Chapter 20 Bailey
BAILEY
“Hey, baby! Ready for me to break you out of here?” I asked as soon as I walked into the room.
If I was expecting Liam to look better this morning, I was sorely disappointed. If anything, he looked ten times worse. Pale skin, sunken eyes, and he hadn’t even bothered to look at me yet. It was like his mind was a million miles away.
“Are you feeling okay?”
Finally, he looked up at me. “Bailey.”
“Yep, been here for a good thirty seconds at least. Are you feeling okay?” I pressed my hand to his forehead just to be sure he wasn’t running a fever, but he felt perfectly normal.
“Fine, just didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Who ever sleeps well in hospitals?” Hoisting a bag up on his bed, I grinned.
“I already talked with the nurse and she said I was good to check you out. She’s getting the paperwork now.
The doctor was by this morning, but the nurse said you might not remember that.
She said she had to give you an extra dose of pain meds. So, I’m here to break you out!”
Instead of the excitement I expected, or at least a smile, he just grunted, pushing himself up in bed.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?”
A little taken aback, I stumbled over my words. “Um…I asked Wyatt if I could have a few hours off this morning to get you.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. I can get my own ride home.”
Wow. That was not the response I was expecting, but then again, he said he hadn’t slept well. I couldn’t take it personally.
“Well, I’m here now. I brought you a change of clothes.”
“Thanks.”
Well, at least I got a pleasant word out of him, even if he sounded pissed as hell.
“Do you need some help getting up?”
“No.”
Yikes. If this was the way he was going to be, I would gladly drop his ass off at home and get to work earlier than planned.
“Okay, I’ll go get the nurse while you get dressed.”
Fleeing his room, I wandered over to the nurse’s station, not exactly in a hurry to get back in there after the grouch basically ignored me.
Caroline looked up just as I approached, a bright smile on her face. “Is Prince Charming ready to go?”
“Almost. He’s changing, though not a prince this morning.”
“Most patients are grouchy when they stay in the hospital,” she assured me.
“Oh, I know. But not one of them has an attitude that rivals Liam Parker’s.”
She barked out a laugh, walking out from behind the counter. “Girl, some ladies like that in a man. So, when’s the wedding? Your mother called my mother last night to tell her all about it.”
“Seriously? There’s no wedding. It’s been like a week since we started dating. Not even that!”
“Yeah, but you’ve been together since you were little,” she jested.
“If by together, you mean he shot me lustful looks when he thought I wasn’t looking, then sure. Otherwise, he spoke to me when I forced his hand.”
With a quick look around, she leaned in close and whispered, “If I had a man like that, his mouth would be used for things other than talking.”
Barking out a laugh, I slapped her on the arm. “Seriously!”
“Yeah, I’m serious.”
“No, I meant—never mind. Let’s go get Mr. Grouchy checked out. And no talk of weddings or his mouth!”
“I make no promises,” she said in a sing-song voice. Shoving the door open, she grinned at Liam. “Mr. Parker, your chariot awaits, as do your instructions for aftercare. I’m sure your bride—I mean, girlfriend can take care of your every need.”
I could have killed her. I felt my face flame bright red, but it only worsened when Liam’s eyes met mine.
They were blank.
No affection. No teasing smirk. Not a single ounce of humor in that face.
My stomach plummeted to the ground, and thankfully, Caroline noticed the drop in temperature and quickly moved on.
“Aftercare instructions,” she said, handing the papers over. “If you have any questions, please let us know. I’ll be right back with a wheelchair.”
She spun and widened her eyes at me before fleeing the room.
Tucking in his shirt, he basically ignored me until it was time to put his shoes on. As he sat on the bed, it was clear he couldn’t do it on his own. I got to my knees and grabbed his shoe.
“Let me do it.”
Tears pricked my eyes for some silly reason, but I couldn’t stop them. I kept my head down and took my time tying his boots. It was only when I was sure I could look at him without wanting to cry that I finally stood.
“Do you want me to push you down or should I get the car?”
He sighed heavily, not even bothering to answer. I tried not to take it personally. After all, I had stabbed him and landed him in the hospital after he’d already been in a horrible accident. He had every right to be grouchy. Maybe after a good night’s sleep, he would be fine.
“Well, I’ll bring the car to the front and see you down there,” I said cheerily.
But as I turned to go, it took everything in me to hold back the tears welling behind my eyes. Even worse, Caroline shot me a sympathetic look as I headed for the elevator.
