“Nope. This is brand new for you. I can only imagine what the rest of our lives are going to be like.”
“She’ll probably put tracking software in our vehicles.”
“Oh, I already have that,” she laughed. “Pop put that in the moment I turned sixteen,” she said as Ma continued to argue with Pop.
“That’s because you always snuck out of the house.”
“Well, how else was I supposed to have any fun?”
Pop shoved to his feet and grabbed Ma gently by the arm. “Alright, I think that’s enough berating for one day. Let’s go talk to the doc andfind out all the ways you can torture him over the next few months with your special brand of care.”
I nodded to my old man as he led my still-irate mother out of the room.
“Finally,” I grumbled, closing my eyes.
“You know it’s only going to get worse. Maybe you should just have Bailey move in with you for the next few months.”
That plan was already running through the back of my mind. “Why would I do that?”
“Because, otherwise, Ma will move you back into the house, and you won’t have any say in it. She’ll bathe you and pick out your clothes for you just like when you were three.”
“I’m pretty sure I could dress myself by three,” I muttered.
Now that I could relax and hear myself think without the sound of my mother’s panicked voice yelling in my ear, the pain was making itself known. At least with the distraction, I could manage the noise in my head.
They had me on some pretty good meds right now, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel any of the pain. My shoulder was stiff as hell, but it was the fracture in my clavicle that would be the real problem. Things were hard enough at the ranch without this setback.
And then there was my right wrist—in a fucking cast for the next six weeks at least. I didn’t even want to think about the bruises lining my torso. I was lucky it wasn’t worse, that the semi hadn’t been going any faster. As it was, I’d been tossed around like a pinball.
The faint squeak of the door opening clued me in that Bailey was here, but it was her scent that gave her away. The vanilla in her shampoo could only mask the faint tinge of oil in the air that followed Bailey everywhere.
I found it sexy as hell.
“And that’s me off to find our parents and make sure Ma doesn’t work Pop into an early grave,” Krista said, excusing herself from the room.
With my eyes still shut, I held my hand out, my chest easing as soon as Bailey placed her hand in mine.
“Good to see you’re still alive. Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not wise to go up against a semi?” Bailey teased.
“I was really just trying to find a way to get rid of that ridiculously small car of yours.”
“You could have just asked me to trade it in.”
Finally, I peeled my eyes open and took the first look at my angel. Tension bracketed her eyes, but other than that, the small smile gracing her lips told me all I needed to know. She was okay.
For now.
“So, you did a bang-up job, it looks like. A few nice bruises to add to your handsome face.”
“It adds character.”
Jeff snorted from where he leaned against the far wall. “Like you needed more character.”
“Just a few broken bones. I was really hoping for a full body cast so you would have to wait on me hand and foot, but the doc said I didn’t do enough damage. Maybe next time,” I grinned through the pain. “Come give me a kiss.”
“Ooh, I would not recommend that,” Jeff grimaced. “Hospitals and blood…I would guess bad breath is an issue right now.”
Bailey flipped him off before leaning over the bed, being extremely gentle as she pressed a kiss to my lips. But I didn’t do a good enough job masking the pain as I shifted in my position.
