Stitches
"Dang, boy! What did you do to Zoe!" Lavon admonished the moment Wade entered the kitchen.
"Well, good afternoon to you, too, Lavon." Wade replied sarcastically.
"Sorry." Lavon apologized.
Wade grabbed sandwich fixings from the fridge, as Lavon continued. "I returned from Dallas this morning to find Zoe banging around the kitchen. She's got a bee in her bonnet and it's about you. What happened? Y'all seemed to be gettin' along better."
"Did you ask her?" Wade asked, as he layered turkey, lettuce and tomato on sliced bread.
"Yah," Lavon shrugged. "But you know how she tells a story, can't often make heads or tails out it," he explained.
Wade nodded in agreement. "Well, long story short: she got drunk, came on to me, and I did the right thing and said no. Now, she hates me all over again." Wade took a bite of his sandwich.
Lavon looked skeptical as he said, "you said no."
Wade swallowed and replied flatly, "I said no."
"Really?" Lavon asked.
"Yes, really." Wade said, annoyed, and then took another bite.
Lavon paused a moment and began cleaning up the kitchen as he pried. "Why'd you say no?"
"Cuz it didn't mean nothin' to her," Wade replied without hesitation. He licked his fingers clean and continued, "She just wanted to get laid. That's not what I want from her."
Lavon turned to face Wade, asking "what do you want from her?"
Wade rolled his eyes, shook his head and shrugged all at once. "I don't know, Lavon. But not that; not a one night stand or anything like it."
Lavon pursed his lips and nodded his head knowingly.
"What?" Wade said impatiently.
"Nothing." Lavon teased then redirected the conversation to his trip to Dallas.
When Wade returned to the Rammer Jammer for the second part of his split shift, Wanda brought him up to speed. "Dash is all set, paid 'n' everything. Sal, there at the bar, is 'bout done. I already left the check with him. Here's the one for Rose and her boyfriend. They just got their burgers, so they'll be a while still – just look at 'em. They're so sweet!" Wanda giggled. "Oh! A delivery came a few minutes ago. I left the papers on the desk in back."
"Got it." Wade said as he took the bill for Rose and Max. "Now, scoot on home to that husband of yours." Wade said, smiling congenially. Wanda just beamed with joy as she grabbed her purse and left. Since everyone was set for the moment, Wade brought a few delivery boxes up to the bar to check them in. The work kept both his mind and body busy, cutting open the cartons, comparing the contents to the invoices, storing a few liquor bottles at the bar, and taking the rest to the back room.
Dash and Sal finished up for the evening and made their goodnights. "Hey there Rose. Max." Wade checked in. "How 'bout refills on those sodas?" They responded with nods and a "yes, please," before Wade suggested "and maybe a slice of apple pie, with two forks?" The teenagers looked at each other questioningly before Wade continued "on the house." The two teens smiled and thanked him again. They really were sweet kids.
Once back behind the bar, Wade bent down to cut open another box when the blade slipped.
"Damn it!" he cursed loudly, then cringed remembering the kids sitting ten feet away. Wade stood, grabbing a bar towel and pressing it against his thigh. He leaned back against the bar, head tilted as his body tensed in pain.
"Wade?" Rose called out. "Everything okay?"
Looking down at the bloody towel held against his leg, Wade tried to assess the damage. Rose, sensing that something was wrong, ran to the bar and peered over at Wade's leg. "Oh my God! Wade?! What happened?" she exclaimed rhetorically. She ran back to the table to grab her phone. While she dialed, she explained, "I'm calling Zoe."
Wade was quick to downplay the incident. "Naw, I don't think that's necessary."
As the phone rang, Rose just gave him a look, and then turned her attention to the call. "Zoe! Wade cut his leg and it looks bad."
Listening to only Rose's side of the conversation, Wade gleaned that Dr. Breeland would be meeting him at the doctor's office to stitch up his leg. "Probably for the best," he thought. Given how angry Zoe was the last time they spoke, she should not be handling sharp objects around him.
An hour later, Wade was all stitched up and back in his torn and blood-stained jeans. Brick was giving him directions for his medications. "That local anesthetic I gave you is going to wear off soon." Shaking a brown bottle of pills in his right hand, Brick said "These will help with the pain. One every four hours as needed." Shaking a white bottle of pills in his left hand, Brick continued, "This is an antibiotic. Take one pill, three times a day for ten days. Infection is the biggest concern." He lectured, "Do not miss a dose and keep taking it until it's all gone."
"Got, it." Wade replied, accepting the pill bottles as Dr. Breeland handed them over.
