He grinned, apparently not picking up on my less-than-stellar mood, before returning his attention to the man sitting on the table in front of him.
“Hey, Grace. Good to see you,” Heidi said. “How are you feeling today?”
“So-so. I still can’t feel much in those fingers.”
She nodded and quickly cast her eyes down on the tablet in her hands. I couldn’t tell if she was reacting to me telling her that my fingers were still numb or if she was just checking something in my chart. Either way, I couldn’t bring myself to ask.
The hour seemed to pass in slow motion as Heidi put the brace she molded for me at our last appointment over my hand and showed me how to work it. It was simpler than I thought it’d be, less bulky, which was fine with me. It’d make running a little bit easier than the bulky temporary brace I’d been dealing with the past couple days.
While I tried to focus on what Heidi was doing, all I could think about was what Willow had said about Preach. He’d seemed somewhat decent yesterday in the basement, but I wouldn’t say he came off as a good guy. Did he really have a nice side hidden under the booze and anger? I could relate to his anger. My injury was going to push back my leave date, and I was beyond pissed about it.
Starting basic training after graduation had been the only thing I’d ever wanted to do. My dad, my big brother, Emmett, hell, most of my uncles, they’d all enlisted after graduation. Some went right to basic, while others, including my dad and Emmett, went off to the Air Force Academy. Sure, they may have partied a bit before leaving, but they were letting off steam, celebrating, not throwing themselves a pity party like Preach.
The thought of my big brother made my throat constrict. I missed him so much, and I’d do anything to honor his legacy. Which meant I needed to complete basic and start my career in the Air Force, because he couldn’t. He got robbed of that chance by a freak accident.
I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over. My heart started pounding as it echoed in my head.
For you, Emmett. For you.
Chapter Ten
Preach
“Oh, look who decided to show up!” Grace said as I strode into the storage room.
She was hunched over a desk, trying to lift a box with her good hand, using the elbow of her bum hand to balance it.
“Whoa…” I dropped my bag at the door and hustled to her.
Just as I made it, the box tipped, the contents spilling across the slick floor.
“Shit!” Grace shouted, then protectively brought her injured hand to her chest. A few more expletives streamed from her mouth, and I flinched.
“I thought only sailors swore like that.”
“Oh, no, the Airmen have all of them topped.” She looked over the pile of papers, books, and whatever else was in that box strewn across the floor. “Great. Now I’ve made yet another mess that needs to be cleaned up…”
“You shouldn’t try to lift things like that. Let me do it.”
She batted her eyelashes and kept her hand clutched against her chest. “Oh, Preach, you’re sostrongandbraveto help little ole me like that.”
A spike of anger rose in me until I saw a smile form on her lips. She was teasing. Dang, did she have a smile, though. Even in this dank room, her skin nearly glowed. And that made her blue eyes even brighter than they normally were.
Not that I’d noticed.
Not at all.
Her long auburn hair was piled up into a messy bun, and she wore her trademarked leggings and athletic shirt. Boy did they hug her curves exactly right.
I shook the thoughts, and images, out of my head and instantly regretted it. Grabbing my temple, to be sure nothing fell out it hurt so badly, I turned to head back to my backpack. It was time for some Tylenol.
It’d been almost a week since the accident, but the cut on my temple was still a little tender. The headaches were relentless, though. Like a never-ending jackhammer to my skull. Getting drunk yesterday hadn’t helped the situation, either. I needed like eighteen Gatorades and a full day of sleep, immediately. Too bad that wasn’t going to happen. I had to come down here with Grace instead.
“How was your bottle of tequila yesterday?” Grace asked. “Did you eat the worm?”
“That’s disgusting.” I fumbled with my water bottle and downed two pills, then faced her.
She sat on the floor before the spilled pile of junk and started sifting through it with her good hand. The brace she wore was different. Not that big, bulky one.