A Forever Christmas - By Marie Ferrarella Page 0,12

volunteered, but if you’re having second thoughts, I can take her to the hospital.”

That might mean that she wouldn’t be back until morning. A newlywed, his sister belonged home at night.

Gabe laughed, turning down her offer. “And have that lawyer husband of yours with his hundred-dollar words come looking for me? No, thanks. I’ll take the mystery woman to the hospital.”

Alma’s protective streak instantly rose to defend her husband. “He only uses those words when he’s in court. You’re family.”

“And I’d like to keep on being family,” Gabe informed her. “So I’ll be the one taking her to Pine Ridge.” When he saw Alma smiling at him knowingly, it was his turn to ask, “What?”

“You’re really taken with her, aren’t you?” she asked, pleased.

Gabe stared at her. In his opinion, his sister had just made one hell of a leap—and it led to nowhere. “She’s the first person I ever rescued from a car that was about to go over the side of a ravine, and then it burst into flames, so if that’s what you mean by ‘taken,’ then, yeah, I guess I’m ‘taken’ with her.”

His eyes narrowed as he reminded her of an important point. “You were the one who thought that I should get involved in this—and by ‘this,’” he clarified, knowing how prone Alma could be to misinterpreting things if it suited her purposes, “I mean the sheriff’s department.”

“I did and I still do,” Alma was quick to agree. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. You don’t usually pay attention to anything I say.”

“That’s because, up until now,” Gabe deadpanned, “you weren’t saying anything really worthwhile listening to or going along with.”

“According to you,” she qualified.

“According to me,” he agreed with the most unreadable expression he could muster.

Alma glanced at her watch and rose to her feet.

“I’m going to go and update Rick about what’s going on with our mystery woman and then I’ll be back. If you decide that you’ve changed your mind about going to Pine Ridge—”

He cut her off. “I won’t,” Gabe assured her.

“Then never mind,” Alma said cheerfully. “Call me if something comes up,” she instructed just before she left the clinic.

“Yes, ma’am,” he called after her.

“That’s ‘Deputy Ma’am’ to you,” she tossed over her shoulder with a laugh. And then the front door closed after her.

* * *

DAN FINISHED HIS examination as well as stitching up the gash on the blonde’s forehead. His patient had remained unconscious through it all. For the time being, it was better that way for her. He was sufficiently certain that she would come around by-and-by.

Stripping off his rubber gloves and tossing them into the wastebasket, he came out into the waiting room to fill Gabe in on his findings.

“As far as I can tell, other than that gash on her forehead I had to stitch up, everything else seems all right. But I still think, just to be safe, she should get a CT scan of her head, make sure that there’s no internal bleeding that we’re overlooking.”

“Wouldn’t there be other signs if there was internal bleeding?” Gabe asked. It seemed to him that there should be, but then, that was only a guess on his part.

“Yes, but not always,” Dan told him. “Like that old saying goes, better to be safe than sorry.”

Gabe shrugged. “I’m not going to argue that, but if she doesn’t know who she is and she has no ID, she sure as hell doesn’t have any medical insurance—”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this covered,” he assured the town’s newest deputy.

Gabe only accepted so much on faith, the rest he questioned. “How?”

Dan smiled. The man wasn’t very trusting. He could relate to that. He’d been the same way before he came to Forever, holding everything suspect until proven otherwise. It was an exhausting way to live.

“I pulled a few strings. Turns out the head of the radiology department graduated in my class the same year I did. We even threw back a few together at a handful of parties.” He saw Gabe’s frown and guessed what the man was probably thinking. “Don’t worry, this job keeps you sober.”

Gabe took the man’s word for it. “Did she wake up at all?” he asked.

Dan shook his head. “She’s still unconscious, I’m afraid.”

Gabe would have thought that the doctor would have looked a bit more concerned about that. “Shouldn’t we be worried by now?” Gabe asked.

“Not necessarily, she’s had—”

Whatever reassuring sentiment he was going to express was drowned out by the scream that pierced the air.