Hey guys, I know I told you that I had this one mostly done and for the most part I do, but when I was reading through it over the last couple of days, I have come to the conclusion that I have more that I want to add to this story, so it will be a bit longer between updates as I figure a few things out with this one. I do hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the first one.
His wandering thoughts were answered when the doctor on his mind entered the room. She gave him a soft smile sitting at the computer. "Mr. Kinsella," she said looking down at the clipboard in hand, logging into the computer. "I am Dr. Stevens. It says here you have broken ribs?" She questioned, coming to stand by him, being professional as it was her job, whether she knew the patient or not.
"That is why I am here for," he responded with a smirk. "Though I am fairly certain that one or two may be broken," he shrugged. This wasn't the time to question her on where her husband happened to be, a quick glance at her left hand told him it wasn't that simple of an answer.
"I will need you to remove your shirt, so I can have a look," she told him, hoping the blush didn't show, over memories past. Wade chuckled lightly not wanting to hurt his ribs further, seeing the light dusting of color on her cheeks.
With the exam over and his broken ribs wrapped up tight, his shirt firmly in place; he took the papers Zoe printed out for him.
"I suggest making an appointment with your actually doctor," she confirmed, holding the hospital room door open for him.
"Will do, doc," he nodded, giving her a soft smile.
She pointed him in the right direction, headed off in the opposite direction than he needed to go. Holding his ribs he walked out to where his brother was waiting, informing him on what needed to be done now that he had indeed broken two ribs and fractured another one.
"Dude, I didn't think I would be breaking you," Jesse said, driving them back to their mother's place, where his son stayed. "When did you become so fragile?" Jesse questioned with a snicker.
"Shut up," Wade groaned, wanting nothing more than to punch his brother's arm; he refrained from doing so not wanting to cause an accident of some sort.
Returning to his mother's house, she made a far bigger fuss over Wade than he would have liked. With two of his ribs broken, he was capable of doing things on his own. He will admit that getting to rest while his mother put his brother to work was far more relaxing and satisfying than it should have been.
"Ma, I will be fine," he assured her, getting ready to head back to his own home for the night.
"Are you positive? You can stay here in the guest room, and if that doesn't work for you, I can come to stay at your place until Aria comes home," she tired.
"Positive, Ma. I will be fine. I am going to be sleeping, and I don't want to put you out. I will call you tonight when I get home, and I will call again in the morning, okay?" He told her, kissing her cheek. Sometimes being the baby remained tough when injured and all his mom wanted to do was take care of him.
"Oh alright," she caved. "You best take it easy, Wade," she stressed.
"I will, night ma," he told her.
"Night my baby boy," she told him, seeing him out.
Once at home he went straight to his bed, having eaten dinner with his mom, getting undressed caused a bit of a problem when his ribs screamed in pain while trying to pull his shirt over his head. Wincing at the pain, he managed to get himself ready for bed, taking the medication prescribed crawling under his blankets finding the best position in feeling no pain. Once situated he called his mom to let her know he was home safe and sound, not wanting her to worry all night.
Waking up in the morning he thought he was still asleep dreaming of smelling the sweetness that was pancakes mixed with the intoxicating smell of bacon. Coming to his senses he rushed down the stairs as fast he could with his side hurting at his sudden movements.
"What are you doing here?" He questioned coming to a halt in the doorway of his kitchen. "And why are making breakfast?" He asked, moving slowly into the kitchen, sitting at the counter.
"Your brother told me what he did to you, your lovely mother wouldn't stop worrying, and she wanted to be the one to do this, but she had engagements she couldn't cancel on, so I offered to come. You that shocked to see me?" His sister-in-law explained following it up with a question.
"Kind of," he shrugged, rubbing a hand over his side. "You didn't have to do this to please mom," he told her. "You are already in by giving her grandchildren," he stated, gladly accepting the cup of coffee she passed to him.
"You think that I am in favor to your mom?" She laughed, handing him a plate of food. "Not so much your Mom as your brother. His actions make me feel guilty," she sighed, starting to clean up the mess she had made.
"They shouldn't," he said around a mouthful of food. "We've been injuring each other since we were kids. Not my first broken bone at his hands, and I gave as good as I got, breaking my fair share of his bones. You'll understand when your two boys get to that stage in their lives," he shrugged, going back to his food.
"Your mother has warned me about that," she sighed, not looking forward to the days she would be breaking her son's fights up.
