Walker Revenge (The Walker Family Series Book 5) (3 page)

He lurched again just as the door to his
room opened and Phillip Smythe walked in.

“Bad timing, man,” he said as he laid back
against his pillows.

“Food isn’t that bad here,” Phillip
joked.

“I hate this. I freaking hate it,” he said
taking the wet rag the nurse had brought him and wiping his mouth.
“The only good thing in my day was my nurse. Well, one of
them.”

Phillip smiled as he pulled a chair closer
to the bed and sat down. “Chelsea?”

“How’d you know that?”

“I talked to her. Her car died. I jumped
it.”

Russell squeezed his eyes shut. “She knows
how to do that. I taught her.”

“Sure, but she was in a hurry,” he said.
“That’s what friends are for, right?”

Russell set his bucket on the bed table and
rested back. “She didn’t seem to want to be friends with me,” he
admitted. “She transferred to another floor so that she didn’t have
to be in here.”

“I don’t think she knew what to do when you
told her you loved her.”

Russell winced. “I did say that, didn’t
I?”

“She said you did.”

He looked at the IV bag to his side. “Truth
serum pumped right into my veins, huh?”

Phillip laughed. “Could be.” He rested his
arms on his thighs and leaned in over them. “Speaking of that. I
wanted to ask you a few questions.”

“So you’re not here just to visit as a
friend.”

“Of course, I am. But I want to get to the
bottom of a few things.”

“I wrecked my truck. Now I’m stuck in here.
What else do you want to know?”

Phillip ran his hand over the back of his
neck. “We’ve had a few reports that you got into a fight.”

“I had some words with a guy. That’s
all.”

Phillip nodded. “Words? He didn’t attack
you, or vice versa.”

Russell sat up, only to quickly lay back
again when the pain surged through him. “You’re asking me if I hit
the guy?”

“I’m asking you if anything happened.”

“Just because some ass starts crap with me,
you think I started a fight.”

“No. I’m asking if you got into a
fight.”

Russell let out a long breath. “I didn’t
start anything. Some guy started in about my dad and comparing him
to my uncle and his underhanded business dealings. That doesn’t fly
with me. My dad is an upstanding citizen. Just because his brother
isn’t, that shouldn’t reflect on my family.”

“That’s all? Words over your dad?”

“He made some crappy comment about Chelsea
too. I don’t know who the guy was, but he knew she’d married
someone else while I was deployed. I don’t know why this crap has
to surface three years later, but it did. I wanted to punch him,
but I didn’t.”

Phillip scooted to the edge of his seat.
“When you left, did he follow you?”

“I don’t know that he followed me. I was
just focused on getting out of there so that I didn’t take the guy
down.”

He nodded and sat back as the door opened
again and Lydia Morgan, a dear family friend, poked her head
in.

“Hey, stranger. Interested in some…” she
stopped as she noticed Phillip sitting there. “Oh, you have
company. I’ll come back.”

She began to back out the door, and Phillip
jumped up, hurried to the door, and pulled it open.

“He’d love your company,” he said and looked
back at Russell. “I’ll talk to you later. If you think of anything
else, let me know.”

Russell nodded and watched as Lydia walked
into the room and Phillip scanned a look over her. Did she know the
man was obsessed with her? She didn’t even acknowledge him.

Lydia turned her head as the door latched
and let out a breath. “It must be a curse. That man is everywhere I
go.”

“He’s embedded in this community as a police
officer, just as you are with all the businesses you own,” Russell
defended.

“I suppose.” She moved to his bedside and
kissed his cheek. “How are you feeling?” she asked as she combed
his hair back with her fingers.

“Like crap. I don’t know what happened,” he
confessed. “I’ve driven that road for years. How did I run off the
road and flip my truck?”

Lydia took his hand and held it. “I don’t
know, but maybe it’ll come to you.”

Russell looked at the woman next to him and
wondered how she had managed to have such a kind heart when she’d
been raised by her grandfather, who was a cold hearted man.

She straightened the blanket on his bed.
“Was Officer Smythe questioning you? Doesn’t he know you’re
recovering?”

