Getting Wound Up: A Sapphire Falls/Love Between the Bases Novel-- PART TWO (9 page)

“Without my chair.”

She sighed. “Why without your chair?”

“Because I can do that,” he said. “Usually.”

“And tonight?”

“Going over wasn’t so bad. There were tables and chairs between us and the bar and it was like twenty feet.”

“But?”

“Coming back, with a drink in hand, was a little less steady, and then—” He stopped.

She narrowed her eyes. “What did you do?”

“Stopped to talk to…someone. My leg got tired, I didn’t have anything to hang on to, and when I tried to take the next step I went down. I twisted my leg and whacked my head on a table on my way down.”

Caitlyn winced but there was no need to go over how he should have known better.

“Was she blond or brunette?” she asked.

He grinned. “Brunette.”

Wow, he really was…still Bryan.

Her heart ached as she looked at her older brother. Bryan had always been her rock. And if she was the one in the wheelchair, no matter how fine she seemed or wanted him to believe she was, he would have insisted on taking care of her.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Hey.” He pushed himself up even straighter. “I promise I flirt equally with all hair colors. I even bought a drink for one with purple hair.”

Caitlyn started to respond but just then she heard the door open behind her.

“Mr. Murray.”

Caitlyn turned to see Bryan’s doctor coming through the door.

“Dr. Perkins,” Bryan greeted.

“We have your x-ray and MRI results back.” He crossed to the bed and pulled an x-ray from the envelope he carried. He held the film up to the overhead light.

Caitlyn leaned in to see it as the doctor pointed.

“You have a femoral neck fracture. A hip fracture.”

“Dammit,” Bryan muttered.

The doctor nodded. “I’m sorry. But the good news is that it’s a clean break. There’s no damage to the vessels and nerves.”

“Will he need a cast or something?” Caitlyn asked. That was not going to make getting around even easier. “Will he be able to use his crutches with it?”

The doctor shook his head. “There are really two treatment options for hip fracture. One is a pinning. We pin the bones back together and let them heal. There’s no cast required but patients are non-weight bearing for six to eight weeks.”

“No,” Bryan said immediately, and firmly. “I’m not going non-weight bearing.”

Dr. Perkins nodded. “I agree that’s not the best option for you. I would suggest a total hip replacement. We’ll put in a new hip joint, replacing the damaged area. You’ll be able to bear weight immediately and it will be the least limiting.”

“He’ll be able to walk on it right away?” Caitlyn asked.

“Yes. It will be encouraged in fact. There are some risks,” the doctor went on. “In addition to the usual things, you have a great fall risk. You’ll have to be especially careful. If you fall on a new hip, you could dislocate it or fracture around it. You also have less muscle strength to start and obviously will only be able to progress to a certain point. It’s important that you get as much back as you can to help make the joint stable.”

Bryan nodded. “Not a problem. I’ll work my ass off.”

“I’ll call the orthopedic surgeon in then for a consult,” Dr. Perkins said.

“Wait, you’re going to do the surgery
here
?” Caitlyn asked. “Shouldn’t we take him home?”

“We don’t do these surgeries here in Kilby,” Dr. Perkins said. “We’ll transport him to Houston.”

“But—” She looked at Bryan. “Do you want to stay here?”

“I’d rather go home,” Bryan said with a sigh. “Damn, my PT is going to give me shit for this.”

“God. I’m going to have to call Mom,” Caitlyn said as the thought occurred.

In fact, she was a horrible daughter for not having called her mother already.

Dammit.

Bryan was in the hospital and now facing surgery and she was the one who was going to have to break it to their mother.

“She’s going to freak out,” Caitlyn said, rubbing the middle of her forehead where a massive headache was brewing.

“Don’t call her,” Bryan said with a frown.

Caitlyn dropped her hand. “
What
?”

“We’ll get home and tell her about it then. It will better when she can see for herself that I’m okay. This is not a phone call she’ll handle well.”

