Eli knew he was a horrible patient. He pushed himself, he pushed the staff, and he even pushed poor Nettie, who deserved it least of all. Finally, after a week in the hospital, they sent him home. His leg was still bandaged from his hip to his knee, and he was only allowed to move about in a wheeled chair, so he wouldn't be able to leave the second floor of the house. One more week, the quacks promised, and if there was still no sign of infection, they might, might remove some of the stitches and allow him to switch to crutches.
"Your mother has sent over a manservant for you," Nettie said as she wheeled him up to the doorstep. From there, VanCleve and his father's personal valet, Warren, carried him up the stairs and plunked him in his bed. Eli gestured for both of them to leave and they did.
Nettie sat in the chair beside his bed. "Diana has moved back to your mother's as you'll have heard. The VanCleves are going to stay in the house as chaperones. Mr. Warren will help you with dressing and so on. I offered, of course, as did Mr. VanCleve, but your mother wouldn't hear of it." To hear Nettie's version of things, Eli's mother had sat with her all night until the doctors had pronounced him out of the woods - barring infection of course. The new rapport between his mother and his bride-to-be made him more than a little nervous.
"And, as per usual, I have no choice in the matter." He knew he shouldn't take it out on Nettie, so he tried for a softer tone. "How is your arm?"
She rubbed the bare skin, still slightly pale, where her cast had been removed the day before. "Infinitely better than it was before. I mended, as you will."
"Although to what degree is yet to be seen," he grumbled. "Tomorrow, I want you to send Gordon up as soon as he gets back from the bookstore. We can set up a temporary office in the small parlor. My brain still works, though it's growing weak from lack of exercise."
"Only a few hours per day at first, remember." She fluffed the covers over him and leaned down for a kiss. "Next week, I thought I'd go back to the bookshop, so you can have Gordon full time. The week after that the Websters will be home, and we can work out what they want to do about replacing me."
"But I thought you'd be here." He knew he was whining. He hated to admit it, but the trip had taxed him more than he'd expected.
"I'll stay as much as you need me," she promised, kissing his forehead. "Later, when you need Gordon more, we'll switch."
They'd reversed roles - she was nursing him, reassuring him, and taking care of everything. He understood now, why she'd balked from time to time, but blast it, it was a man's job to take care of his woman - not the other way around. What if the firebug came back? He wouldn't be able to save her. Hell, she could probably save him. There seemed to be no end to what Nettie Price could accomplish.
Whether or not he kept his leg, his firefighting days were gone. At best, he'd walk again, probably with a cane. He might still be able to drive the ladder truck - but that was a long shot. At worst, he might lose the leg, or even, due to swelling on his spine, be paralyzed from waist down. He'd never felt like less of a man in his life.
* * *
Over the next few weeks, Nettie couldn't tell if Eli was trying to cling harder to her or push her away. He seemed to alternate equally between the two. He grumbled if she worked more than a few hours a day at the bookstore, so she didn't. There were no repeats of their almost-tryst, no matter how hard she tried to coax. On the other hand, he welcomed the Websters when she invited them for dinner. Worse, try as she might, she couldn't get him to talk about the wedding, even today, when she'd driven him to the doctor's office to get the rest of his stitches out.
On the way back, he plucked the car keys out of her hands. "I'm cleared to drive. I don't even need a damn cane for that."
"That's wonderful." She obediently moved around to the passenger side.
"I'm back on the squad as of tomorrow. I may have to stay with the truck, but at least I won't be completely useless."
"I see." Nettie understood that his volunteer work was his real passion. Law was only his second, the career he chose to allow him the freedom to follow his heart. She'd thought she was perhaps third on his list of priorities, but the way he was today, she wasn't sure. "As long as the doctor agrees, that's good news. I know you found it hard to stay put whenever there was an alarm. Do you think you might mention my idea of a wives' group? I'd still like to pursue that." She'd been hand-sewing quilts since her cast had come off, but he'd never asked about her projects. "Charity work is an acceptable activity, according to your mother. She's adamant about me giving up my job at the bookstore before the wedding." She'd also been pressing them both to set a date, although Eli had shrugged off her questions.
He grunted but didn't answer. They reached the house and Eli went into his office while Nettie returned upstairs. She'd saved up almost all her pay since she'd been living here and had her eye on a used sewing machine in the store window a few blocks away. Instead of going into the house with Eli, she walked the block over to Main Street and began to window shop her way toward the store that sold sewing machines and vacuum cleaners.