Page 121 of Fish out of Water
“Sally said the door was fixed, remember?” I turned back to Collette and the twist in my stomach tightened.
She looked like death. Today was clearly a bigger deal than I realized, and I felt like a giant asshole for not being more worried about her.
“I don’t want to ruin your evening, Jules.” Collette pulled out her cell. “I’m sure I can find someone else.”
“Like hell.” Sylvia snatched the phone from Collette’s hand, eyes scanning the screen. “You got anything interesting on here?”
“She doesn’t have pictures of penises if that’s what you’re looking for.” I stole Collette’s phone and passed it back to her.
“She’s right.” Collette slouched down on the gurney. “Unfortunately.”
“I got one I can send you.” Sylvia leaned her head back to look down at her own cell through the reader portion of her bifocals.
“No.” Grant and I said it at the same time.
“You don’t want to see the one she has.” I’d seen it in person, and I could only imagine what it looked like in two dimensions.
The nurse taking care of Collette swept in, smiling wide. “Are you ready to get the heck out of here?”
Collette’s eyes came my way. “I think so.”
“You’ll be fine.” The nurse patted her arm. “Just take it easy for the next day or so and stay hydrated.” She passed Collette a stack of papers. “You can always call us if you have any problems.” She took Collette’s blood pressure one last time, marking it down before going to the door. “I’m going to go get a chair. I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks.” Collette gave her a tight smile. As soon as the nurse was gone she turned my way. “You really don’t have to do this, Jules.”
“You would do it for me.”
Her eyes went to where Grant stood in the corner of the room. “Eeh.”
“Don’t give me that shit.” I grabbed her purse from the bed and looped it over my shoulder. “You can pretend all you want, but I know the truth.”
The nurse came back and got Collette loaded into the wheelchair before leading us all out the front doors. Grant went to get his car, leaving us alone.
“I know you think I would do this for you, Jules, but I need you to know that if the situation were reversed I’m not sure I would turn down a night in bed with a man like that to take care of you.” She gave Sylvia a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
Sylvia waved one hand Collette’s way. “Don’t apologize to me, honey. I’d have left your ass here if there was a man waiting for me.” She lifted her shoulders. “But the pickens are pretty slim once you reach my age, so you girls are stuck with me tonight.”
“Stuck with you?” Collette’s brows went together in the center.
“I’m not staying with him.” She shot Grant a look as he pulled up. “He’s going to be a pain in the ass the whole night.”
Collette turned back my way. “Jules.”
“Shut up. It’s fine.” Grant would probably laugh at this whole conversation.
He was probably ready for an evening to himself after getting stuck with a houseful of unexpected women visitors.
We’d known each other all of six days.
If you rounded up by some hours.
“Of course it’s fine.” Sylvia shoved on her wrap-around shades even though it was after ten at night and the sun was long gone. “You’re an independent woman and he needs to remember that.”
This wasn’t really about me being independent. This was about not adding an additional female to his already estrogen-heavy household.
Not that I really could. You didn’t invite friends to other people’s houses.
That was rude.
