A Thousand Little Pieces Read online

  A Thousand Little Pieces

  Love Medicine - Book Five

  Cecilia Fyre

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to others. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Published 21 July 2020

  © 2020 Cecilia Fyre

  Cover: Lyss Em

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Thank you!

  About the Author

  Also by Cecilia Fyre

  1

  “Ricco?” Groggy from her nap Lea pushed herself up on the sofa. She rubbed her eyes. The crash of the front door had woken her from her drugged doze. Someone was hurrying through the hallway. Lea couldn’t see anything from her vantage point. There was only one place he could’ve gone without passing the doorway into the living room.

  “Not again.” She gritted her teeth and took hold of her left leg, heaving it off the sofa. She swore under her breath as she put pressure on the bandaged leg. It took three tries with the crutches to heave herself off the sofa.

  She’d just begun to hobble across the living room when Ciaran came bounding down the stairs. “Are you okay, Lea?”

  She pointed toward the front of the house with her crutch. “It’s not me, it’s your Dad.”

  The noises coming from the little bathroom by the door made Lea frown. If the migraine was already bad enough to make him sick, he’d left it much too late to come home. The thought of having to care for him when she was herself barely able to get around did not fill her with anticipation. As much as she hated burdening the kid, at that moment she was grateful that Ciaran was around.

  When they got into the hall, Lea leaned heavily on her crutches. Her arms were burning, and she longed to sit down. She knocked softly on the bathroom door. “Do you need help, hun?”

  The door swung open to reveal Ricco. He was paper-white and sweaty, hair sticking to his forehead. He regarded her with red, swollen eyes, but his gaze was absent and strangely fuzzy.

  “Oh honey,” Lea sighed. “You’re taking your pills; how can you be having a migraine?”

  “’s not—,” Ricco started, but then shuddered and closed his eyes. He breathed heavily for a few moments. “Not a migraine.”

  “It’s tick fever,” Ciaran said quietly.

  She looked at the boy, confused. “It’s what?”

  “Dog tick fever,” Ciaran repeated. “He’s had it before, he looked just like that. Ehrlichiosis. They get it here sometimes, because of being in the grass so much.”

  “Sweet blood’s cursed,” Ricco croaked. He made an effort to focus on Lea. “Why you up? You shouldn’t be walking.”

  He reached for her, seemingly forgetting for a moment how bad he was feeling but stumbled. A sharp pain shot through Lea’s back and hip as he bumped into her. She yelled with pain, her back hitting the doorframe. She slid sideways but finally caught herself, breathing ragged.

  “Dad!” Ciaran grabbed Ricco before he could bring them all crashing to the floor. Holding Ricco, he said over his shoulder to Lea, “Are you okay?”

  “Fine,” she gasped. Her heart raced; her pelvis throbbed with every heartbeat. Dark spots were threatening to erupt before her eyes, but she willed them down. “Take…take him upstairs.”

  Ciaran was still gazing at her with an anxious expression. “You sure you’re okay? You look you’re gonna pass out.”

  “I just need a minute, I’ll come upstairs as soon as I get my breath back.”

  “Babe, I’m sorry,” Ricco slurred and clumsily reached for her hand. Lea took his burning fingers in hers and stroked them for a moment.

  “It’s okay, hun. No harm done. Go with Ciaran now, I’ll be up shortly.”

  “Okay.”

  “Honestly, one as hopeless as the other,” Ciaran muttered as he shifted Ricco to get a better grip. “C’mon, Dad, before I got to wipe you both off the floor.”

  The two of them slowly made their way up the stairs. It was an oddly touching sight, the boy with his dark curls, a full head taller already than his father, supporting his dad.

  With a deep breath, Lea straightened up and got her crutches untangled, then limped into the living room and sank onto the nearest chair. Now that she was sitting down, her shoulder throbbed in tandem with her hip.

  She closed her eyes and breathed deeply until the pain began to dissipate. It had been close. She had nearly passed out.