"You can report back to my mother that I am fine, and my day is going to be spent going over music lessons for the next week and maybe some sleep," he told her. "And Beck's, please don't feel guilty about this; Jesse doesn't, and neither should you. It was nothing more than a little accident," he assured her.
"I will relay the message to her, and I will leave you be once I clean up my mess," she told him. "In the meantime can you tell me if your brother has mentioned anything about wanting another child," she said, turning to the sink, not witnessing Wade choking on the bite of bacon he took.
"What?" He coughed, taking a long drink of his coffee.
"I am not pregnant," she told him over her shoulder. "I love my boys, though I really wish I had my little girl," she sighed. "I can't have more kids, with the complications from Charlie."
"You thinking about surrogate?" Wade asked polishing off the food on his plate.
"No," she said, shaking her head, taking the dishes from Wade. "Adoption. I have tried talking to Jesse about it, but it's like he doesn't hear me or rather doesn't want to hear what I am saying, and I was curious if he mentioned anything to you," she shrugged, turning her attention back to the plate to wash.
"He hasn't. I can talk to him see where his head is at for you," he offered, refilling his cup. "I'll make sure he doesn't know I am doing it for you," he tacked on seeing her hesitancy towards it.
"You would do that for me?" She questioned, her eyes filling with tears.
"I have known you since I was around the age of 7," he remarked. "I think it is safe to say that you are the sister I never knew I wanted," he smiled. "Don't tell Jesse this, but I do like you more than I do him," he winked. She laughed, whacking him with the dish towel.
"Good to know," she smiled. "You really don't have to talk to him about it; I think I can figure out a way to make him actually listen to me about this," she told him, wiping the counters dry.
"If you're sure," he told her, heading into the living room, grabbing what he needed, sitting on the couch.
"I am positive," she assured him, waving bye as saw herself out, leaving Wade to do his work in peace.
He flipped the TV on, turning the volume down, pulling out his book to figure out the lesson plan for Monday. Finalizing the last of the lesson's plans he looked up hearing his front door open.
"Thought you were spending all day with your mom?" Wade questioned, seeing his daughter enter the house, no one following behind her.
"I couldn't deal," she shrugged. "Mom was cool the first night and yesterday. Today different story and I wanted to be home after running into Uncle Jesse. Someone needs to be taking care of you," she teased.
"If you haven't eaten yet we can go grab a bite only after you take your bag up to your room, and you can tell me all about your weekend with your mom," he commented.
"Do I have to?" She whined, grabbing her bag. "Can't you call mom and talk to her about it instead?"
"No, I cannot; I would rather hear it from you," he told her.
"Fine," she grumbled, heading up to her room.
They ended up at their favorite pizza joint, in a corner booth. Aria did everything in her power to avoid talking about her time spent with her mom, instead opting to talk about what her dad did while she was away.
"You can't tell me you stayed home all weekend. That would be boring even for you," she told him, taking a drink of her beverage. "Uncle Jesse said you hung out at the bar, what happened there?" She asked innocently enough.
"Pool," he replied. The opening to talk about him possibly getting back into dating, sat in front of him. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, not wanting to cause a scene of some sort.
"Dad I need more here," she pouted.
"I don't need to tell you anything that happened at the bar. I am the parent, and you are the kid and what I do while you are away is none of your concern," he sternly said. "If you must know, I did leave with someone; it was more to help her out as she had work in the morning, and her friends refused to let her go," he quickly told her, leaving out that it was his high school sweetheart.
"You sure she had work?"
"Yes, because your uncle broke my ribs, and she happened to be the doctor I got in the emergency room. Now what did you do with your mom?"
"Shopping," she shrugged. "I'm not allowed to bring any of the stuff she bought me home," she sighed. "You do know that I am okay with you dating, right?" Aria questioned, playing with the straw in her drink. "I am at the age that I understand that you need someone other than your daughter in your life. I want you to be happy and to have someone, like you should have had mom," she shrugged, not meeting her father's eyes.
"I will keep that in mind the next time I am out. You need to know that I am not going to rush out and find someone this instant, it will take time, and they have to get along with you, if they don't it's a deal breaker, because you will always be first to me," he told her, seeing her smile light up her face.
"Comforting to know that," she laughed. "Since we have a short week this week at school mom wants me to come over once school is out on Wednesday, told her I didn't know, and I would talk it over with you," she told him.
"The choice is up to you, sweetie. If you want to go spend the extra days with your mom, go, if not, then stay home. I want you to be happy, and officially you only have to spend Friday through Sunday with her. I can't, and I will not make this decision for you."
