“Good night, Garrett. And Merry Christmas.”
“Good night, Paige. Merry Christmas.”
Chapter Eleven
Garrett
One. More. Day.
I’m on night eight of hospital life. I probably would have been out of here sooner if not for the holiday, or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. Jesse says I should be released tomorrow, but I’ve reached the point where I’m convinced I’ll be here forever.
Doctors really are the worst patients.
Mom and Mark have been here every day like clockwork. Annika has not. Mom quit asking about her after she realized she didn’t come to visit on Christmas Day. Though, she was skeptical and asked a few non-discreet questions when she saw a Christmas card next to an American flag on my bedside table that hadn’t been there before.
I laugh as I pick up the miniature flag, courtesy of Paige. She brought it to me on Christmas morning after her shift, and just like the night before, our laughs couldn’t be contained. Except for this time, we definitely woke up Boomer. We talked for hours about everything and nothing. It was the perfect Christmas present.
“You going to tell me what that flag means?” Boomer asks, noticing me gently waving it back and forth.
“What fun would that be? You already see my ass when I go to the bathroom. We have to keep some mystery in this relationship.”
“Yes, I do. And if I haven’t said it before, it’s quite the nice ass.”
“Should I warn your wife you’ve been checking me out?”
“Go for it. I’d love to hear that conversation.”
I could have done a hell of a lot worse in terms of hospital roommates. We have bonded in the last twenty-four hours. Boomer is a few years younger than me, is also a runner despite a congenital heart defect that goes back to his childhood, and we both have a weakness for a good burger. His real name is Robert and I’ve learned that the only people who call him that are his doctors and his wife.
“Did I hear you are getting out of here soon?” Boomer asks, turning as best as he can to face me.
“Hopefully tomorrow. No offense. I’m tired of waking up next to you every day.”
“None taken. You’re not exactly a treat to wake up to either.”
“What about my nice ass?”
“What about it?” Boomer’s wife, Kelly, asks as she walks into our room.
“Your husband thinks I have a nice ass. I don’t know. He might be having inappropriate thoughts toward me. You should be worried.”
She laughs before leaning in to give a kiss to her husband. “That’s fine. You can be his brofriend.”
“Brofriend? What the fuck is that?” I ask, genuinely confused.
She laughs, taking a seat between our beds. “It’s like a man crush, only you are in a man relationship. I have one with one of my female distributors. We go get pedicures every month, I wish I had her boobs, and she loves my taste in clothes. So, if you two could start something up, it would make me feel less guilty for having someone on the side.”
Boomer reaches for her hand. “If it makes you feel any better, I love your boobs.”
Kelly laughs, swatting his hand away. “Of course, you do. They are the only ones you’ve ever seen.”
The easiness of their relationship is baffling, and frankly, I’m jealous of it. I found out that not only are they ridiculously in love, they were also high school sweethearts after years of claiming they were just friends.
What would it be like to have a marriage like that—where you not only love the person, but that person is clearly your best friend? The ease these two have with each other is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
That’s not entirely true. I see it with Mark and Charlie and the men he served with and now works with at Cole Security. Until I met Boomer and Kelly, I thought it must have been a SEAL thing.
Apparently, it’s not.
