Heal Me (Magnolia Series Book 2) Read online

  That sounded serious. I ease her back so I can see her. “What’s that?”

  “I need to go back to Copperhill and pack up the house. It’s time to sell it.”

  Yeah, it was serious.

  “Are you sure? I don’t care if you want to keep it.”

  She shakes her head. “No, I’m sure. I’m ready to put the ghosts to rest and let my boys and I have some peace. And I want us to have a fresh start with no shadows hanging over us.”

  I pull her close, kissing her forehead.

  “Will you go with me?” she whispers when I let her go. “You don’t have to or anything, I’d understand if you didn’t want—”

  “Of course, I’ll go. I’m not going to let you go alone.”

  “The trip might be too much for you though, not to mention being there,” she says, nibbling at her lip.

  Even after all we’ve said today…

  I reach over and pull her lip free of her teeth with my thumb, then rub over it. “I’ll be fine with both. We can make a trip out of it. I wanted to take you to the beach next week anyway.”

  That puts a smile on her face again. “You did?”

  “Yep, I was already planning it. We can drive up there after, take our time. Drive over to the panhandle and spend a night or two at the beach, then head north. What do you think? We can hire a truck to bring back anything you want to keep here.”

  “That sounds great. Thank you, baby,” she says, pulling my face to hers and kissing me.

  We finished up our lunch and then she dropped me off at therapy. When she got home she started packing for our trip instead of packing me up to move out. That night after supper, we sat down with my laptop and booked our hotels. We’ll leave Friday morning and head over to Destin for three nights then hit the highway headed north. We should make it to Copperhill by next Wednesday.

  While she got a shower, I did some more cruising on the internet and found just what I was looking for right here in Savannah. We’re going shopping after my doctor’s appointment tomorrow.

  SWEETEST DEVOTION

  ~

  Ellie

  “You see here?” Dr. T. asks, running his finger over Nik’s x-ray. “The bone has filled in nicely. It will continue to strengthen too. We can watch it over the next year or so and decide whether to leave the rod in place or remove it, depending on how you’re doing. But today, we can certainly remove the external hardware.”

  Nik smiles, a hundred pounds of tension seeming to leave his shoulders. “Exactly what I wanted to hear.”

  “All right then, you just stay still and I’ll numb you up and we’ll get these out,” Dr. T. says in that gentle manner of his.

  The fact that he has a syringe with the big ass needle in one hand and some kind of shiny pliers in the other while he smiles at us is very unsettling. He lays the pliers on the tray beside him. There’s wipes, Band-aids, and a metal bowl sitting on it too, not to mention several other scary looking tools that I have no idea what they’re for.

  My stomach swears I’m on a roller coaster. I grab Nik’s hand in both of mine and squeeze it tight. “Just keep your eyes on me and you’ll be fine.”

  He laughs at me. “I’m already fine, Bird. It can’t be as bad as what I’ve already been through.”

  “Well then, keep ‘em on me so I don’t look!” I squeak, turning my back on his leg and Dr. T.

  They’re both laughing at me now.

  I did really good at the hospital and even after, but for some reason this is getting to me.

  “Here we go. Slight pinch.”

  Nik’s eyebrows and lips twist up a little, but he keeps rubbing his thumb over my fingers, his grip relaxed.

  “One down, seven more to go.”

  Seven! Good grief!

  “Where do you wanna eat lunch after this, baby?” I ask him, trying to distract us both.

  He leans his head back against the wall, closing his eyes and taking in a slow deep breath then letting it out even slower. “There’s a sandwich shop I wanna take you to. We can sit outside and eat. And there’s an ice cream shop right next to it.” He winces and his grip tightens on my hand.

  “Almost done, Mr. Jensen. Just two more.”

  I run my fingers up and down his arm with a little pressure. Maybe it’ll confuse his brain a bit and dampen the pain from the needle. “What’s good there? I bet they have an amazing steak sandwich, don’t they?”

  He loves a good Philly.

  He grins then opens his eyes to look at me. “How’d you guess?”

  “I know you pretty well.” I wink at him.

