That comment weirdly lifted Landon’s mood. It was his first time to tackle a George R. R. Martin novel. Yes, he got the books were all engrossing, but that was kind of the point. He needed something to fully occupy his overactive mind—absurdly over-imaginative based on all the scenarios he’d conjured in the last few minutes. It still took him a second to say, “I have an uncle who works in a library. He sends me books he thinks I’ll like.”
“It’s a good choice.” Dr. Adams crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at Landon.
“You’ve read it?”
“No, not yet. It’s long and the author’s known to be very descriptive. My dad had a small library and encouraged me to read A Game of Thrones several times over the last few years. He met Martin once—” Dr. Adams’s tone changed before he abruptly stopped speaking midsentence. For the briefest of moments, the doctor seemed lighter, the lines around his eyes easing before he reached down again and ran a finger across the cover. “Martin left an impression on my father. He felt like once this series was complete, it would be a great tale for the ages.” Silence sat between them again as Dr. Adams seemed lost in thought until he lifted a hand and rubbed his eyes. “So you haven’t gotten very far?”
“No, I’m having trouble. It’s a struggle turning the pages.” Landon confessed with a sudden deep need to offer comfort and he wasn’t certain why.
Dr. Adams looked down at the immobilizer holding Landon’s bandaged arm and hand in place before nodding. “I’m sure it’s difficult. We have volunteers who can read to you. I can request one for you.”
“Yeah, they offered that to me today, but I was being my normal stubborn ass self and turned it down because I thought I could fucking manage.” He immediately stopped the train of thought and said, “Sorry about the language.”
“No problem. So, you don’t like to accept help. You’d rather figure it out on your own. I get it.” Dr. Adams nodded in perhaps unspoken agreement. “How’re your pain levels?”
“Hey, Landon.” Holly, a med tech he knew stepped inside the room. “Hey, Dr. Adams.”
Landon watched the good doctor slip back into professional mode. His face became blank and guarded again.
He didn’t acknowledge Holly’s greeting, but said to Landon, “I’m here because I’ve heard you’re rejecting your pain medication. There’s no sense in suffering, not right now.”
Landon wanted to make the doctor happy, so he gave a nod and Dr. Adams did too. A smile broke the stern look on the doctor’s face. The man seemed relieved, like he’d been expecting Landon to put up a fight.
“As long as we’ve got that straight. I’ll leave you to it. Goodnight.”
Landon kept his gaze glued on the doctor until he left the room and disappeared from his view. He couldn’t have been more than a few feet down the hall when Holly sighed loudly. “He’s so dreamy.”
“Dreamy?” Landon teased, giving a genuine chuckle and an eye roll that turned to a wince. The ache in his ribs reminded him of the bruising there and the laugh became a non-committal grunt as he swallowed the pain.
“Yeah, that’s what we decided was the best way to describe him. He looks like Paul Walker. So ‘dreamy’ absolutely fits him. Now do what the doctor said and open up,” she ordered, advancing on him with two small paper cups.
“What is it?” Landon moved his head as far away from the offering as he could, which turned out to be nothing more than a few inches. He strained to see what she was trying to get him to take.
“Does it matter? The doctor prescribed it. Now stop being difficult. Open up.” She tipped the paper cup to his lips. Clearly, she was made of tough stuff with the way she rolled her eyes at his most fierce look. She stared him down. He finally gave, swallowing the two pills dry. She wasn’t having any of that either, she tipped the second cup with water to his lips. “There’s no reason to choke to death trying to prove your alpha status.”
“Why’s he here?” he asked when Holly wiped his chin.
“Don’t know, but that’s what everyone’s asking. I heard he got special permission and he’s been here a few weeks, maybe a month. Totally keeps to himself much to the entire nursing staff’s regret,” she said. The puzzle of Robert Adams grew more complex. “We’ve become a fashion show in fatigues around here.”
He’d sure bet Dr. Adams got that reaction everywhere he went. All those blond, sunny good looks. The first time Landon had ever seen him, he’d sucked in his already tight belly and puffed out his chest even as he’d done something as somber as stand guard over Vice President Avery Adams’s state funeral.
The doctor definitely fit in the “dreamy” category. For Landon, there was something more appealing about Dr. Adams than just looks, but there was no denying the doctor had hit the motherlode in the gene pool. “What’s the rumor… why’s he here?”
“The speculation is that he’s planning to run for office and getting military time under his belt, but I don’t think so. Usually people like that don’t come to places like this. He could volunteer at any VA hospital in the states.” She gave a noncommittal shrug. “He jogs around the hospital in the middle of the night. Usually about three in the morning we can see him out there, then he spends twelve to fourteen hours working. I don’t know when
