“Infection can still—”
Matt.
That was literally the only cohesive word in my brain as he gently cupped the back of my head and shut me up with a kiss.
When he finally broke the kiss, he said. “I love you, too.”
Was that what I tried to say?
In my own clinical way, I guess it was.
“So what were you saying about infection?” he teased as he sat on the side of my bed.
I was about to ask my parents to give us some privacy when I realized they’d already left.
“You have to be careful.” I smiled as I reached for his good hand.
“I guess it’s a good thing I’ll have a live in nurse.”
“I guess so. We’ll have to stock up on supplies, and special bandages for your—”
“Madi, relax. I don’t expect you to take care of me.”
“But your arm.”
He shifted his position and very deliberately scanned me from head to toe.
“How about this? We’ll take care of each other.”
As I pondered the idea of letting Matt take care of me, I realized I didn’t hate the idea.
My answer was more than just a concession when I said, “That sounds perfect.”
“Good. Have you talked to Dr. Greenfield?”
“I did. She insisted I take two weeks off.”
“Is that enough?”
“I hope so. I want to return to the clinic as soon as possible.” What I didn’t say was that I needed to return to normal, so I didn’t dwell on the hellish nightmare I’d lived through. And hopefully, I’d be too tired to keep having nightmares about said nightmare.
“I asked my doctor to recommend a good trauma therapist in the area. I don’t know about you, but I could use some help dealing with my nightmares.”
How did he do that? How’d he hear what I didn’t say?
“I asked Carol for a recommendation.”
“I should’ve thought of that.”
He changed the subject. “Shane should be here soon.”
“I’m glad he’s coming.” Shane was the one stable person from Matt’s childhood.
“I’d like you to meet him.” Matt used his thumbs to trace comforting circles on the back of my hand.
The lazy motion sent heat straight to my core.
Seriously, hormones?Now is the least appropriate time to act up. Well, maybe nottheleast appropriate, but it had to be in the top five.