My phone buzzed in my pocket just as I was getting on the elevator. Seeing Cheyenne’s name on the screen nearly broke me.
“Hello?” My voice wobbled, even though I tried to keep it even, and she knew it instantly.
“What’s wrong? Is he dead? Did someone else stab him? Oh God, I knew we shouldn’t have slept in the apartment last night!”
“No, it’s fine,” I sniffled as the tears started to flow.
“If it’s fine, then why the hell are you crying? Whose ass do I need to kick?”
The doors opened and I ducked my head, running out to the parking lot, hoping to escape anyone who might know me and ask what was wrong.
“I just saw Liam and…I don’t know. I think he’s mad at me. He barely spoke two words to me.”
“Is that all? Christ, I thought we were all about to die! I was ready to run over there in my red boots, and you know how much I love these boots!”
“It’s not like that. I mean, sure, he could be tired, but there was something else. When he looked at me…I don’t know how to describe it. It was like he was looking at a stranger. Like I was dead to him.”
“Huh. Well, that could mean anything.” The cheery tone in her voice didn’t really help the panic growing in the pit of my stomach.
“Yeah?” I sniffled, hoping she had an excellent answer.
“Of course. Like…he could have hit his head sometime during the night and he can’t remember who you are.”
“And that’s better?” I gasped, sucking in a ragged breath.
“Well…better than him wishing you were dead.”
“Any better ideas?”
As she hemmed and hawed, I got in my car and glanced in the mirror. God, I looked awful, and he was going to know it. I quickly grabbed a wet wipe from my glovebox and cleaned the mascara from under my eyes.
“—or maybe he had this crazy dream that you did something to him, and when he woke up, he was really pissed at you. That happens! There are days I totally want to kill you because of things you’ve done to me in my dreams!”
That was the most comical of all her excuses, and it did make me feel better. “Well, thanks for trying.”
“Hey, you know me. I’m always up for crazy answers to the unknown.”
“It doesn’t really help, but I’ll take it.”
“Just relax. The man has been through a lot the past few days. He’s bound to be a little grouchy.”
“You’re right.”
If only the deep breath I took would actually center me, but it didn’t. And as I glanced toward the hospital entrance and saw Liam being wheeled out, I knew my time for freaking out was up.
“Alright. It’s time to pull up my big girl panties. I have to get him.”
“Man up,” she said excitedly. “You’ve got this. Keep your eye on the ball. Score the goal. Catch the fly ball. Be the ball—”
“I’m hanging up now.”
I shifted into reverse and tossed my phone on the console. As I crept toward the entrance, I found myself wanting to run away, just in case he had something horrible to say to me. But I couldn’t do that. I’d already committed and there was no turning back now.
Caroline opened the passenger door and shot me a wary look. “Here we are.”
Yikes, she mouthed.
Great. It was even worse than I thought.
Liam pushed out of the chair and walked over, shoving off her attempts to help, even though he was wobbling like a newborn calf.
“Thanks, Caroline.”
“Anytime. Well, not anytime. Don’t show up again tomorrow with more—”
But I never heard the end of what she was going to say because Liam slammed the door in her face.
“That was rude,” I snapped before I could think about him and his horrible mood.
“No one needs that much pep so early in the morning,” he grumbled.
“That’s no excuse to act like that when she was only trying to help,” I argued.
“Can you just take me home?”
This time, there were no tears to be had. I was pissed. It was one thing to be downright cruel to me, but toward others? That I absolutely couldn’t stand.
I put my foot on the gas and got us the hell out of there, but my blood was boiling. It took a good twenty minutes to get to the gate of Murky Falls Ranch, and I had never been so happy in my life to be there.
Only this time, it was to drop his cranky ass at home and leave him there.
“I need to go to the main house,” he grumbled.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Yes, I said fine.”
“What the hell is your problem?” he muttered.
“Me? I don’t have a problem. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that. Doesn’t fine mean you have your period or something?”
My grip tightened on the steering wheel, and for just a moment, I considered driving the car right through his barn.
But that would mean innocent animals would be injured, and as much as I wanted to really hurt him right now, I would not take out that anger on the poor animals that might have to deal with him later.
I hit the brakes a tad too hard outside the main house, sending him flying forward, only to be stopped suddenly by the seatbelt.
He hissed in a breath, slowly turning to glare at me.
With the sweetest look on my face, I smiled at him. “Oops. Did I hurt you?”
“Several times,” he muttered.
“Well, have a good day. I need to get back to work.”