  His grin turns into a smile. “Yeah, ya do.”

  “All done,” Dr. T. says. “I’m going to let you rest for just a few minutes and allow the lidocaine to do its job.”

  “All right. So…how does this work? Do you just grab ‘em and pull?” Nik asks, looking back and forth between his leg and the pliers laying on the tray.

  Dr. T. shakes his head. “No, I’m afraid not. They are screwed into your bones so they must be screwed back out.”

  Oh, God, that sounds barbaric.

  “I know you just numbed him up, but you didn’t put it in his bones, did you? How is that not going to kill him? There has to be a better way.”

  “Other than putting him to sleep I’m afraid there isn’t. The vast majority of my patients all say there is little to no pain, just some pressure,” he tries to assure me.

  It doesn’t work.

  He looks at Nik. “You will need to be gentle with the leg for a few weeks or so. There will be holes where the pins were, they’ll need to fill in. You may stand and walk for reasonable amounts of time. Use the crutch if it feels necessary, but no running or squats please, not for another month at least.”

  “Will it be safe for me to drive us home?”

  Bless him, he is dying to get behind the wheel again.

  Dr. T. shakes his head again. “You will be too numb today, but after, if you are careful, yes, I believe it will be fine.”

  Nik visibly lightens, a big smile spreading across his face. “Thank you. We’re leaving on a road trip Friday. I didn’t want her to have to do all the driving.”

  Yeah, right. He doesn’t want me to do any of it.

  “It would be wise to take turns with your lovely lady here. No more than three hours at a time and you’ll need to take breaks to walk every few hours too.”

  Nik’s smile shrinks some and I can see the wheels turning in his head. He has no plans to follow doctor’s orders.

  “I’ll make him behave, I promise,” I say, giving Nik my best stern look. He rolls his eyes at me.

  Dr. T. chuckles at us while reaching up and pressing his fingers around the pins in Nik’s leg. “How does that feel?”

  “Can’t feel a thing.”

  “Good. Sit back and relax then. And remember you may feel some pressure or slight pain,” he says, grabbing one of the weird contraptions from the tray and sliding it over the first pin.

  He clamps it down, the ratcheting sound loud enough to scare me. I look away the second he starts twisting. I do my best to stay relaxed, just watching Nik’s face for any signs of pain. Instead he makes this funny, grimace-like smile.

  “That feels so weird.”

  “Does it hurt?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “No. I can feel it, but it doesn’t really hurt. Like he said, it’s just pressure.”

  After what seems like forever, metal clinks against metal, startling me. My eyes dart towards the noise. One bloody pin is laying in the metal bowl. My eyes betray me again, going straight to Nik’s leg. There’s only a small hole left where the pin was. It’s barely bleeding at all. Dr. T. is already working on the second one.

  I try to look away, but I can’t. He just keeps twisting and twisting and twisting. He’s not being gentle either. Finally, he wiggles it while pulling up. Nik’s skin tries to go with it. I feel sick as it drops next to the first with a wet ping.

  “Hey.” Nik tugs on
my hand. I jerk my head around and see his soft smile. “I thought you weren’t gonna watch?”

  “God, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” I’m such a shit girlfriend. He’s the one going through this, not me.

  “Shhh, I’m good. Are you? You look a little pale.”

  I take a deep breath and let it out. “I think I’m okay. You promise you are?”

  “I promise,” he nods, then asks, “It’s wild, huh?”

  “Yeah.” I turn back and watch Dr. T. clean blood from the first two holes with an antiseptic wipe then he dabs some Neosporin on each one and covers them with Band-aids.

  He pokes around the bottom two pins. “Good and numb?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Five minutes later, the last two are out and the holes clean and bandaged. I could tell the whole process was uncomfortable for Nik, but he doesn’t seem to be in a lot of pain, thank God.

  “Okay. You are all done. Keep the holes clean and bandaged. They should heal up quickly. You are going to feel some achiness once the lidocaine wears off. It would be a good idea to rest today and tomorrow. I want to see you back in a month for another x-ray, sooner if you have any problems, but I don’t foresee you having any. I’m thrilled you have done so well through all of this. You’ve been the perfect patient.” Dr. T. smiles brightly, standing up and holding out his hand to Nik.

