The Curl Up and Dye by Sharon Sala Page A

but Lily’s stomach was still in knots, knowing how close he’d come to dying. She pulled her chair a little closer to the bed.
    “Hey Mike, it’s me, LilyAnn. I would greatly appreciate it if you would open your eyes.”
    ***
    The first thing Mike felt was pain, and the first thing he thought was why. Then he heard a voice.
    LilyAnn.
    Wherever he was, knowing she was there calmed him. He tried to move and then groaned.
    The pain is in my belly—no, my head—no, my belly. He took a breath and then gasped. For whatever reason, I hurt all over.
    Lily stood up so he could see her if he opened his eyes.
    “Hey, Mike, it’s me, LilyAnn. You’re in the hospital, but you’re okay. Can you open your eyes?”
    He licked his lips, then felt something wet and cool against them.
    “I can’t give you water, but this might help,” she said, carefully wiping his lips with a wet cloth.
    It did, but he couldn’t get that said. He tried to open his eyes, but they were so heavy.
    She patted his arm. “Come on, sleeping beauty, open your eyes.”
    He pushed past the lethargy until he saw her leaning over him. So close, as close as she’d ever been, and he was too damn weak to do a thing about it.
    LilyAnn smiled. “There you are.”
    “How…?”
    “I brought you here. You fell through your shower door, cut your head, and ruptured your spleen. You’ve been in surgery, but you’re going to be okay.”
    Now he remembered the fall.
    “Damn.”
    “Well put,” she said. “I called your parents. They’re snowed in, but they said to tell you they’ll be here as soon as they can get out and that they love you.”
    His eyelids were getting heavy again. “Love…” he whispered.
    She patted his arm again. “They know you love them, too. It’s okay, Mike. Just rest.”
    He was too sedated to clarify. It had been her, not his parents, that he’d been thinking about, but all things considered, it was just as well that he never finished the thought.
    It was nearly suppertime before the doctor made his rounds and found LilyAnn waiting for him.
    Doctor Rollins knew nearly everyone in Blessings, and LilyAnn was no exception. He smiled when he saw her sitting near his patient’s bed.
    “Hello, LilyAnn. I understand you’re the hero in this episode. How have you been?”
    Lily frowned. “I’m no hero, Doctor Rollins. I just helped a friend. While you’re here, I would like for you to look in his ears. He mentioned that he’d been dizzy, and with everything that was happening, I forgot to mention it when I brought him to the ER.”
    “What about his ears?” Rollins asked.
    “He has a history of inner ear infections, and I think that might be why he had such a bad fall.”
    “I see,” Rollins said, as he stepped over to the bed to examine his patient. After checking Mike’s vitals and the wounds under the bandages, the doctor pulled out his light and peered into each ear.
    “Good call,” he said, as he straightened. “They’re both infected. I’ll order some antibiotics for them, as well.”
    LilyAnn leaned back with a sigh, satisfied her job had been done.
    ***
    It was dark before she left the hospital. Mike had awakened off and on, but never for more than a minute or so. Satisfied that he was in good hands, she grabbed the bag with her dirty clothes and left, pausing at the nurse’s desk on her way out.
    “Would you please put a No Visitors sign on Mike Dalton’s door? His family lives in Colorado, and they’re snowed in. I’m not sure when they’ll be able to get here, and he’s still so out of it he doesn’t need the hassle of constant company. I have to work until noon tomorrow, and then I’ll be here to run interference for him.”
    “Sure thing,” the nurse said, and promptly made up a sign and went to put it on the door as LilyAnn headed for the elevator.
    When she got in Mike’s car to drive home, the blood on the front seat was a vivid reminder of what had happened, but he had leather upholstery,