"I know," she sighed. "Would've been nice though," she mumbled.
"I thought you were staying with Jammeh on Thursday night for the dance on Friday?" He asked his daughter.
"That's right and after the dance, we were going to head back to Jammeh's house. Think mom will be mad that I show up on Saturday instead?" She asked biting her bottom lip.
"I don't see why she would. You have a right to spend time with your friends, and if she does have a problem with it, I will talk to her and get it squared away," he assured his daughter. There was no way he would be letting his ex-wife ruin a sleep over for their daughter when she had every right to be a teenager with her friends.
"Okay," she nodded, looking past her dad. "Why does that group of women keep looking over here?" She asked, looking to her dad. "What did you do while I was gone?" She questioned once more.
"I told you already," he said, turning to look behind him against his daughter's wishes. He didn't know who they were; he could vaguely place them. "I can't tell you why they keep looking over," he shrugged.
"You sure about that?" She questioned once more.
"Yes," he replied, casting one more glance behind him, catching sight of the one woman he did know join the rest of them, her face flushed from whatever they were saying. "I may know one of them," he replied, looking at his daughter.
"She's the doctor isn't she?" Aria asked, serious face on. Wade nodded, taking a bite of his pizza. "You should ask her out," she commented, pulling a pepperoni from her slice of pizza.
"You sound like your Grandma and Uncle," he teased. Asking her out had nothing to do with being ready to date. Heck he didn't know what kept him from dating now that his daughter was no longer a kid.
"Going out on a date won't break your heart," she told him.
"I know," he told her solemnly. He was in no rush to get his heart broke again like his ex-wife broke his heart. Being a bachelor would soon enough run out, he knew that. It didn't mean he would be rushing out to find that special someone, he already found that, or so he thought, and he wasn't in any rush to go through that all over again. Besides he has been out of the game for over 15 years. And dating his ex may or may not break him further.
"Just sayin' you ain't getting any younger, and I am okay with it; you deserve to be really happy," she told him, wanting him to understand she was more than fine with him dating again.
"I know and for the record, I am happy," he told her, finishing his slice of pizza.
"I know, dad," she rolled her eyes, eating her pizza. "I am just sayin'," she shrugged.
They remained quiet the next few minutes as they ate, more focused on their food and quenching the hunger within them, then they were on continuing any conservation.
"Make me a promise," she prompted getting her dad's attention once more. Wade nodded his head, curious to know what his daughter's promise could possibly be. "The next time you see your doctor friend, you ask her out," she finished.
"Okay, I promise; I will ask her out," he conceded, knowing it would be an off chance of running into her again. Making an impromptu trip to the E.R. would be out of the question, he didn't know when he would be at the bar again. It had been odd that he has already seen her two different times after they parted ways Friday night. For him, it was a very simple promise to make, a promise he knew he would never have to follow through with.
"I mean it, dad," she warned.
"I mean it too, Aria. The next time I see Dr. Stevens, I will ask her out, just don't hold your breath because I am not going to set out to find her," he told his daughter, needing her to understand. "About Mitchell," he started to say, chuckling when she banged her head on the table. "Turnaround is fair play."
"You do know that I haven't seen him over the weekend?" She questioned lifting her head up slightly. "I figured the most I could do come tomorrow would be talk to him," she shrugged.
"Okay," he said, not wanting to make a big deal with his daughter of her asking him out even if it would be a group outing to the school dance. He wanted her to remain his little girl for as long as possible.
When Monday morning came along he got up getting himself ready, halfway through making breakfast his daughter joined him ready for the day. Aria liked school, so he never had to fight with her in the mornings to get ready for school, much like his mom had to do with him when he was younger. He couldn't have been happier to learn that Aria enjoyed learning as much as she did. In the mornings, they remained quiet letting themselves wake up fully.
The car ride to school is when they would talk about what they had going on after school, their plans made on what would be going on and where Aria would be if Wade needed to stay after school or that Wade would be in the music room waiting for her if she needed to stay after and if things changed, she would need to come find him while she had a break in her day, and he would do the same, not wanting her to use her cell phone during school hours.
"Zoe?" He questioned, walking into the teacher's lounge before school started. His first period free for the day. "Fancy running into you here."
"Wade, hey," she smiled, turning to smile at him. "I didn't know you worked here," she told him, inviting him to sit with her.
"I could say the same thing," he chuckled nervously, sitting across from her. "Is this your weekday job?"