“He was here to visit.”

“Sure. His job rules his life. I’m sure he
had ulterior motives to be here.” She ruffled her short cap of
hair. “I shouldn’t say that. You’re his friend and of course, he
came to see you.”

“Did you come to make sure I was alive?”

“Damn straight. I was counting on you to
help me do some work on a new house I just bought.”

Russell tried to turn his head to look at
her but realized just how stiff his muscles had become. “You bought
a new house? This is a business investment?” he asked, knowing that
she had a weakness for buying up buildings in the town to run
businesses out of. He knew she was well off with her grandfather’s
fortune alone, but he had a suspicion that she was doing just fine
on her own as well.

“No, this is just for me,” she said turning
and taking the extra pillow off the dresser and walking to the
other side of the bed. “It’s a little cottage with a cute
yard.”

She gently lifted his arm which was bandaged
from wrist to shoulder, and set it on the pillow. He felt the
sudden relief he hadn’t known he needed.

“You’re moving out of your
grandfather’s?”

She smiled. “It’s long overdue.” Lydia
adjusted her bracelet on her arm then turned her attention back to
him. “I could still use some landscaping in the spring when you’re
all healed.”

“I heard what they had to say. I’m lucky to
be alive. I’m going to have to do physical therapy with all the
work they had to do to my leg and hip.”

“Consider working at my house therapy,” she
grinned and walked around to the other side of the bed again. “I
should let you rest. You look tired.”

Suddenly he felt it.

“Thanks for coming to visit.”

She leaned in and kissed his cheek ever so
gently. “I heard your brother is getting married.”

That still stung. He’d had eyes for Gia
Gallow, who owned a shop in one of Lydia's buildings, and his
brother was now going to marry her. Maybe she’d seen right through
him from the start. He was only trying to move on from his broken
heart of three years. When someone promised to wait for you then
married someone else, it hurt for a long time.

“They’ll be good for each other,” he said on
a yawn.

Lydia gave his hand a gentle pat. “Get some
rest. I’ll stop by again.”

~*~

The light from the hallway streamed into
Russell’s room as Chelsea pushed open the door. He was sleeping,
and she paused to watch him before entering.

Early morning rotations might have been her
favorite if she weren’t a single parent without support from her
ex-husband or parents. Thank goodness she had dear friends who
could stay with Lucas and take him to the daycare.

Chelsea walked into the room and signed into
the computer. She took a moment to read the files about Russell’s
night, which hadn’t seemed to have gone very well.

She noted his pain medication and his calls
to the nurses’ station.

He stirred next to her, and she watched as
he fought to find comfort with minimal movement. The bruises on his
face were darker now. Even then, he was as handsome as she’d
remembered.

Russell’s eyes fluttered open, and she took
a step toward his bedside. “Good morning.”

It took him a moment to focus on her. Many
times, patients, even days after surgery, found themselves confused
when they woke in a hospital room. She assumed, by his facial
expressions, this was what he was going through.

Instinctively, Chelsea reached for his hand
and held it. “You’re still in the hospital. You’re fine.”

He blinked a few more times. “It’s nice to
wake up with you here,” he said with a raspy voice.

Chelsea reached for his water and handed it
to him. He took a sip, and she replaced it on the tray.

“Thank you,” he said, gratefully.

“It looks like you had a long night.”

“Days and nights run together here.” He
wiped his eyes with the hand which wasn’t bandaged. “I just want to
go home.”

“Sooner than you think,” she said as she
moved back to the computer. “You’ll heal better at home.”

“Can you imagine how much fussing over I’ll
get from my mother?”

The statement had them both
chuckling—sharing a moment.

“She’ll be the best thing for you,” she
offered.

“I don’t know. Waking up the past few days
with you standing at my bedside has been nice.”

Chelsea swallowed the lump in her throat and
turned to pull the machine which would record his vitals closer to
the bed.

He turned his head. “I thought you were
transferring floors.”

“What kind of nurse would I be if I left
every patient that made me uncomfortable?”

He cringed. “I make you uncomfortable?”

