Page 46 of Wild Tides
I snagged the red folder, flipping it open and scanning as quickly as I could. Kalydeco. The medication name was familiar.
Someone rustled behind the door, the sound of voices getting louder. I slipped the folder back and limped to my room, spotting one other red folder and another blue on my way. Curious. Maybe nothing. But if anyone could sniff out the truth, it was Vi.
I dashed off a quick text to her.
Lee: If you have time, nose around the front desk.
Lee: Some files are red, some blue. Might mean something.
Dr. Underwood joined me in the exam room with a stiff smile a few minutes later. “Lee. How are you feeling?”
She probably didn’t want to hear about the multiple orgasms Vi and I had managed the night before. But I felt fucking great. I coughed, pushing down the smug satisfaction that wanted to bubble up and creep onto my face.
“The ankle feels pretty decent. The occasional twinge, but the pain has died down.”
“Let’s take a look.” Dr. Underwood examined my foot, pressing and manipulating the joint and surrounding tissue, observing my face as she asked if it hurt.
“More pressure than pain,” I said.
She gave a crisp nod, rolling her stool back. “Good. Let’s get you out of the boot and into physical therapy. We’re going to wean you from the support an hour a day. So, starting tomorrow, I want you to remove it at five in the evening. Every day after that, take it off an hour earlier, until you’re out of it entirely. Sound good?”
“Can I take it off to drive sooner?”
She frowned thoughtfully and nodded. “That should be fine, if you’re sticking close to town. No long road trips.”
“Got it. Thanks, Doc.”
She waved off my appreciation. “Just doing my job, Lee. I’ll have my office send in the PT referral today. They should call you within a day or two. I want to see you back in a month.”
As eager as I was to rip the boot off and walk free immediately, her more measured approach made sense.
Violet looked up from her Kindle in the waiting room, an odd smile in place. “Ready?”
I nodded, shuffling after her out to the car.
“What did the doctor say?” she asked as we drove toward home.
“I can start weaning myself off the boot and begin driving. I start physical therapy as soon as I can get it scheduled.”
“That’s awesome.” Something about Vi’s tone sounded off. She was rigid behind the wheel, gaze focused on the road. “Guess you won’t need me anymore.” Nothing could be further from the truth. “I’ll pack my things this afternoon after work, if that’s okay with you.”
Her words were like a punch to the gut, leaving me gasping. But I’d imposed on her goodwill long enough. She’d abandoned her life to help me. She probably missed the comforts of home. Her privacy. I’d been such a needy bastard, she’d barely been to her house in the last few weeks.
“There’s no rush,” I said, at a loss for how to ask her to stay. She had a house of her own. A life. “The house is going to feel empty without you.”
Sure. Thehousewas going to feel empty. Not me. That sense of dread at having her even a few blocks away was just the dependency leaving my body. Not the fact that I’d become addicted to having her with me.
“I thought you enjoyed living alone,” she said, a note of caution in her words.
I couldn’t let her believe that. Not when it was no longer true.
“That was before I knew what it was like to have you with me.” I held her gaze, praying she understood this wasn’t casual. Not for me. Not anymore.
“You keep dropping things on me. First a text about mysterious file colors, now me staying with you? Which bomb do you want me to react to first?”
“The one about you staying. It’s the only one that matters.”
“I’ve mostly lived on the upper floors,” she pointed out. “I think you’d feel differently if we were in each other’s space all the time. You like your privacy.”
