Chapter Nineteen #2
“I’m still waiting for your results, Destiny. I’ll come back later with those,” the doctor said as he parted the curtains.
Sore despite her pain medication, Destiny soon handed Charlotte to Erin who handed her back to Ruth. It spoke volumes about the baby’s pain that she didn’t fight to get down.
Jaxon sat by Destiny’s bed, holding her other hand. The thought that he could have lost her kept reverberating through his head.
A deputy stopped by and asked more questions about Maria and the wreck. He said that the search for her was intensifying and that the sheriff had headed out to interview her father to find out how she’d gotten possession of his truck.
When the doctor eventually came back in, he had good news for them.
Destiny’s CT scan had shown no internal injuries, and, although her ankle was broken, it was in alignment.
He said that she might not even need surgery, but he promised to give them a referral to an orthopedic surgeon, just in case.
He wrapped and splinted her ankle to stabilize it and gave her stern directions to avoid bearing weight on it.
Erin kissed Destiny’s cheek. “I’m going to go now. I just wanted to see how you were, honey. Listen, you call me if you need anything and I’m going to call and check in on you, too, okay?”
Destiny nodded. “Thanks so much for coming.”
Erin waved at everyone and walked through the curtains.
Wyatt said, “I’m going to leave, too. Destiny, I’m glad that your tests came back okay.” He turned to Jaxon and gave him a hug. “Call me. I’m here for you, bro.”
Jaxon smiled. “I will.”
They rode back to Destiny’s house in Ruth’s SUV.
She had a car seat for Charlotte in it, so it was a tight fit for the five of them.
The men, both being well over six feet tall, rode up front, and Destiny and her mom rode in the back.
Jaxon moved his seat as far forward as he could to give Destiny more room for her splinted leg.
Before returning home, however, they stopped and filled the prescriptions Jaxon and Destiny had been given.
As they walked in the door, Ruth handed Charlotte to Tom and said, “Destiny, I’ll help you shower, honey.
That’ll help your sore muscles. Just let me get a trash bag to wrap your leg up in.
We need to keep it dry.” Then she turned to her husband.
“Could you feed the baby, honey? I’m sure Jaxon can tell you where everything is.
And Jaxon? Would you give Charlotte some Tylenol right away? ”
“I sure will, Ruth.” He touched Tom’s shoulder. “Come on in the kitchen. I’ll fix you right up.” As he took leftovers from lunch out of the fridge, he said, “While you’re feeding Charlotte, I’ll start her bath and lay out her pajamas. I hope she’ll sleep well tonight, poor little thing.”
By the time the baby had been fed and bathed, she was obviously feeling drowsy.
“After I rock Charlotte and put her to bed, I’ll make all of us some scrambled-egg sandwiches on toast. I checked, and you all have plenty of eggs,” Tom said.
“That sounds amazing. I’m starving, and I’ll bet Destiny is too,” Jaxon said.
“I just wish I was able to help more.” Destiny needed to eat.
She’d been too nauseous to take her pain medicine when they’d picked it up, and he knew that if she could get something in her stomach, she could take her pills.
Obviously exhausted by her traumatic day, Charlotte was soon sound asleep, and Tom returned to the kitchen.
Jaxon hobbled into the kitchen behind him and balanced on one crutch while he made toast and spread it with mayonnaise. Tom had the eggs done, and he quickly put the sandwiches together.
Jaxon took a sandwich in to Destiny. She lay under the covers, propped up on pillows. He smiled at her . “Honey, try your best to eat this. You need to eat to take your medicine.”
“I’m hungry but still a little nauseated. I’ll try,” she said as he put the plate on her lap.
Her phone rang and when she answered it, she smiled and listened for a moment before saying, “It’s okay, Nick.
Mom told me where you were. Pulling a calf is certainly more important than hanging out with me at the hospital.
And I’m glad we have a new heifer to add to the herd.
” A few seconds later, she said, “I’ll be fine.
Mom’s coming back in the morning to help me. Love you brother. Bye now.”
“I’m going to freshen these ice packs and put them on your ankle, honey,” Ruth told her. “I’ll just loosen up your splint to get them against your skin.”
“Thanks, Mom. I know I need the ice to help with the swelling, but I’m not looking forward to it.” She gave Jaxon a wan smile. “How come it hurts more now than it did when it happened?”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’m not sure, but I know you’re in a lot of pain, sweetheart. The sooner you can eat something, the sooner you can take your meds.”
Ruth returned and lifted the covers from Destiny’s splinted leg. With gentle fingers, she loosened the Velcro and inserted the long, slim ice packs.
Destiny sucked in a loud breath and squeezed her eyes shut. “God, that hurts. It’s cold as hell. And, man, it feels heavy.”
“I’m sorry, honey. Hurry and eat, and I’ll get your pain medicine ready. Even if you only eat half your sandwich, you should be fine,” Ruth said.
Jaxon stood back as Ruth gently covered Destiny’s leg again.
Her face drawn with pain, Destiny took a bite of her sandwich and chewed quickly.
“There you go. Get a few good bites down, and then you can take these,” Ruth said, handing her two pills.
With obvious difficulty, Destiny obeyed, then leaned back on her pillows. “That’s all I can eat for now. Thanks, you all.”
Tom entered the room and smiled at his daughter. “The baby’s asleep, honey. Your mom and I are going to eat our sandwiches and then get out of your hair.”
“I’ll come back to help you in the morning, Destiny,” Ruth said. “I can stay all day.”
“Mom, Dad, thanks for everything.”
“I’ll call before I come, honey,” Ruth said.
When they were finally alone in the house, Jaxon hobbled back into Destiny’s bedroom.
“I’m going to take my shower now.” He grinned.
“Good thing my crutches are waterproof. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.
” He leaned down and gave her a kiss. She seemed to be getting drowsy, and he interpreted that as a good sign.
When he came back into the room thirty minutes later, her eyes were closed. When he climbed into bed, however, she sucked in a deep, painful breath. “Your pills not working yet?” he asked.
“Any movement of the bed makes me hurt, I guess. I hope it’s just that the pills aren’t working yet. If not, then they’re not doing me any good at all.”
“Damn! Let’s monitor your pain tonight. If your meds really aren’t working, we’ll call your doctor in the morning and get something else prescribed.
” He moved very slowly until he lay close beside her, then turned carefully on his side and slipped his arm around her waist. She stroked his arm, sending tingles racing through him.
“Sweetheart, I’m so, so sorry about all this.
It never should have happened. If we weren’t together, Maria would never have gone after you.
” He held her tighter. “I feel terrible that you’ve been hurt.
I was terrified when Maria came after us in that truck.
I thought I was going to lose you and Charlotte. Honey, I couldn’t live with that.”
“I wouldn’t give you up for anything in the world, Jaxon. I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered.
He held her as she fell asleep, but he lay awake long into the night, angry and scared. He had to find Maria and make sure that she went to prison. Make sure that she was far away from the woman he loved.