Laughing softly, she nodded her head. "It is, the new school nurse, started Friday actually," she told him.
"I couldn't be here Friday. Though my daughter said something about having a new nurse at school," he shrugged.
"You have a daughter?" She questioned. "Is that who you were with yesterday?" She asked sheepishly.
"Yes," he chuckled. "Thought I saw you last night," he commented.
"It was me," she nodded. "My friends are trying to get me out of my place to make new friends as I haven't gotten into contact with any from high school," she confirmed.
"You know me," he winked. She laughed, getting up.
"Yes, that I do," she smiled. "I should be going," she told him gathering her things.
"I can walk with you; it is on my way to the music room," he told her.
He spent the walk in a comfortable silence, listening to multiple teenage conversations going on around them. He even shared a look with his daughter. This had to be a deal he broke with her; he couldn't ask out a fellow co-worker and his ex on top of that, he couldn't work alongside someone with an awkwardness between them. Not when things were good between them.
"This is me," she told him stopping by the main office. "Maybe I will see you around," she smiled, pushing the door to her office open.
"You can count on it," he winced, hearing the words slip from his mouth.
She smiled shyly, entering the nurse's office, getting ready for the slew of teenagers that were sure to walk through the door the second the first bell rang.
"You looked chummy with the new nurse," Aria smirked, walking into the music room. "Should I be I don't know curious to what is going on there?" She questioned.
"Don't you have to be on the other side of the school for science?" Wade questioned, looking at the clock.
"You can't ignore this, dad," she told him.
"Like you can't ignore the fact to befriend your crush," he laughed, watching her face fall. Fully committing to the fact his daughter was at the age to date, was easier than living in denial.
"And I can't be late to class," she quickly announced, heading out of her dad's classroom to the one she needed to be at for her first period across the school.
Wade chuckled and spent his free period getting the room set up, the way he would need it for his first period of the day. Making sure each seat had new sheet music for the song they would be learning to play to add it into the mix of songs they would be performing in just three short months.
Rubbing his temples to ease his headache, he walked the halls to the teacher's lounge for his lunch break. The plan, quickly eat and go back to the silence of his classroom to help rid himself of the headache his students gave him while they learned the new song.
"Shouldn't music be fun?" He cracked a smile hearing her voice, frowning when he realized she was on her way out.
"Who said otherwise?" He asked. "You're not staying in here to eat?" He questioned, before he could stop it.
"Unfortunately sick kids don't take a break," she shrugged. "I don't mind either way," she said. "Stop by and I can get you something for that headache," she said slipping from the lounge.
Quickly grabbing his lunch from the fridge and buying a bottle of soda from the vending machine, he headed to the nurse's office deciding that he too would rather eat in the music room. He placed his food in the music room before heading over to take Zoe up on her offer of some aspirin.
"Why aren't you in class?" Wade asked his daughter, stepping into the nurses' office, seeing her talking to Zoe.
"Really dad?" Aria groaned. "Thanks Mrs. Stevens," she smiled taking the hall pass, going past her father.
"We will be talking about this at home," he told her.
"No we won't," Aria said, pulling the door open quickly leaving, hoping her dad didn't follow her out.
"You won't tell me, will you?" Wade questioned, giving her a pleading look.
"I shouldn't to respect your daughter's privacy," Zoe started to say, walking to the cabinet to get him some aspirin. "Though you must know she is fine; she was simply unprepared like most girls her age are."
"We're not talking about sex are we?" He asked in a panic. He didn't believe that his daughter would be engaging in such an activity, not when she had a hard enough time speaking to the guy she has a crush on. If she can't approach the guy, she likes, there could be no way she would be having sex. He had faith in his daughter that she wouldn't be doing so at such a young age, like some of her peers.
"No," she said, calming him down. "I don't want to embarrass either of you over this, but your daughter has started her monthly cycle," Zoe told him, handing him the packet that held two aspirin in it.
"Oh," he said a bit sheepishly. "You can't embarrass me by that as it is natural, Aria, on the other hand, I won't make such a fuss with it for her. Thanks for helping her out," he said, tearing open the packet, using a plastic cup by the sink to get some water to take the aspirin.
"Perks of the job, I get to help kids. It can be a bit awkward at times, but I enjoy it," she smiled.
Wade smiled, swallowing the pills. "Thanks for these," he said, getting a look at the clock. "I should get back, before I have no time to eat before my next class," he stated walking to the door.
"No problem, glad I could be of assistance," she smiled, turning back to her own food.