Fortunately, the doctors eventually cleared him to go home. To his further embarrassment, though, the medical staff insisted on wheeling him out to his pickup truck for her to drive him home.
“Now, you’re going to want to make sure someone stays with him tonight,” the male nurse said. “The pain meds might make him a little woozy.”
Emma nodded. “I’ll make sure someone is there,” she said.
He was so damn tired, Bryce wanted to lean his head against the seat and go to sleep. Maybe that’s what they meant about the pain meds making him woozy. He hadn’t wanted to take them at all but apparently the burns on his hand and arm were more serious than initially thought.
“I’ll stay with you,” Emma said as she drove with deliberation and caution toward his house. “I need to make sure my mom and grandma are okay with taking care of Olive. I’m sure it will be no problem. I checked in with my mom after we arrived at the hospital and she already had Olive tucked into bed. She was planning on having her tomorrow anyway.”
“You don’t have to stay with me,” he said.
“I told the nurse I would.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got Pearl.”
He was glad again that he hadn’t taken his dog with him to the bookstore that evening. He had thought about it but she had been with him at another jobsite all day and seemed happy to be home, stretched out on her dog bed.
“Unfortunately for you,” Emma said, “Pearl lacks opposable thumbs to call for help if the need arises. It’s fine. I’m happy to stay. Either that or you can come to my mom’s place. Which do you prefer?”
“My house,” he said.
“Smart move, unless you want a little girl jumping all over you, a rooster crowing to wake you up at the crack of dawn and a yippy dog making a nuisance of herself.”
He wanted to tell her he would be fine on his own, but fatigue weighed on him, sucking him under like an anchor around his ankles. He must have drifted off, much to his dismay. When he awoke, she was pulling into his driveway.
“Here you are. Safe and sound,” she said, then bustled out to open the door for him.
“Thank you for being my chauffeur.”
“You injured yourself trying to save my bookstore, Bryce. I’m not going to leave you to fend for yourself.”
He pulled out his house keys from his pocket, grateful they weren’t on the same side as his injured hand. When he unlocked the door, Pearl padded toward him, tail wagging.
He petted her with his uninjured hand and led the way into his house. He had made a few changes since his mother first went into a care center. New paint, new wood floors, new windows. It was clean and functional but had never felt particularly homey.
“That looks like a perfect place for me to sleep,” Emma said, pointing to the sofa in the family room. He could attest that it was comfortable enough, since he often fell asleep there himself while stretched out watching a ball game on TV.
“You really don’t have to stay, Emma. I’ll be fine.”
He was completely unused to having someone watch over him and didn’t quite know how to handle the situation.
“I’m staying,” she said firmly. “I only need a pillow and a blanket.”
“I’m not going to sleep well, knowing you’re out here on the couch. Why don’t you take the bed and I’ll take the couch?”
Or we could both take the bed.
The words remained unspoken between them. She had pushed him away, he reminded himself. She had told himclearly that she wasn’t interested in more than friendship with him.
“I’m not the one with a deep second-degree burn,” she countered. “Please don’t be difficult, Bryce.”
He sighed, realizing arguing was pointless. “Fine. Thank you, Emma. I hate to ask, but I need a shower desperately. I smell like, well, a burning building.”
“Are you okay to shower?”
“They said I can if I use one of the plastic sleeves they gave me. I’m not sure I can put it on by myself,” he admitted.
“Of course,” she said, though she seemed to have gone a little pink.