“But you’re not going to help me?”
Aud took a sip of the coffee. “Outside of getting a list of places to go, not with what you’ve brought in here. Bring me things I think my clients will be interested in, and I’ll be happy to have your quality work here.”
Carl pulled his hands out of his pockets and jerked the first canvas off the counter and shoved it back into his box. “Fine. I’ll go find someplace that realizes how dark and dingy our world is getting and doesn’t just want to be a Pollyanna about the whole thing.” He jammed the second canvas in, picked up the box, and stomped out the door.
Finishing off the coffee, Aud turned to Heather. “Please tell me that neither one of those pieces were the samples he sent via e-mail.”
She shook her head. “No, the ones he sent in e-mail were a bit brighter and not so obviously attacks on other cultures. We don’t need hate art in here.”
“No we don’t.” Aud walked toward the back room. “So is there anything else I have to do before I hit the road again?”
“I don’t think so. Do you think you’ll be in tomorrow?”
He paused as he flooded the coffee cup with water to help avoid stains. “Most likely. You’ve been putting in a lot of time the past few days. You probably need a day off or two off, don’t you?”
“That would be good. It’s not a huge deal. I can wait a couple more days if you need to spend more time with Leo.”
“I’d like to. But he’s got his folks, Felix, and Julie. I’m sure he’ll get tired of everyone hanging around all the time. Why don’t you plan on taking the next two days off? If that changes, I’ll call and let you know.”
“Okay. Sounds great.” She huffed. “Of course, a good part of that will be cleaning house and doing laundry.”
“Shit. Laundry.” Aud turned the water off forcefully. “I forgot to pick up all the stuff I took to the cleaners Saturday. I can’t believe they didn’t call to remind me.”
“I guess that’s something else you’ve got to do today.” She stepped out of the doorway to let him pass through.
“Yeah. Just what I needed: something else to do.” All he really wanted to accomplish was getting Leo home and settled in so they could both relax.
29
WAITING TO leave the hospital was hard. Leo wanted to stand and pace in anticipation of the doctor arriving and telling him he could go home, but every time he made a move to get out of his bed and do anything more than go for the bathroom, his mother frowned at him and started fussing. His heart leapt as Aud walked into the room.
“Hey, how are you doing today?” Aud came over and sat down on the bed next to Leo after he set a gym bag on the windowsill.
Leo leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Not for the first time, he was thankful his parents were accepting of his life and he didn’t have to hide anything from them. “Better now that you’re here. I’ll be great once the doctor arrives and signs the papers so I can go home. The nurse came by a little while ago and said he should be here within a couple of hours.” Leo rolled his eyes. “Why they can’t just show up at a set time and get us out of here is beyond me.”
His mother chuckled. “As you get older and have to deal with them more, you’ll find out that most doctors have their own schedules and don’t really care much about their patients as long as the bills are paid. Money is all they really care about.”
“Which is why I prefer my nurse-practitioner,” Aud added. “She has a much better bedside manner than my doctor does. I think she cares more.”
There was a sharp knock on the door as the doctor came in. An uneasy silence filled the room for a moment, and Leo hoped he hadn’t heard what they’d been talking about.
The doctor glanced up from the tablet computer in his hands. “So, Mr. Caldwell, it looks like they want to get rid of you this afternoon. I’ll need to take a final look at your sutures. Has your nurse been through to give you instructions for once you get home?”
Aud rose from the bed and went to stand near the window.
“Right here.” Leo patted a stack of paper on the bed table. “She went over being careful in the shower for the next couple of days and no major lifting for at least two weeks.”
“That’s right.” The doctor set the tablet on top of the papers. “Now, let’s see about your stitches.”
Leo pulled up his green hospital gown.
Bending closer, the doctor peered at the six-inch row of stitches. The little black knots still gave Leo the willies to look at, but he was thankful they weren’t staples. Pieces of metal in his side would’ve been harder to deal with.