Read Online Western Man by Janet Dailey - Free Book Online

bed.”
    “Wrong.” Ridge grabbed the bedrail for support and began inching along it.
    “What do you think you’re doing?” the doctor demanded with exasperation.
    “I’m trying to find my damned boots so I can get out of here,” Ridge muttered. “Where are they?”
    “In the closet with the rest of your clothes,” the doctor replied. “But you’re in no condition to bereleased. You need at least three days of total bedrest to give your body a chance to heal itself.”
    “If I’ve got to lie in bed for three days, I’ll do it back at the ranch. I’m not staying in this hospital.” Clutching his stomach he staggered to the closet door. Sharon saw the doctor wave aside the orderly when he made a move to stop Ridge. Once he had his boots, Ridge more or less fell into the vinyl chair in the corner.
    “It should be evident to you, Mr. Halliday, that you aren’t capable of taking care of yourself.” The doctor changed his confrontation tactics and attempted to reason with him. “You told me you lived alone. Who is going to fix your meals, give you your medicine, help you back and forth to the bathroom?”
    The question was met initially with silence as Ridge appeared to concede that he couldn’t manage alone. Then his blue gaze sought her out. “Sharon,” he concluded and stuck a foot into one of the cowboy boots, seemingly oblivious to the fact he wasn’t wearing socks. “She can stay at the house for a few days.”
    She opened her eyes a little wider at the way he took her agreement for granted, not even bothering to ask. The doctor appeared startled and glanced at Sharon as if just realizing there was a nonstaff member in the room. After a second’s hesitation, he shook his head grimly.
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Halliday, but I can’t agree to release you from the hospital,” he stated.
    “I never asked you to release me,” Ridge glanced at him with laughing scorn. “I’m checking myself out of here.”
    “If you do, I can’t be held responsible for anything that might happen,” the doctor warned him.
    “I never asked you to be,” Ridge pulled on the other boot, then remained partially hunched over, an arm folded across his stomach.
    “Are you positive you want to go through with this?” the doctor persisted in the face of the patient’s obvious debilitating pain.
    “Yes.” He made the short, one-word reply without looking up.
    Resigned to accepting the decision, the doctor sighed his disapproval and glanced at the orderly. “Bring him a wheelchair.”
    “I don’t need it.” Ridge struggled to his feet, using the chair and the wall for support, and reached inside the closet for his hat.
    “It’s hospital rules, Mr. Halliday,” the doctor informed him. “It’s required by our insurance.”
    There was no protest from Ridge as the orderly left the room to fetch the wheelchair. His departure was closely followed by the nurses, who obviously had other duties and patients. The doctor scribbled something on a paper attached to the clipboard chart he carried, tore it off, and walked over to give it to Sharon.
    “The hospital pharmacy will fill the prescription for you,” he said. “He should eat nothing but soft foods the next couple of days and there should beabsolutely no strenuous activity at all. I would prefer that he doesn’t get out of bed, but failing that, he should be confined to the house.”
    Like Ridge, the doctor was taking it for granted that she was going to look after him and wasn’t wasting his time giving Ridge any advice. Sharon accepted the prescription without comment.
    “I know Mr. Halliday insists he doesn’t want anything for the pain,” the doctor continued. “But in this instance, it will be much less wearing on his system if he does take something. Rest is the best medicine for him, but it’s extremely difficult to rest when you’re in pain.”
    “I understand,” Sharon nodded, then glanced up to see Ridge staggering out of the room, minus the