The Marrying Man

Chapter 3

I popped the two Advil that were on my nightstand before I even got out of bed the next morning. When Tracy moved out a few months ago, she had done so in the middle of a rainstorm. This unfortunate event got me soaked carrying boxes for her, and then a hernia when I slipped while carrying an oversized bin of books through the puddles. The combination gave me pneumonia and constant pain. It was a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, the pneumonia also meant that the surgeon refused to fix me up until I was cured, since water in the lungs was a bad thing with anesthesia. So every day I was downing Advil to keep the edge off the pain in my groin.

But as of yesterday, the surgeon, Doctor Jensen, finally gave me the green light. I just needed a chest x-ray to prove that I had no fluid in my lungs, and therefore could handle the general anesthesia, and then we could finally schedule the surgery. Hopefully within a few weeks, I'd be pain free. With Avery still in the hospital, I didn't have to worry about moving her in just yet, so there was no risk of injuring myself further just yet, for which I was glad. Hopefully, there was an opening to patch me up before I needed to lift more boxes!

Luckily, I had an appointment with the imaging center the following week to get the x-ray, so then as soon as Doctor Jensen had the images, I could get that scheduled as well. Before that though, I needed to work. The last year had been rough with the COVID restrictions, but my office had handled it well. Most of us worked on company laptops, and we easily transitioned to remote work. We were also used to video calls, as there had been so many mergers and acquisitions over the years, that the people you had to work with on a daily basis were in many instances not in the same state. Now that restrictions were being lifted, the company announced that they would switch to a more work from home profile, since it allowed them to save money by reducing their office leases and productivity was just as good with the new model. So now, much of my life now resolved around working from home, which I quite liked.

My current commute was about 25 feet, from the bed to my desk out in the living room, hard to beat that. Office casual attire for me was a tee shirt and either boxers or a bathing suit depending on my mood.

It felt like my phone was never off, constantly either in meetings or just calling to answer questions. Our company had acquired several others over the last few years, and each of them did things in their own way. I was tasked with determining which of those ways was the best, or if there was a new way that could be done to improve them all, and then get everyone on board to use it. Sometimes that meant just wanting to slam my head into a desk when some person who had been doing the same thing for ten years didn't want to do the task the new way, even though it took half the time and was much more reliable. Those days made me thankful that these people weren't in my state, or I might be in prison.

Once technology allowed you to reach through a computer screen to shake some sense into people, I would be the first in line for that.

But truthfully, work kept me busy, and while sometimes It was frustrating, it was also interesting to come up with a new process. When you see people happy with an improvement that you had a hand in creating, it was a good feeling. It almost made the endless meetings worth it. Almost.

After few days of work, I got my long-awaited call from Robin on Friday afternoon. I had been expecting it since several of my exes had texted me throughout the day while I worked, about getting calls asking about me. Kind of like checking references for a job, I guess. "Hey Robin, what's the word?" I asked after picking up the call.

"Ready to be married again?" she asked with a chuckle.

"I guess she is okay with this?"

"Yep. She was thorough, called all of your exes, and I even brought Kim to go see her in the hospital. She's nervous, but evidently you're her only choice," Robin explained.

"Awesome, I'll make sure to put that on my dating profile after the inevitable divorce. That will get all the ladies to swipe left," I grumbled.

"Swipe right," Robin chided.

"Doesn't matter," I sighed. "I think this is my last gig. I need to fix my life and my situation."

"Are you ok? You sure you want to do this?" Robin inquired, sounding like she cared.

"Oh yeah, I'm in. She needs the help, and I already offered so I'm not going to screw her over."

"Well, if it helps, she's smart as hell, and has already had an internship in Nashville that went extremely well. She's supposed to have one this summer too, but with her injuries it might have to be online. Once she graduates, she'll be in demand for a job, so this should be a short one," Robin assured me.

"Good, she deserves it after her losses." I sympathized with Avery. Losing people, especially with no warning, was a heart wrenching ordeal. Regardless of the physical toll of the accident, I had little doubt that the emotional and mental toll would be higher on the young woman. "So, when should we get this taken care of?"

"Well, the doctors said that she should be released from the hospital tomorrow morning. They just need to do a final checkup and then she can leave. She still needs to settle matters with her family, and then get everything from her house, but I would think sometime next week we could set something up."

"That should be fine. I'll talk to Frank, see if he is available for another wedding. He should be able to notarize the prenup as well," I commented.

"Thomas, thank you again for doing this. I know she was unsure, but she was still in shock. It will really be a big help to her," Robin assured me.

"No problem Robin. I'll let you know when I talk to Frank so you and Jeff can come be witnesses again. Do you mind shooting me her number? It would be good to talk to her."

"Sure thing, I'll text it to you after we're done."

"Thanks, that works for me. I'll let you go. I have to finish up work before I can enjoy my weekend!"

A few minutes later, I received the text from Robin with Avery's contact information, which I quickly added to my phone. I wasn't sure if it was right to call or text right away, but I had completely forgotten to ask Robin who was taking care of Avery this weekend, so I thought I should check in with her.

Taking a deep breath, I thumbed my phone and dialed her new contact. Waiting patiently, it was answered after two rings, and I heard Avery's voice, thick with sleep. Instantly I felt like shit, she no doubt needed that rest, and I had interrupted it! "Hello?"

"Hey, Avery, it's Thomas. I just wanted to check in with you after Robin told be about your decision. I'm sorry if I woke you up," I spoke quickly, while mentally slapping my head.

"Don't worry about it Thomas, I needed to get up to eat some delicious hospital food anyway. The blue Jello is particularly delightful," she stated with a yawn.

"You know, technically you're my fiancé at this point. That could qualify you for free food delivery to a local hospital," I offered. She most likely didn't want to see me tonight, but it was the right thing to offer.

"Do you offer that to all of the patients?" she joked with a cute giggle.

"Nope, only those I'm planning on marrying," I quipped back.

"I still can't wrap my head around all of this. I mean, don't get me wrong, I can't thank you enough for doing it. But is seems so unreal that I'm about to get married and I don't know the first thing about you."

"I can understand that. You have a lot to process with everything else, so I don't want to make this difficult. But I'll answer anything you might want to ask. The last thing I want is to add to the stress you're already under."

"Well then, why don't I take you up on that food delivery option, and when you get here we can find out a few things about each other," she suggested.

I smiled at that. It was nice that she didn't seem put off any more by this, so I was more than happy to keep her at ease. "Sure thing, what can I bring you?"

"Cheeseburger and fries please. Oh, and I'd kill for a strawberry shake," she requested.

"I can make that happen," I promised. "Just don't eat the hospital food while you're waiting!"

45 minutes later, I was striding back into room 413 with a bag of very unhealthy greasy burgers, onion rings, an order of fries, and a pair of shakes. I was surprised to see that Avery wasn't alone.