Still, the change in the landscape of her life disoriented her a little. Things had seemed much more comprehensible when Eric Reyes was her enemy, pure and simple.
No matter. Brendan would be out of the hospital in a few days, and she and Eric could go back to keeping their wary distance from one another.
Liam sat down, and they talked for a few minutes in hushed tones until they were interrupted by the nurse coming in with a pitcher and some plastic cups.
“Dr. Reyes says he can have ice water when he wakes up if he wants it,” the nurse told Colleen.
Brendan’s eyelids flickered at the sound of the nurse’s voice.
“Mom?” he asked hoarsely, sounding a little anxious and disoriented. Colleen placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed gently.
“I’m right here, honey,” she soothed.
He focused on her sitting next to his bedside, and his anxiety immediately vanished. “I’m thirsty,” he said.
“Perfect timing, kid,” Liam said as Brigit stood to pour him some water. Brendan turned his head on the pillow and returned his uncle’s grin groggily.
“How are you feeling, Brendan?” Brigit asked.
“Okay.”
“Your foot doesn’t hurt?” she asked. As if her words had reminded him, Brendan lifted his head and stared down at his bandaged foot. He groaned, and his head fall back on the pillow.
“Does that mean yes?” Colleen asked anxiously.
“It doesn’t hurt, Mom,” Brendan assured, meeting her eyes.
Colleen loved her son to the ends of the world at the moment. He got exasperated with her mom-worry sometimes, but deep down, he knew how much she loved him.
“He just saw the bandages and thought of all the boring hours of lying in bed,” Liam said knowingly.
“Dr. Reyes said I can start moving around lat
er this afternoon. He says it’ll make my foot stronger,” Brendan told Liam between sips of water.
“Did someone say my name?” Eric asked. The curtained-off portion of the already small space suddenly seemed as crowded as a dorm-room party.
“Hi,” Brendan said, smiling at Eric. “Did you do a good job on my foot?”
“Your mom didn’t tell you?” Eric asked.
“I just woke up,” Brendan said, leading Colleen to believe he didn’t remember much about his groggy transfer from the recovery room to his hospital bed.
“Then I’ll tell you,” Eric said. “You’re going to be tackling your uncle here by Thanksgiving, because I did a fantastic job.”
Brendan gave a tired little whoop of celebration.
Colleen couldn’t help but give a grudging smile as she watched Eric and Liam shake hands in greeting. She had to hand it to him. His cockiness was only exceeded by his charm.
Brigit and Liam stepped out of the room to give Eric room to examine Brendan, giving Colleen a chance to observe Eric’s easy banter with her son and the way Brendan seemed so comfortable with him.
“Do you work with kids a lot?” Colleen mused after he’d finished Brendan’s nerve response test, joking and talking with her son and distracting him with the fact that he was gently poking at his exposed toes with a sharp-looking metal instrument.
“I did my residency in pediatric orthopedic surgery,” Eric said. “When I was hired at Harbor Town Memorial, it was with an understanding that I’d be serving both adults and children, though.”
“Why did you decide to come back to Harbor Town when you could have worked in a larger hospital and just focused on children?” Colleen asked, puzzled. It suddenly struck her that she really knew absolutely nothing about him. Eric opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted.
“Hi, Brendan. Hey, Colleen.” Colleen looked around to see Natalie Reyes, Eric’s sister, peering around the curtain hesitantly. Eric glanced at Natalie and then back at Colleen. Suddenly, Colleen had her answer. He’d sacrificed some of his personal goals because he’d felt a fraternal responsibility toward his younger sister.