He pulled his legs a few inches away, so they were no longer touching hers. “Yeah, better. Thanks.”
“I’m glad. Is it always so bad?”
“Not always. That was a bad one. Like an eight.”
“Eight?”
“Out of ten,” he explained. “On the pain scale, eight means excruciating or something like that.”
“Excruciating?” It was worse than she’d guessed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to go through that.”
“I don’t want pity, and you didn’t have to stay,” he said, ice creeping into his voice.
“It’s not pity. I wanted to take care of you like you took care of me last time we were here,” she said.
His glare narrowed, forecasting an end to their civility.
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” He threw off the sheets, then pivoted away from her and shimmied to the other side of the bed.
“Of course not. I can see you don’t need anyone, just . . . I just wanted to be here for you.” She stood to come around to his side of the bed. He grabbed a silicone liner from the side table. She kept talking, not wanting to lose this opportunity to right his misperceptions.
“I have a lot to tell you. I never dated Caleb, I’d never do such a thing.”
The tightness around his eyes eased a little. “I know. I believe you.” He spoke as he rolled a gel cover over the smooth end of his left leg.
“Good. And I’m sorry for what I said at the hospital. It was stupid and insensitive. I was only thinking about me, and I feel terrible for that.”
He blinked, the lines around his mouth taking up whatever tension his eyes had surrendered. The hum of a nearby washing machine heightened, speeding into a final spin.
“I need to apologize for what I said about you being worse than the guy who caused my accident.”
“Right.” She breathed out with one short exhale.
He shoved his leg into the socket of the upright prosthesis. “I was so angry that I wasn’t thinking straight.”
The wash slowed, clicks announcing the change in cycle.
“Kind of like me, at the hospital.”
He paused to gaze at her forehead. “You all better?”
“Yeah. The stitches came out a week ago. ”
“That’s good, I was wondering how you were doing.” His face smoothed into a grin. “How are we always causing so much trouble?”
“Was it a huge deal to clean up your place?”
“Haven’t you seen? We had to raze the building to the ground.”
“I hope you made Liv do her share, since she was the one who tripped me.” They joined in laughter. Her eyes met his.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
His admission emboldened her. She deserved to know. “If you missed me, why didn’t you tell me that you were hurt? Why didn’t you tell me you were in the hospital when I came back from China?”
“You know why.”
“Because you didn’t trust me.”