  Nik gives it a firm shake. “I’m thrilled to be done, but you’ll have to give Ellie the credit for me being a good patient. I would’ve been terrible without her,” he says, standing up and trying out his leg.

  I hold onto his arm just in case. “Oh phft. I didn’t make your bones heal, I just made you behave.”

  Dr. T. just smiles at us, nodding his head like he knows things we don’t as he opens the door to leave. “Take care of each other. I will be keeping a close eye on my mailbox.”

  I look up at Nik as the little doctor disappears out the door. “Mailbox? Why would he keep an eye on that?”

  Nik laughs, lacing his fingers through mine and leans over to kiss my forehead. “I believe he’s expecting an invitation.”

  “An invitation? To what?” Then it hits me. “Oh… OOOHH. Are we that obvious?” I laugh with him.

  “Apparently so.”

  ~

  “We need a waffle bowl with one scoop of banana cream pie, with extra whipped cream and cookie crumbs on top and a waffle cone with a double scoop of strawberry cheesecake. And two bottles of water, please.”

  “After that huge sandwich and all those fries, you’re getting a double scoop?” I ask, shaking my head. I don’t know where he puts it all. Seriously, that sandwich was a monster, and he ate all his fries and some of mine.

  He just grins, paying the guy for our order. “I’m still growing and it’s not my fault you’re so small your stomach is too teeny to hold anything.”

  The guy – well, he’s more of a kid really – snickers and I roll my eyes. “I’m actually normal, thank you very much. You, on the other hand, are a mutant.”

  The kid barks out a laugh while his female counterpart, who’s fixing my order, looks shocked I would ever dare call Nik a mutant when he is obviously anything but. From the looks she’s been sneaking his way since we walked in here, she thinks he’s a god.

  I can’t be upset with her really, because, well…he is.

  Nik looks her way, smiling. “She’s just jealous I get more ice cream.”

  The poor thing nearly melts. “You…you are pretty big, sir,” she falters, dropping the ice cream scoop and nearly crushing my waffle bowl, as she stares up at him dumbfounded.

  Nik, of course, is oblivious, already smiling back at me and trying to tickle my sides.

  I decide to rescue her and my ice cream. “Come on, big guy, let’s find a table outside.” I grab some napkins for us and a spoon for me, then his hand. “We’ll be back for those,” I tell them over my shoulder pulling him towards the door.

  I pick a table under the shade of a big pecan tree. It’s one of those days where it’s full-blown summer in the direct sun, but still spring in the shade. “You sit and I’ll go get our ice cream.”

  “Ellie, I’m fine. See?” He rocks back and forth from one leg to the other. It doesn’t help my feelings any.

  “Yes, but you’re still numb. You could be hurting yourself and not know it. That and I want my ice cream to be drool-free. Sit.”

  He looks at me completely confused, but sits down anyway.

  I take his cheeks in my hands and squish them so his lips pucker up then give him big smooch. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” he smiles back once I let his cheeks go.

  Our ice creams are waiting for me on top of the counter when I go back in. The employees are having what looks to be a playful argument as they work on the next order. I’m pretty sure the guy is picking on her about Nik. I grab our order and go back outside.

  Nik’s stretched out in his chair, his head resting against the tree, eyes closed. I guarantee he’s already asleep. He can conk out in seconds; it’s ridiculous. Looking at him in his leather flip-flops, shorts, and Pink Floyd t-shirt, his sun-kissed skin and hair – we’ve laid out on the porch tanning a lot lately, naked – he looks so relaxed and gorgeous.

  I love every long, lean inch of him. If we weren’t in public I’d probably be doing very naughty things right now.

  Instead, I sneak over to his side and bop him on the nose with his ice cream.

  His eyebrows gather and he peels his eyes open giving me a dirty look. I giggle and pass him a napkin and his cone. “No napping when there’s ice cream.”

