fine with me.” Stark turned his attention to Maxine. “What have we got here?”
“Fancy meeting you here,” Karen said to me.
I should have known a minor thing like a traffic accident wouldn’t keep her down for long. “They have to help him, Karen. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“Good thing you’re not going to have to find out.” She pointed to Saxon, whose eyes were fluttering open. He blinked twice and turned his head, obviously looking for something. He relaxed when his eyes met mine.
I pushed into the treatment room, wedging myself between Stark and Maxine. Saxon smiled up at me. “Oh, thank God. Don’t ever scare me like that again.” I felt the rest of my strength drain away. Thankfully, Stark was there to catch me when my knees gave out. “I love you!” I shouted. “I love you, Saxon James!”
“Okay, Romeo. Let’s get you checked out. It would be a shame if something happened to you and that fine man was left all alone and grieving your loss. A less than scrupulous man might just take advantage of a situation like that.” Stark winked at me.
Ha! Up until a few weeks ago, Stark would have been that unscrupulous man. He hustled me into a cubicle and started to get me out of my soaked gear.
“Looks like you dislocated your shoulder. How the hell are you even standing?” Stark helped me up onto the exam table.
“Adrenaline.” I knew the effects wouldn’t last much longer and I’d be in a world of hurt. “Do your worst,” I muttered before he popped my shoulder back into the socket.
38
Saxon
Beep…Beep…Beep…
Why the hell is heaven beeping at me? Did I get the door code to the pearly gates wrong? Was it my turn at the deli counter?
Cracking open an eyelid, I could see a blurry ceiling. Institutional tile, by the look of it. The incessant beeping pulled my attention to the left where I saw an IV stand and a heart rate monitor. I stared in fascination as the rhythm of my heart blipped across the screen. I didn’t know how it was possible, but I was alive.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.” A familiar but rough voice said from the right.
“Dallas?” Shit, my voice didn’t sound much better. My throat ached worse than having strep throat, and every breath was agony.
“Hi there.” Dallas stood up and pulled his chair closer with his left hand. His right arm was in a dark sling. He gingerly took a seat and reached for me, looking unsure where to touch me.
Looking down at myself, I could see why. Two fingers on my right hand were bandaged and an air cast surrounded my right forearm. Jesus Christ, I was a mess. “What happened?”
Dallas shivered at my question. “Ozzy saved you. He saved us both because I wasn’t leaving that house without you. We managed to move the fridge, and he got you out and started doing CPR. You didn’t have a pulse.” Tears streamed down Dallas’s face.
The raw pain in his voice was devastating. I tried to reach out for him, but my fingers were too bandaged to take his hand.
“We got you to the hospital, and Stark Givens took over your care before popping my shoulder back in.” Dallas found a grin.
He must have hurt his shoulder tackling the refrigerator. “Gwen?”
“Two broken ribs and a concussion. She’s down the hall. I spent some time with her while you were out cold. All the guys had to go back to work, and Mom and Dad didn’t want anyone leaving the house while the storm was still at its worst.”
“I’m at my worst. Feels like I broke everything.” I wasn’t exaggerating. The only parts of my body that didn’t ache were my eyelids, and they were growing heavier by the second.
“Not quite.” Dallas grinned. “You broke several ribs, two fingers, and cracked your ulna. You’re bruised all over, especially your chest and face.”
“Feels like I got run over by a truck.” Actually, a truck hitting me would have hurt less than this.
“No, just a Kenmore.” Dallas laughed. The FaceTime jingle on his phone sounded. “Hi, Mom!”
“How’s my boy doing?” Mandy sounded nervous.
“See for yourself.” Dallas turned the phone to point at me.
It hurt like hell, but I managed a small wave. “Hi, Mandy.” I was going to need a nap after this.
“Thank Jesus, Saxon. Don’t you ever scare me like that again! Do you understand me?” Mandy’s voice broke. She buried her head in her