That was an understatement.

Fatigue crashed into her suddenly. She couldn’t explain it. One minute she was standing strong, making plans, and now she could barely stay on her feet. It was too much… Bryan and his wheelchair and his injury. Eli and Kilby and them wanting her to come and bake two weeks a month and sell her stuff here.

Eli. And Kilby. And baking.

She’d been having sex and eating ice cream, foolishly dreaming of what it was going to be like to date Eli long distance and then actually listening when he was telling her that she could have it all.

But it was never going to work.

She couldn’t be here two weeks of every month. That was ridiculous. She couldn’t afford to fly down here all the time and the drive, by herself, was crazy. And two weeks at a time? Really? Even before Bryan’s new injury that would have been a long time to impose on friends and neighbors, or a lot of money to pay a professional to come help Bryan. And every month? They didn’t have the budget for that.

And what about the two weeks she wasn’t here?

Eli was just starting his career. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by a long-distance relationship. He needed to be on, all in, completely focused. Neither of them would mean for their relationship to be a distraction, but how could it not be?

“It’s up to you,” Dr. Perkins said to Bryan. “They’ll take good care of you in Houston, but if you want to go home, we understand. We can try to make the trip as comfortable as possible. But I’ll warn you, it won’t be easy.”

“That’s how we like it, right Bry?” Ty said as he strolled into the room with two coffee cups. He gestured with his elbow toward Eli, who was right on his heels with a cardboard tray with more cups, stirrers and sugar packets. “I found Eli going out of his mind in the lobby. Took pity on the poor guy.”

“Hey dude. Thanks for being here.” Bryan accepted a cup of coffee, then exchanged fist bumps with Eli. Eli distributed the rest of the cups while Caitlyn blinked back tears.

Was it just an hour ago that she and Eli had been kissing at Scoop? That he’d said, “we have forever now”? In that short amount of time, everything had changed. He looked so big and solid and like everything she’d ever wanted. She wanted to rush to him and bury herself deep in his arms, pretend none of this had ever happened.

But that would be a fantasy-land move, and someone had to face reality.

“Bryan needs surgery,” she told Eli, keeping a safe distance from him. “He needs to get back home.”

Eli nodded, clearly not hearing all the other things she was trying to communicate between the lines.
I have to go with him. This will never work. I can’t go back and forth. We have to end this now. I’m so sorry.

“Can we talk about hiring an ambulance service to get him home?” Ty asked the doctor.

“Over that distance?” Dr. Perkins asked. “Possibly. It will take some time. And money.”

“We’ve got both,” Ty said.

Dr. Perkins told them he’d make some calls and be back with news soon.

Eli, Ty and Bryan huddled together, making plans, completely leaving Caitlyn out of the conversation.

“Hey,” she finally said. “What about me?”

Eli looked over his shoulder at her, suddenly wary.

“We got this,” Ty said. “Word is you have some big plans in the works.”

“What are you talking about? Where did you hear that?”

“One of the nurses was talking to Eli when we got the coffee. She’s friends with Donna McIntyre who works with the Catfish. The team’s all excited that you might be working with Scoop. Something about bacon.”

“
What
?” Caitlyn stared at him. “Seriously?”

“That’s what she said. Not true? The bacon part did seem strange.” Ty asked.

“It’s not that, it’s just… Nothing’s for sure yet.” Caitlyn could feel Eli watching her. “The ice cream shop owner is interested in my Cracker Jacks and some other things. Bacon cupcakes. But we haven’t worked out the details yet.”

Under Eli’s searching look, her face was turning a million shades of red.

Ty glanced between the two of them. “Ah, got it. Well, that’s cool. Your Cracker Jacks are amazing.”

She gave him a smile she hoped looked genuine. “Thanks. Now can we get back to the main topic here? Bryan needs to get home.”

“I’m going to go see about that ambulance,” Ty said.

“No. No ambulance,” Bryan said. “Jesus. My mother would have a heart attack if we show up in Sapphire Falls in an ambulance.”

