister said thirty minutes later. “Did you eat a burger on the way here?”
He laughed. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. And sore everything else,” he said.
CeeCee was sitting up in bed, sort of. Her hair was in a messy ponytail. She looked uncomfortable and probably was in pain, but he was just happy to be talking to her.
“Thanks,” she said. “Everything is sore on me, but I’m told I should make a good recovery.”
He wasn’t going to ask if it was a full recovery. He knew that might not be the case, but it’s not like his sister had some job where she was on her feet all the time.
She worked in an office and she was active and worked out, but those things could be adjusted if she had to. CeeCee was pretty laid back. Much more than him.
“Best news I could hear for today.”
“I think you might look worse than me,” CeeCee said. “I at least have been sleeping with the help of drugs. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
His eyes felt as if a sandstorm had blown around in front of him for several hours while he couldn’t blink.
“I’ll catch up tonight,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I broke my back and have some rods in it,” CeeCee said, smiling.
“You’ll bounce back just fine. I don’t want to tire you out, but wanted you to not be by yourself while Mom and Dad are getting some sleep.”
“They left a few hours ago. I told them not to come back, but I know they will before visiting hours are over. I feel as if I have to pee, but they’ve got a catheter in me. That doesn’t seem right.”
“Want me to get a nurse?” he asked. He didn’t know what else to do.
“I’ll just push this button,” CeeCee said “Then they have to be at my beck and call. Sweet, huh?”
He loved that she still had her humor.
A nurse came right in. “Can I help you?”
“Why do I feel as if I’ve got to pee?”
The nurse moved over to the side. “There is a kink in the catheter. Do you want me to take it out?”
“Not if I have to use a bedpan,” CeeCee said, looking appalled.
“No,” the nurse said. “We’ve got orders to take it out if you want and help you get up to move to the bathroom if you’re ready.”
“Yep,” CeeCee said, throwing the covers back.
“I’ll leave the room,” he said.
“I’m going to get my own pajamas on too. Mom brought them. Give me a few minutes, Hyde. Don’t leave yet.”
“I won’t.”
He moved out into the hall and then just walked around for a bit knowing it wouldn’t be five minutes by any means.
Ten minutes later he was taking his third lap and noticed his sister standing in the doorway. He rushed toward her. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” CeeCee said. “I wanted you to see me. But I do need to go lie back down. Just feel weak more than anything. And hungry. That is probably why I smelled the grease on you.”
“Let’s get you back in bed,” the nurse said. “Your food should be here soon.”
He helped the nurse with CeeCee and got his sister in bed, then all but collapsed into the chair next to her.
“Do you feel better seeing me moving around?” CeeCee asked.
His sister was pretty smart.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Good. Now get the hell out of here and get some sleep. You can come back in the morning. Tell Mom and Dad not to come too.”
He laughed. “They aren’t going to listen to me, but I’ll try. They will feel better when they see you like I did too.”
Hyde kissed his sister on the cheek, left the hospital, and sat in his car while the tears rolled down his cheeks in relief.