Authors: Marla Monroe
“Good, that’s really good, baby.” Gray leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ve got to go now. They won’t let but one of us stay the night, so I’m going to stay at the dormitory, but I’ll be back in the morning to see what the doctor says.”
“I don’t want you to go. Clint? Can’t you both stay?” She held on to Gray’s hand.
“Honey, if you would rather Gray stay, I can go.” He hated offering, and it would hurt if she said yes.
“No. I don’t want either of you to go.” She reached for his hand, too.
“I have to, baby. I’ll be back early. I promise.”
“I’m holding you to your word, Gray.” She let go of his hand and frowned.
“I think I’m going to rest a while.” She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Clint and Gray looked at each other and sighed. So much for the medication not making her sleepy. Or it was the bite marks still driving the sleep.
“I’m going now. If you need anything, or if something changes, you send someone to get me,” Gray said.
“I will. Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on her. You get back over here before nine.”
“I’ll be here by eight. I doubt I’m going to sleep much knowing she’s over here like this, anyway.” Gray ran his hand over her hair and sighed.
“Try, because you’re going to have to drive us back. I won’t have had any sleep, so it won’t be safe for me to drive.”
Gray nodded and walked out the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Elissa woke with a start. She had been having some strange dreams, but couldn’t remember what they were about when she tried. She looked around the room and found Clint leaned back in the recliner, snoring. She grinned. He probably hadn’t planned on falling asleep. She moved her legs and sighed. She was terrified they would amputate her leg for some reason. Maybe one of her dreams had been about that.
“You’re awake.” Clint settled the recliner in the upright position and stood up, stretching as he did.
“I just awoke. What time is it?” she asked.
He looked at his watch and grimaced. “It’s only four. You’re up early.”
“I guess I woke you up, too. Sorry.”
“No, I wasn’t supposed to be asleep. Gray will kill me when he finds out.” He winked at Elissa.
“I won’t tell.”
“How is your leg feeling?” he asked.
“It feels fine right now. I haven’t moved it around, though. Should I move it and see if it hurts?”
“No, don’t do that. We’ll wait until the doctor gets here later in the morning. I don’t want you to stir it up.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “I’m tired of lying here, though. Can I at least raise the head of my bed up some more?”
“Sure, honey. Do you know how?”
“I think I can figure it out,” she said sarcastically.
She punched the button on the side rail that showed the head of the bed, and it began to rise. Once she was as high as she wanted to be, Elissa stopped it and adjusted her ass. She was sore from lying in bed so long. She really wanted to sit up in the chair, but knew Clint would never allow her to get out of the bed without the doctor okaying it.
“Does that feel better?” Clint asked.
“Yeah. I guess. I really want out of the bed, but I’m sure you won’t let me get up, will you.”
“Nope. Not without the doctor saying it’s okay, I won’t.”
She sighed and looked at the IV in her arm. “When can I get this out?”
“I’m sure they’ll take it out in the morning after you’ve had your last dose of medicine.” Clint sat on the edge of the bed and squeezed her arm. “Gray’s going to be glad to see you awake again.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“You fell asleep on us last night. You’ve been sleeping a lot, and that’s worried us.”
“Oh, I guess I hadn’t realized I’d been sleeping that much.” She thought back and realized she couldn’t remember much of the day before.
“I guess I have been sleeping a lot. I don’t remember much about yesterday at all.”
“Well, mostly you slept. Do you remember about what your leg looked like?” He looked as if he hoped she didn’t.
She frowned and nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got a yellow calf now. I’m not too happy about that.”
“It’s okay, honey. As long as it heals and you get back to normal, it doesn’t matter if it’s red, white, and blue.” Clint squeezed her hand this time.
Elissa and Clint talked until seven when Scott knocked on the door and came in.
“You’re awake, great. How are you feeling?” he asked as he took her vital signs.
“I’m fine. Nothing is hurting, so I guess I’m feeling good.”
“Good is great. How about the burning pain in your leg?”
“It’s gone right now. I hope it doesn’t come back.” She waited while he listened to her lungs. “Are you going to take the bandage off now?”
“Not until the doc gets here. He wants to see it first thing. What time did you wake up?” Scott asked her.
“Um, Clint? Wasn’t it around four?” she asked.
“Yeah, about that time,” Clint said.
“So you’ve been up for three hours now. That’s good.”
“When will the doctor be here?”
“He’ll be here to check on you at nine. I’m going to hang your last bag of medicine and he’ll get here about the time it’s finished. How does that sound?”
“So I can leave after he sees me?” she asked.
