It’s Always Us (Abandoned Brothers #3)

Chapter 15

MARK

If there’s a single place I loathe with every inch of my being, it’s the hospital. The stringent smell, the lights, the crinkly beds lined with plastic, the squeaky clean shine of every sterile, cold surface. All of it.

Shane parks my rental car, and we walk through the back doors of the surgical center so that this little adventure into hell doesn’t become public entertainment. My nerves are already on edge, and I don’t need my paperwork and gown change to be videoed and blasted to every news outlet.

“You all right?” Shane asks as we follow a nurse down the hall into a registration cube.

“Are you going to make me dinner tonight? I’m thinking a grilled steak with a baked potato and a nice cold beer.”

The young woman, clicking away on the keyboard and entering my information, stifles a laugh as she hands me back my insurance card.

“I may order you something if you can keep your dramatics to a minimum.”

“Dramatics? They’re slicing my shoulder open, rearranging a bunch of stuff, and then going to try to put it back together so it works again. You could be a little more sympathetic.”

Shane groans. “I’ve been there.” He taps his knee.

“Yeah, well, look how that turned out.”

He side-eyes me, the sympathy just rolling off him.

“I think you’re all set. Can you verify everything is correct?” The woman reaches across the desk with a white plastic bracelet in her hand. I verify the information before she secures it to my wrist, and we’re off to the next station.

A nurse ushers us to a small, private, curtained corner and scurries around, rapid-firing instructions I’m sure as hell not listening to. The less I know, the better.

She hands me the dreaded gown and then disappears.

I toss the gown to the side and remove my shirt, sitting on the edge of the gurney.

“She told you to put that on,” Shane says, trying to fold himself in the tiny chair.

“Yeah, well, I’m doing them a favor. They won’t have to deal with all that fabric while they’re slicing and dicing.”

“Mark, your charms won’t get you out of their protocols.”

“Maybe they’ll get me extra pain medicine and out of here sooner.”

Shane rolls his eyes. “The last thing you need is extra painkillers.” He shoots me a pointed look. He’s right about that, but I’m not admitting it because anything that will knock me out and make me numb sounds pretty damn good right about now.

I stare at him as he flips through the paperwork. I shiver. Why do they have to keep it thirty degrees below zero in these places? If you’re here, you’re already uncomfortable enough.

“Stop staring at me. You have the best surgeon in the country. You need to relax. If you bounce your leg any harder, you’ll fall off the bed.”

I realize at some point my big grumpy-ass bro has become a little mother hen. “Your bedside manner is horrific. Why didn’t you send Maggie?”

“I didn’t want her to have to deal with your overstimulated hyperactivity. Now, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you nervous? You’re twitchy and higher-strung than usual.”

“Uh. Hell yes, I am. This place is like a visit to an Arctic prison cell where you get tortured and released. I need this to be over and my shoulder to work again.”

My phone buzzes, and I pull it from my pocket, needing a distraction.

LEX: *flex arm emoji* *football emoji* *racehorse emoji*

ME: *racehorse emoji* ?

LEX: Mustang

ME: Huh?

LEX: *Laughing face emoji* *Heart emoji*

“What’s that dumbass grin on your face for?” Shane barks from the corner of our little curtained square.

“None of your business. If you were nicer, maybe I’d tell you.” I turn my phone off and tuck it in the plastic drawstring bag the nurse left for all my personal items. “When are Maggie and the kids getting here?”

“Not soon enough. Liv can dote on you like the damsel in distress you are.”

Shane reads the care instruction packet as if it’s the first time he’s ever been in charge of someone, and it somehow makes me feel extra special.

“Ahhh. My little Liv. I can’t wait to see my favorite little girl.”

He cocks an eyebrow at my claim to one of his girls. Maggie’s youngest sibling had Shane wrapped around her pinky from day one, and she’s had a firm grip on his heart ever since.

“So, when surgery is done, we’re going back to your place, and then I need to have you at the doctor’s office at 8 a.m. tomorrow. They’ll discuss your therapy schedule.”

I’ve heard all this before. I tune him out, trying to ready myself to be wheeled back and knocked out. Maybe the whole knocking-out thing won’t be so bad. Then, I can dream of Lex and the only thing I want to do when I finally get to see her.

“Seriously, what is up with you?” Shane’s staring at me.

“Nothing. I hate all places like this.”

“No, you have this stupid goofy look on your face. What’s going on? What have you done?”

I’m saved by a nurse rushing in and telling me it’s time. I settle myself on the gurney, and Shane pats my shoulder as she wheels me into the hall, telling me things I’m not listening to. In the operating room, they hook me up, and then, thankfully, I’m out.

_____ _

I blink. I blink again. Everything is fuzzy, and my mouth feels like someone shoved a sheet of sandpaper into it. My mind is cloudy, and I’m floating in some kind of hazy funk.

Lex. I need to talk to Lex.

I try to sit up.

“Hey, lay still.” Shane’s huge form comes into my view.

I reach for my arm, wanting to be sure it’s still there.

His large hand falls on mine, and it weighs a hundred pounds.

“Everything went well. Even better than expected. The doctors said you’ll be good as new.” His voice is low and muffled.

“Lex.” My tongue sticks to the top of my mouth. “I need my phone.”

Shane’s hands hold me in place while I try to wiggle free.

“Mark, you’re all drugged up.”

I shake my head, and the room spins. “No, Lex. I need to . . . ”

“Just relax.”

Frustration fills my sedated mental capacity. “I need to text her. She’s waiting.”

“Ok. We’ll do that later. Do you want some water?”

He holds a cup with a straw in front of me, and I sip the cold water, giving me life. The only thing I want is Lex. I need her to tell me it’s going to be ok. To hug her and kiss her. And then kiss her some more and more and . . .

“No. I want my wife. I need to call her.” My good arm flaps around, searching for my phone again, but Shane prevents me.

“Mark, relax. You don’t know what you’re saying. We’ll be out of here soon enough, but not if you’re high as a kite.”

I let my balloon-filled head rest back on the stiff pillow. I surrender, all the pain I’ve lived with now missing.

“Can you get me out of here?” I ask the big warden who won’t get my phone.

“Soon. Although, I can tell dealing with you will be a real treat.”

“You’re a real jackass. You’re fired.”

“You can’t fire me. I volunteered to take care of you.”

“Call a nurse. I’d like someone else, please.”

He laughs. “Sorry, I think you’re stuck with me until Maggie and Liv get here.”

“Well, just so you know, you suck at this job. ”

“Noted.”

“Lex is going to be pissed when she knows you didn’t let me text her. She’s waiting for a thumbs up so she knows I’m not dead.”

“All right, buddy.” I don’t care for his condescending tone, and I want to punch him. “She’ll be waiting a long time,” I hear his strict ass mumble.

I close my eyes, wanting to drift away. “You just wait and see.”