13. Chapter 13
thirteen
F or the fifth time, Annie turned her eyes from the TV on the wall to the waiting room clock over the reception desk. Julian’s been gone for a while. I hope he’s okay. At a quarter to four, the blonde nurse from earlier stopped at the reception desk before she walked over to Annie.
“Your boyfriend is doing okay. The doctor will see him in about ten-fifteen minutes,” she said.
“Oh— he’s not my boyfriend.”
The nurse looked taken aback.
“Er, he owns a cabin near where I’m staying,” Annie clarified, though the confusion on the nurse’s face didn’t exactly go away. “He’s a boy who’s a friend and — thank you for updating me.”
The nurse’s perplexed expression eased into a smile. “You’re welcome. Mr. Lincoln should be out in an hour.”
“Thanks,” Annie said, trying to sound cheerful, before the nurse walked away. The nurse’s assumption rattled her a little.
Anyone would take care of someone with a serious injury. Where the nurse had gotten that she was Julian’s girlfriend was a mystery. It was just a miscommunication, I’m sure.
She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. In the last week, life has gotten so much more complicated.
It wasn’t clear where she was going, but for today she knew it was important to just exist in the moment.
I guess this is what life calls for right now.
Annie was just glad for Julian that he was in good hands.
A little over an hour later, Julian walked out. His hand was wrapped like it was a glass sculpture, and they’d given him a sling for his arm. He held a puffed-out, white paper bag and some papers in his other hand; he all-but wandered over as if he were a lost puppy.
Annie stood up. "You all set?"
Julian nodded. He was glassy-eyed. "Have'ta say thank you for staying. I can't drive."
She smiled and guessed they’d given him pain pills. "Aww, no... You definitely can't drive." She thought for a second. "Do you need to stop anywhere? Before we get you home? A pharmacy?"
“I have pills. Pie. Can we stop for pie?”
“You feeling up for that?”
He blinked at her, puzzled, as if she’d asked if he was up for breathing air. “Yes. We need to get it before Ellie doesn’t make it anymore.”
She giggled and followed by his side as they walked out the automatic doors. “Okay, little guy, we’ll get you pie.”
He gave her another reproachful look, eyes narrowed. “Don’t say that. I want pie. Banana.”
She stifled a laugh. “I’ll gladly get you your pie, Julian.”
At No Wait Diner, the staff all but fell over themselves when they saw what had happened to Julian.
Annie and Julian found a booth and sat down.
Although he only wanted one slice, a woman insisted on also giving him half a pie.
Her straight black hair, which was streaked with gray strands, fell down the length of her back.
She presented the pie to Julian like he was the mayor of Northgold.
“I don’t like being spoiled, Ellie,” Julian muttered when she put the to-go box with the half pie on the end of their table.
Annie blinked and smiled. So this was the infamous owner of No Wait Diner.
Ellie huffed and put her hands on her ample hips. “Oh, be quiet. You’ll thank me later.”
“Who’s your nurse, Julian?” asked the waiter, Teagan, who’d served Annie the other day. When he winked at her, she smiled.
“This is Annie. I put a chainsaw through my hand.” Julian swung his arm as if to explain the rest of the story.
“Oh?” Ellie blinked hard and arched her eyebrows, looking to Annie for more context.
She quickly explained that he had been carving on a log and the saw had jumped back at him. “I almost went back to work, but he'd claimed he had something cool to show off after he stacked some firewood for me.”
“You got someone looking after you while your hand heals, Julian?” Ellie asked. She patted his shoulder.
Mid-bite, Julian looked like a deer in the headlights.
"I'll look after you," Annie said, perhaps a little too fast, judging by the intrigued looks on Ellie and Teagan’s faces.
"I'm here for that. Never had someone so eager to help me,” Teagan said. “Except maybe Mom,” he added when Ellie made to jab him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Don’t make me tell her you almost said that,” Ellie muttered. “You know she’d die for you.”
"I can drop in as you need help," Annie added, much more matter-of-factly.
“You're lucky, Julian," Teagan said .
Julian nodded, though Annie was sure he didn’t know what he was agreeing to. All that mattered at that moment was the pie. There was cream on the corner of his mouth that had been there for some time, and with every fiber of her being she wanted to wipe it away for him.
“If you need someone to cook for you, just call in an order. And, Teagan, table four needs you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied to his boss. The young man jogged off towards a family who looked ready for their bill.
“Annie can cook,” Julian spoke up. “Well.”
