concentration, and from the way she bent over her leg and held it off the vibrations of the floor, she was probably trying not to vomit from the agony.
“I found one of your cows,” I said. We rolled past the buildings on the edge of town. The lumber yard, a dollar store, and a gas station. I turned onto the main road that’d take us to the small hospital that served King’s Creek.
Bristol’s sharp inhale had me looking over. Hope shone in her eyes. “Is she all right?”
“I put her in the barn.” She’d know that there was nothing like a storm to bring on labor. One of the top ten of Murphy’s Laws of Ranching.
Relief made her body sag as much as it could when she was in so much pain and trying to keep her leg stable. “I was out looking for her.”
“Wouldn’t have to if that section of fence had been fixed better last fall.”
Her expression shuttered and she stared out the window. For the second time today, I regretted saying something to hurt her. I never tried to hurt her. I was usually just trying to make a point, but tonight that seemed like more of a dick move than usual.
The clinic came into view and I drove to the ER entrance. It was a small five-bed hospital, with an extra room for the ER that I’d been in more than a few times when I’d been younger and doing stupid shit. I still had the scar from a broken arm I’d gotten diving off the top of the barn when the snow hadn’t been nearly deep enough to land in.
“I’ll get a wheelchair.” I killed the engine and ran inside. One of the nurses behind the desk rose, her face brightening. We’d gone on a few dates until it was clear she wanted more than I did.
“Dawson,” Emma said.
She might be happy to see me, but I wasn’t happy to be here. “Hey, Emma. I’ve got Bristol—I think she broke her leg.”
Emma blinked. “Bristol. Cartwright?” The whole town would be surprised a King and a Cartwright had ridden in the same vehicle.
I didn’t answer, grabbing a wheelchair by the door and speeding out before I had unfolded it.
The passenger door was open, but Bristol’s head was on the headrest, her eyes closed as she breathed through the pain.
Emma was behind me. A younger man trailed her. “We’ve got her, Dawson, thanks.”
I ignored the dismissal and helped Bristol get out, landing on her good leg and pivoting to sit in the chair. We all wheeled in while Bristol shrank lower in the chair, holding her leg like it was levitating on its own.
“What happened?” Emma asked.
“Slipped on ice,” Bristol rasped.
I bit the inside of my cheek but didn’t say anything otherwise. A fall from a horse was different than slipping on ice, but with Bristol it was a matter of pride.
I trailed them and was about to follow them to the room when Emma turned. “You can go now.” A smile played on her lips. “Your role of hero is done for the night.”
My feet were rooted in place. The kid and Bristol disappeared behind a door and I craned my neck like I could see through wood. “I’m not leaving.” The words were out before I’d thought about them.
Emma’s dark brows popped in surprise. Her silky hair was twined up in a messy bun and she wore a wide headband to secure the strays away from her face. She was attractive but any interest had died before we’d done anything that required removing clothing.
“Okaaay. Are you two dating?”
I scowled. “No. Why?”
She cocked her head like she was trying to figure me out. “Then you can wait in the waiting room, but I can’t tell you anything without her approval.”
Shrugging, I dropped into a chair. “She’ll need a ride home.”
Emma stared at me for a second, then sat next to me. “She’s going to need more than a ride home.”
“What?”
Emma glanced to the door, then to the desk. The other lady that had been there was gone, maybe getting Bristol’s information. “She obviously broke her leg and the blood—”
“That’s from barbed wire.”
Emma’s sympathetic wince was quick. “I don’t know if she has anyone to help her”—the whole town knew she had no one—“but whether she’ll have to use a wheelchair or crutches, she’s going to need help.”
“I’m shocked she didn’t insist on driving herself.” Her broken leg made it impossible.
“I’m shocked she let you help her,”