Page 21 of The Closed Off Captain

I make a small sound. “Is she okay?”

“She’s okay. We called an ambulance so the EMTs could check her out.” I squeeze my eyes shut, refusing to think about how much that’s going to cost. It doesn’t matter. “She refused to go to the hospital.” A small amount of relief fills me. If she’s refusing to go, then she’s being stubborn, which means she’s okay.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I tell her.

“Okay, Dear. We’ll see you soon.”

I hang up and try to take a full breath. “Everything okay?” Gunner asks.

I take another breath and try to slow my racing heart.She’s okay. “That was my Grandma May’s nurse. She took a fall, but she’s okay.”

“Where is she? I’ll drive you there.”

“No. No way. This is your day off, and she’s a distance from here.”

“Where, Chloe? Don’t be stubborn; just tell me where to go.”

I open my mouth to argue with him and then decide against it and give him directions instead. “Thank you.” Neither of us say anything for the thirty minutes it takes us to get there. I bounce my leg, trying to make the time pass faster. When we get there, Gunner pulls right up to the front door. “Thank you. I’ll get a ride home.” I slam the door and head inside. “Hey, Renee,” I manage to call out as I walk past the front desk. By the time I make it to her room, I'm out of breath. I make myself take a calming breath before I open the door.

“I’m here,” I call out, shutting the door behind me. There’s nobody in the front living area, so I veer towards the bedroom where I hear voices. I enter the room and put my hand to my mouth, allowing myself just a moment to react. Then I drop myhand and walk over to her. “If you wanted some attention, you could have just said so,” I say dryly. “You didn’t have to pull this stunt.”

Grandma May lifts a bruised face to mine. “If I wanted attention, it wouldn’t have been yours I was asking for.”

I smile and sit down next to her gently on the bed. “What happened?” I ask quietly.

“The floor attacked me,” she says with a frown.

“Right. Bad floor.”

Susan comes into the room. “Here are pain pills, May.”

“I don’t need those,” Grandma says, pushing her hand away.

“Do it for the rest of us, so we don’t have to put up with your cranky self,” I tell her. After hemming and hawing, she finally takes them.

Susan pulls her phone out. “I have to go check on somebody. Are you good here?”

I wave her off. “Yes. Go.” I turn to Grandma May. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Where am I going to go?” she asks as I follow Susan out into the hallway. I’m shocked to see Gunner standing right outside the door.

Susan’s in a hurry, so I turn to her first. “Anything I need to know?”

Her eyebrows knit together. “It was a pretty good fall, Chloe. That was her second in six months. They’re probably going to label her as a fall risk soon. You need to be prepared for the probability that she’s going to have to move to the full-time care side soon.”

I nod, even as my stomach tightens. “Okay. Thank you...for everything, Susan.” She gives me a quick hug before walking away quickly. I stare after her a moment, giving myself just a few seconds to process all this.

A heavy hand lands on my shoulder. “You okay?”

I take breath and turn around. “Yeah. How’d you get in?”

He shrugs. “I just told them I was a friend of yours.”

“Of course you did,” I mutter because seriously, who’s going to deny him access? I mean...look at him. “Okay. I have to go help her. You don’t have to stay. I can get a ride home. You don’t need to—”

“Hey,” he interrupts softly. “It’s fine. Let me help.”

I finally nod. “Okay, but don’t take anything she says to heart. And...” I shake my head. “I apologize in advance for anything she says or does.”

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