Dating A Cougar (23 page)

“That’s what friends are for,” Jenna said, squeezing Seth’s hand in friendly support.

It was all Seth could do to keep from punching a fist into the elevator wall.

Chapter 23

The first thing Casey saw when he woke was Seth sitting in a chair texting on his phone. He opened his mouth to speak to Seth, but what he said was “Alexa.”

“Jenna took her home to get some rest and a change of clothes. She’s been here the whole time,” Seth said, reaching to push the call button for the nurse.

“Where’s Susan?” Casey said, turning his head and seeing his leg in traction.

Seth froze. Was Casey reliving the past? Not good, he thought, reaching out to take Casey’s hand in his.

“How are you feeling?” Seth asked Casey softly.

“There was a bomb,” Casey said, gripping Seth’s hand.

“Not this time,” Seth said softly, putting his other hand on Casey’s arm. “You ran into the street to save a little girl. Do you remember doing that? A car hit you and you broke your hip again.”

Casey closed his eyes, trying to figure it out. “No.”

Then Casey groaned as the memories swirled, truth slicing through him. “Susan—Susan is gone?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Seth confirmed gently, watching the emotional pain race across Casey’s face as the past met the future. Seth hurt knowing that for Casey it was probably like losing Susan again.

“You’re in the hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, where you’ve been living with me,” Seth told him. “You’ve been—you’ve been unconscious for several days. They had to fix your hip again, and you’ve had a concussion.”

Casey closed his eyes. “Head hurts.”

“Yeah, I bet it does,” Seth said. “Let me call the nurse and we maybe can fix the headache.”

Seth pressed the alarm and called the nurse.

Casey suddenly gripped his arm tensely as pieces of the present started to return. “Alexa?”

“Thank god,” Seth said at last, letting out the breath he’d been holding. “Yes. Alexa is fine. She’ll be back in a little while. I’ll call her and tell her you’re awake.”

“No,” Casey said, closing his eyes. His vision of the beautiful woman was clear, but so was the one of his wife. It was making him ill. Had he cheated?

“No? What do you mean no?” Seth said, incredulous. “Alexa has been worried sick. I have to tell her you’re okay.”

“Stay away. Alexa, stay away,” Casey said insistently, gripping Seth’s arm.

“I can’t promise that,” Seth told him, “but I’ll tell her if you’re sure.”

“Please,” Casey said, drifting back off into the blackness again.

Seth looked at Casey with disbelief, wondering what was going through his cousin’s mind. How could Casey not want to see Alexa? He’d said nothing but her name for days, and now he didn’t want to see her. The situation was ludicrous to him.

“Fine,” Seth said, looking at Casey’s unconscious form again. “Make me the bad guy and pass out. Jenna probably will stop speaking to me when I break Alexa’s heart. I hope to hell you have a good reason for this.”

The nurse ran Seth out of the room just before the doctor came in to examine Casey. In the waiting area, Seth picked up the phone, looked up a number, and dialed.

“Yes. I need to speak with Dr. Logan urgently. Tell her this is Seth Carter and it’s an emergency.”

Seth left his number, and minutes later Regina called back. He explained what Casey had insisted he do, and Regina said she’d be there as quickly as she could.

“Shit,” Seth said aloud, after hanging up the phone. “I can’t believe I have to do this.”

*** *** ***

All things considered, Seth thought later, Alexa had taken the news as well as anyone could have. She’d simply sat down in a chair in the ICU waiting area and wept like her heart was broken while Seth watched, helpless to change the situation.

“If Casey wasn’t already hurt so badly, I’d kill him,” Seth said to Jenna, while Regina and Lauren hugged and soothed Alexa.

It barely registered to Seth that Jenna had put an arm around him in support.

“I’m sorry,” Seth said to Jenna, peering down into her earnest face. “I don’t understand what this is about. Casey has a strange way of looking at things sometimes.”

“There’s nothing else you could do but what Casey asked,” Jenna said reasonably, rubbing Seth’s back, “even if he is being a stupid man.”

