Page 21 of This Time I'm Keeping You
“I can help you dress.”
“No need.”
“If you’re sure?”
“Perfectly sure!”
“I made chicken noodle soup yesterday.I’ll bring you some over.Then I have to catch up with my walking group, but I’ll be back to check on you later!”
“Yum,” Poppy said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.Mrs.Leibowitz was heavy-handed on the salt and herbs; they’d shared a few meals together.
Wrapping a towel around her one-handed, she headed for her room.After pulling on a baggy T-shirt and shorts, Poppy looked in the mirror at her pale face.Her hair could simply stay a tangled mess.Heading back down the stairs to the scent of chicken noodle soup, she fell onto the sofa.
Closing her eyes, Poppy sighed.Home.She was safe here.
Chapter9
Nick walked into the hospital with a bunch of flowers and his sister Emma.
He’d woken early, showered, dressed, and been about to head out the door when she’d arrived carrying coffee.
“Remind me again why you’re here?”
“Poppy may need a woman to help her,” Emma said, smiling at the man behind the reception desk as they walked past.
“And the flowers are for?”
“Everyone needs flowers when they’re in the hospital, idiot.It makes them feel like someone cares,” Emma added.“Floor?”
“Three.”
She stabbed the button for the elevator with a fiery red fingernail.
“I also had some time off today, so I thought I’d spend it with my favorite brother.”
Nick wasn’t fooled by that or the sweet smile accompanying the words.“You said the same thing to Sam at Honey’s last night when you wanted him to fix your window.”
“I was lying then.I’m telling the truth now.”
He studied his baby sister for several seconds as they rose to Poppy’s floor.She didn’t avoid his gaze once, even though she was lying through her perfectly spaced front teeth.Teeth that had cost his parents a lot of money because she’d worn a retainer for years.
“You’re good.”
“I learned from the best,” she said as the doors opened and she sailed out.
“We’re here to see Miss Sylvester and take her home if she’s ready,” Nick said to the woman in pale blue manning the desk this morning.Nila was clearly still sleeping after her long shift.“I know it’s early, but we can wait with her.”
Frowning, she glanced at something on the screen in front of her.
“Miss Sylvester has been discharged.”
“What?When?”
“About an hour ago.Is there a problem?”The woman looked up at him.
“She has a concussion and a damaged arm, and you let her go?Who picked her up?”Anger surged through him.
“She was cleared to go.Therefore, we had no right to stop her.We called her a taxi,” she added, thinking that made everything better, when, in fact, it made it worse for Nick.
