16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
There was so much blood.
Jenna couldn’t believe how badly Simon was bleeding. If his nose wasn’t broken, she’d be shocked. And his arm had bled through the paper towels.
She’d had to get him to tilt his head back to try to slow the bleeding. Luckily, Myra pulled in with the coffees and more importantly the cart.
Her brothers maneuvered the cart into the yard and helped Simon into it. Jenna jumped into the driver’s seat. Myra shoved a coffee in her hand and told her that she was going to need it. Jenna didn’t argue.
And then they were off to the hospital. Of course, the drive wasn’t straight forward. There were downed trees and power lines to detour around. There were residents out in the street, helping with the cleanup.
They smiled and waved to her, but when their gaze moved to Simon with the blood soaked paper towel under his nose, the smiles faded from their faces.
She knew the rumors would start first, and the questions would come second.
The gossip mill liked to do it in that order.
They could spin big tales, and only later would the truth be something much less shocking—most of the time the truth was boring.
It felt like forever until the hospital came into sight—even though it hadn’t been more than ten minutes. But every time she glanced over at Simon, there was even more blood coming out of him. It didn’t help matters that she was squeamish.
Now all she had to do was get him inside. They’d patch him up. And then they’d head home. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. She remembered hearing her grandmother using the saying when she was a kid.
Except as she walked Simon into the ER, she was floored by the number of people in the waiting area. Did that many people get injured during the storm?
They stood in line at the registration window. There were three people in front of them. At this rate, they’d be spending the rest of the day at the hospital. But it wasn’t like they had a choice. Simon was pretty banged up. He needed to see a doctor.
After Simon gave the woman behind the glass window all of the pertinent information, she asked, “And what brings you in today?”
“I have a bloody nose,” Simon said as though it were no big deal.
Jenna decided to elaborate for him. “He fell and hit his head. He might have a concussion.”
All the while the woman typed the information into the computer system. When she was done, she told them to have a seat and someone would be with them.
They turned around and looked for two seats together. She didn’t see any. And then an older woman with kind eyes made the people next to her slide down one seat. She patted the chair next to her as she smiled at them.
They took a seat with Jenna sitting next to the woman. She looked familiar but Jenna couldn’t put a name to the face.
It took her a bit of time, but then it finally came to her. The woman’s name was Joyce Greenfield. She used to work at the Island Market when Jenna was a child. And so, while Simon leaned his head back to help with the bleeding, Jenna chatted with Joyce, who was there with a friend.
One by one the patients were called back. Jenna felt odd being there without her phone, but with the power outage and the battery being dead, it was nothing more than a paper weight.
When Simon’s phone started to go off, he grimaced as he reached into his pocket for it. He looked at the name on the screen and then handed it to her.
Surprised, she looked at the screen, which had her brother’s name. “How do you have Neil’s phone number in your phone?”
“He gave it to me at dinner the other day.”
Interesting. But she didn’t have time to give it much thought. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello.”
“Jenna?”
“Yeah. Simon isn’t up to talking now.” That was an understatement. His nose was swollen and bruised along with his two black eyes and a couple of deep gashes, one across the bridge of his nose and the other on his arm.
“Sorry to bother you,” Neil said. “I just wanted to see how he was doing.”
“Okay. There are a lot of people here today, with all sorts of injuries so he hasn’t seen a doctor yet.”
“Well, we’re still cleaning up things here. The power company said it’s going to be at least another few hours until they can get the power back on. I suppose that’s better than a few days.”
“Definitely. Thank you all for helping out. I...uh, we appreciate it. And how’s Gus?”
“He’s following Myra around. He won’t let her out of his sight.”
Jenna nodded. “He had a traumatic night with the storm.”
“Anything you guys need?”
“There’s one more thing...”
She asked if they would be willing to move Simon’s porch and deck furniture back outside. After Neil agreed, she thanked him again for the help and made him promise he’d tell the others.
When she ended the call, Simon asked, “How’s Gus?”
“Apparently he has a crush on my sister. It appears they are inseparable.”
“That’s good. I think.”