"I talked to Dr. Hart." Brick continued. "She'll check in on you in the morning. She should be back from delivering Mrs. Wilkes' baby before then."
"Okay. Well, thank you" Wade said as they shook hands. He waved goodnight and walked, gingerly, out the door.
Wade limped into the gate house and immediately popped open a bottle of beer and washed down two pain pills. His leg was throbbing like the devil. He slowly shucked his pants and chugged the rest of the bottle, hoping to numb the pain faster. Half way through the third beer, he started feeling the affects. "Whatta night," he thought as he rolled into bed and immediately fell asleep.
Zoe's night did not unfold as expected, either. The doctor's office had been closed for over an hour and Zoe was making patient notes when Mrs. Wilkes called to say her water broke. Since she had been in earlier and showed no signs of labor, Zoe was a bit surprised when the call came. She was walking into the hospital in Mobile when Rose phoned.
"Did the fence jump out at him again?" Zoe asked sarcastically.
"What? No, no fence." Rose responded confused. She saw Wade grin and shake his head.
"I'm up in Mobile to deliver a baby. Brick will have to handle it. I'll call him to meet Wade at the doctor's office." Busy as she was, her call to Brick was short and to the point.
Zoe had just finished checking on Mrs. Wilkes' progress when Brick called. "It was a deep cut. Required fifteen stitches." He went on to explain the real reason for his call. "Since you live next door, check in on Wade tomorrow morning. Make sure there's no infection. I'll cover your patients until you get in"
"Br-i-i-ick," Zoe whined. "You know that we … you can't ask me to do this."
"Dr. Hart, we share this practice and that means sometimes treating people you'd rather not," Brick admonished.
"Fine." Zoe responded. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." Given the fairly common nature of Wade's injury, she didn't give him or Brick another thought as she focused on her pregnant patient.
Fourteen hours later, Mrs. Wilkes and her new baby boy were safely settled in the hospital and Zoe was headed back to Bluebell. It was ten o'clock in the morning, and all she could think of was crawling into bed. It wasn't until she approached the gate house that she remembered her promise to check-in on Wade.
"Damn Wade and his stupid stitches!" she swore, crabby from lack of sleep. Parking behind his car, she dragged her bone-weary body out of the Prius to his deck doors. She knocked, but heard no movement from inside. She peered in through the glass door, but saw no one. Pulling out her phone, she called him and heard his phone ringing inside. He didn't pick up.
Adrenaline kicked in. Zoe tried the door handle and found it locked. Thinking, "I guess I'm breaking the glass again," she quickly glanced around, grabbed a wrench, and did the deed. Once inside, she could smell the sickness. She rushed to Wade's bed and found him drenched in sweat, hotter than Hades, and bleeding where he had torn open his stitches. Clutching her phone, she called for an ambulance then called Brick to let him know she was on her way back to Mobile.
She made a third short call. "Lavon, I don't have time to explain, but I need you to meet me at Wade's immediately." She pulled a thermometer from her doctor's bag to check how high Wade's fever was. "105!? Damn it!" She ran to the bathroom to fill the tub with cold water. Moving back to the bed, she removed his bandage and started cleaning the wound which was red, swollen and oozing. The pain roused Wade from his fever-induced sleep. "Shhhh, Wade." Zoe whispered to keep him calm. "I need you to stay still as I work on your leg." She continued firmly, but softly.
Less than ten minutes passed when Lavon ran into the gate house worry etching his face. "Lavon!" Zoe called gratefully. "Help me get Wade into the tub. We've gotta get his temp down." Without a word, Lavon went into action, lifting Wade like a child and lowering him, clothes and all, into the cold bath water. Although not really aware, Wade put up some resistance to the cold. Again, Zoe spoke to him in hushed tones to calm him. Surprising Lavon, Wade settled right down.
"What happened?" Lavon finally asked. Zoe filled him in on Wade's accident.
"I should have asked someone else to check on him earlier." Zoe derided herself.
"Big Z," Lavon rushed to say "don't go blaming yourself, now."
"If I hadn't been so angry with him …" Zoe's voice trailed off. "I was supposed to be the doctor not the jilted girlfriend." She held her head in her hand for only a moment, before she leaped into action again. "Stay with him. I'm going to pack a bag for him. They'll want to monitor him overnight."
After talking with the ER doctor, Zoe joined Wade who was sleeping peacefully now that he was on an I.V. with antibiotics and pain relievers. Exhausted, she pulled a chair to his bedside to lean wearily on the mattress and was asleep in seconds.
Wade roused slightly, noticing Zoe resting on the bed, her hand angled toward him. Without thought, his hand covered hers, and he drifted back to sleep.
