I jolt when Isaac strolls into my bedroom. “You scared me!” I groan.
He smirks. “How’s my favorite disabled best friend? Still surly and cantankerous?” Isaac crosses to sit on the bed next to me and leans over to see if he can catch a glimpse of my bullet hole. “When do I get to see the scar?”
“I’m confined to this bed and can’t help with anything. It’s not as if my legs don’t work. I feel useless.”
“You’re supposed to rest,” Isaac parrots back Maeve’s words. “I wanted to come see how you were doing and I wanted to check on the security system.”
We don’t have the corner-to-corner cameras any longer, just a run-of-the-mill security system with a couple outdoor motion-activated cameras. Isaac is so good with stuff like this that it took a couple hours here, and then he went to Maeve’s and did the same thing. Even though she’s been staying here with me, I wanted eyes on her house just to be sure no one was creeping around.
I narrow my eyes. “Did she sic you on me? You sound just like her.”
“Are you seriously being an asshole to her for trying to do what’s best for you?”
Wiggling, I reach a better seated position. “Maybe. A little. Hey, I have something I need you to do for me,” I say. “A favor that has been a long time coming.”
He already looks annoyed. “What?”
I beam at him. “I’ll text you a list.”
“Oh, fuck that. Seriously?” he slings. “You’ll be able to do your own shopping in a couple days. Maeve said you had a checkup and she thinks they’re going to release you into the wild. You do realize if you were a good patient and did what the doctors said from the beginning you wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with?”
“It was a leg workout at the gym, man, not like I was doing the trapeze or something. Christ, everyone is against me.”
“No, everyone wants you to get better quickly and you’re working against us. We miss you at work. The skydiving training trip is coming up and I know you don’t want to miss that. Just be a good fucking patient!”
Groaning, I avert my gaze. “So, about that list I’m going to text you.”
“You’re going to make this unbearable, aren’t you?” Isaac quips. “But if it’s for Maeve, I won’t complain. The woman is a saint.” He echoes my mom’s sentiments.
“She is, so you go ahead and start heading toward the mall, and I’ll send you the list while you drive. Take my credit card from my wallet. It’s on the table in the hallway.”
He stands in one quick movement. “Whatever you say.”
“Hey Isaac,” I say, swallowing hard.
He turns to glance over his shoulder and nods. “When I’m back to one-hundred percent, we’re going to catch Rena. We’re going to make sure she never darkens a doorstep again.”
He nods. “As if there were any question.”
Isaac leaves, and I pull up the browser on my phone to search for the most embarrassing, lewd gifts for Maeve I can possibly find.An eye for an eye, mate.
Chonk jumps up on the bed and settles next to me. I pet his head. “What do you think, buddy? Crotchless edible panties or nipple clamps?”
“Lincoln!” Maeve calls from the other room. “I can hear you!”
I laugh under my breath. “Fine, fine. Let’s send him to the jewelry store. In fact, let’s give him some real sparkly options,” I hiss under my breath. Chonk licks my face. “That is a good idea, isn’t it?”
He licks once more. My hand slides to his bad ear accidentally. It’s crooked and smaller now after the vet sewed it back on. It’s a near-constant reminder of the wretched woman. Chonk is no worse for the wear, though. If anything, he’s a bit better at guarding and sweeter to those who he knows loves him. If only people had the ability to discern that and act the same way. Maeve calls and he bounds away. She has been keeping him around her more often. Uneasiness hits as I think how my mom asked if Maeve was really doing well.
Chapter 3
Maeve
“Aspen, I’m not going to be able to keep him off me one more night,” I tell her as we eat lunch in my office. I toss Chonk a tortilla chip, because he’s begging, and go on, “He is literally like a zoo animal who can only think about mating or something. Sure, it’s been a while, but before me he’d gone, what was it? Six years? Come on, man! I just want the wound to be fully closed before we dive headlong into what’s sure to be… intense intimacy.” I temper my words because even if she’s my friend, we’re also at work. I know it’s a meaningless thing, but I can’t stop it.
Aspen is laughing, thoroughly entertained by my dilemma. I check the big clock over my desk. “Only one more patient today, right?”
For the first time in my professional life, my work has taken a back seat. I don’t stay up late reading files and preparing for the next day. There are no more long nights where I stare at a screen and wonder what else I can do to be the best. I’m content with my new life—a life I never dreamed up for myself. It never seemed like a possibility, honestly. If you told me a few years ago I’d be content in just doing my job well, and nothing extra, I’d have called you a liar. I try to come into the office early so I can prepare for the day, but sometimes my mind slips and I forget. Like now.