The View from Alameda Island - Robyn Carr Page 0,46
Truthfully, that could feel quite satisfactory, but why should Chip land in jail?
“Beau can take me home,” she said. “He’s trustworthy. And very kind. My phone?” she asked.
“In your purse,” the officer said, handing her the purse that had come with her to the hospital.
She scrolled through her text messages and found the last one from Beau.
Are you still here?
I’m here. How are you?
I’m ready to go home. Can you give me a lift?
Ready when you are. I’ll move the truck to the loading zone and come for you.
“He’ll take me home,” she told the officer. “He’s moving his truck. Would you bring him back here?”
When Beau got back to the cramped ER space, his eyes narrowed and he ground his teeth. “Where does it hurt right now?” he asked.
“Where you can see,” she said. “I almost think he wanted it to show.”
“We have to get you to a safe place,” Beau said.
“Home. Please. Leave me with my door locked and my ice pack. He’s not coming back. At least not tonight.”
“How can you be sure?” he asked.
“I called the police,” she said. “He’s in jail for the night. I’ll be talking to my lawyer tomorrow. I think we’re beyond negotiating agreeably. Don’t you?”
“I’ll take you home,” Beau said. “Can we get you a sleeping pill? I’ll stay on the couch, just as a precaution.”
“No sleeping pills on top of a possible concussion,” she said. “But I want my bed. I’m not afraid. Not right now.” She dabbed at her lips. “I should have locked the door right away, but it was still light and I saw him on the monitor. I told him it wasn’t a good time. If the door had been locked...”
The doctor stretched his hand toward Beau. “I’m Dr. Kraemer. You’re the escort home, I presume?”
“Yes, sir,” he said, though it was possible the doctor was younger than Beau. “I’ll stay with her tonight. Anything I should watch for?”
“Yes. Keep an eye out for disorientation, nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness... Her CT was negative, but let’s be observant. If she’s asleep, don’t wake her. If she passes out and won’t rouse—call for medical assistance.” He looked at Lauren. “How’s the head?”
“It feels like I’ve been kicked by a mule.”
The young doctor smiled wanly. “You have. Here are a few business cards—shelter, social services for victims of battery domestic, Lt. Sanders of that unit at the police department. Please make an appointment with your family physician...”
She let go a pathetic laugh. “My husband is a physician. Surgeon.”
“If there’s no one for you to call, just come back to the ER and I’ll handle taking out the stitches for you in a week. Here’s my card. I know how that goes—doctor in the family, you either let him handle your issues or it’s one of his friends. Don’t do that, Lauren. He’s obviously dangerous.”
“He’s locally very well known,” she said.
“I know. I never liked him. Take care now. Call if you need us.”
“Let’s go,” Beau said, taking her purse and her hand. “I’m parked in the loading zone. We’ll be home in ten minutes.”
“I really appreciate this,” she muttered, towel still hovering at her chin. “How did you happen to see the commotion around my house?”
“I went to the market for milk and bread. When I came out there were police and fire department vehicles in front of your house. Took about ten years off my life.”
“Mine, too,” she said, hanging on his arm as they walked through the waiting area and outside.
“Let me lift you up into the truck. Hand me the towel and ice pack.”
“You don’t want to touch this...”
“Gimme,” he said. “Grab the handle, we’ll go slow.”
He drove cautiously on the way to her house. What he’d done by following her to the hospital, he’d involved himself. He was in now. He knew instead of making it easier for them to bond it would make it more complicated. Both of them would wonder if it was vulnerability rather than pure attraction. He didn’t care and there was the danger. That’s what happened with Pamela—she was needy. She was a single mother on a limited income with limited potential and two sweet, rambunctious little boys. She needed a man, needed him. It wasn’t genuine, it was artificial and he knew it. Even so, even having that history, he wanted Lauren to find a hero in him. But this was new territory. Pamela had never been physically beaten. She’d been fooled and abandoned by first one man and