He was company, all the company she needed.
She began to eat, resigned to the diet for now.
Greg pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Sherri was being dismissed today and he already knew she wasn’t going to like what he’d done.
Too bad. Like it or not, she would have to accept that this was the way things would be for the foreseeable future.
Greg saw her doctor as soon as he stepped off the elevator. Dr. Hudson stood at the nurses’ station, going over a chart with one of the nurses.
Greg waited until the two were finished and walked over. “Good morning, Dr. Hudson. I understand Sherri is being moved today,” he said as he approached the doctor.
“Yes. I was just in there. She’s doing well, considering, but will still need plenty of rest. The bones should knit back together with no problem. My only concern would be that she might start hemorrhaging. I wouldn’t leave her alone for the next several days.”
“No problem.”
Greg nodded, his mind racing. He walked to the open door of Sherri’s room and knocked on the jamb. When she glanced up, he walked inside, his hands in his pockets.
She scowled. “What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that you don’t need to keep checking on me. I’m fine.”
“Ah. You must be feeling better.”
“I am. In fact, I’m going home today.”
“Good for you.”
“So you don’t need to worry about me.”
“Okay.”
“I’m waiting for the nurse to come help me dress. So if you’ll excuse me…”
“Want me to help? I’m right here and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve helped you to dress…or undress.”
Her sigh was filled with frustration. “No, Greg. I do not need your help to dress or undress. Thank you for coming but—”
“But don’t let the door hit me in the—”
“Goodbye, Greg.”
He shrugged and walked out of the room. Hoo-boy. His powers of persuasion better kick in really fast or he was going to be in bigger trouble than he already was.
He’d finally had to face his real motive in helping her. The fact that she had no family was part of the reason, but the hard fact was that he was in still in love with her. He was supposed to be completely over her by now. Instead, he hadn’t wanted to leave her side since the accident. Once he realized that his feelings for her had never changed, he knew that he would provide whatever she needed to heal, whether or not she was comfortable with his help.
After signing her release papers, Sherri was placed in a wheelchair and taken to the lobby. When she looked outside, she didn’t see her cab. Well, it should be here soon.
“You can leave me here by the door while I wait for my taxi,” she said to the nurse.
The woman looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “I don’t think so,” the nurse replied. As the automatic doors opened for them, the nurse continued, “You aren’t going home in a taxi, honey. Your husband is taking you home.”
The doors closed behind them as Sherri whipped her head around. She saw Greg, leaning against a black sports car parked at the front entrance, his arms folded over his chest, his ankles crossed. At the moment he was in profile, gazing across the parking lot.
Panic set in. “He’s not my husband!”
The nurse chuckled. “Well, that’s good to know. Then can I have him? Whoever he is, he’s here to take you home, according to your discharge papers.” She continued to push Sherri’s chair toward Greg.
Greg saw them and straightened. He wore wrap-around sunglasses and still had on the dazzling white T-shirt and snug-fitting jeans he’d worn earlier. He’d finished off his haute couture ensemble with sneakers that might have been white in a far-distant past.
“What are you doing here?” she said.
“I am here to whisk you away in my chariot, milady,” he said with a bow.
“That really isn’t necessary,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the nurse, intending to ask the woman to take her back to the lobby. The only problem was that the nurse was staring at Greg with a dazed grin on her face.
Sherri quickly ran through her options and realized that she had been outmaneuvered. She rubbed her forehead where an ache began to throb. “Great,” she muttered, and said nothing more while Greg and the man-hungry nurse helped her into his car.
Once inside, she stared straight ahead pretending he wasn’t there, which was a little difficult to do when he leaned over and carefully fastened her seat belt. “I know you’re glad to be out of the hospital. No one can sleep well with all the activity going on.”
She didn’t reply. There was no way she could interact with him and keep her distance, and it was essential that she remain distant.
They’d been driving for about ten minutes when she broke her silence. “Wait!”
“For what?”
“This isn’t the way to my apartment.”
“I know.”
“What are you doing, kidnapping me?”
“Nothing so dramatic. I thought you might like to go to Barton Springs and enjoy the sunshine.”
“Greg, it’s a hundred degrees today.”
“We’ll park in the shade.”
The pounding in her head intensified.
He found shade and pulled beneath one of the huge live oak trees. He left the engine and air conditioning running while he removed his seat belt and turned to her.
“I know I’m the very last person you want in your life, now or at any other time. I get that. I just want to give you a chance to look over your options.”
She sighed. “They’re extremely limited.”
“Not necessarily.” He paused, cleared his throat and finally continued. “Please hear me out before you say anything. Okay?”
She just looked at him.
“I spoke to Joan a couple of days ago about your situation. We agreed that you can’t stay at the apartment. With no elevator you would be trapped up there. It isn’t safe and it could be quite dangerous.”
She lowered her head, not wanting to look at him. “Then why didn’t Joan tell me herself? I’ve talked to her every day.”
“I asked her to let me talk to you about everything.”
“You
