Page 42 of There's Pumpkin About You
“Wait here,” I tell him before I rush to his bedroom to find him a t-shirt and some socks for when the doctor is done. I toss him the t-shirt and he catches it without any effort, sliding it over the torso I never got a chance to admire properly. I shove the socks into my back pocket and hold a hand out.
He gives me a look. “Youreallythink you can help me to the car?”
My expression turns deadpan. The man honestly just cannot be helpful for one second. “I think you need help to the car.”
“Yes, from someone who can handle my weight, not from a woman I’ll crush as soon as I stand up.”
“I’m stronger than I look, August.”
“I don’t doubt that, but I don’t think you’re strong enough to take some of the weight of a two-hundred-and-sixty-pound farmer.”
There’s a moment of silence.
“Two hundred and sixty? Really?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, being physically active isn’t something I’ve been able to do lately.”
“That’s not what I meant, ass.”
He grunts but ignores me as he tries to stand on the foot with the least amount of burns. He buckles slightly and instinctively. I throw my arms out ready to try and catch him. A dirty look is all I get as Gus slowly hobbles over to the front door.
“Wait,” I say when I realize a problem. I roll my eyes when he sighs dramatically.
“What now?”
“You can’t put shoes on.”
“So?” he asks impatiently.
“So, asshole, how are you going to get to the car?”
His back is to me, but it’s obvious as he looks down at his feet that he knows I have a point. The ground is more mud than grass. He tilts his head back and sends a sigh to the ceiling, mumbling a string of curse words that I’m pretty sure are being sent in my direction.
I spot a set of car keys by the door. “Stay here,” I say as I pick them up. “I’ll bring your truck as close as I can.”
I thrust the front door open and the cold hits me, sending a shiver down my spine.
“My truck is back at the office.”
“Why?”
“I took your car so you could fuck off from my house as soon as you woke up,” he growls.
“This coming from the guy making me breakfast?”
“Shut up.”
“Okay, clearly the pain is getting to someone, so like I said… stay here.”
Whatever rain presented itself last night has since moved on, leaving a blue sky dotted with gray-tinged clouds and a strong wind that bites into the skin. I spot my keys on the glass side table by the door and run out to the SUV, the almost gale-force winds whipping my hair into my eyes as I go. By the time I’ve maneuvered the car so that it’s as close to the front door as I can get it, there’s an impatient Gus stood waiting, two jackets in hand.
I’m about to jump out the car to help him, but he holds up a hand and makes his way by himself. A pang of guilt hits my chest when I see him like this, already missing some of his independence because of his arm, now hobbling over with even more injuries. The harvest isn’t finished yet and I know that he’s going to fret and panic over it, blaming himself for any setbacks he and Bash experience from here on out.
As he finally makes it into the car and struggles to put his seatbelt on, I pull off and rush to the hospital.
ChapterNineteen
GUS
