not to smile. If she’s aware enough to be embarrassed, she must not be injured too severely.
“Is there anyone we can call for you?” Bria asks.
Ella retrieves her phone from her back pocket. The unexpected squirming causes pangs of pleasure to shoot through me. Douchebag, I tell myself. She’s hurt, and you’re getting a fucking boner?
She moans in pain. “I can do it. Thank you.”
The limo comes to a stop, and the driver tells us we’re there.
Everyone starts to get out. “It’s okay,” I tell them. “You can head back. I’ll handle this.”
“We should stay,” Bria says. “How will you get home?”
“I’ll figure it out later. Right now I need to get Ella inside.”
They move aside, and I remove Ella from my lap and get out. She takes my hands as I help her onto the sidewalk. “Go slow,” I say, ignoring the softness of her skin.
“Don’t worry. I doubt I’ll be running marathons anytime soon.” She almost laughs but stops. She must be in pain.
I shut the limo door and give the roof two pats. It drives away as I slowly escort her inside. “Sit here,” I say, finding an empty bench in the crowded waiting room. I hand her the bloody tissues. “Hold this on your head if you can. I’ll be right back.”
I cross to the counter. Pointing at Ella, I tell the person at the desk, “She hit her head on the sidewalk.”
The nurse cranes her neck to get a look. “She seems stable. You’ll have to wait. Name?”
“Liam Campbell.”
She eyes me like I’m stupid.
I mentally smack myself. “Oh, her name. Uh, Ella …” I don’t know her last name, so I stop.
“Okay, Mr. Campbell, keep her awake, and we’ll get her seen as soon as we can.”
I return to Ella. Her head is leaning against the window behind her. She looks tired. “The nurse said it could be a little while. She said you shouldn’t go to sleep.”
Her eyes dart around the room. “Not likely, with all the crying.”
There is a woman with three little kids, and one of them holds his arm as if it’s broken. “Sorry,” I say. “I bet the noise isn’t helping your head much.”
“I’m fine.”
I laugh. “You are not fine. You have a second head growing out of your temple.”
Her hand covers her mouth. “I’m so embarrassed. I don’t know what happened. One minute I was standing there, and the next you’re putting me in a car.”
“You blacked out?”
“I don’t know. I remember falling and then you were looking down at me.”
“Shit. If you blacked out, it might be more serious than we thought. Hold on.” I go over to the counter again and wait for the person in front of me to clear.
“You again?” the nurse says. “I promise we’re working as fast as we can to get everyone seen.”
“Yeah, but I have new information. She might have lost consciousness when she fell. That’s bad, right? Don’t you think she should be seen now? You know, in case she has a brain bleed or something? I mean, you wouldn’t want to be sued for leaving a woman to die.”
This gets her attention. She looks up from her computer and over at Ella. “I’ll move her up the list. Should only be ten more minutes or so.”
“Thank you.”
Walking back across the room, I see Ella’s eyes flutter closed. “Oh, no. You can’t go to sleep.”
She strains to open them. “Then find me some coffee.”
There’s a coffee vending machine on the other side of the room. I race over and get her a cup.
She makes a face when she tries it. “This isn’t coffee, this is brown water.” She shoves it back at me.
I glance out the window. “I did see a Starbucks outside, but I’m not sure—”
“Please? I’d kill for a mocha latte.”
She reaches into her pocket, but I stop her. “This one’s on me under one condition. You promise to stay awake.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ma’am,” I say to the lady on the other side of her. “Please make sure she doesn’t fall asleep.”
Her finger is wrapped in a bloody bandage. “You’re leaving her here?”
“The woman wants coffee. In fact, do you like Starbucks? I’ll get you one as well.”
She gives me her order and then I’m crossing the street. The line isn’t too bad, but I keep looking back at the hospital. I can’t see the ER windows from here. What if she falls asleep?
My name gets called, I pay, and then I’m racing back to the hospital. Ella’s gone. My