If so, it would be the fastest working injection he had ever received, but then his sense of time was surely skewed.
Carol shouted up the stairwell that the ambulance had arrived, and Hypatia immediately went into action, herding her sisters from the room. “We had best get out of the way now. Kaylie can manage this.” She paused at the bedside long enough to look down on Stephen again. “We will be praying for your swift return to us, Stephen dear. God bless.”
Stephen dear. It felt suddenly as if he had unknowingly crossed some divide and managed to plant himself in the bosom of the Chatam family. Nameless emotion swelled his chest. Unaccustomed to such feelings, he attempted to turn it off with an icy glare, but for once his game face failed him. A tight smile curling up one corner of her mouth, Hypatia patted his shoulder comfortingly and followed her sisters from the room. Kaylie instantly took her place, bending low to sweep a lock of hair from his forehead and address him softly.
That absurd, nameless yearning swept through him again. Why, he wondered, did the slightest display of tenderness from this woman reduce him to a maudlin nostalgia for something he had never known and could not even describe? She was not his mother. She was not his girlfriend. She was not even his type. She was a paid nurse, an employee, an uptight little holy-roller with as much disapproval as pity in her big, dark eyes. Yet, something about her made him want more than simple professional comfort from her.
“Stephen, listen to me. I need to know how it happened.”
A great clattering and thumping on the landing snagged his attention. “They’re here.”
“I know. Quickly. How did it happen? Why did you fall?”
He shook his head, unwilling to say. Hypatia might suspect, but she didn’t know, and she wouldn’t if he could help it. This was his issue, his secret shame. But then Kaylie gently cupped his face with her small, delicate hands, as if it, he, were somehow precious to her. He could not have denied her anything at that moment.
“It’s important, Stephen. Please.”
“Nightmare,” he admitted tersely, shifting his gaze from hers.
“It’s not the first, is it?” she whispered, her voice a sweet, soft zephyr of compassion. Her hands stroked his face, creating an island of bliss in a sea of pain and angst.
Men and material suddenly crowded the room. Kaylie left him to sweep all of his medications from his bedside table into the pockets of her smock and answer questions from the emergency medical technicians. Two of them moved into position and quickly transferred him from the bed to the gurney, an excruciating experience that Stephen endured with a clenched jaw.
The trip out of the suite, down the stairs and into the ambulance was every bit as painful as he’d expected. He gulped and gritted his teeth, training his gaze on the frescoed ceiling above, a painting of blue sky, fluffy cloud and feathers. Suddenly a large, ornate crystal chandelier blocked the peaceful scene.
Stephen closed his eyes and attempted to blank his mind, only to find Hypatia’s prayer whispering inside his head. Give him comfort now, Father, please. Heal him inside and out. Let him feel Your great love and power. Before he knew what he was doing, Stephen was adding his own plea to Hypatia’s prayer. I know I don’t deserve it, but please, please help me.
He felt an odd sensation sweep through him, a chill that was not cold, a wind that did not blow. Then suddenly the EMTs were loading the gurney into the ambulance. To his horror, Stephen heard a man’s voice say, “Good grief. That’s Hangman Gallow. What’s the star goalie of the Blades hockey team doing here in Buffalo Creek?”
Stephen groaned. So much for prayer and keeping a low profile! The news of his whereabouts would likely be splashed all over the DFW Metroplex by evening, and speculation about his accident would soon run rampant. Team management would probably be screaming in Aaron’s ear before week’s end. As if reading his thoughts, Kaylie clambered up into the ambulance with him, clasped his good hand with hers and spoke into his ear.
“Don’t worry. These are medical personnel bound by privacy laws, but I’ll speak to them myself just to be sure that nothing slips out.”
He doubted that it would make any difference. He was going to lose it all anyway. Deep down, he’d always known it, but he’d keep