I got a phone call after a couple of days.

Here, second use came quickly, a matter of hours rather than days or months.

She looked like she'd done pretty well for herself in the couple of days on her own.

Won't be back in the office for a couple of days.

Would have hit town in the last couple of days.

You should have seen him a couple of days ago.

We have to give these four back, one way or another, in just a couple of days.

I hadn't seen her in the past couple of days.

The President will be back in a couple of days.

I haven't heard from her for a couple of days.