Walter was still in the same position but his open eyes were staring at nothing. He didn’t even react to us coming back into the room.
I went to grab the guest chair Ford had been sitting in and took it around the bed so I could sit directly in Walter’s line of sight.
That got his attention.
“Sheriff, I told you, I’m tired—”
“It’s Cam,” I said to him. “And if you’re going to come stay with me once you get out of this place, I expect you to call me by my first name.”
Walter didn’t react for a moment, but then he looked up at me. “What?”
“I’ve got a lot of space, Walter… for you and Puddles. You can stay for as long as it takes to get your house fixed up.”
The spark of hope that lit up Walter’s light blue eyes reassured me that I was doing the right thing.
“I work crazy hours sometimes so we’ll still need to have someone come help you out during the day and drive you to any PT sessions, but we can figure all that out.”
“I can help out,” Ford said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at him. He looked so excited that I felt my insides light up. I was doing this for Walter, but fuck if the idea that I’d made Ford happy didn’t make me want to smile from ear to ear. “I can ask a co-worker at the restaurant to switch shifts with me…”
Walter tried to sit up. “Hang on, let me adjust the bed,” I said as I grabbed the controller. He didn’t speak until I had him sitting up.
“Are you messing with me, son?” he asked suspiciously.
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “But I do have some conditions.”
Walter’s lips pulled together in a frown. I could see the fiercely independent man was about to turn down my offer so I barreled on.
“I want you to seriously consider the doctor’s offer to perform surgery on your knee. Obviously, no one can make you do anything, but let Ford and me listen in on your consult with him. We can give you our opinions on whether or not you should have the surgery done and then you can make your decision. I also want you to stay in here as long as the doctor suggests because a messed-up hip is nothing to fool around with, Walter. PT will help you regain your strength and balance. As soon as the doctor says you’re able to get around more easily, you come stay with me for as long as you need to. We’ll figure out the rest from there. What do you say?”
Walter eyed me. “Why are you doing all this… Cam?”
“Because I secretly plan to put you to work unpacking all of my moving boxes and fixing up my house,” I deadpanned. It took a very tense Walter about fifteen seconds to pull in a breath and then smile.
“Fine, but I don’t do windows.”
I chuckled. “Ok, deal,” I said as I held out my hand. Walter shook it firmly. As we talked for a few minutes about the details of him coming to stay with me, the energy and life returned to Walter’s eyes and this time around when Ford and I left, he was telling the nurse who entered the room at the same time about how he’d once gotten treated with just a Band-Aid after being shot by the Viet Cong in seventy-four.
The snow was falling more heavily by the time Ford and I left the hospital, so I kept all my attention on the road as I drove us home. I was glad I’d managed to remember to pick up a blood pressure monitor at the hospital’s pharmacy as we’d been leaving because I wasn’t interested in stopping again. It wasn’t particularly late, but with the sun falling behind the horizon by four in the afternoon and the events of the long day, I didn’t have it in me to try to draw Ford into conversation or figure out where he was at mentally. I just needed this day to be over so I could take him home in the morning and we could go back to the way things had been.
Fuck, I didn’t want that, at least not for Ford. I wanted him out of that goddamned house of his. Now would have been the perfect time to talk about what Jimmy was doing to him, but I’d complicated the hell out of things by getting personally involved with Ford.
When was I just going to learn my lesson and not get emotionally entangled with men who weren’t available to me? I’d spent months telling myself not to begin a relationship with Carter, but he’d been steadfast in his pursuit and I’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for his good looks, charming personality, and convincing promises and excuses.