Read Online Dearly Loved by Bonnie Blythe - Free Book Online Page B

side, noticing one knee crisscrossed with white scars while the other leg showed the garish signs of his recent injury.
    Meredith crouched beside him and felt for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief to find it strong and steady. She lifted his shirt and checked his abdominal incision, worried it had been split open from his fall.
    “Who is under my shirt?” David asked in a froggy voice.
    Meredith jerked backward. She tugged his shirt down and gave him a worried smile. “Why are you the floor?”
    David reached for his head. “I must have stood up too fast and passed out. I can’t really remember.” Bringing his hand away, he spied blood on his fingers.
    Meredith caught his hand and lowered it. “You cut your head, on the countertop most likely. I have supplies with me and can get you patched up. First we need to move you to a better location.”
    Groaning, David eased himself to a sitting position. Meredith gave him a moment to catch his breath before slipping an arm around his waist. He grabbed onto the side of the counter and together, they struggled to a standing position.
    She angled her head to look up at him. He’s sure a lot taller than I remembered! “How are you doing? Woozy?”
    David nodded, closed his eyes and reopened them. “I think I’m ready.”
    “Where to?”
    “The bedroom. The couch is too small for me to stretch out on.”
    Meredith felt she was exerting more energy than David. He leaned heavily on her and she worried she might collapse under his weight. They made their way slowly to the bedroom.
    “Where is your walker?”
    David flashed a guilty grin. “In the bedroom, I think.”
    “And you were trying to walk without it because…?”
    “I wanted to see how strong my leg was.” When she gave him a disbelieving look, he rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Merrie, I’m only thirty. I don’t want to use a walker!”
    “Typical male nonsense,” she grumbled as they stopped at the side of his bed. “Okay, let’s get you down slowly... David! ”
    David fell onto the bed on his back, taking Meredith down with him. She landed with an ooomph onto his chest.
    Scrambling off his body, breathing hard, she glared at him. “Very funny, Steller!”
    David raised his hands in innocence. “What? It was an accident.”
    Meredith stalked out of the bedroom to retrieve her bag, fuming at his actions. Once a flirt, always a flirt.
    Back in his room, she ignored the appeal in his eyes and went about her tasks in a brisk manner. She cleaned and applied butterfly bandages to the cut on his head, checked his blood pressure, temperature, monitored his pulse, and rechecked his incision. Meredith ignored David’s voice imploring her to slow down because she was making him dizzy.
    “Where do you keep your bedding?”
    “On my bed?”
    “Do you have a linen closet with extra sheets somewhere?” she asked, tapping her foot.
    “I haven’t unpacked them yet.”
    Meredith turned on her heel and went into the living room. She went through one box after another looking for sheets. When she came across his soccer league jersey packed with other sports memorabilia, she paused. Her temper dissipated as she smoothed the folds of the green and white jersey with her hand—number twenty-five of the Colorado Rapids team.
    Meredith heaved an exasperated sigh. Poor David. He’s been through so much. I need to lighten up with him . She looked through another box and soon found sheets and blankets. Back in his room, she prepared to change his sheets.
    “Do I need to get up again?”
    Meredith smiled at the weary look on his face. “Nope. Just relax.”
    She eased out the sheets from under him and repeated the process in reverse to get clean sheets on the mattress. In minutes, David lay in a fresh bed.
    He raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed.”
    “Still paying off school loans for that little skill.”
    David’s face softened. “Merrie, I really am sorry for dragging you down with me. I swear it was an