Page 78 of The Moments You Were Mine

“You’re going to the hospital if I have to strap you to that backboard and carry you there myself.” I started to protest, and he stepped closer, tweaking my braid. It was the same gentle tug he’d done my whole life, but it shot pain straight to my temple, causing me to gasp. “And that, right there, is why you’re going to the emergency room.”

“Fine,” I snapped. “But I expect to be rewarded for it.”

His gaze fell to my mouth, and heat shot through my chest.

I dragged my eyes away before stepping toward the EMTs. The quicker we got this over with, the quicker I could get back to what Parker had started.

? ? ?

Hours later, I was still in the hospital, waiting impatiently in the emergency room for a doctor to return with some of my test results. They’d done a full battery of tests, bloodwork, urine samples, and ordered a CT scan, which had felt like overkill. After all, I’d been knocked in the head before.

The longer I sat there, the harder it was to keep at bay the memories of another emergency room in Tennessee, where I’d been more worried about Sadie’s injuries than mine. She’d taken the brunt of the violence in trying to defend me.

The tremors I’d forced away in the field returned, and my stomach twisted nastily again.

I hated thinking about that day. Uncle Adam had done nothing but watch as Theresa Puzo had clocked me with the grip of her pistol. Then, he’d hurt Sadie, hitting and kicking her, while I’d been stuck in a chair with Theresa’s gun aimed at me.

My chest grew tight as emotions and tears tried to escape.

The gunshot that day had been…evil. I had no other words to describe it. It had been different than any shot I’d ever heard, even when I’d pulled the trigger many times myself. Guns were just another tool a rancher had to be familiar with. Uncle Spencer had shown me the mercy that came from putting a dying cow out of its misery, but that day in the bar with Sadie, everything had been different.

Today, it had sounded the same way.

Another chill ran up my spine.

The blasts echoing over the field had held that same darkness. Maybe it was because the shots had been directed at humans. Maybe it was because they were as far from mercy as possible.

All I knew was, the longer I sat in a stupid hospital room waiting, the more the memories tried to swallow me, tried to sink their greedy, ugly grasp into me.

I didn’t want ugly.

I wanted the heaven I’d found in Parker’s embrace.

When Parker poked his head in to check on me, the worry in his eyes meant the ugliness hung around us like a heavy cloak. I loathed it. I wanted the heat back. The desire. The lust. Instead, Parker had returned to his SEAL persona. He was cold and factual as he dealt with Sheriff Wylee and the ranch’s security.

The buzz of my phone had me jerking in surprise, even though I’d been gripping the device like it was a lifeline the entire time I’d been in the emergency room.

DAD: What the hell is going on, Ducky?

Tears pricked. I closed my eyes. Embarrassment and failure spiraled through me.

I couldn’t respond. I should have been pissed at whoever had told Dad, but I couldn’t find it in me.

DAD: Just tell me you’re okay.

Thankfully, an attendant came to take me for the CT scan before I could respond. I handed Parker my phone before I was wheeled away.

“Can you text Dad back for me?”

He gave me that hooded look, the one draped with concern, and I closed my eyes against it.

When I came back from the scan, I didn’t ask for my phone back. I didn’t ask what Dad had said or whether he was racing back from Australia to rescue me. It was cowardly, but I didn’t think I could handle his concern on top of Parker’s without completely falling apart.

I didn’t want to hear Dad say this wasn’t my fault. Because the truth was, I’d brought this back with me from San Diego, and I’d been in charge of the boat when it had begun to sink. I hadn’t bailed it out quickly enough, and now our guests were checking out and running away. Who could blame them? Who would stay after being shot at? No one. Not even the guests who hadn’t been on the ride today would put themselves in harm’s way by sticking around.

Parker’s phone buzzed again. “Wylee,” he said with a frown and stepped out of the room yet again.

The doctor returned while he was gone. She wheeled a stool over to the side of the bed and sat beside me. “How are you feeling?”