Zoe awoke stiff from the position she had fallen asleep in. She moved gingerly so as to not wake Wade, but to no avail. As soon as she removed his hand from hers, his eyes fluttered open.
"Hi," Zoe said in a hushed tone, smiling.
"What happened?" Wade asked, aware that he was in the hospital, but not exactly sure why.
"Can you tell me what you remember?" Zoe prompted, knowing there could be complications with such a high fever.
Wade shifted uncomfortably as he thought back. "I cut my leg, and Brick stitched me up. You were going to check on me later, but I don't remember …" His voice trailed off as he looked at Zoe. She physically changed as he watched. Disappointment clouded her eyes and desperation filled her stance. Wade didn't know what to make of it; he assumed there was more to his situation than he recalled. "What happened after that?" He asked nervously.
"I was supposed to check on you. Unfortunately, I didn't get back to Bluebell until late morning. By then, the infection in your leg had you so feverish you were delirious." Zoe explained. "It came on so fast, we were concerned about sepsis, but, you're responding well to the antibiotics and your temperature is back to normal. They're going to monitor you overnight to make sure the infection is under control."
Wade just stared at her, trying to process all she had said. "So," he drawled. "I'm going to be okay?"
"Yes! Oh, yes. You're fine. You're going to be fine." Zoe rushed to clarify. "How do you feel? Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"Just groggy." Wade said, closing his eyes, resting his head back on the pillow and drifting back to sleep.
It was late afternoon when Wade finally awoke. Zoe was happy to see that his coloring was back to normal and his eyes were no longer glassy. "You look better," she said cheerfully. "How are you feeling?"
"Good," Wade said nodding his head. "I'm feeling pretty good." He paused a moment. He wanted to ask why she was still here, in his room, just hanging out, watching him sleep. But, in truth, he was so glad for her company, he decided not to question it.
"Hey, I have something for you." Zoe smiled excitedly. "We figured you'd get a bit bored in this place with no Xbox, no Wii, so here's a …" Zoe reached into a bag a pulled out "Nintendo DS with Call of Duty: Black Ops!" She handed it to him as she raced to explain, "Lavon suggested it, but…" with a twinkle in her eye she continued "it was my idea to get two, so we could play each other!" She finished, taking the second device out of the bag.
"All right, then!" Wade grinned. "Let's fire 'em up."
After three hours of tense battles during which Zoe surprised Wade a number of times with her gaming speed and agility, it was time to call it a night. As Zoe hopped off the end of the bed where she had been sitting, she explained, "I'm on call tomorrow and have a full patient load, but, Lavon will be here at eight A.M. to drive you home." Zoe explained. "They said you should be released by then."
Wade paused a moment before replying, "Thanks for arranging everything." Then, indicating the DS, "and for this. I had a lot of fun today, despite being stuck in the hospital with an I.V. in my arm." He chuckled sincerely.
Zoe grinned, "Me, too!" She grabbed her things and without thinking, leaned over and gave Wade a peck on the cheek. By the time the innocent kiss ended, she was fully aware and self-conscious. Her eyes met his and the heat she saw made her catch her breath. Of their own volition, her eyes darted to his mouth. Not a second later, she was kissing him, and Wade was kissing her back.
His hands were cupped on either side of her face, gently holding her as he took control. He kissed her deeply, with deliberate slowness, heightening her passion. The only other time she had been kissed like this was Christmas Eve, after she asked Wade to be her boyfriend.
They broke away to catch their breath. With her forehead leaning on his and her eyes closed, she whispered, "I've got to go."
"I know," Wade whispered back, his eyes closed as well.
They shared a moment of silence before Zoe said "I don't want to go."
She moved to kiss him again, as he repeated "I know."
This kiss was a bit more frenetic. Lips nibbling. Tongues tasting. Her fingers in his hair. His hands caressing her waist.
"Ahem," the nurse said from the doorway of Wade's hospital room.
Zoe and Wade broke apart, giggling like teenagers as the woman bustled into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt," the nurse continued, clearly enjoying having caught the two of them locking lips like high school kids. She was a big woman, as wide as she was tall, her voice, deep and craggy from her two-pack-a-day smoking habit. "This handsome young man needs to take his meds and get some sleep, if he's gonna be well enough to leave here tomorrow."
"Of course, you're right." Zoe responded to the nurse, while looking at Wade with a laughing look. "Wade, sleep well. I'll stop by the gatehouse at some point tomorrow to check on you."
"G'nite, Doc." Wade grinned back as he watched Zoe leave.