“What does that make me then?” Seth asked sadly, not able to look directly at Jenna any longer.

“A caring person who is caught in the middle,” Jenna said sincerely.

Jenna gasped when Seth spun her into his arms so fast there was no time to second guess what he intended. His embrace was so tight, the press of his body to hers so warm and welcoming. Her arms wrapped around him before she remembered they weren’t supposed to want to hold him anymore.

“Thank you, Jenna,” Seth said, bending to kiss her mouth with both reverence and lust. “Take care of Alexa. I’ll see what I can do with my hard-headed cousin.”

Seth turned and walked away, determined to find out what was going on with Casey and fix it. Then he was damn well fixing his relationship with Jenna.

Jenna was glad Seth never looked back to see her standing there, hand to her still quivering lips. She understood now that Seth hadn’t accepted what she’d said about being just friends. Casey wasn’t the only hard-headed man in that family.

*** *** ***

Seth had to wait two days before Casey was alert and awake long enough to talk with him about Alexa. The nurse had barely closed the door to their new private room when Seth slid the phone closed and put it in his pocket.

“Okay. Enough is enough. What the hell is wrong with you?” Seth demanded.

“I’ve been told a car hit me,” Casey said shortly, looking away.

“Oh, hell no. That’s not it. I’ve seen you get blown up by a bomb, shot at, and several other kinds of hurt without feeling sorry for yourself. That pride of yours did not get dented by a damn car,” Seth said, crossing his arms.

Casey rotated his head slowly, doing the stretching exercises the doctor had recommended, stalling—but knew he was going to have to tell Seth the truth.

“I’m the bad guy who had to watch Alexa cry her eyes out over you. You owe me an explanation,” Seth demanded.

Casey thought he probably did, but it wasn’t flattering to him, Susan, or Alexa.

“When I opened my eyes, I saw my leg in traction and suddenly I was living my life two years ago, still in love with and married to Susan. Yet somehow I knew Alexa was in my life and I felt disloyal. I still half expect Susan to come walking through the hospital room door. What does it say about me for my memories to be all mixed up?” Casey said sadly.

Seth said nothing for a few moments. It had not occurred to him Casey might have deeper emotional scars from his multiple traumas than anyone knew. Considering what his cousin had suffered in his life, what Casey was experiencing was understandable.

“I can see how that would be hard to deal with,” Seth said quietly. “You seemed to catch up pretty quickly though when we talked. I think you would have done fine with seeing Alexa. You were never unfaithful to Susan.”

Casey nodded and looked out the window.

“Every day it gets a little better. The past fades a little more,” Casey said, closing his eyes. “When I’m absolutely sure I won’t be calling Alexa by Susan’s name in bed, I’ll send flowers and apologize.”

Seth grinned and shook his head from side-to-side.

“The very rich and successful Alexa Ranger spent every night you were unconscious sleeping on a floor cot next to your bed, waiting for you to wake up. Then when you did, you refused to see her. She cried like her heart was broken. I don’t think flowers are going to get the job done this time.”

It was sick, but Seth actually enjoyed throwing Casey’s words back at him—mostly because they were true.

“I’ll figure it out,” Casey said, frowning, the thought of Alexa crying over him making him as ill as the other things going on.

“Yeah, well,” Seth informed him. “Jenna has decided she and I are going to be
just friends
. You better hope like hell Alexa doesn’t decide the same thing about the two of you. It’s not fun sleeping alone all the time.”

Casey laughed and grabbed his head. “Hurts to laugh,” he said. “Alexa would never do that to me.” Memories of being with her were easier to recall now and very intense.

“You didn’t see how hard she cried when I told her you didn’t want to see her,” Seth told him. “I wanted to kill you myself.”

“Thanks,” Casey said with a disparaging laugh.

“Get well fast and fix this,” Seth demanded. “She’s obviously good for you. Just an FYI to motivate you, if that titanium hip replacement works, you might even walk without the cane.”

