Time to Control (17 page)

_No, because my head hurts, and I
think I might have a concussion, and I don't think you're supposed to take any
painkillers with a concussion?_
 
Instead of saying my thoughts, I simply said I'd be fine.

Eddie gathered up our bags, and
carried them himself.
 
He refused to
let me carry any, even when I offered.

By the time we took our seats in
first class again, my head had moved from an ache to pounding.
 
I should have taken him up on the
aspirin; I felt rather nauseous from the pain.
 
I didn't realize how nauseous I felt
until the plane took off and I was fumbling for the airsickness bag.

“Schroeder?” Eddie asked, worry
evident in his voice as I closed the bag and leaned back in my chair, trying to
take deep breaths.

“I'm fine.”
 
I let him take the bag from my shaky
hands, and heard him pass it off to a stewardess.

The plane lurched as it leveled
off, and I sat forward in a hurry and found the bag in front of Eddie.
 

“Better bring more,” I croaked to
the flight attendant when she came by.

“Bring some ginger ale too, please,
if you have any,” Eddie told the attendant.
 
The stewardess returned a few minutes
later with a small stack of airsickness bags, a drink, and some wet towels.

“We pass them out hot in first
class after meals,” the stewardess explained, “but I thought she might like
some cool ones.”
 
Eddie thanked the
woman for me while I was fighting back the tears.
 
He put an arm around my shoulders,
bringing me in to lean on his, and kissed the top of my head.

“Try some ginger ale, okay?
 
It'll help settle your stomach.”

My stomach is not my problem, I
thought, but sipped at the beverage anyway.
 
I drank about half of it before being
done, and reclined the chair back to be more comfortable, trying to fall asleep
and let time pass by quicker.

Turbulence woke me and left me scrambling for another bag.
 
Eddie rubbed circles on my back while I
was hunched over.

“Don't, that's making it worse,” I
sobbed, and his hand immediately stilled.
 
After the bout of retching was done, I used every available square inch
of my seat to curl up into a ball, my head on Eddie's lap.
 
Thank God for the extra room in first
class.
 
This wouldn't have been
possible in coach.
 
Eddie tried a
couple different places for his right hand before resting it on my neck,
fingers caressing my cheek every so often.
 
The stewardess brought over a blanket, and helped Eddie spread it out on
top of me.
 

“Honey, lift your head,” he said
softly, sliding an airplane pillow beneath it when I did so.
 
He rested his hand back where it was,
still wiping tears away.

“I feel like shit,” I moaned.

He couldn't help but chuckle at my
phrasing.
 
“I know, sweetheart, I
know.
 
It's not too much
farther.”
 

I fell back asleep, and was able to
sleep the rest of the flight.

I barely remembered making it off
of the airplane and to the car.
 
I
did remember walking past the car, and Eddie having to call me back from where
he stopped to put the bags in the trunk.
 
I waited patiently for him to shut it, then unlock my door.

I sank into the car seat,
immediately reclining it back after putting on my seatbelt.
 
I must have fallen asleep again, because
the next thing I knew Eddie was unbuckling my seatbelt and picking me up.

“Shh, I got you,” he whispered, and
I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest.
 
He took me inside and laid me down, and
I relaxed on the bed until I heard voices over me.

“What seems to be the problem?” A
strange voice said, and my eyes flew open.
 
A man with a kindly face in maroon scrubs smiled down at me.
 
I was in the hospital?

“Fell out of a tree earlier this
afternoon in Atlanta.
 
Hit her head,
right ribs.
 
She threw up the entire
flight back.”

The nurse took my pulse, blood
pressure, and temperature, then shined a light in my eyes.
 
“Can you tell me your name, kiddo?”

“Um, Schroeder.
 
Kelly.”

“Ok, Kelly, do you know who brought
you in?”

“Kelly is her last name,” Eddie
interjected.
 
“Her first name is
Schroeder.
 
Her parents are
weird.
 
We just left them,” he added
as way of explanation.

“He's Eddie,” I said, reaching out
for his hand.

“And how do you know him?”
 
The nurse moved his finger in front of
my eyes, and I blinked to focus and follow it.

“Husband.
 
Co-worker.
 
No, husband.”
 
Which story was I supposed to give?

The nurse looked over at Eddie, who
answered that we were married.
 
Oh.
 
Oops.

“Ok, kiddo.
 
We're going to get you in a gown, check
out your ribs, then the doctor will be by.”
 
The two of them got me sitting up and
changed, and the nurse prodded on the sore ribs until I was on the brink of
crying again.
 
He left to get the
doctor, and I fell back against the pillow.

“Are you mad at me?” I could barely
see past the tears, but Eddie certainly did not look pleased.

“What? No, baby, I'm not mad at
you.”
 
He stroked my hair.
 
“Why would you think that?
 
No, I'm not mad at you.”

“I'm sorry,” I sobbed, and felt him
kiss my forehead.
 

“Shh.
 
It's okay.”

A throat was cleared in a feminine
manner, but I kept my eyes closed.
 
I let Eddie greet the doctor and explain things again.
 
The doctor did the same neural check as
the nurse, and thankfully didn't press as hard on the ribs.
 
I still felt worse than when Eddie brought
me in, though.

“It's probably just a mild
concussion, but we'll send her up for a head CT just in case.
 
We'll get some films of the ribs
too.
 
Sir, you can stay down here,
and one of the nurses will take her.”

I was shaking by the time the nurse
wheeled me back down, and Eddie put his arms around me after I sat back down on
the bed.

“What happened?
 
What's wrong?”