“I’d be lyin’ if I wasn’t disappointed you’ere getting fed by someone else,” Ellie said, feigning hurt before smiling at Annie. “But I hope she does feed you well.”
“Her chili is great,” Julian said, then, with no filter whatsoever, added, “She’d beat you in a cookoff. She’d throw it down… town. And she would win.”
“Oh my God…” Annie muttered, hiding her face in embarrassment and laughing behind her hands.
To Annie’s relief, Ellie laughed, too.
On the way back up the mountain, Annie made small talk with Julian while he floated on the waves of his pain meds.
After they’d passed the fork in the road, leaving Main Street, she said, “You seem close to the people at the diner. That seems really nice.” She couldn’t help but admire, and feel slightly jealous of the kind of community Julian had around him in Northgold.
To her surprise, Julian shrugged. "They're nice enough to everyone. They’re everyone’s friend. I'm not close."
“Really?” Annie frowned. "I think they really care about you." Sure she had Molly and to a certain extent, Peter. She liked Molly's family and her extended friends enough, but they weren't her family. "They aren't really your people... are they?" she deduced .
"Something like that..." Julian was quiet for a moment. "I sound ungrateful. To have people fuss over you.”
“Well, not everyone wants to be the center of attention,” she agreed.
She would’ve been lying to herself if she didn’t feel like he was being somewhat ungrateful, but he was entitled to his own feelings.
Maybe she'd misread the overly friendliness of the situation.
They were in customer service and of course they'd be welcoming.
They were mostly quiet the rest of the drive. By the time they arrived at Julian’s cabin, he was starting to sober up a bit. She parked in front of his cabin.
“I hate that I wasted your whole day,” Julian told her.
“You needed help.”
His eyes were still sad, but he nodded and smiled. “Thank you, Annie. Thanks for driving me.” It looked like some discomfort was setting in.
“Would you like me to stop by tomorrow?”
“I’ll take help as I need it. And of course only when you’re able.” The corners of his mouth turned up halfway.
“Okay. I’ll stop by in the afternoon.” She’d offered to help, but she felt a little pressure fall onto her shoulders.
She’d already played hooky from work one day, and was indisposed for another.
There was no telling how long Julian would be out of sorts.
Of course he was important, but so were her clients.
The space between his eyes crinkled as he put his good hand on the door handle. His face filled with a slightly brighter smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes as he turned and said goodbye.
“Bye...” She waited for a moment, watching him get into the house safely, and hoped that she wouldn’t let him down.
Hoped her crush wouldn’t turn into an obligation bound by unfortunate circumstances .
Hoped, at the very least, for more moments that carried the sense of peace she had when she was with him. She wanted to help him… but was she really in a position to play rescuer? Didn’t she already have too much on her plate?
Annie saw her eyes flicker in the rearview mirror. She stared back at her tired face. What did I just get myself into...?
Annie left and Julian was alone.
He put away the pie, turned up the baseboard heaters, stretched out in his easy chair, and pulled a blanket up over his tired body. The events of the day hit him and his muscles gave in to the comfort of the chair. He rested with his bandaged arm over his chest, letting out a sigh.
The pain in his hand was sure to bother him more in the coming hours, now that the numbing shot was wearing off. Better get some sleep while I can…
When Julian did awaken, his arm ached all the way up to his elbow. He looked at the clock. To his shock, he’d barely been asleep for an hour.
Dammit.
He tried to remember what the nurse had told him about the dosages, but his mind went blank. Where had he placed the discharge papers again? He pulled one of the three orange bottles out of the white bag and read the prescribed dosage times for the Tylenol-Codeine.
Relieved that he was within the recommended time window for the pain pills, he went to release the child lock lid.
He grasped the bottle with his good hand, and tried to release the top, but there was no way for him to squeeze it with just one hand.
He tried placing the bottle on the counter and using his weight to twist it off, but the counter was too slippery.
He even tried grasping the bottle with the crook of his arm, and then his bare feet, but to no avail.
Maybe it's easier to get some Advil. Luckily he kept that cap loose at all times. He took three with a full glass of water and placed the prescription bottle on the counter.
Dismayed, he considered walking over to ask Annie for help, but didn't want to look like a wounded animal scratching on her front door so soon. It was also very dark outside, and he'd already caused her a lot of trouble.
I can make it until she comes over, right? She should be over in the early afternoon. I'll just keep popping Advil and sleep until then. And it’s an anti-inflammatory, right? And the wound’s been all cleaned up and sanitized.
His hand throbbed.
That Advil better work soon.