“Titanium? Sounds expensive,” Casey said with a sigh. “Looks like you might have a roommate for a while longer until I pay for it.”

Seth pulled his lip between his teeth. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about the bill. I think it’s mostly paid for already.”

“You’ve obviously never paid medical bills,” Casey said. “They can be endless. Military insurance is not so great.”

“I think the bill for the replacement was settled by the time they installed it in you,” Seth said easily. “Just focus on using the damn thing and walking. That was the point of it.”

“Look,” Casey said, “you don’t have to pay my bills, Seth. It’s enough you’re letting me live with you. I’ll take care of my own bills.”

“As far as I know, there’s no bill, Casey. Now just drop it, okay?” Seth got up, pulled his phone out, and walked to the door. “I need to go make a call, and you need to rest. I heard they were planning to get you on your feet today.”

“Seth,” Casey called out but got nothing but the door closing in reply.

Casey sighed, wishing Seth didn’t feel the urge to take care of him. It was supposed to be the other way around.

*** *** ***

Casey’s first attempt at walking went better than he hoped. He had to use the parallel bars for support, but the more steps he took, the better his hip moved. At times, it was like the normal leg and hip could barely keep up with the repaired one.

The therapist praised his walking. “I heard the titanium models were exceptional, but I never worked with a patient who actually got one. You’re very lucky, Mr. Carter.”

“Yes,” Casey agreed, taking a few more slow steps. “This one feels very different.”

“Well, look at you,” the doctor said, stepping into the therapy room. “Not exactly bionic, but pretty damn good if I say so myself. That’s quite a bit of movement.”

“Bionic?” Casey asked with a laugh. “I wish.”

“Ms. Ranger asked for bionic, but this was the best we could do,” the doctor said easily with a laugh. “I think she’ll be pleased with your progress. And over time, I think you’ll be amazed at how much better you’ll get around.”

“Alexa,” Casey said, his throat suddenly dry. “Alexa asked you to make me bionic?”

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” the doctor asked, laughing himself. “Yes. Ms. Ranger told us money was no object and you were to have the best. So that’s what you got. Then just yesterday, I heard she made a healthy donation to the hospital. You’re a very lucky man, Mr. Carter. Not only is she beautiful, she’s also a good woman with a very generous heart.”

Casey walked slowly to the wheelchair waiting for him, easing himself down into it. The magnitude of his mistake was just starting to dawn on him.

His body hurt around the incision, but the hip replacement didn’t hurt nearly as much compared to the first replacement. Even his other injuries were all steadily improving.

His heart on the other hand might never fully mend. Casey had no idea how to make things right with Alexa. In trying not to hurt her with his memories of Susan, he’d actually hurt Alexa more by rejecting her love when she was finally offering it to him.

“Can I ask you a personal question, Agnes?” Casey looked at his physical therapist, a married woman close to Alexa’s age.

When she gave him an arch look, he just smiled. “It’s not
that
personal. I just wanted to ask, when your husband screws up, does he send you flowers?”

The woman threw back her head laughing. She handed Casey’s chart to him to hold. Releasing the handbrake on the wheelchair, she started out of the room with him.

“Frank knows better than to send me flowers with some lame apology note,” Agnes said to Casey. “He knows he better tell me to my face he’s sorry. And I want to hear he’s thought through what we fought about and come to his senses. I pretty much stay mad until that happens.”

Casey sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of,” he said, frowning.

The woman huffed. “Weren’t you in the military? And didn’t you run out in front of a car to save a kid, Mr. Hero? Sharing the truth of your feelings ought to be the least of things scares someone like you,” she told him, grinning behind his head as she pushed.

“Marine training didn’t cover groveling,” Casey said, making her laugh.

“I saw your woman talking to a whole room full of press about you,” Agnes told Casey, noting with pleasure the shock on his face. “Yeah, she even put guards near the ICU to keep the reporters away while you healed. I don’t blame you for being worried. She looks like she’s pretty used to dealing with things by herself and not concerned about having a man around.”