His Healing Touch, page 3
“Ok?”
“A little groggy.” He felt his head still swimming slightly.
She nodded. “All right. Let me tell someone that you’re awake now.”
“Sure.” Acquiescing to her worry was a lot easier than trying to fight it in the state he was in. She wanted to do something to help, and the least that he could do was let her, even if it wasn’t actually much of a help. “Sounds good.”
As she walked out of the room, he realized how dry his throat was. He wondered how soon they would let him have some water. It must have been in the instructions and information from the doctor, but he couldn’t remember it. Surely that would have been covered.
But he waited. He could have hit the call button, he knew that, but there was no point in it. His mother wanted to feel useful. He was going to let her do just that.
In a few minutes, his mother was back. “They said that the doctor would be by to check on you soon. Apparently, you had already woken up and they checked you out before you decided that you were tired and went back to sleep.”
“Is that normal?”
“Some people react that way when they’re coming to.” She shrugged. “At least that’s what the desk said.”
He nodded. “I don’t remember doing that.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
“You don’t look so sure.”
“I’m going to go ask them again. I want to know if it’s something that we should worry about.”
He nodded. “Sure. Go ahead, Mom.” Once again, he wasn’t worried, but he knew she was. Doing something was going to help her cope with that. He just hoped that she didn’t drive the nurses crazy, that was a real possibility.
He could only hope they didn’t get too frustrated with him because of his mother. That would make them less likely to respond to actual emergencies.
All he could do was wait. He reached for the remote on the bedside table and flipped the basic cable on. Flipping through the channels he found that as expected there was nothing on. He had been suffering through the torture of daytime television for several weeks now, and he was tired of it already. The talk shows never caught his interest.
Luckily, he didn’t have to wait very long for his mother to come back into the room. The older woman’s gray hair seemed even grayer today and her eyes held exhaustion behind them. She was carrying a cup in her hands. “They said that you can have some water.”
“That sounds great.” He tried to act excited about it, but he couldn’t get up the energy to do it.
“How does your leg feel?”
“Kinda sore and numb at the same time?”
“Is that normal?”
“I think it is, yeah.” He nodded. “Probably just the anesthesia.”
“Are you sure? I can go check.”
“I’m sure it’s just fine, Mom. Relax. Don’t worry so much. I’m in expert hands.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“Those nurses know how to do their jobs, Mom. Just let them do it.”
“Fine, but you have to ask the next nurse or doctor that comes in here.”
“I’ll do that, yeah, of course.” He nodded his assent. “Don’t worry so much.”
“It’s my job to worry about you. You have to sign a paper about that when you get out of the hospital. That this is a person that you’ll do nothing but worry about for the rest of eternity.”
Griffin laughed loudly at his mother’s joke. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“If you ever have a family, yeah.”
“Maybe someday, but I’ve just got too much going on right now.” He made the same excuse he always made, trying to avoid talking about the fact that he was afraid of any serious relationship. He had seen his mother suffer through a series of terrible men in her life and the thought of becoming dependent on anyone terrified him.
His mother must have known how he felt, the frustration that she must have felt every time she had suffered through another terrible man. And her newest man was no less terrible than her normal bad taste in men. She frowned at him. “Not all men are like that.”
“I know they’re not, but I’m not ready to settle down yet.” He protested with yet another excuse.
She sighed. “You keep saying that, but I really don’t believe it.”
“You should believe it.” He shook his head. “I’m still young.”
“You’re thirty-five, how much longer can you wait?”
“As much as I need to, until the right guy shows up in my life, Mom.” Griffin groaned loudly, clearly frustrated with this conversation. “Why do we have to keep talking about this?”
“Because I’m worried about you. I won’t be around forever; someone should be here for you after I’m gone.”
He rubbed his face. “Mom, stop acting like you’re about to die. You’re nowhere close to dead. Your doctor says that you’re in amazing health. Just take a step back. Everything is going to be just fine. I’m just not in a rush and want to wait for the right guy. Someone that makes me really happy, you know.”
She thought about it for a second before nodding. “Yeah, I guess I should have been a better example all those times with you.”
“Probably, but it’s just who you are. You’re still amazing and I love you.” Griffin reached for his mother’s hand, pulling her in to give her a hug. “Stop worrying about everything, you don’t need to do that. I’m going to be just fine. I’ve been living on my own for a long time, and I can keep doing that until I find someone that makes me really happy.”
“Promise me that you’ll be happy.”
“I will be happy. Stop talking like you’re about to die. That makes me freak out every single time.”
“I’m not trying to freak you out about anything.”
“I know that you’re not.” He let out a heavy breath, trying to relax before he lost his mind at his mother. That wouldn’t be good. The woman didn’t deserve to get yelled at, but he was starting to get frustrated with the woman.
He wanted to take a nap. “I think I want to take a nap. Do you mind?”