  What to do now? She really didn’t have the physical strength to look after a Ricco. Simply being on her feet for five minutes was too much. And Ciaran was due to start his TV internship with Stuart on Monday, on the set of Hell Riders. And worse, if Ricco was ill, who would help her? He’d been amazing since she’d come out of the hospital, making sure she wouldn’t want for anything and spending every free minute with her, so she’d be less bored. It might be days for him to get over this latest health crisis. Lea didn’t know much about tick-borne diseases, but he would require antibiotics and rest, and someone to take on the role she normally volunteered for when he was unwell.

  With a sigh, Lea got back to her feet to start the long journey up the stairs. She would have to call Dr. Patel for a house visit. Maybe the doctor could suggest a reliable care assistant. Hiring help might be the only way.

  “Hey, Lea.”

  “Daniel!”

  Lea looked up, pushing herself into a sitting position against the headboard. She was on the bed next to Ricco, who was dozing fitfully, shivering and seized again and again by a painful sounding cough. Dr. Patel had left twenty minutes ago and ever since Lea had been trying to get Ricco to calm down and fall asleep.

  "Oh, dear." Daniel sighed and shook his head. Ciaran followed him into the bedroom, carrying a bucket to Ricco's side of the bed.

  “I called Daniel.” He gave Lea a nervous glance. “The doctor said I should call an adult to help.”

  “Yes, of course.” Lea tried to smile. She felt guilty for putting all of this on the boy. “I’m sorry, Ciaran. I should’ve thought of that myself.” That damned pain and the narcotics haze, and her worry for Ricco as his fever rose had made her forget all about Ciaran.

  “This is like the UTI all over again, huh?” Daniel glanced down at Ricco, his expression full of worry.

  Lea sighed. “Yeah, it is. Only, this time I can’t be there for him, which makes it worse.”

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart, that’s why I came.” Daniel flashed her a smile, and despite everything, that made Lea feel better.

  Ricco groaned and rolled onto his back. He rubbed his eyes, looking around blearily. “Daniel? W’you doin’ere?” he said to Daniel.

  “Checking to see how you are, mate.” Daniel sat on the side of the bed.

  “Okay,” Ricco said vaguely.

  “How’re you feeling?”

  Ricco grimaced. “Like shit. Nothing new there, at least.”

  Daniel said to them both, “I’m staying here tonight, don’t even try to argue.” Lea, who had already opened her mouth to argue, shut it again. Daniel grinned. “Now, you two, have you eaten?”

  Ricco gagged and shuddered and hid his face in the pillow. Lea said, “I think we better not risk that.”

  “All right,” Daniel agreed. “But you and Ciaran need some dinner. I’ll rustle something up. Are you okay to stay with him for a while more?”

  Lea nodded. “But you really don’t have—”

  Daniel raised an eyebrow. “No arguing.” He got up off the bed. “Ciaran stay up here in case Lea needs help. I’ll call
up when dinner’s ready.”

  He disappeared, and Lea sank back under the blankets. Relief and guilt warred in her. She was grateful to Daniel for offering help, and even for taking charge. Her pain medications made it hard to think sometimes and she was exhausted from the day’s events. Still, it was hard to give up control like this.

  She grabbed her leg with both hands and squeezed. Useless thing. It was throbbing again at the hip joined. Lea closed her eyes. God, this time she had really messed up.

  Lea and Ciaran ate sandwiches in one of the guest rooms. There was a large desk in there, and it meant Lea didn't have to navigate the stairs again. Daniel kept an eye on Ricco, eating his sandwich standing up.

  Once they'd eaten, Ciaran declared that he'd do the clearing up. He took the plates, glasses, and cutlery and disappeared down the stairs.

  "He's probably glad to get some alone time, even if it's with the dishwasher." Lea shifted her leg with a wince.