  “I wasn’t napping,” he grumbles, wiping his nose off.

  “Mmm hmm. Sure, you weren’t.” I smirk at him, as I sit down beside him and dig into my little bit of banana heaven.

  He winks at me and takes a big bite of his strawberry cheesecake cone.

  We sit in silence just enjoying our dessert, the great weather, and each other. His hand has found its way to my thigh and he’s rubbing my bare skin in lazy strokes. I’ve got mine up his shirt, rubbing his warm, smooth back.

  We always seem to be touching, holding hands, or stealing kisses. We’re one of those disgustingly in love couples and I think we’re both quite happy about it.

  Not even being surrounded by other people quells our affections. There’s only two tables empty between the restaurant and here. Not to mention all the traffic driving past us. We’ve gotten some looks, but most of them have been accompanied with smiles.

  Of course, he finishes before me even though he had twice as much. He wipes his mouth off and turns towards me. “Can I take you shopping after this?”

  He looks nervous and hopeful, which makes my stomach flutter. He’s never bought me anything other than food, not that he’s been able to, or needed to for that matter.

  “Umm, I guess. What are we shopping for? I think we have pretty much all we’ll need for our trip.”

  He looks over his shoulder, down the block. “See that store right down there?”

  I look at all the signs hanging out over the shop doors. There’s the restaurant we ate at, a real estate office, and at the end – oh! – a jewelry store.

  The fluttering turns up a notch.

  There’s a very sweet smile on his face when I look back at him. He takes my hand in his and rubs his thumb over the base of my ring finger. “Will you go look with me?”

  Wowza! I know we talked about it just last night, and I’m ready, but it’s still…it’s a really big deal.

  “I thought you were gonna surprise me?”

  “I am. I’m not asking today, or buying, but I plan on you wearing my ring for a good fifty, sixty years. I want you to like it, you know? I’ve never bought a ring before, so I may have very shitty taste.”

  I laugh a little even though I’m crying some too.

  He reaches up and wipes his thumb across my cheekbone. “These are happy tears, right?”

  “You’re finally learning,” I smile at him.<
br />
  His smile gets bigger. “Yay me!”

  I laugh some more and grab a napkin to wipe my eyes with.

  “I at least want to know what size to get you. Once I put it on your finger I don’t want it to ever come off. We don’t have to pick the one today. I can still pick it, but I’d like to get an idea of what you like before I do. Would that be all right?”

  “Yeah. It would be more than all right.”

  “Really?” he beams.

  “Really.”

  “Thank you,” he says, leaning over and giving me a kiss. “You done yet?”

  “You in a hurry?” I ask, laughing.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m finished, let’s go,” I smile at him.

  He’s up and out of his seat before I can blink, throwing away our trash then turning to help me up. His smile is big enough to split his face as he grabs me up in a bear hug, my feet dangling. He tucks his face into my neck. “Every time I think you couldn’t make me any happier, you do. And the awesome thing is I know it’s only gonna keep getting better.”

  I squeeze him back and kiss his cheek. “I know exactly what you mean, baby.”

  He gives me a quick kiss then puts me down and laces his fingers with mine. “Let’s go shopping.”

  We start weaving through the tables, working our way down when a lady sitting at the restaurant reaches out and touches Nik’s arm. I had noticed her and her companions looking at us several times. She looks like a typical southern grandmama, though on the younger side, as do the rest of the women at her table. All four are dressed in bright but classy outfits, their hair obviously colored and styled to perfection, and all of them are wearing big, clunky jewelry that coordinates with their clothes.

  We’re probably about to get a lecture on public displays of affection.

  “Nik? It’s Mrs. Scarberry. Do you remember me?” she asks, her voice like Sweet’n Low.

  All the other ladies at her table have stopped eating and are smiling kindly at us. Maybe we’re not in trouble after all.

  “Mrs. Scarberry. Of course, I do. How are you? It’s been a long time,” Nik greets her. He seems shocked and maybe a bit uncomfortable. His smile is tight and he keeps a firm grip on my hand.