I turned to look at Selene and smiled when I realized her eyes were open. “How are you?” I moved to her bedside and grabbed her hand.
“Alive.” She squeezed my fingers. “Did you make it to all of the appointments today?”
“No, but we got two in.” I smiled. “Tabitha wouldn’t let me out of all of them.” I turned to see where my temporary assistant was, but she was nowhere in sight.
“They sent Tabitha to help you?” Selene’s brow furrowed.
“Yes.” I watched her closely, surprised by her reaction. I’d always been under the impression that she was grooming Tabitha to be her replacement.
“I’m sure she’ll do a fine job.” Selene closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry. This pain medicine makes it difficult for me to stay awake. I’m tired of being in this bed.”
“And that, my friend, is exactly why they have you on that medicine. To keep your butt in bed!” I shook my head and she laughed gently.
“You’ve been telling them my bad habits.”
“Of course I have.” I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “You have to cut back. You’ve been doing too much.”
“I’m doing the exact same thing you’re doing.” She looked away from me. We both knew that was a lie. She did much more than I did and she was more than twice my age.
“It’s killing you.” I frowned. “We need to find another way of handling things. Perhaps hiring an assistant for you.”
“We’ll talk when I get out of here.”
“And when is that exactly?”
“Maybe a week. Depends on how I’m doing.” She started to shift and her face flinched in pain.
“What about physical therapy?”
“Oh, those bastards were in here earlier. I don’t want to talk about them.” She shook her head.
I laughed. Prim and proper Selene had just called someone a bastard. That was well worth a laugh. Even Chadwick was chuckling.
“Wow. Okay,” I finally responded.
“Don’t tell her that they will be back every day for months,” Chadwick stage-whispered.
Selene whimpered. “Oh, that’s just horrible.”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll get some great ones to come to D’Lynsal to work with you.” I patted her shoulder gently, still bothered by how weak she looked.
“Nonsense. I’ll go back home and they can visit me there.” Her words were a whisper as her eyes fluttered closed.
“Get some rest.” I kissed her forehead. ”You’re coming home with me no matter what you want.”
“You’re so stubborn, you know that?”
“Of course I do. I modeled myself after you.” I laughed.
She made a disappointed hm sound before her breathing evened out and she was asleep. I sat back in my chair and watched her for a minute. It was a relief to talk to her, to know that she really was on the mend.
“I need to step out and make some phone calls.” Chadwick stood up. “Would you like me to bring you some food?”
“That would be great.” I smiled at him. “You know what I’ll eat.”
“David, would you like something?” Chadwick turned to look at the man in the corner.
“Sure.” He shrugged and pushed off the wall. “Whatever is fine.”
“Then I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“Thank you,” David and I said at the same time.
“Of course.” Chadwick winked at one of us, but I wasn’t sure who exactly it was meant for.
When he was gone, David took the empty seat next to me and leaned forward so that his elbows were braced on his knees. Having him near me sent my blood pressure up. I was keenly aware of how his long body folded up to sit in the chair, how his hair hung in his eyes, and how the stubble along his jaw screamed to be kissed.
“Long day?” His deep voice drew me out of my thoughts.
“What?” Whoops. I’d been caught ogling.
“Did you have a long day?” His smile was slow as he cut his eyes at me. I had definitely been caught checking him out.
“Long day.” I nodded and hoped my blush wasn’t noticeable in the dim light. “You?”
“Not so bad really.” He turned so he could see me better. “I think I’m starting to understand a little more about the FBT and I still get to work with the birds, so that’s a big plus.”
“That’s good. I know it was a hard transition for Sam to not work with the animals every day.” I enjoyed how easy it was to talk to David. If you were to look at us, you would probably think that we didn’t have much in common, but that didn’t seem to matter.
“Where’s Tabitha? The one with the phone?” He looked around the room like she might be lurking in the shadows.
“I honestly have no idea. She always seems to disappear.” I pursed my lips. “I’m kind of glad though. It’s weird to have someone new spend so much time with me.”
“Tell me about it.” David frowned.
“See, I’d kill to have Chadwick right now. I can’t imagine it being weird. He’s so . . .” I searched for the right word. “Comfortable. You don’t have to be anything but who you are around him. And he is always on top of things. You never have to worry that he will leave you hanging or say something inappropriate.”