“Nothing.
 
I just don't feel good.
 
Can we go home?”

“Not until the doctor says so,
Schroeder.”

The doctor finally came by half an
hour later and filled them in.
 
It
was a mild concussion, and only bruising on my side.
 
She released me, giving a sheet to Eddie
of things to watch for with the concussion.
 
I was glad she handed them to Eddie
– my odds of remembering were slim to none.

The meds the doctor gave me helped
me sleep again on the drive home, but I woke up when Eddie pulled into the
garage.
 
He left the bags in the
car, and instead helped me into the house.

I flopped down on my side of the
bed, ready to lie down.

“No, let's get you changed and
comfortable,” Eddie said firmly, and took off my shirt.
 
I couldn't figure out the bra hooks, and
he helped with that too.
 
He pushed
me back onto the bed, and undid and removed my jeans.
 
He found some of the flannel pj's and
got me dressed, resisting my efforts to grab him and kiss him.
 
“No, sweetheart, it's time for bed.”

“Yeah, with me,” I slurred, the
painkillers leaving me loopy.

“I'll be to bed in a bit; you warm
the bed up for me, okay?” Eddie kissed me lightly.
 
"Go to sleep."

I reached out and touched his arm
before he walked away.
 
"Stay?"
 
His eyes
searched my face, then his face gentled.

"Sure."

He climbed in beside me in the
large bed, and I turned to cuddle facing him.
 
"No, roll on your other side."

"That'd hurt," I
protested.

"Doctor said you should."

"Eddie..."

"You want to cuddle, you get
on that side.
 
Otherwise I'll go
into the other room," he threatened.

I aboded by his rules since I
wanted the closeness, and did find that I was breathing deeper despite the
pain.
 
He snuggled in close, holding
me tight.
 
I fell asleep in moments.

Eddie's alarm clock woke us for the
last time after a night full of neural checks, and I was sprawled across his
chest.
 
He reached out a fist and
pounded the buzzer into submission.
 
"Babe, get off.
 
I need
to take a shower."

I grunted and pulled the covers
over me.

"Babe, seriously.
 
I'm meeting with Kinerian this
morning.
 
I'm telling them about
us."

That got me to toss the covers off,
and look up at him bleary eyed.
 
"We haven't talked about that, have we?"
 
I knew my brain felt fuzzy, but I didn't
think it was that fuzzy.

"Kinda," he hedged.

I slapped his bare chest.
 
"Eddie!"

"Sorry, I didn't want to ruin
your weekend."
 
I twisted a
nipple.
 
"Ow!
 
Point taken."
 
He grabbed my fingers before they could
do more damage.
 
"How are you
feeling?" He asked, changing the subject.

"My side doesn't hurt as
much," I said after assessing myself.
 
"My head feels thick, though."

He smirked, and I brought my other
hand up towards his nipple.
 
"Hey, none of that."
 
He grabbed both hands this time and rolled over, pinning me underneath him.
 
He stared into my eyes in the dawn-lit
room and brought the topic back around.
 
"They are in town today to meet with IDI.
 
I think it would be a good idea for me
to tell them that we're married, and let them decide if this is a conflict of
interest as far as they are concerned."

There were plenty of valid reasons
we shouldn't do this, but I couldn't think of them at the moment.
 
"Hon, I don't think it's a good
idea."

"Why not?"

I closed my eyes in
frustration.
 
"You're taking
advantage of me.
 
I don't know right
now."

"We've talked about this.
 
What's the worst that could happen?
 
They get a new consultant."

"No, they could decide that
this is the last straw, and pull out of the deal.
 
At the very least we would have to go
through everything again."

He made sure my hands were
secure.
 
"Well, it's not like
you're going to get married to the next consultant, are you?"

I took a deep breath to calm down,
and flinched when it hurt.

"I'm sorry," Eddie
apologized seeing my anguish, and kissed me on the tip of the nose.
 
"The downsides are a lot worse if
we don't tell them.
 
If it comes out
afterwards, and it's not like it can be hidden forever, then it could cast
doubt on the whole process.
 
That
wouldn't be good for anyone.
 
I'll
most likely get fired, you might get fired, and the buyout would fall
through.
 
I'd probably be sued,
too."

I sighed.
 
"I just don't know what to
do."

"Just let me handle it."

"I'm not good at that," I
admitted.

He released my hands so he could
stroke my hair.
 
"I know,
sweetheart.
 
We'll work things
out."
 
He gave me a long,
tender kiss, then headed for the shower.

When he left the bathroom wrapped
in a towel, I pushed past him, already naked.
 
"Don't go without me."

"Schroeder, you sure?
 
You should stay home."

I continued to talk as I climbed in
the shower.
 
"I've had too many
days off recently.
 
Especially with
Alan gone, I need to be there.
 
Joseph was generous to give me Thursday and Friday, and I don't want to
push my luck.
 
You going to fight me
on this, too?"

"No, just take it easy today,
okay?
 
Today would be a bad idea to
launch a new site.
 
No new
programming, either."
 
I
considered splashing him with water, but he had already put on a suit, and I
didn't remember if he had another one.

I dressed quickly in jeans and a
shelf bra tank with a sweater over it.
 
Granted, it was lower on my side that was injured, but the tight band of
a bra would be uncomfortable.
 
That's what I was telling myself, at least.

"Mmm, you look sexy," I
told Eddie when I finally had a moment to appraise him.
 
The expensive suit was tailored for his
body, riding low on his hips.
 
I put
my arms around him under the suit coat and gave him a hug, then moved a hand
down to squeeze his butt.