Wood Worked

After a rather bland dinner of my own, I had more visitors—McKenna and Dan from work. They filled me in on everything I’d missed. They’d each met their new teams and were full of enthusiasm about the projects they’d be working on.

After they left, I was a bit glum. I couldn’t help wondering what my day would’ve been like if I hadn’t ended up in the hospital. But it was pointless to think about what might’ve been, so I tried to banish those thoughts from my mind as I nibbled one of the chocolates from the box they’d brought.

The next morning, there were a bunch of people in and out of my room. Nurses gave me instructions about the cast, pain meds, future physical therapy. When one of them handed me a stack of paper prescriptions, it dawned on me that I didn’t have the slightest clue where a pharmacy was.

Luckily, Spencer arrived and was able to take notes on some of the instructions. He ran a school, so he must be smart. Plus, he wasn’t trying to think through a wave of pain meds.

After lunch, the discharge procedures started. There was so much paperwork that my head started spinning—not that it had ever really stopped.

When I finally finished signing a tree’s worth of papers, the man from yesterday morning returned. Though he also had dark hair, he was a little shorter and thinner than Spencer.

When Spencer got to his feet, the differences were even more pronounced. The new man had a short beard, and though his hair was cut short on the sides like Spencer’s, it was a little higher on top. His green eyes were warm as Spencer introduced us. “This is my brother-in-law, Raphael Theriot.”

Raphael moved to the side of my bed. “Thank you so much for saving Lucas.”

Embarrassment flicked through me. Compliments always made me feel that way. “I’m, um, glad I was able to help.” Obviously, I was going to have to come up with a better response when the accident was brought up in the future.

“I mean it.” Raphael put his hand on top of mine. “Lucas is an amazing little boy, and he wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Thank you.”

His smile was sincere, but he looked a little amused, perhaps at my embarrassment. “I told you all of this yesterday, but I don’t think you took much of it in.”

“We spoke yesterday?” I had no memory of that at all.

“Yes, but you were pretty out of it.”

Huh. I guessed I had been. It seemed like I would’ve remembered. Raphael had a unique voice. It was mellow and pleasant, and it was more than clear that he’d been born in the South. But there was some other note in his tone that didn’t sound exactly like the other Southern accents I’d heard in the last few days.

He opened the bag he’d brought with him and pulled out a folded stack of clothes. “I brought some sweats. They’ll be huge on you, but that’s what drawstrings are for.”

“We tried to find something big enough to fit around the cast,” Spencer said. “But if it doesn’t, we can always cut off the leg. Of the sweatpants, I mean, not you.” He gave me a wink.

It astonished me that strangers were doing so much for me. It was a good thing, though. I hadn’t even thought about what I’d wear home from the hospital. Lord knew I was eager to get out of this gown. Briefly, I wondered about the clothes I’d been wearing on Monday. I’d seen how badly my skin was scraped up when I was in the bathroom before. Likely my clothes had fared even worse. Maybe after I got settled at Spencer’s house, someone could go to my apartment and get some of my things.

I’d finally accepted that I’d be staying with Spencer and his family. It was really my only option if I wanted to stay in my new town. Sure, I could get a hotel room, but there was no way I could take care of myself. I didn’t even know how to use the new crutches that were leaning against the wall.

Plus, I was supposed to move as little as possible in the first 48 hours while the cast fully dried. That wasn’t going to be an issue—it wasn’t like I could move much anyway.

There was no way I could manage on my own, and who else was going to help me? McKenna or Dan? Already, I felt like I knew Spencer better than I knew them. And though they’d offered to keep me up to date on work-related things, neither had volunteered to help in other ways. Nor had I expected them to.

So that meant I was going to Spencer’s house.

It took a long while to be discharged. Spencer had obviously taken the day off work—hopefully there was an assistant principal who’d stepped up—but I wondered what Raphael’s job was. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for chit-chat, however.