Wow. I have barely been awake a few minutes and I’m already being lectured. “Okay, okay,” I add, my voice croaking. “Enough with the pep talk. I’ve just woken up after a month-long sleep and you’re jumping all over me.”
Trent grits his teeth in excitement. “Girl, I’m nothing. You’re gonna have a ton of Victoria bearing down on you the moment she hears you’re awake.”
I groan. “Oh, God, do I need to escape now?” I smirk up at Trent, causing him to smile back.
“I’m just so happy you’re finally back in your own body. Oh, my… Eli’s going to flip when he finds out.”
Wait… what?
I have no time to ask Trent what he means because a doctor walks in, asking Trent to leave so he can assess me. As I watch Trent excuse himself, he waltzes off, phone in hand, tapping away at something on his phone. Probably texting Victoria and Jason.
“Well, hello there, Audrey, so nice to finally be able to speak with you. I’m Doctor Bayston,” he adds, his palm on his chest for emphasis. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve felt better,” I croak out, causing the doctor to laugh and my mom to smile through her tears.
“It’ll pass in time. You will need physio for a while to get used to walking, talking, and eating again, but you’re young. I’m sure you will be running around your café in no time.” He leans forward. “And between me and you, most of us get our coffee from your café every morning. The coffee here is not up to scratch.”
I attempt to laugh, but it hurts. Inside, I’m glad that my accident has at least brought us some new customers.
For the next few seconds, he busies himself checking my vitals and my eyes, silently nodding to himself like he’s happy with the results.
“How long will I be in the hospital?”
The doc glances towards my mother. “Only just woken up and already she can’t wait to leave.” He then flits his gaze back to mine. “It all depends on your progress, Audrey. It could be two weeks; it could be three. I’m guessing no less than two though. For now, rest. I will get the nurse to bring you some soup to see if you can eat, then tomorrow we can start getting you out of bed.”
The doctor obviously seems to want to leave after that, so my mother thanks him, and then so do I.
“My pleasure. It’s what I’m here for. Just let us know if you need anything.”
The doctor leaves and the room is momentarily plunged into silence as Mom stares at me.
“It’s so good to have you back.” Immediately, she’s bending down to give me a hug. I’m a little sore, but at this point, I’m simply grateful to be alive. I guess Trent and everyone else is right. Maybe I should take time off. If the café is doing so well, I’m sure I can afford an extra staff member to alleviate pressure from Victoria, Trent, and Jason.
“It’s good to be back.”
Mom pulls from my embrace, her eyes widening like she’s remembered something. “Oh, my. You will never believe me when I tell you this.”
I don’t think of my mother as the gossipy type, so I’m intrigued, considering she seems so excited about what she’s about to tell me.
“Tell me then,” I urge, causing us both to laugh.
“Eli Prescott came to visit you.”
My face drops, my mouth agape. “No way.”
She nods her head, her big beaming smile meeting me.
“He actually came to the hospital… to see me?” She nods again. “Why?”
I don’t understand it. I only had one conversation with him that one time in the café… the day the accident happened. How could he have even known?
She bites her lip she’s so enthralled by it all. “It shocked me to see him here too, but he said that he looked for you at the after party and when he couldn’t find you, he wanted to know what happened. I guess, the next time he had a cause to come to town, he thought he would pay Full of Beans a visit. When Victoria told him you were here, he decided to come and see you… told me to call him the moment you were awake. He seemed very adamant about that.” She places her hand on her chest and sighs. “All that money, fame, and looks and he still has a heart of gold. You don’t get many of them to the dollar these days, that’s for sure.”
The words my mom says are going in, but I can’t seem to register them. He seriously looked for me that night? Why? I’m nobody. Just a small-town girl who owns and runs a café. He’s married to the most beautiful woman in the world, and I should imagine he’s one of the busiest, most sought-after men in the world. Why and how did he ever find time to come visit me?
“I… I don’t understand it,” I finally say, managing to somehow get the words out. “Why would someone like him bother to look out for someone like me? Let alone come find me after.” My mind is seriously blown by this.
My mother gives me a reproachful look. “You think so little of yourself. Just because Eli is rich and famous doesn’t make him any more of a person than you. And he’s definitely not the type to think that of himself either. The proof of that was there the day he came to visit you. Whatever conversation you had with him must’ve stuck with him, because here he was, less than two weeks ago, having a conversation with me about you.”