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When she turned, Colson was leaning against the wall a few feet away, arms crossed, watching her.
“Problem?” he asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“You can go if you need to,” he said quietly. “Bella will understand.”
She shook her head immediately.
“There’s nowhere to go,” she said. “I’m exactly where I need to be.”
Something softened in his expression then.
“You sounded pretty scary just now,” he said.
“Good,” she muttered. “Maybe I need to do that more.”
She thought about what her mother had told her weeks ago about balance, about choosing what mattered in the moment.
Maybe this wasn’t the perfect call.
But it was the right one for now.
39
TIME WAS RIGHT
“Hi, Bella,” Dr. Charm said five days later when Colson brought her to the office for her follow up appointment.
Bella was moving around much better on her crutches than he’d thought she would.
Steadier than he was at the moment.
Physically and mentally.
It’d been a long several days. The surgery, the recovery, sleeping in the hospital chair waiting for Bella to come out and then being told it went well.
Rather than go home and change, get a few hours of sleep, he stayed where he was, sent Marly to his house before she came back on Saturday to get Bella some clothing that would work around her brace. Marly would have a better idea than he would.
And speaking of his girlfriend…
Watching her give the deputy chief hell had been the highlight of his day.
Not so much when he went to work yesterday to get a few things and the deputy was fully aware of the “family” emergency that Marly was at.
He wouldn’t be baited, got his shit and went back home to be with Bella. He was taking the full week to make sure she was good on her own.
After this appointment, he’d bring her home and run some errands once she was settled.
“Hi, Dr. Charm.”
The doctor, who had his girlfriend staring, then his sister doing the same, was smiling and helping Bella on the table.
“How is the ankle doing? Your pain management?”
“It’s good. It hurts but feels better. I’m not taking as many of those pills now.”
“We cut them back,” Colson said. He wasn’t so happy with prescription pain meds but wasn’t going to let her suffer.
