Page 4 of George’s Big Day

I smirked at him. “That’s gonna be hard.”

“George Hunt,” he barked, “Produce the paperwork.”

But that would be bad for me, so I went with what always worked from an excuse standpoint. “This is the US military, man, it’s all in my jacket. There is no discharge-from-the-hospital paper trail for a black ops sniper. Gimme a break.”

“I––”

“And c’mon, all these questions are killin’ the mood.”

“There’s no mood, love. You can barely keep your eyes open.”

That was true. If you wanted rest, a hospital, especially a military one, wasn’t the place. But still, when he went to his knees, securing the cast with plastic and tape, I couldn’t help smiling wolfishly and waggling my eyebrows at him.

“Stop,” he said chuckling. “You’re in no condition to flirt with me.”

“I dunno about that.”

“You know, it occurs to me that this cast is really robust. Two weeks in the fiberglass cast and then into the boot—that seems like a long time for a break.”

“I don’t––”

“And why not a boot right away? Why this one first at all?”

What to say. “It might have been all they had at the field hospital,” I said, shrugging, without explaining about the titanium pins keeping my ankle together.

His eyes narrowed. “That makes no sense. You would think the boot would be more readily available.”

“I have no idea,” I lied.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Nothing to tell. I twisted it too far in the wrong direction. You know how it goes.”

He nodded and stood up. “Get in the shower.”

“Yessir.”

Once I was in with the water going, he opened the door. “Do you need me to hold you up in there?”

“Oh yes, please,” I rushed out. “Get in here with me.”

I got the headshaking then.

“Fine,” I grumbled.

“We’ll get you one of those medical stools to put in the shower.”

“Uh—never,” I warned him. “Just seeing that thing will make my dick go soft.”

His laugh tumbled out of him. “That’s ridiculous.”

I shrugged.

“And why don’t you have your crutches in here? You can’t go hopping around everywhere in the house.”

“I made it in here easy.”

“You need to use your crutches,” he replied sternly. “Until you’re out of the cast and into the boot, that means you’re not supposed to put any weight on that ankle.”