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He opened his mouth to answer, but she put two fingers over his lips. He noticed how smooth they were. How soft. “No decisions now,” she said. “But keep it in mind. If you decide to take me up on my offer, I’ll sit down with you and explain exactly what I do.”

“That’s… that’s very generous of you. I’m sure you normally get paid a lot to be a bodyguard.”

“I get a salary. My bosses set the price for my services. And I’ve never asked them how much they charge. But that’s irrelevant, because you wouldn’t be paying anything.”

The door to the cubicle opened and the doctor he’d seen after he arrived walked in the room. “I just got the results of your x-rays and CT scan,” he said. “Everything looks normal. No broken facial bones. No bleeding in your brain. I think you’re gonna be fine, but I want to keep you overnight so we can check you frequently. Take another CT scan tomorrow morning. If everything looks good, we’ll release you then.”

He didn’t want to stay in the hospital overnight. Fiona would be freaked out. And he wanted to be with her. Make sure she knew he was fine. “What if I promised to come back tomorrow for another CT scan. Could I go home tonight?”

Before he’d even finished speaking, the doctor was shaking his head. “Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. You can’t go home. You need overnight observation. If you’re here, we can check you through the night. Make sure you haven’t developed a brain bleed.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And if we do find something? We’ll need to get you into surgery immediately.”

He wouldn’t be home for Fiona. What would he tell her? How could he reassure her that he wouldn’t die like her mother?

“Maybe my friend here will smuggle me out,” he said, only half-joking.

Jo immediately shook her head. “Not happening, pal. I want to make sure you’re okay. And the only way to insure that is if you stay here.”

“Ganging up on me, huh?”he said. He closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“No, Cam, you don’t.” Jo leaned closer. “What if one of your friends, or one of your family members, had a car accident and this was the scenario. Wouldn’t you want them to stay here?”

He thought about Fiona. If, God forbid, she was in an accident and had a head injury, would he want her in the hospital? Hell, yes.

And what if he was stubborn and insisted on going home and ended up dying. What would happen to his precious daughter?

“Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll stay. But I don’t like it.”

“So noted,” the doctor said, his voice dry. “I’ll put that in the paperwork. ‘Patient staying under duress.’”

“I’m gonna leave, Cam, and let you get some sleep,” Jo said. “But I’ll pick you up and take you home tomorrow.”

Without waiting for Cam’s agreement, she turned to the doctor. “What time will he be released?”

“Late morning or early afternoon,” the doctor said.

“I’ll be here at ten.” She turned back to Cam. “Cut the doctors and the nurses some slack, Cam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She lifted one hand, smiled at him and disappeared through the door. Silence settled over the room, which seemed smaller without Jo’s presence. Cam moved his head slowly until he was looking at the doctor. “You guarantee that I’ll be released tomorrow morning?”

“Hell, no,” the doctor said. “Depends on what happens overnight. But if all goes well and the CT scan tomorrow morning doesn’t show any brain bleeds, you’re probably good to go.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Cam knew his tone of voice was clipped. Irritated. But he was angry he had to stay. He understood why the doctor was insisting, but he’d never been away from Fiona overnight and hated that she would worry. Because he knew she would. And that his parents would have to either have her stay at their house, or they’d have to stay at his.

Struggling to sit up as his head spun, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his mother. Thank God Fiona was still in school. The phone shrilled several times, and he’d tightened his grip before she answered.

“Hey, Cam. What’s up?”she asked, her voice cheerful.

“Hi, Mom,” he began. “I, ah, had a car accident this morning. Someone T-boned me. Fortunately, he missed the driver’s side door and hit behind me, but I banged my head on the steering wheel. I’m at Delnor. All the tests have come back fine, but I have to stay here tonight. So they can make sure I don’t develop a brain bleed. If everything’s good, I’ll go home tomorrow.”

She gasped, then drew in a deep breath. “Well, you’ve always had a hard head. No worries then, right?”

He heard her effort to lighten the atmosphere and closed his eyes.

“Yeah, thank God it was only my head that got banged up. I’ve had an x-ray and a CT scan, and they’re both good. But they want to check me during the night, then do another CT scan before I leave.”

She drew in a deep breath. “You’ve always been too much of a tough guy, Cam. Take it easy on the doctors and nurses, okay? I don’t want to hear stories about what a pain in the ass my kid is.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll behave myself. Can’t do much else. And don’t worry about me. They’re keeping me here to cover their asses so I don’t sue them if I drop dead overnight.”