And then Jenna leaned back in the chair and stared up at the television screen, which was mounted in the corner of the large room. There was no volume but close captioning was on.
At that moment, it was a game show. It didn’t particularly interest her, but without her phone to scroll, it would have to do.
She just hoped the staff would hurry things along. Simon was looking a little pale, and he’d gotten quiet.
At last...
They’d taken Simon to an exam room. He told Jenna to join him. He preferred her company to the alternative of staring at the walls.
After he’d been examined and tests had been run, he’d been returned to his cubicle, where Jenna was waiting for him. He was so ready to go home, but he still had to get stitches. So, more waiting was required until they could get to him.
“Can I get you anything?” Jenna asked.
“Yes, can you get me out of here?”
“I will just as soon as the doctor discharges you.”
“I feel like that isn’t going to be until tomorrow.”
“It won’t be that long.” She was quiet for a moment. “I downloaded your book before the power went out—Time’s Ticking.”
“Do I even want to know what your first impression is?”
She pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. “I’m intrigued. I only read a few chapters, but I’m looking forward to seeing where you are going with it.”
Just then a young woman who appeared to be part of housekeeping appeared. “Oops. I didn’t know anyone was in here.” And then she looked at Simon. Her eyes momentarily widened. “Sorry.” She retraced her steps into the hallway.
“So, what’s your new series about?” Jenna asked.
He went to shake his head and quickly regretted it. “You don’t want to hear about that.”
“Sure. I do.”
Since he couldn’t think of anything else to talk about, he told her the highlights of his upcoming series or at least the parts he’d figured out.
At last, the doctor appeared. He informed Simon he wouldn’t need surgery for his nose. But the doctor wasn’t ready to let him leave quite so soon. His nose and arm needed some stitches. His scrapes on the side of his face had to be properly cleaned out. And his sore wrist was sprained.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” He felt as though a load had been lifted from his shoulders. “Now I can get back to work.”
The doctor, whose badge said his name was Dr. Grant Turner, arched a brow. “What kind of work do you do?”
Automatically Simon replied, “I’m a writer.”
“That’s interesting. Are you published?”
He nodded. Not wanting to talk about himself, he said, “Can you tell me how soon I can get out of here?”
“Very soon.”
The young woman he originally thought was part of the janitorial staff was standing in the hallway. He wasn’t so sure she worked there. Maybe she was waiting for a patient.
She was busy on her phone. She glanced up, and her eyes momentarily widened as though she had been caught doing something wrong. She slipped the phone into her pocket and walked away.
It was another hour until he had stitches, and he had the paperwork. They put a brace on his wrist and told him to rest it. He also had a mild concussion, but it should resolve on its own.
“All in all,” Doctor Grant said, “you got lucky. Now take it easy for a few days, and you should start to feel better.”
“I’ll make sure he rests,” Jenna said.
The thought of getting to spend more time with her certainly appealed to him. Maybe they could pick up where they left off the night before with playing cards, revealing intimate details of their lives, and kissing—definitely the kissing.
“What are you smiling about?” Jenna’s voice drew him back to the present.
“Who? Me? I wasn’t smiling.”
She sent him an I-don’t-believe-you stare. “Okay. Let’s get you out of here. You just have to decide whose couch you want to rest on. Mine? Or yours?”
Oh yeah. He was definitely smiling now. Some might say this was the silver lining part of him getting injured.
She was concerned.
Every time Jenna looked at Simon, it looked like the bruising on his face had worsened. He definitely didn’t look like himself.
And according to Gus, he didn’t smell quite right either. She was guessing it was the disinfectant stuff they used to clean out his wounds.
Myra had been waiting at Jenna’s place with the dog when they arrived home.
The power still wasn’t back on. Before her sister left, she went to get them some food.
Luckily, the Lighthouse Cafe was open. It was almost always open during events like today.
They had a generator to keep the lights on and the grills hot. It was a refuge for the locals.
Simon got mashed potatoes and gravy because chewing was painful for him at the moment. She got a club sandwich with a side of fries. She was ravenous.
Together, they sat on his couch while Gus ate a bowl full of kibble. The silence engulfed them. She tried to think of something to talk about that had nothing to do with his injuries, but she couldn’t come up with anything.