"You're a mighty lucky man." The nurse said as she handed Wade his paper cup of medicines and another full of water. Thinking that she meant Zoe was too good for him, Wade was surprised when the nurse continued, "Love don't always come so finely packaged."
Bright and early the next morning, Wade was on his way back to Bluebell courtesy of Lavon. "You're lookin' mighty chipper for someone who was hospitalized for the past twenty-four hours." Lavon commented.
Not wanting to talk about the fragile step toward reconciliation that he and Zoe had taken, Wade responded cryptically, "Let's just say that sometimes good can come from bad."
"Well, I hope that's true." Lavon continued. "Zoe was beating herself up pretty hard, saying she was a bad doctor for not getting you prompt medical care. She was feeling really guilty."
Wade stilled as Lavon spoke, his heart suddenly heavy. "Whatta you mean? I heard that doctor in the ER tell her that puttin' me in the cold bath to cool me down was good thinkin'"
"Naw, that's not what I'm talkin' about. Before that. Her being stuck in Mobile delivering that baby and not getting' back to Bluebell until late morning." Lavon explained. Wade turned to look at Lavon, his head tilted to the side, a confused expression on his face. Lavon clarified, "She thinks if she'd arranged for someone else to check on you that you wouldn't have gotten so sick. She said a 'good' doctor would have done that."
"Oh," was all Wade said. A moment later he added "she really think a couple of hours woulda made a difference?"
"I don't think she's saying what she's really thinkin'" Lavon surmised. "Lavon Hayes believes Big Z was scared and worried about you." Lavon gave Wade a sideways glance and found Wade not as satisfied by this idea as expected.
Around noon, Wade received a call from Zoe.
"So, they let you go? No last minute hiccups gettin' you out of there?" Zoe asked, jokingly.
"Nope. No problems." Wade responded, congenially.
"They gave you some antibiotics to take, right? One pill, three times a day for ten days?" Zoe prompted.
"Yep, Doc. I got it covered." Wade replied, sounding a bit weary.
"Are you in any pain?" Zoe questioned.
"Naw, just a little achy 'round the cut. I am a bit tired, though." Wade said
"Did you eat? Lavon promised me he'd bring a sandwich over to you?"
"Well, he did as you asked. I'm all fed." Wade rushed to end the call "I'm gonna catch a few winks. Thanks for calling, Doc."
Wade just sat on the bed after disconnecting the call. Now knowing that she felt guilty about her doctoring skills, he replayed the events in the hospital and saw them in a very different light. She blamed herself for his condition and was trying to ease her conscience by giving him the one thing she knew he wanted. Her.
He didn't feel angry or spiteful. He just felt disappointed and sad. He honestly thought that his accident had made her realize she wanted him back.
Wade lay back on the pillows, arm bent over his eyes, mulling over the day's revelations and was asleep in minutes.
It was dark and she was warm. Her scent filled his nostrils as she kissed down his neck and ran her hand over his chest. Wade was aware he was hovering in a dream state between sleeping and waking and didn't want it to end. He moaned with pleasure, moved slightly, and discovered her weight next to him. His eyes flew open to find Zoe sitting on the side of the bed, her hands on his face checking for fever.
"Hey sleepy head." Zoe whispered. "Have you slept this whole time since we talked this afternoon?"
"Ya," Wade replied a bit disoriented. "I guess so."
"I brought you some dinner." Zoe smiled and raised a take-out bag from Fancie's. "Are you hungry?"
"Sure," said Wade.
They ate companionably, Zoe telling stories about her day with zany patients. After they finished eating, Zoe suggested they play Halo on Xbox. Neither suggested the strip version they played previously. After playing about an hour, Wade showed signs of fatigue. Zoe cleaned up and collected her handbag. Wade walked her to the deck doors. She turned to face him and their eyes met, hers offering, his searching. She leaned in to kiss him goodnight, but Wade backed away just before their lips touched.
"Have you forgiven me? Are we back together?" Wade asked. After a pause, he continued "Or do you just feel bad that I got sick."
Zoe tried to respond, but could not find the words.
"It's not your fault my leg got infected," Wade assured her. "And as much as I appreciate all the time you've spent with me the last couple of days, what happens when I'm all better? We go back to – what? Avoiding each other? Making polite conversation when ours paths cross? Hooking up when we're feeling lonely?"
Zoe's face went hard at that comment, but Wade raced on. "That's not what I'm looking for, Zoe. I want more. I want you and me, together, like before. A second chance."
There was a long pause as Wade finished and waited patiently, willing Zoe to say the words he longed to hear. In the end, the only words she uttered before departing were "I'm sorry, Wade."