Cinderella in Overalls - By Carol Grace Page 0,74

him. Instead he stood there and waited while the doctor found the papers he was searching for on his clipboard.

Finally he looked up. “You are the husband?”

“No,” Josh said. “Not yet,” he added.

The doctor nodded. “She has a concussion and three broken ribs,” he said in lightly accented English.

Josh nodded automatically. “Go on,” he said. “What else?”

The doctor smiled faintly. “That’s all. That’s enough. She must have complete rest until those ribs heal. You’ll see to that?”

“I’ll see to it,” Josh answered emphatically.

“As for the concussion, she’s drifting in and out of consciousness. She needs to be awakened every hour to see if her pupils are equal and if they react to light. We can keep her here for the night, or you can do it at home.”

“I’ll do it at home,” he said.

“No activities that require concentration or vigorous movement,” the doctor cautioned.

They brought her out in a wheelchair with a white bandage over her eye, then gave Josh a bag with her clothes and jewelry in it. She was wearing a hospital gown and his jacket over her shoulders. Her eyelids were heavy. Her lips formed his name when she saw him, but no sound came out. He clenched his hands into fists and felt tears gather in the back of his eyes.

She was so beautiful and so helpless. He’d never seen her like that before. She was the sturdy farm girl, unfazed by wind or rain. The one who led the way on the trail in her baggy pants and hiking boots. The one who had barged her way into his office and gotten a loan in spite of the rules. And now she was sitting in a wheelchair with three broken ribs and a concussion.

In front of the hospital he lifted her very gently out of the wheelchair and into his car. She drew a sharp breath, and he murmured in her ear, “Sorry, I’m sorry. Does it hurt?”

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. “A little.”

The few miles to his apartment seemed to take an eternity. He carried her into the lobby, onto the elevator and up to the penthouse. Without her heavy skirts and shawl she was as fragile as a butterfly.

Her head fell back against his arm. She was asleep again. Her eyelashes were dark smudges against her pale skin. Kneeling on the bed, he pulled back the blanket and eased her between the sheets. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek above the cut. Even the antiseptic couldn’t overpower the fresh smell of her rain-washed hair.

He put his hand on her forehead. A rush of tenderness filled him. He had to wake her every hour. Had it been an hour? No, it had only been a few minutes. He set the timer on his watch to beep every hour, then he watched her sleep.

When he woke her, she didn’t want to open her eyes, but he cradled her head in his hands until she did. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, so much he had to tell her, but she went back to sleep as soon as he checked her eyes.

He made himself instant coffee and drank it as he sat in the chair at the bedroom window and watched her sleep. He dozed, his legs stretched out in front of him until his watch woke him over and over throughout the night. Each time her pupils were equal and responded to the light.

In the morning the sun rose over Teregape and streamed in his window. She opened her eyes before he told her to and stared at him in disbelief for a full minute. He got out of his chair and raked his fingers through his hair.

“Josh,” she croaked. “What happened?” She touched the bandage around her head gingerly with the tips of her fingers. Her hair, a mass of dark curls, was spread out against the pillow. She’d never looked so beautiful.

He sat on the edge of the bed and traced a gentle finger around the bump on her head. “You had an accident. You broke a few ribs and hurt your head.”

She groaned and looked around the room at the pale walls and the dark furniture. “Where am I?”

“My apartment. I couldn’t take you home. Your ribs wouldn’t stand the trip.”

Her eyes strayed to the window, and a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “I should have known. The bedroom with the spectacular view.”

He grinned. “That’s right.” A giant weight was lifted