Sacrifice (Heart of a Wounded Hero)

Instead of answering her, I take in her haphazard ponytail, the glasses on her face, and the T-shirt that looks as if it has cat hair on it.

Self-consciously, she looks down at herself and pulls at her shirt and then rolls her eyes. "Sorry for the way I look. I took care of Max and then came this way."

I can't help but compare her to Harper. Ella is a friend. I let her move in after running an ad in the paper for the apartment. She took care of my house and my cat until Harper came into the picture.

She interrupts my thoughts. "I wish I had known you were here earlier."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, she gets embarrassed. But before I can say anything, the door opens again with a knock. It's the doctor, and he walks in, giving Ella a dirty look.

He looks at her over his glasses. "You must be the fiancée. Nice of you to finally show up."

Ella's eyes widen, and automatically I want to come to her defense. "This isn't my fiancée," I tell him.

But I don't know if that was the right thing to say or not because she looks a little hurt when it comes out of my mouth.

But still, she surprises me when she looks at the doctor. "No, I'm not the fiancée. And I just found out an hour or so ago that he was even here."

That seems to appease the doctor, and he gets a smile on his face. "Sorry about that."

When he walks to me, he puts his hand on the side of the railing and holds the clipboard under his other arm. "So how are you feeling today? Any headaches?"

I clench my eyes shut and shake my head before I open them. "Yeah, still the same, Doc, but I'm leaving. I'm going home today whether you release me or not."

The doctor chuckles and proceeds to examine me by lifting the sleeve of my gown up to inspect the wounds on my arm. The stitches are long gone, and the infection that I had is already clearing up. I look at the healing wounds and have to admit it looks way better than it did. I feel Ella's eyes on me the whole entire time, and I get a little nervous about it.

The doctor looks at Ella and then back at me. "And the nightmares?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Yeah, I'm still having the nightmares."

The doctor drops my sleeve and stands back, holding the clipboard in front of him. "I don't have any reason to keep you here, but I can't just release you on your own. You need someone with you at least for another week. You know how head wounds can be."

I grit my teeth and look at him. "It's been a month, Doc. I'm fine."

He shrugs and smiles. "Well, that's not a chance I'm willing to take. Have someone stay with you, or you're here for another week."

I avoid Ella and stare at the doctor, hating him for putting me in this vulnerable state. "I don't have anyone to stay with me."

Ella speaks up. "I can do it. I can stay with him."

I level a stare at her, but she doesn't back down.

She shrugs her shoulders. "What? It's no problem at all, Logan."

The doctor looks between Ella and me. "What do you think, Logan? Going home with this pretty lady or staying here and eating hospital food for another week?"

"Fine. Can I leave now?"

The doctor pats me on the shoulder. "Just let me get your discharge papers ready. You need to make sure you take your medication for the headaches. If you have any changes in your vision, any dizziness or passing out, you need to make sure that you come back right away. And you need to continue the therapy, Logan. It's going to help you with your night terrors."

I grip my hands together in my lap. "Whatever you say, Doc."

He looks at me, and I know he wants to say more, but he decides against it. "The nurse will be in shortly."

He turns to go, and Ella tells him, “Thank you” before he walks out the door. As soon as he's gone, she walks around the side of the bed and stops next to me. She lowers the bar and holds her hand out.

Instead of taking it, I ask her gruffly, "What?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "You look uncomfortable lying there in a bed, in a gown. I thought you'd feel more like yourself if I helped you get up and maybe get ready. If they're letting you go, I'm assuming you can stand."

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and sit up, pointing to the drawers on the other side of the room. "I have a set of clothes in there."