As though he’d read her thoughts, Simon said, “So, how are things going at work?”
She shrugged. “Fine. I guess.”
“What is the idea you wanted to share with your brother about the market?”
She sighed. “We still have to win trivia night before he’ll hear me out.”
Simon arched a brow. “Do you really believe that?”
“It’s starting to feel that way because he won’t stand still long enough for me to explain my idea.”
“He’s a businessman.” Simon dipped his spoon in the potatoes. “If you have a good idea and a strong presentation, he’ll listen. He’d be a fool not to.”
“You really believe that?”
He nodded as he swallowed. “Give him a reason to listen to you.”
Even though the Island Market was a business, it was a family business, so a lot of the norms of a typical business wouldn’t apply to them.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she realized that was part of the problem.
She wasn’t approaching this idea or her brother in a purely professional manner.
“I can see by the glint in your eyes that you have some ideas,” Simon said.
“I do. I’ve been approaching this all wrong.”
“So, if your boss wasn’t your brother, how would you go about it?”
They tossed around ideas. She loved having someone so invested in her vision, who was willing to throw out ideas that she hadn’t contemplated yet.
In the end, she decided she needed some visual aids to get her point across. And maybe she would write up her bullet points. She could present them to her brother at the end of her presentation. That way he could refer back to them as he was debating the pros and cons of her proposed modifications.
“Thank you.” She sent Simon a big smile. “I think you’re right. My approach was all wrong. The transition after my father died has been hard. Anyway, thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything but point out what you already knew.”
He did more than that, but she could see he was growing tired, so she excused herself and took the dirty dishes to the kitchen.
Once she put the disposable dishes in the garbage can, she offered him some ice cream that her sister had picked up.
He declined. She returned to the kitchen to finish straightening up.
It didn’t take her long. When she returned to the living room, he was asleep on the couch with Gus sleeping next to him.
But it was time for his medicine. The doctor said it would help with the pain and swelling. She really hated to disturb him.
She approached his side of the couch, not wanting to bother Gus. She gently nudged Simon’s shoulder. “Here take these.”
His eyes opened, but he was definitely groggy from sleep. Without a word, he took the pills and chased them down with the water she’d given him.
His gaze met hers. “Thank you for everything.”
“There’s no need to thank me. This is what neighbors are for.” In that moment, she wanted him to tell her that they were more than neighbors. But how much more?
He reached out and touched her hand. “You went above and beyond. I won’t forget it.”
As he stared into her eyes, her heart started to pound. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to kiss him, but she didn’t risk it. The thought of bumping his now-purple nose was too great of a risk. And their kiss should not be associated with pain. Far from it.
“I’m just going to head next door and grab some things. I’ll be back.”
“No.” He went to shake his head and grimaced. “I’m fine. You need to go home and get some rest. And go to work tomorrow.”
“But—”
He held up his hand, stopping her from speaking. “I’m fine. The doctor didn’t say anything about me needing someone to watch over me.”
“But—”
This time it was the ringing of his phone that interrupted her. She moved to the coffee table and picked it up for him. The caller ID said it was Gwen. She wondered who Gwen was, but she didn’t ask. She merely held the phone out to him.
He glanced at the name on the screen before his gaze met hers once more. “I need to take this. Thank you so much for everything today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
That was her cue to go. She didn’t want to go. She was still worried about him, which was ridiculous. He’d been cleared by the doctor to go home so that meant he’d be fine.
But as she walked out the door, she heard him say, “Hey, Gwen, sorry I didn’t get a chance to call you. Things have been hectic here...”
Jenna closed the door. Well, whoever Gwen was, he knew her well. Maybe it was his mother. But would he call her by her first name? Maybe a sister. But then she recalled that he was an only child. She had no idea, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
On her way to her door, she realized that not only was Simon’s porch furniture back outside, but so was hers. Aww... That was so thoughtful of her family. It was times like this that she really appreciated them.
Speaking of her family, she had a proposal to work on. Simon had gotten her excited about this visual approach, and she wanted to get started on it right away.