“Well, I really think you’re going to hate everyone by about an hour in if we just put you in the backseat,” Ty said.

“They can just give me something to knock me out,” Bryan said. “And maybe one of the nurses wants to come on a road trip to take care of me.” He grinned at the two other guys.

Eli laughed, but Ty nodded as if it was the most logical thing in the world. “I’ll go talk to them.”

“You’re not serious,” Caitlyn said, though she knew even as she said it that they were.

“We take her with us to make sure he’s okay on the trip home, then put her on a plane back to Kilby. She gets paid for her time, to see the sights between here and Sapphire Falls, and time with us. She’s coming out way ahead here,” Ty said. “Eli, help me out here.”

“He’s making some solid points, Caitlyn.” Eli grinned, and for a moment Caitlyn imagined him in the back seat with the nurse. Flirting. Smiling. Laughing. Not that it would be her business, not after she went back to Sapphire Falls.

The thought hurt too much to dwell on. She rolled her eyes. “You’re not inviting a nurse along on the trip back. We’ll get him some good drugs and we’ll drive fast.”

Ty shook his head. “Caity, you really need to learn how to have more fun. Grab opportunities. Say what the hell?” Ty headed out of the room, no doubt to scout for cute nurses who were able to just pick up and go tonight.

“Ty, hold up. I have another idea.” Eli sent Caitlyn a quick, scorching glance then strode after Ty. “I’ll be right back.”

Caitlyn turned back to Bryan.
Have more fun, grab opportunities and say what the hell?
She’d just done that with Eli. Her one shot at the brass ring—and now it was over.

Her brother needed her.

And her mother needed her.

“I have to call Mom,” she said.

“Not yet. Please,” Bryan said, resting his head back against his pillow and closing his eyes.

“Mom needs to know.”

“What Mom needs to know if that I’m fine. Just…wait. Until we can tell her everything is okay.”

Bryan took a deep breath and Caitlyn wondered if he was falling asleep.

“Bry—”

“Cait,” he cut her off, opening his eyes and pinning her with a stern look. “That woman let me believe in Santa until I was ten. She let me think I had superpowers until I was eight and then let me believe I was going to become a Jedi Knight. She let me believe that the mustache I tried to grow in high school looked good. I’m going to let her believe everything is fine right now.”

Caitlyn felt fatigue and frustration wash over her. She rubbed the middle of her forehead. “I don’t get it.”

“It’s called hope, Cait,” Bryan said quietly. “And it’s the most important thing you can have.”

“Okay, we’re all set.”

Caitlyn looked up to see Ty and Eli coming through the door with the charge nurse. She couldn’t look directly at Eli because it hurt too much, so she addressed Ty.

“We have an ambulance?” Caitlyn asked.

“No need for an ambulance when you have a friend with a private plane,” Ty said with a grin.

Bryan chuckled. “Levi?” Levi was Levi Spencer, the millionaire Vegas playboy who had come to Sapphire Falls for some R & R and had fallen in love with the town and with his new wife, Kate.

“You got it. It was Eli’s idea. Hailey called him and he said of course,” Ty said.

Eli shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s nice to have a millionaire in town.”

“I’ve always wanted to ride in Levi’s plane,” Bryan said. “That’s awesome.”

Well, that took care of that. Far be it from Caitlyn to turn down that kind of help.

“I’ll drive the car back,” Ty said. “You two will get on the plane in about an hour.”

“We are sending your tests and x-rays to Denver,” the nurse added. “They’ll coordinate the consults and scheduling up there. Everything will be ready to go when you get to the hospital.”

Caitlyn felt a little lighter listening to the plans. They’d get Bryan home quickly, fix his hip and get him back on his feet—literally.

And her and Eli? Finally she met his eyes, saw the questions burning there. But what could she say? There was no Santa, Bryan was never going to be one hundred percent, and long-distance relationships never worked out.