Worth the Trouble Read Online Free Page B

of the bedroom.
    "Stop!" she shouted then threw her arms around his neck.  Guilt poured through him when he felt Terri's tears on his shoulder.  "Don't you ever say that again, Ethan Cassidy."
    His eyes drifted over to the doorway and met those of Joel Rhodes.  His brother-in-law had remained silent thus far, but Ethan could see that he was upset, because his wife was upset.
    Dammit , Ethan just wished everyone would leave him the hell alone.  He felt closed in enough as it was without those who cared about him adding to that feeling.  "I need some space, Terri," he mumbled into her hair and pushed her away.
    Terri scrubbed at her eyes with her fists , before telling him angrily, "Well that's too darned bad, Ethan, because you're not gonna get it.  I'm not letting you lay here in this bed and waste away."
    "Well, unless you have a magic wand, I don't have much choice," he replied gravely.
    "My magic wand is powered by your determination and will to live, Ethan.  You are coming back to the ranch with me and we are going to get you back on your feet," she told him forcefully.
    "Getting back on my feet isn't going to get my life back, Terri.   I still won't be able to work or do the things I used to do.  That part of my life is over, and this is how things are now.  Dead legs, dead head," he told her with a short bark of derisive laughter as he tapped the side of his skull.
    "You won't be mountain climbing or swimming with sharks, you shouldn't have been doing that to begin with, I've told you that for years , but you will be able to walk and do things.  Who the hell says you can't work again?  Your damn brain still functions."
    "Not very well.  I feel like I've got cotton stuffed in my head."
    "You've never been a quitter , Ethan. You have fought for everything you've ever put your mind to, now I want you to fight for this," she told him firmly.
    "I'll never be able to be a firefighter again or be on the task force, and a medic who can't lift a patient is useless."
    "Not a medic who has help .  Ethan, I'm pregnant and I won't be able to keep up with that job at the ranch for much longer.  I want you to take over, but you've got to get your head out of your ass and get better.  Things happen for a reason, and I think the reason this happened to you is so you can help me, and at the same time help yourself."
    Panic shot through him as a spark of something too damned close to hope tried to take root in his brain.  He got a grip on it and firmly locked it back where it belonged , but embraced a brief moment of happiness at the newest development. 
    He was going to be an uncle, Terri a mother.
    "Congrats, Terri," he said with sincerity, then looked at Joel whose whole face was now covered by a broad smile.  "Way to go man," Ethan told him and forced a smile.
    "Thanks...we're really happy, but Terri is right, she's not going to be able to keep working.  She needs to focus on taking care of herself and the baby," his brother-in-law informed and crossed his arms over his chest.  Terri shot him a glare, which Joel countered with one of his own.  Ethan figured her working must be a bone of contention between them.
    But he had to set his sister straight .  Her grand plan wasn't possible, and he wasn't letting her blow smoke up his ass trying to make him think otherwise. 
    False hope led to more craziness that he didn't need.
    "Me taking your place at the ranch is a pipe dream, sis.  You'll have that baby and then some, before I can even take a piss by myself.  Speaking of which..." Ethan said and tried to lever himself to upright.  "Help me, will ya?"
    Instead of helping him though, Terri put her hands on her hips and gazed at him hotly, which Ethan knew from experience never meant anything good. 
    " You can sit there and piss your pants, because none of us is going to help you.  You want to go to the bathroom?  You do it.  Here's your wheelchair," she said and walked over to push it by the bed and engage the