Impatiently, he attempted to wiggle and bend each finger. Neither his index finger nor his thumb moved.
“Oh, my God.” Houston started to claw atthe binding with his left hand, as if seeing the damage for himself would somehow alter the reality.
The reality that was sitting down hard on him.
He couldn’t move his fingers.
If he couldn’t move his fingers, how in the hell could he operate?
Mike’s hand landed on his chest. “Take it easy, come on. We’ll get you prepped and into OR and we’ll patch you right up.”
Houston stopped pulling at the adhesive on the splint and understood for the first time why patients sometimes looked at him with complete loathing. Mike’s reasonable, calm voice made him want to ram a fist down the guy’s throat. Take it easy?
How exactly was he supposed to take it easy when his life was ruined?
Then he met Josie’s eye, and what he saw there was far, far worse. Swimming in her green eyes was compassion and something that he had only seen once before in his life—pity. Then it had been the neighbors feeling sorry for his mother when they heard her husband swearing at her, humiliating her.
At the time he hadn’t thought he could feel any worse.
He had been wrong.
His elbow gave out, and he sank back onto the bed, stunned. This was worse. For a man who demanded life obey his commands, this was the worst of all.
Then he prayed that Josie would leave the room, because her pity left him as paralyzed as his injured thumb.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Three days later Josie sat in her car outside Houston’s condo and dialed Sara on her cell phone.
“I can’t go through with this. He’s not going to appreciate my just showing up on his front step when he’s recovering.”
“Josie, you were the last woman to sleep with him. It would be rude if you didn’t check up on him. He got bit by a shark, for heaven’s sake.”
“I could just send a card.” Not that Hallmark made aGet well soon from your shark bite,signedYour one-night stand co-workercard.
“You can’t send a card!” Sara sounded horrified. “That’s tacky.”
Josie was feeling pretty tacky anyway. “Fine. But he’s going to tell me to go away.”
“So you either go away, or you stay and make him wish his parts were all functional.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” And she knew all his parts, save his hand, were very functional, but that didn’t mean she should do anything about it.
“He has it bad for you. You have it bad for him.”
“And?” There had to be more wisdom forthcoming.
“So, you can give up, let him blow you off, or you can fight for him. Make him want more with you.”
Oh, becausethatwas so simple. “He doesn’t want more with me.” More sex, more talking, more dates, more anything.
Except under the influence of diamorphine hehadsaid that if he did, it would be with her ...
“It’s worth a try.”
Josie turned the air conditioning up higher, aiming it at her armpits, and pondered that. Maybe Sara was right and it was worth a try. Everyone knew that on drugs or under the influence of alcohol people were given to bouts of confession and soul-searching honesty, which would mean Houston had probably meant what he had said. So why shouldn’t she try to catch Houston’s interest?
At the very least, she wanted back in his bed again. Or in his bed for the first time, since they hadn’t actually made it to the bedroom on Saturday.