In addition to the chef and housekeeping staff he'd hired, Father O'Toole also hired Aida Ormond as my nurse. I'd told him, in as polite of terms as I could manage, that I didn't need a nurse, but he overruled me. Said I'd need help changing the dressings and doing physical therapy on the days the therapist he'd also hired couldn't make it. PT was bad enough, but I understood the need for it, even if I hated it. But this nurse had to go.
“We aren't feeling anything,” I snapped at her. “Because we aren't the same person. As I've mentioned before. Many times.”
She gave me the same condescending look she’d given me the past few days. That wasn't even the worst part of it. She didn't live here, but she acted like she did, walking into my room without knocking. Moving things around without asking. And it wasn't because this was my house. I still hadn't fully wrapped my head around that fact. I thought of it as the father's house, and she was acting like she owned it.
As always, she ignored me and kept talking. “Let's get those dressings changed and see how we're looking today.”
She wasn't completely inept at her job, I was forced to admit as she removed the dressings and examined the wounds with a practiced eye. But she wouldn't just do her job and then leave me the hell alone. No, she kept up that inane chatter that was more about talking around me than to me. Not like when Nori talked and it was clear she was trying to keep my mind off of what she was doing. No, Aida prattled on because she liked hearing herself talk.
“So I had a word with Mrs. Hutch about that pine cleaner she's been using in the parlor.”
Mrs. Hutch was the housekeeper Father O'Toole hired. She barely came near me, and when she did, she wouldn't look at my face. I didn't want people staring, but I also didn't want them looking past me like I didn't exist.
“The scent is a little cloying, so I suggested she switch to something else.”
“I don't find it cloying.” I actually didn't even care, but who the hell did Aida think she was, telling my housekeeper what to use? If there wasn't some medical reason for it, it was none of her damn business.
“I gave her a list of alternatives and I'll make sure to check the next time I come in to see that she's using them.”
Again, like I wasn't even there.
“I think I'll also have a word with Doron about getting someone in here to redecorate. He has the money, so why leave things so stark? There are so many ways the entire place could be spruced up–”
“Shut up.” I'd had enough. The words came out cold and clipped, startling her into silence. “If I want the place redecorated, I'll talk to someone about it. If I want the fucking pine cleaner changed, I'll let Mrs. Hutch know.”
Aida put her hands on her hips and pursed her mouth, like I was being some naughty child rather than a grown-ass man who was sick of her shit. “There's no need for such language, Mr. Hammond.”
“I think there is.” My voice rose as I sat up and swung my legs around the side of the bed. The sheet shifted, leaving more of me exposed than most would consider decent, but hell, she was a nurse, she could handle seeing a dick. Besides, it was my fucking room and if I wanted to sleep naked, that was my business.
“You need to lie back down until you calm down.”
“That's enough!” I shouted this time. “I am not a child! And you know what, I don't need any of this. Get the fuck out of my house! You're fired!”
“You didn't hire me,” she said, a smug expression on her face.
“I don't give a damn,” I snapped back. “My name's on the fucking deed, so get the hell off my property before I call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing. And don't go bitching to Father O'Toole either, because I'm telling you right now that if you step one foot in this house again, I'll have your ass in jail so fast it'll make your head spin. Now get out!”
She spat something in Spanish that I was pretty sure wasn't complimentary, then spun on her heel and stomped out.
In the hallway, I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Hutch and the other two members of the housekeeping staff. They stared at me, eyes wide, then practically ran for the stairs.
Shit.
I flopped back on the bed and winced at the pain that shot through me.
Well, that just happened.
I knew I'd hear from Father O'Toole soon, asking me why I'd not only fired the nurse but the housekeeping staff too. The first was the only intentional one, but I knew he wouldn't be pleased with any of it. A stab of guilt went through me. I knew he was just trying to help.
I ran my hand through my hair, the strands unfamiliarly long now. I didn't know how to convince him that I didn't want his help. I only wanted to be left alone. I was tired of fighting and being angry, but that was all I had inside me.