His mother shook her head. “Maybe I can find that nice young man I met here.”
“Are you trying to set me up with some random guy that you’ve met at the hospital?”
“What would it hurt to meet him?”
“Probably my pride at the very least.” Griffin shook his head. “I’m not here to date some random doctor.”
“He’s a nurse.” His mother corrected him.
“Great, a nurse.” Griffin rolled his eyes.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a nurse.” His mother corrected him. “It’s an honest living.”
“I know, I know.” He groaned. “Let’s not cause any problems here for me.”
“I’m not causing any trouble.” She started to wring her hands, looking worried as she threw a quick glance over her shoulder.
“I know that, Mom.” He shook his head, immediately backtracking on his statement. “Sorry, it’s just so weird. I’m not used to being stuck in a bed.”
“Hopefully you won’t be in there for long.”
“I probably won’t. I need to wait for the doctor. I think I’m going to take a nap, is that okay?”
“That’s fine.” His mother looked like she was able to breathe again. She nodded carefully, her shoulders starting to relax. “Sorry. I’m just worked up, I guess.”
“Are you?”
“I’m just a little worried about stuff.”
“About me?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“About him?” Griffin pulled himself up to a sitting position.
“Don’t you want to lay down and get some sleep?”
“I can wait if you need to talk to me about stuff.”
“You need to get better. We need to focus on you.”
Griffin wasn’t going to let her get away with that. She had almost opened up with what was really happening in her life. “Let’s talk for a bit. Maybe I’m not as tired as I thought that I was.”
“I really should get home. Art is expecting dinner on the table by the time he gets home.”
“He can’t take care of dinner for himself?”
“He didn’t answer me when I mentioned it. So, I just need to make sure that I have something ready. I have some stuff that I can cook really quickly.”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine for one day.”
“I’d rather not do that.” She shook her head. “I really need to get home as soon as possible.”
“Why can’t he fend for himself?”
“Because he likes my cooking.” Her smile was strained and exhausted.
“Are you sure?”
“If he didn’t eat, he’ll be upset if dinner isn’t ready the second he comes in the door.” She frowned and shook her head.
“Maybe you could text him and ask him to stop to get himself food.” He was hopeful.
Griffin’s mother shook her head, her hands starting to wring again. “Sorry, I can’t do that. I just can’t. He doesn’t handle any kind of change very well.”
“He handles it when he does it to you,” Griffin commented.
“There’s nothing wrong, I promise. I just need to go get dinner on the stove so it’s hot and fresh for him.”
Griffin felt the urge to beg her to stay, but he knew that she wouldn’t risk getting into trouble over this. He just nodded. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’m in good hands.”
“That nurse said the same thing. I’m sure they’re going to take good care of you.”
“I’ll be fine. Just be safe, Mom.”
“I will be.” She nodded and headed for the door.
It took only moments for Griffin to be alone again. His mother was rushing to get out the door, eager to keep herself out of trouble. He couldn’t blame her for that. Art was a monster, a true bastard that kept her guessing whether or not she was going to get in trouble for anything that she might do.
He didn’t know for sure, but he always worried that the mental abuse she refused to leave had changed into occasional physical abuse, but there was no way to tell. She wasn’t talking and he hadn’t found any evidence. There wouldn’t be a way to save her if she wasn’t willing to leave either. All he could do was keep supporting her and giving her a safe place to go. He had the open offer to give her a job, but she had never been willing to take it. Her husband didn’t like it when she worked outside of the home.
And he liked it even less when she took care of her only child. She was supposed to be there for him and only him. Griffin knew how hard all of this was on his mother. But the hardest part was knowing that he couldn’t help her until she actually wanted the help.
Chapter Five
Trenton checked the board that they had up above the nurse's station. He had a new patient. A man that had just finished his recovery period from surgery and was stable enough to be in a regular room until it was time to release him. While he was here the man was going to be getting some extra treatment, likely some sort of physical therapy and other prescribed treatments to speed the healing process on his leg.
It was just another body. Another chart. Another faceless individual. He respected his patients and knew that they were here for a reason, but the truth was that there were just so many of them that it was hard to keep up with them more than in passing.
There was no point in standing around and staring at the board all day. Work had to get done, so off to the room he went, ready to greet a new person in his seemingly endless day of helping people.
The hospital room was the same as any other on the floor, exactly identical to the one across the hall and mirrored to the ones on either side of it. They were all built bathroom to bathroom, keeping the plumbing in the same areas of the building. He supposed the mirror effect was to save money when it came to that.
He walked to the room with the new patient and softly knocked on the door frame. “Hey, anyone home?”
“I wouldn’t say home.” The voice came from inside. “But I’m here.”
Trenton walked in and was confronted by one of the most handsome men that he had met in a long time. There was something about him, something that just called out to him in a way that he couldn’t explain. As soon as he caught sight of this guy he stopped right in his tracks and stared.