  Daniel nodded, glancing after Ciaran. “He’s a great kid.” He turned to Lea. “Now, let’s talk about tonight. You’ll sleep in here, it’s much more comfortable than trying to catch shut-eye with Ricco in bed next to you, the way he is right now.”

  “But what about you?”

  Daniel shrugged. “I’ll stay with him. Not the first time we’ve kipped together. And he’ll need help getting up, he’s still dizzy and nauseous.”

  “You won’t get much sleep.”

  "It's the weekend. I might not be twenty-five anymore, but I can still survive a sleepless night. We do night shoots quite frequently."

  When Daniel had wished her goodnight and she sat on the side of the bed to begin the awkward process of changing into her nightclothes, Lea reflected on how lucky they were. Ricco's friends were dependable and always willing to help. They had taken Lea under their wing alongside their friend, and Daniel especially had become a fixture in their lives.

  He really was a great guy.

  2

  “And you’ll be okay?” Ricco asked with a worried frown.

  “Of course, I will.” Lea gave him her biggest smile. She hated to see him so worried. “Jo is going to be here in the next hour, and Daniel is coming by as soon as he’s done with work. No later than two, he said, and he’s staying overnight. Then Maria is here most of tomorrow, and Daniel is back in the evening. And Saturday you guys are back around lunchtime. I’ll have a chaperone every minute of every day.”

  Ricco wasn't listening. "Maybe we shouldn't go. Or I'll leave Ciaran and go alone. I can come back first thing tomorrow, or right after Conan taping's done if there's a flight."

  Lea leaned back against the sofa’s armrest and took Ricco’s hands from where he was twisting them in his lap. “Honey, it’s okay. You and Ciaran go and enjoy yourselves. I can manage, you organized all your friends to keep me company. And, darling, you need a break, badly!”

  It was the truth. Aside from the few days over the previous week when he had come down with tick fever, Ricco had looked after her every single available minute since she had come home from the hospital, and he needed a change of scenery. He looked like he could do with about twelve hours of sleep, as well, but that wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon. The best they could hope for was that he could clear his head on this father and son mini getaway.

  “All right, if you’re sure? But maybe we’ll wait until Jo gets here.”

  “You’ll miss your flight.”

  “Or I call Mel, and she can come over right away.”

  That was the last thing Lea wanted. “Hun, I’ll be fine. I promise.”

  “Or—”

  “Dad, stop fussing at her already!” Ciaran called from the hallway. “And get on with it, we’re already late!”

  Ricco still hovered, indecisive, stroking Lea’s fingers with an absent air. She pulled away and held his hands again instead, stroking his wrists. Sometimes, that was enough to calm him down.

  “I hate this,” he said quietly. “I feel like I’m letting you down.”

  “Oh, darling, you’re really not! You’re such a sweetheart to worry about me so much. But it’s not necessary. What we both need is to relax. And you need a break to do that. Isn’t that right?”

  He dropped his eyes and chewed his bottom lip but nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Come on and give me a kiss, and then go!”

  He obliged and wrapped his arms around Lea and held her close, head buried against her shoulder. “I love you, baby girl,” he said, voice muffled in her shirt.

  “Love you too, sweetheart. Call me when you land, okay?”

  “The second they let me use my phone,” he promised.

  “C’mon, Dad. Christ!” Ciaran appeared in the doorway, looking annoyed. His mannerisms were so like Ricco’s when he got worked up, Lea had to suppress a grin.

  “You better go, or Ciaran is going to be cross with you for the whole trip.” Lea gently freed herself from Ricco’s embrace. She held on to his arms for a moment, locking eyes with him. “I’ll miss you so much. But we need this. Looking after me had been such a lot of work, and between your dependent girlfriend, that pesky tick and work you haven’t had a chance to breathe in months. Go and soak up the sun! Ride the dune buggies!”

  At the mention of that adventure waiting for them in Florida, his expression cleared. “Wish you could come do that with us. They’re rad!”

  "I wish I could too. Next time." After the motorcycle accident, she was happy not to experiment with strange vehicles for a while, but that wasn't what he needed to hear right now.

