He grasped her hand. “I love hearing that.” His eyes closed.
Soon, he was sound asleep.
Anabelle sat by his side for a bit, then got up to make a call. In the kitchen, she punched in her mother’s number. “Hello.”
“Hi, Mom. Would you mind keeping the girls for the morning then bringing them over? Something’s come up.”
“Something good?”
“Not exactly. I’ll explain it when you get here.”
“I’ll see you after lunch.”
Anabelle brought her computer into the family room and curled up on the second couch. She typed in,When to go in for a CT?and waited for a response. Then she canceled it.
As a doctor, she knew to go whenever there was severe head trauma. She picked up the phone to order the test for Oliver and make an appointment. Her doctor credentials got it for later today. If he balked, she’d force him to go.
She called her mother back. She had some explaining to do.
* * *
Oliver awoke. Someone was shaking him. “Hi,” that someone said. Through blurry eyes, he recognized Anabelle.
“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like there’s a jackhammer going off in my head.”
“I’ll bet. It’s time for more oxy, but you can’t go to sleep. You have a CT appointment in an hour.”
“Why, when I said no?”
“You have severe head trauma.”
He touched the wound and felt the bandage. “Heath fixed me up.”
“There could be more damage.”
“Like what?”
“A concussion. Internal bleeding and more.”
He sighed heavily. “You can’t leave the girls.”
“Mom is going to keep them.”
“I’d rather stay here and see them.”
“You can do that when we get back.”
“You’re really going to make me go?”
“Absolutely.”
He stood, was unsteady on his feet but was able to make it to the car. He plunked himself in the front seat and let her drive him to the Urgent Care Center.
He was in and out in a half hour.