“Yeah, I know. I look like I just got out of surgery.” Griffin started to try to tame his dark hair. In the dim light of the room, it was hard to tell whether the hair was actually black or if it was dark brown.
Trenton caught himself, forcing him to do some quick thinking. “Do you mind if I turn the light on, I’ve just got to check your vitals.”
“Sure. I was just about to nap, but that can wait now.”
“Sorry about that, kind of have to do my job and stuff.”
“I figured. Don’t worry. I’ll try not to yell at you for doing your job.” Griffin had a laugh that could captivate the coldest heart.
“Good, that makes my life a lot easier.” Trenton reminded himself that the hospital wasn’t a place to get a date, and it didn’t matter how attracted to this man that he might be.
Griffin paused as the light came on, looking Trenton up and down. The gaze was intense and powerful, but it was probably all in Trenton’s mind. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For doing your job.”
Trenton smiled. “You’re welcome.” He started to work, pulling a small stool up to the bedside so he didn’t have to stoop to take the man’s vitals. He wasn’t much taller than the average man, but the bed was much lower than he would normally find comfortable. “Your chart says you just had some work done on your knee.”
“That’s me, the bionic man.”
“There are worse things to be.”
Griffin smiled. “Thanks.” But there was a worry behind the smile.
Trenton looked the man up and down. “There’s nothing to worry about. According to the paperwork, everything went really well during your surgery.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“No family here?”
“My mother needed a break, so she went home.”
Something about that statement rung false in the nurse’s head. He was very used to patients lying, but that seemed like an odd thing to lie about. Maybe this guy didn’t actually have anyone to come and visit him. “I see.”
Griffin glanced over at the equipment. “They’ve got me hooked up to every machine in the world, don’t they?”
“That’s what we do, hook people up to a bunch of machines so they can’t get out of bed.”
“I could think of better reasons to not get out of bed.”
That was it. Trenton was being flirted with. And he froze. It had been a long time since anyone that he might have actually wanted had flirted with him. He didn’t count the little old ladies that liked to pinch his butt and tell him how handsome he was.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No. No. Not at all.” Trenton recovered quickly. “Sorry. Just trying to get you napping as soon as possible.”
“That’s awful nice of you.” The contractor grinned at the nurse.
Trenton couldn’t help but smile back at his patient. “So, what brings you here today?”
“Fell off of a ladder at work, ended up taking it hard on the knee and missed a ton of work because of it.”
“That’s what the surgery was for, right?”
“Yeah, it was.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like they just drugged me unconscious and cut into my leg before sewing me back together.” The contractor had a smile on his face as he spoke, showing his natural sense of humor.
“That sounds unpleasant.” Trenton laughed.
“That’s what they did, isn’t it?” Griffin smirked at the man standing next to his bed.
“This is a worker’s comp thing, right?”
“Yeah, of course.” Griffin nodded. “Except I’m the one paying the insurance too.”
Trenton laughed. “How does that work?”
“I own the company. I also work there.” Griffin explained. “It’s kind of a weird thing, being my own employee and stuff.”
“Huh, I guess that makes sense. And you got hurt on your own job site.”
“That I did, yeah.”
“That’s terrible. I’m glad you’re feeling a lot better.”
“I’m trying to feel better at least.”
Trenton smiled at the man. “Is there anything I could do to help you be more comfortable?”
“Unless you can find me a better blanket and less stiff sheets, I don’t think so.”
“I don’t think I can actually do that. Unfortunately, we have rules here.”
Griffin laughed. “Yeah, I figured as much. I’m doing all right. What about you?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, I’m asking about you.”
“I’m fine. Just working a lot of hours.” Trenton unstrapped the blood pressure cuff from the man’s arm before unhooking it from the machine. There was a lot going that might make Griffin uncomfortable. It was just a part of the job. “Let me know if you’re in any pain.”
“I just got out of surgery. I’m expecting to be in pain.”
“What kind and where?” Trenton tried to focus on the business at hand but wound up examining the lines of Griffin’s chest under the man’s hospital gown. The man clearly worked hard for a living, earning his way every day through blood, sweat and tears. He had done this job for a long time now. “If you could be specific it would make my job a lot easier.”
“So, if I was more difficult, I would get to see you a lot more?”
Trenton couldn’t stop the blush from spreading to his cheeks. “You would, but I wouldn’t be in a great mood.”
“That’s a tossup as to what is worth more. More of your time or you being in a better mood.”
Trenton smiled. Something about the way this guy talked to him seemed to cheer him up. It had been a long day already. This was a pleasant surprise, something that made him feel a lot better.
He couldn’t help but look the man over again; taking in the handsome face and intelligent eyes that seemed to be tracking every movement he made.
The silence stretched out between them, their eyes met and they shared what could only be described as one of those moments that could linger with people for the rest of their lives. He wondered if he was going to remember the man once he left the hospital.