“That’s the plan. We’ll just have to wait and see what he says after he looks at your leg.” Scott patted her arm. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with your last bag of antibiotics.”
Once he was gone, Elissa settled back on the bed and frowned. She wanted to go home. She wanted to sleep with her men and work in the garden. There was no telling how bad the weeds were in her and Lacy’s gardens by now.
“What are you frowning about?” Clint asked.
“Just thinking about the garden and how much work I have ahead of me since I’ve neglected it.”
“You don’t need to worry about the garden. We’ll take care of it until you can get out in it again.”
“I want to do it.” Elissa was keeping a close eye on her plants. She still thought they were way ahead of schedule based on the books.
“I know, honey, but you can’t right now.”
Scott walked back in with her medicine and set it up. When he left, she looked up at the bag and stuck her tongue out at it. She really wanted to go home and have everything be back to normal.
She and Clint talked until Gray showed up at eight. He hugged her and took Clint’s place on the edge of the bed.
“How long have you been awake, baby?” he asked.
“Since four. Poor Clint has had to keep me company.”
“Poor Clint was supposed to keep you company.” Gray tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel fine, Gray. I want to go home.”
“She’s already fussing about getting in the garden,” Clint said.
“I don’t know when you’re going to get to work in the garden, Elissa.” Gray looked over at Clint.
She figured they were going to try to come up with some excuse to keep her in the house longer. Well she wasn’t going to let them.
“While we are here, anyway, we need to get a gun so you can teach me how to shoot.”
“I’ve already thought about that,” Gray said. “We’ll take you to the store and find one that will fit your hand.”
“Gray, do you think it’s a good idea for her to carry a gun?” Clint asked.
“We can’t stay with her and work the fields, too. She needs to be able to protect herself.”
“I can handle it, Clint. If I had had the gun the other day, I would have shot it when it took a step toward me. Then it might not have bitten me.”
“She can’t have the gun until she can hit what she’s aiming for.” Clint was adamant about that.
“I agree. Won’t do her any good if she just pisses the thing off.”
They discussed gun types and safety for the next thirty minutes until Jeff and Scott knocked and came in.
“It’s good to see you doing so well, Elissa. How are you feeling?” Jeff asked.
“I’m fine. My leg doesn’t hurt or burn, but then the guys won’t let me move it around, either.”
“Well, let’s turn you over and see how it’s doing today.”
She rolled over with Gray’s help. He held her gown for her. She wanted to see her leg again but refrained from asking since they were already working on taking off the bandage. She could look at it all she wanted once they got home. She had a hand mirror there.
“So? How does it look?” she asked as soon as the bandage was off.
“Looks good, Elissa. There’s no swelling or redness…”
“That’s because the damn thing is yellow,” she said sarcastically.
Jeff and Scott chuckled. She looked over at Clint and realized he and Gray weren’t smiling.
“What else?” she asked.
“The discoloration hasn’t changed. But, it hasn’t spread, either. I think it’s gone as far as it is going to. The puncture marks are scabbed over as well. I think the topical medication helped. I’m going to send some home with you. Clint, you and Gray can apply it twice a day for two days, and then once a day after that.”
“How long before I can walk on it?” She wanted to find out how long she was going to be confined to bed. She was tired of being in the bed.
“Let’s see how you do putting pressure on it right now,” Jeff said. “Let Scott put another bandage on and then we’ll stand you up and see how you do.”
As soon as Scott finished with the dressing, Clint and Gray helped her sit up on the edge of the bed.
“Any pain, throbbing, or burning with it hanging down?” Jeff asked.
She thought about it and shrugged. “Nope. Nothing.”
“Okay. Help her stand.”
Gray and Clint each took an arm and helped her stand up on her good leg. She then added her bad leg and slowly let her weight even out over both legs. Nothing. It didn’t hurt, and she could stand on it. Relief spread through her. She’s been scared she wouldn’t be able to stand any weight on it.
“Looks good. How does it feel?” Jeff asked.
“Fine. It doesn’t hurt or burn. Can I walk around some?” she asked.
“Go ahead.”
She looked at the guys, and they let go of her arms so she could walk, but they hovered close by. She walked around the room some as far as the IV line would let her, then sat back on the edge of the bed. She grinned up at the guys.
“I’m fine. I can go home now, right?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll send home a couple of the pain pills in case you have some pain later, and the cream that has helped as well. Let me finish your paperwork, and then Scott will discharge you.” Jeff looked over at the men. “If there are any questions once you get home, just call us up on the radio and we’ll talk to you about them.”