  “All right.” He leaned in for one last quick peck, then hurried after Ciaran who had already opened the front door.

  Lea scooted down on the sofa with a sigh and closed her eyes. Yes, she thought, already drifting on her permanent painkiller haze, it’ll be difficult getting along without him for several days. But we need this break, or we’ll both go mad!

  The key in the lock woke her an hour or so later. Lea hadn’t meant to go to sleep properly, but right now the painkillers had the upper hand, and she would just have to go with the flow.

  “Lea?” Jo called from the front door.

  “In here,” Lea called back and pushed herself up on the sofa. She was rubbing her eyes and yawning when Jo came around the corner into the living room.

  "Hey," said the pretty, dark-haired woman. "How're you feeling?"

  “Groggy,” Lea said honestly. “I only took one Tramadol this morning, and I still fall asleep unless someone keeps me awake. Good journey back?”

  “Yeah, thanks. I’ll tell you all about Korea, but first, shall I make us drinks?”

  “Please. Let’s go in the kitchen, my ass is asleep from lying around.”

  Nearly four weeks after the accident walking with the crutches felt almost normal to Lea, and now that her left shoulder was healing well, she could use that arm again, too, which helped a lot.

  Jo didn't interfere while Lea got awkwardly to her feet, but she stayed close enough to lend a hand should it become necessary. Lea was grateful. Ricco was sweet and adorable in his solicitousness, but, as with everything else, his approach to caring for her was all or nothing. In the last week, as Lea's strength had returned somewhat and she was no longer doped up on painkillers, his constant coddling and worrying had become a little annoying.

  She still needed a lot of help, but Ricco wasn’t good at judging how much was too much. And Lea had become more and more anxious that he was too worried and tense, and that he would soon develop another migraine under the stress. His sleep had been even more broken than usual; even though Lea was able to get herself to the bathroom without help if she needed to during the night he often woke up when she got out of bed, and it took him a long time to settle again. And he was still suffering from intermittent coughing and muscle pain caused by the tick bacteria, which worried Lea, who had very little professional experience with tick-borne illnesses. So much worry, all the time, she thought despondently as she hobbled along behind Jo.

&n
bsp; By the time she arrived in the kitchen and sat down carefully in one of the wooden chairs by the small table, Jo had found the herbal teas and turned on the kettle. She was just about to get mugs from the cupboard, then pointed at the espresso machine.

  “You’ll want a latte, right?”

  “Please. Machine’s real easy, it even has a fancy little refrigerated compartment for the milk.”

  Jo strode around the kitchen as she finished the drinks and found cookies and some napkins. Lea envied the other woman’s graceful dancer’s figure. “How’s the wedding dress coming?”

  Jo beamed at Lea over her shoulder. “It’s beautiful! I’ve got pictures on my phone, I’ll show you. Hey, congratulations, by the way! Stuart phoned this morning and told Steven. Just wait, we’re the first wave, soon there won’t be any bachelors left on the show.”

  “Stuart will be so cross,” Lea grinned. “We’re distracting the guys with all that wedding talk when they should be riding bikes and fighting outlaws.”

  “Right?” Jo laughed. “Have you two set a date yet? And has Ricco bought you a ring?”

  The smile disappeared from Lea’s face. She automatically moved her hands from the table into her lap, glancing surreptitiously at the sparkling diamond on Jo’s left ring finger. “No date yet, no. Jo, do I really need a ring? I mean—” She blushed. Had she been rude? But Jo smiled as she carried over the drinks and sat down opposite Lea.

  "I'm not offended, don't worry. Steven and I are pretty traditional, and our families are very traditional. In Korean-American culture, it's just expected to have the ring, the engagement party, all that. But no, of course, you don't need to have a ring if you don't want one. Ricco won't mind, will he? He's neither a traditionalist nor will he want to show off that he can buy his fiancé the biggest rock there is."