Prevail

Chapter 18

"Your arm is probably going to hurt for the next few weeks as you get used to moving it again," the doctor said.

Henrietta grimaced as she tried to lift it without the cast. It felt good to be out of it, but her arm felt like it weighed a million pounds.

"Everything else looks great. How's the cut on your side?"

She lifted a bit of her shirt to reveal the scab that was mostly gone, revealing a jagged pink scar.

"It doesn't really bother me," she admitted. "It's been like this for a week or so."

"Almost completely healed," her doctor nodded in approval. "That's really great. I expected it to take longer with the infection, but I am glad it's no longer causing you any discomfort. There are a few over the counter creams I can recommend for it to fade the scar a bit."

She nodded in thanks, glancing over at Haze who honestly looked like he might've dozed off. She smiled. He was so cute.

He caught her eye and winked.

"Alright, Henrietta."

She took that as her cue to get off the table and follow Haze and her doctor out of the room.

Haze opened the car door for her, and she climbed in.

"You took pain medicine before we left, right?"

"Yes," she said, gently laying her arm onto the middle console so it wasn't hanging. "It feels weird."

"I've broken my arm before. It didn't take long for me to be able to start moving it fully again."

Haze drove Henrietta back to work. She still had a few hours left of her shift.

"You sure you don't want to get something to eat?" he asked, putting the car in park so he could give her a gentle kiss.

"I packed today. I made sandwiches for you and Nico too, if you want them, but I think there are also leftovers."

"I'm sure Nico's already gotten into everything." Haze flashed a brief, stunning little smile.

Henrietta melted, cupping his cheek with her good hand. She smiled back, bumping his nose with his. "He does like to eat when he gets nervous."

"He has nothing to worry about."

"Are you nervous?" she whispered, brushing some of the hair out of his face. It had gotten kind of unruly the last few weeks. He kept most of it slicked back but there were always strays. "This is your first big client of your new business."

"I'm confident that more will follow no matter this outcome." He released a shaky breath that made her not a complete believer of that.

She pressed her lips to his, enjoying the quiet moment with him, soaking in the feel and taste of him.

"You're going to be great. Good luck with your meeting. Text me any updates."

"I will, baby. We'll be here to pick you up in a bit." He gave her another peck and she finally pulled away, giving him one last sweet smile before going into the office.

---

"We're supposed to get some snow," Nico announced to Haze and Henrietta. Haze helped Henrietta pull the roast chicken out of the oven.

"It's November. I'm ready to see some," Henrietta said.

"Too bad it's happening tonight," Nico said, setting down the plates and forks on the table that had been temporary cleared of the guy's work stuff. "It won't be much."

"We should go somewhere," Haze said, setting out the food before taking his seat.

"Go somewhere?" Henrietta repeated.

"Thanksgiving is in a few weeks. You have the week off, and even though it's last minute, I think we should get away."

"Like a vacation? You know I can't right now," Henrietta said, looking down at her plate.

With just one job and a few hours a week, she could hardly pay most of her bills. Nico and Haze covered most of her expenses, and she really did appreciate that, she just didn't want to use them.

"Just a weekend, Henny," Nico said, taking her hand. "Like Friday through Monday."

She narrowed her eyes, unable to control a smile when he was already grinning. "That's not a weekend, Nico."

She thought it over, tangling her finger with his.

"I usually work Fridays, if we can find something reasonable, we could do Saturday through Monday. I think Dr. David will be out the whole week, so maybe until Tuesday."

"Okay, we can do reasonable," Haze nodded, happy that she agreed.

He knew she wanted to contribute, and he would never tell her no. She wasn't incapable. She didn't need to work harder. She needed to focus on school, and he and Nico were more than financially able to support her.

"Reasonable means no flying, not this time. It's too last minute."

"Road trip it is," Nico said.

Henrietta couldn't deny the little bit of excitement she felt. She hadn't ever had someone to spend the holidays with before, and a weekend away wouldn't be so bad. It would be a good break before the final stretch of classes before her finals.