She placed the clip that would read his
oxygen saturation on his finger and pushed a few buttons so that
the blood pressure cuff on his arm would inflate. Then she picked
up the thermometer and scanned it across his forehead, noting the
reading.

“Your vitals are looking good,” she said
retrieving the clip from his finger. “Can I get you anything?”

“A straight answer.”

No, that certainly wasn’t what she wanted to
give him. “You should rest more. It’s early.”

“Time is all the same from my perspective.
Do I make you uncomfortable?”

“No,” she said softly as the door opened and
another nurse walked in.

“Mr. Walker, you’re looking well this
morning.”

“Yeah, feel like crap, though. When do I get
to go home?”

The nurse laughed. “You’ve only had our
hospitality a few days. You’re ready to fly the coop?”

He shifted a glance to Chelsea and then back
to the nurse. “Yeah. The view at home is better.”

The nurse laughed, but the comment cut
through Chelsea’s heart.

She signed out of the computer as the nurse
took his cup out into the hall to fill.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Chelsea
said, as it was part of her training.

“I’m fine.”

“Today is my last day for this week. Then
I’m off for three days.” She felt the need to let him know he was
safe from seeing her.

He nodded slightly. “I’m sure you’d rather
be anywhere but here.”

The thought of not looking in on him was
breaking her heart. “I have some Christmas shopping to do. You
know, Santa can only do so much on his own.”

He snorted out a laugh. “You always did like
wrapping gifts.”

“I’m sure you’ll be home before Christmas.
I’ll bet your mom will be happy to have you there.”

“That or I’ll ruin her Christmas cheer.”

Chelsea moved to his bedside. “I don’t think
that could ever happen.”

His eyes shifted to lock with hers. “It’s
been a long time since Christmas was wonderful.”

Again, his words sliced through her, and it
was all her fault. Christmas nearly three years ago was when she’d
promised she’d be there when he returned—she promised she’d
wait.

“This Christmas will be different,” she
offered, but she wasn’t sure if she were assuring him or
herself.

“Chels, I’m in a bad way, and I know it. My
attitude more than even my wrecked body.” He sucked in a breath.
“You’re standoffish to me, and I don’t blame you. I just want you
to know it’s been nice waking with you next to me. I know it’s all
that’s left, but I appreciate it. You’re going to make a fine
nurse. I’m sure your husband is very proud of you.”

Tears began to well in her eyes as the nurse
walked in with his cup full of water. “Here ya go. I’ll be back
with pain meds soon. I want to see you get some food in you today.
You can’t live on Jell-O alone,” she chuckled.

“I’ll try,” he promised.

Chelsea followed the nurse to the door and
walked out as Russell turned on the TV. She deserved his hate and
his bad attitude. She didn’t deserve his appreciation and praise.
At some point, she should tell him she failed at marriage. It would
give him some pleasure, she was sure.

She rubbed her fingers between her eyebrows
to ward off the headache that was starting.

“You doing okay?” the nurse asked, as she
logged into the computer at the nurses’ station.

“Yeah. Just a little headache starting. I’m
getting used to these shifts.”

The nurse laughed. “It gets easier. Wait
until your night rotations start.”

The very thought gave Chelsea a stirring of
anxiety. Once she was done with her schooling, everything would be
better. But for now, trying to juggle her schedule, and Lucas’s was
killing her. What she wouldn’t give if her parents lived around the
corner, like Russell’s did.

Of course, had she been true to her heart,
maybe things wouldn’t be so tough. Glenda Walker could have been
her mother-in-law and grandmother to her son. Had she waited for
Russell, perhaps she’d still be married—to him—and not divorced
from the ass she’d chosen over him.

Feeling sorry for herself did her no good.
Besides, Lucas was the light of her life, no matter his paternity.
She’d never give him up. At this point, she supposed, she only
wished for things to be easier. Well, she’d brought that on
herself. Now she was paying for it.

As long as Russell was laying in that bed,
she’d take care of him. After all, he did say he loved her.

A smile formed on her lips, and the headache
began to fade away. Even if it was a drug-induced statement, it
still made her happy.