“Few more days in the hospital, and then he’ll need to do some physical therapy,” Lonnie answered. “He could ride with cracked ribs. But his foot will need time to heal properly.”
She noted Chance’s foot propped up under the cover.
“How much time?” she pressed. She prayed he wouldn’t ride the rest of the season. It was one thing to know he was out there riding, another to have witnessed his injury. The sight of the horse pummeling him was burned into her memory.
“Depends on who you listen to, the doctors or the cowboys who’ve had these injuries,” Lonnie said.
“The doctor, of course.”
“Eight weeks.” Lonnie took a sip of coffee.
That hardly sounded long enough.
“I’m giving it four,” Chance said, his eyes still closed.
“Four?” She let the alarm ring in her voice.
“Cody Smith hurt his foot. He was on crutches and riding in a few weeks. Can’t keep a good cowboy down, Libby,” Chance mumbled.
“What about reinjury or another injury? You could hurt something else, favoring your bad foot.”
“When you rodeo, you sign on to ride hurt. It’s part of the deal. Won’t be the first time, won’t be the last,” Lonnie offered, obviously supporting Chance’s foolish decision.
“You can’t seriously be considering—”
Chance opened his eyes and held up a hand to stop her. “This is really none of your concern, Libby. I appreciate the visit, darling, but if you’re here to make me feel better, you can start by not arguing with me.”
He was right. This wasn’t her business. She was nothing to him. She couldn’t even really claim friendship, considering.
“Right now, I’m going to sleep before they have to poke me again,” he mumbled, his eyelids closing again. “It was nice of you to come, Libby. But there’s no need to visit. I’m fine now. Like we agreed, there’s no reason to see each other. I’ll sign those papers. You can marry your suit.”
The papers. She’d totally forgotten about them.
Lonnie touched her on the shoulder and motioned her toward the door. She took one last look at Chance, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest. An ache tugged her in the vicinity of her heart, but she followed Lonnie out of the room.
“Will you take my cell number in case he needs anything?” She wasn’t sure she could keep away, could keep from seeing for herself that he was all right, but maybe she should try. For both their sakes.
“Sure, Libby,” Lonnie said. “He’s serious about the four weeks. I would be too if I was him. It’s the way things are in this line of work.”
She couldn’t respond to such foolishness. Instead, she just got out a pen. She didn’t have any paper, so Lonnie gave her the napkin he had with his coffee. She wrote down her number, tore off the part containing it, and shoved it in Lonnie’s free hand. Then she asked Lonnie for his. He hesitated a minute before writing it out, and she stuffed the napkin remnant in her purse. She wished she had the courage to ask for Chance’s number, but there was no reason she could think of to justify the request. At least she knew where to find him. For the moment.
Chapter 6
“How could you check him out? He couldn’t walk yet. The doctor said he couldn’t put any weight on it.”
Libby stood at the circular desk, staring down at a young dark-haired nurse. Four days had passed since Chance had first been admitted to the hospital. She’d come every day. Chance’s irritation at her visits seemed to increase commensurate with the decreasing dosage of pain medication. And she’d been so consumed with checking on him, she almost forgot to schedule her interview in Denver, not to mention the several times Ben hadn’t been able to reach her because she’d shut off her phone in the hospital.
Ben. He’d been upset that she’d made the decision not to work for her father and had not been supportive of her desire to find a job she liked. He’d mentioned moving in together after she commented on how uncomfortable her home had become with her father not speaking to her except to ask when she was going to get a job. She hadn’t said yes to Ben’s proposition. And given the strange feelings she’d had every time she looked at Chance, feelings she hoped were just guilt, or maybe sympathy, she shouldn’t say yes until she resolved her emotional conflict. Right?
Unfortunately, she couldn’t resolve anything if Chance wasn’t there.
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry. We can’t discuss a patient’s situation with anyone but family.”
Well that left Libby out.
“Some patients go to a rehabilitation facility when they have the kind of injuries Mr. Cochran had,” the nurse continued without looking up from the computer screen she was using. “Maybe check with one of them, only I don’t think that was where Mr. Cochran was headed.”