Page 3 of Stick Around
Grace stepped closer and touched his shoulder, guiding him back to his seat. “Let me phone the girls, okay?”
“You gotta do it now, though. They’ll fuckin’ kill me if they find out he’s here, and I didn’t call them.”
She nodded. “I’ll phone them right now. But you have to stay here while I do. I can’t worry about you wandering off somewhere when I haven’t checked you out yet.”
“I told you I’m fine. I’m not hurt.”
“Please just stay put.”
Billy winced and opened his mouth to argue, but the worry on Grace’s face must have changed his mind, because he sighed and shifted back from his perch on the edge of the chair.
“Thank you.” Grace smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
After finishing her phone call at the desk, Grace returned to the waiting room, relieved to find Billy hadn’t moved from his seat. “I talked to Madison, and she’s going to call Lauren, okay?”
Billy let out a deep exhale. “Okay.” He nodded. “Thanks.”
Grace mustered up the most authoritative voice she could. “Now you have to let me check you out.” Her stomach fluttered with nerves.
Billy raised a dark eyebrow. “Since when is little Gracie Campbell so bossy?”
“It’s Nurse Campbell in here. And you have to let me examine you. Because if you’re hurt and you didn’t realize it because you were in shock, I could get into a lot of trouble.”
“Fine, but can we do it out here? I want to be out here when the girls show up.”
“Deal.” Grace stood up. “I’ll go grab a first aid kit; you stay here.”
Grace ran back to check on Mr. Avery’s room and Bernice waved her away, so she grabbed a small black duffle bag from behind the nurse’s station and returned to the waiting room. Billy was still in his chair, head in his hands, elbows on his knees. She sat down beside him, zipped open the bag, and pulled out a small flashlight.
“All right, ready. Can you look at me?”
He straightened up, turning to face her, and lifted his eyes to meet hers. Her skin prickled, catching her off guard. Those eyes. The little flecks of hazel and the way they looked like he was the only one who knew about a practical joke that was about to happen.Oh my god. Focus.She brought the flashlight up, shining it into his eyes.
“Follow my finger,” she said, raising her index finger in front of his left eye. She traced it across his face to his right eye, watching his pupils dilate. “Good.” She lowered her finger and the flashlight, but Billy’s eyes stayed fixed on her. A tingling heat spread across her face. She held both hands toward him, her first and second fingers extended. “Can you squeeze my fingers?”
Billy glanced down at her fingers and then back up to her, an amused smirk dancing on his lips. “Seriously?”
“Just do it,” she insisted, biting back a smile. He closed his large hands around her proportionally tiny fingers and squeezed. Grace cocked her head. “Harder, please. You’re not going to hurt me.”
Billy’s eyebrows popped up and for a second, that mischievous sparkle had lit back up in his eyes. Grace felt her cheeks flush as she realized the subtext of her words. He squeezed his hands harder, narrowing his eyes, waiting for her to react. Her breath hitched. He squeezed a little harder. She shuddered out an exhale and yanked her hands back.
“Alright, I believe you.” She lowered her eyes and pretended to fumble with something inside the duffle bag. “It doesn’t look like you’re hurt.” She zipped it up.
“Are you sure?” She could hear the amusement in his voice. “You don’t want to check my blood pressure or anything else?”
She cleared her throat, keeping her eyes on the bag. “Do you want to get cleaned up? You can use the washroom in the hall to wash up if you like.” She motioned to the hall.
Billy looked at his hands and then out to the parking lot.
“I’ll stay here and wait for Lauren and Madison,” she reassured him.
“Yeah?” He glanced out the window once more. “Okay, yeah. Thanks, Gracie.”
He rose from the chair, and Grace watched him walk away. His black motorcycle boots clunked through the quiet hall.She used to hate it when he called her Gracie. It sounded so childish. Not at all like the mature woman she’d wished he’d see her as. But tonight it felt different. Comfortable and intimate.
She stood up and paced over to the doorway, stepping outside to peek down the highway.Ugh.Grace pictured Madison and Lauren speeding down the highway, scared, not knowing how their dad was. Her chest tightened.
She hadn’t been super close with Madison or Lauren in high school—even though she was Lauren’s age—but in such a small community it was impossible for them to have not all known each other. And she’d always liked them both. Grace wasn’t the most popular girl in school. She’d spent her weekends studying instead of drinking at bush parties like the rest of them, but the Avery girls hadn’t made her feel like an outsider.
