Page 5 of Grumpy

While several of the ol’ ladies were around, the club was absent. That didn’t seem right. The club was family. Kelly had both seen and heard evidence of that numerous times over the years. So what was happening that pulled them from their injured brother’s side?

The little she’d seen of Ghost, he looked like shit. Nursing injuries of his own, his eyes had landed on Kelly, and he’d immediately given her permission to be with Grumpy. Why her? She wasn’t family. She wasn’t even Grumpy’s girlfriend. Yet, she hadn’t argued. Any excuse to be with Grumpy.

The room was empty. Kelly must have fallen asleep after they’d taken Grumpy. She’d learned a lot in the past day about the medical world and procedures that Kelly never wished to know. First, claiming that Grumpy was stable did not mean the same thing in the burn ward that it did in the standard ER or ICU. He was still in critical condition, but he was not “actively dying”. Fuck, Kelly hated that term and just the idea of that thought. His airway was secured, his blood pressure was manageable, and he was receiving fluid resuscitation. Beyond that, Kelly was grateful she had her phone so she could Google terms she overheard the doctors and nurses use. Like the Parkland formula. Her high school diploma had never felt as inadequate as it did now.

Sitting up, Kelly’s back protested. It cracked so loudly that even Sophia gave her a sympathetic look as Kelly stood. She was still in the clothes she’d changed into for her date, grateful she kept a nice pair of jeans, pumps, and a loose tunic that hid her sagging boobs and round belly in her locker at the diner. The coffee Sophia gave her tasted burned, but it was better than nothing.

“Oy gevalt.” The Yiddish guilt-ridden expression fell from her lips as she glanced at the analog clock on the wall. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Any news?”

Sophia shook her head. Though she looked just as tired as Kelly felt, she’d obviously gone home to shower and change. Her one-year-old son, Charlie, wasn’t with her, likely not allowed in the burn ward.

The burnt coffee helped clear the fog surrounding Kelly’s mind. She pulled out her waitress pad from her purse. “I’ve been taking notes. He’s got severe second and third degree burns on his torso, arms, neck, and face. His…” Kelly’s voice cracked. “His left eye is completely gone. They’re going to need to do surgery.” She carefully flipped the page so she didn’t spill her coffee. “En-u-cleation,” she carefully pronounced, “surgery. He’s got facial fractures, ruptured eardrums, and multiple cuts from shrapnel. They confirmed the rib fractures too. They took him back for another CAT scan. I think they’re still trying to determine if he has a brain injury⁠—”

Sophia stepped forward and gently lowered the pad down, interrupting Kelly’s panicked rant. “Easy,” Sophia coaxed gently. Though technically Kelly’s boss, the younger woman was also a friend. “I need you to take some slow, even breaths with me. Okay? In…and back out. Good. Once more. In…and back out.”

Kelly’s body shook as she let out the air as instructed. A wave of something she couldn’t quite describe fell off her. Not calmness, per se, because Kelly was anything but calm right now. Maybe a bit of numbing. All she knew was that she felt slightly better.

Slightly.

“Thanks,” she muttered to Sophia.

“Ghost asked you to stay with Grumpy because he knew it was what Grumpy would want,” Sophia said softly. It was odd to see her so adult-ish. Sophia was like a chaos gremlin, a pure trouble maker and magnet. On the rare occasions that Kelly had seen Sophia be serious, it usually had to do with Pirate, Jasmine, or her son, Charlie. “He gets regular updates on Grumpy’s condition.”

Kelly nodded stiffly. She hadn’t been taking the notes so much for the club and Ghost as she had been for herself. Guilt weighed heavily on her heart, and being a part of Grumpy’s care eased that ache.

Putting the coffee cup down on the hospital table, Kelly collapsed back into the chair that had been her home since she’d entered Grumpy’s room. Even as uncomfortable as it was, it was better than being in the waiting room and not being able to see him. “He’s not awake. He doesn’t even know I’m here.”

“Trust me,” Sophia said, reaching for her hand. “He knows. These club guys, they fall hard. It’s like biology with them. He’ll know you’re here and he’s very grateful for it.”

“We’re not…” What did the club know? If Ghost learned they weren’t actually dating, would he make Kelly leave? What if Ghost was under the impression that the date Kelly had been late for wasn’t their first? But Sophia was her friend. Beyond that, Sophia had been at the diner when Kelly had left for her date. She at least knew Grumpy and Kelly’s history, or lack thereof. “I mean, the date didn’t even happen. We’re not, you know, together.”

Fuck, that sounded so high school.

Sophia squeezed her hand. Kelly felt bad that she was taking the only chair in the room. Visitor restrictions were different in the burn ward, too. Only one person was allowed in at a time, hence only one chair. Kelly wasn’t supposed to have stayed the night, but Tessa, one of the club’s ol’ ladies and a doctor, had pulled some strings. As long as Kelly did not get in their way, the charge nurse allowed her to stay.

“Doesn’t make you any less his,” Sophia argued. “That man claimed you a long time ago, even if he never said it out loud.”

Kelly frowned. She knew she’d been crushing on Grumpy for years, but when he hadn’t made any moves on her, she assumed it was one-sided. She’d dated since knowing Grumpy, but now that she thought about it, she couldn’t recall ever seeing him with a date. If he had, he hadn’t brought them to the diner. “I don’t have the brain capacity to even think about what you’re trying to say right now.”

Sophia chuckled. “I know, hun. I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you understood that you’re free to be here for Grumpy, not as a notetaker for the club.”

Kelly nodded slowly. “He’s got a long road of recovery ahead of him.”

“He does.”

Kelly’s voice was small as she asked, “What if he doesn’t want me here? What if he doesn’t want me to help him?”

Sophia took a sip of her coffee, made a disgusted face, and then asked, “Do you want to help him? Do you want to be here for him?”

Kelly glanced up. She felt her cheeks heat at the knowing look in Sophia’s brown eyes. Nodding, she said, “Yeah. I don’t know what that means yet or how it will affect my job, but I want to be here.”

“Is it possible that’s just out of guilt?” Sophia asked, raising an eyebrow. “You were supposed to be in that bar with him last night.”

“Oh, guilt is definitely a part of it,” Kelly didn’t hesitate to admit. “But that’s not the main reason.”

“What is then?”

“Because Grumpy would be here for me if our roles were reversed. If I was the one hurt, he wouldn’t leave my side for a second.”