Page 18 of The Mountain Man's Determined Bride
“She’s all yours Luke.” Ty made the choice with a smirk. “I’ll help you get her up in the saddle then I’ll climb up the hillside. You can lead Pepper out of the ravine.”
With a plan set in motion, they nudged Morgan awake and carefully got her to her feet and aware of what they were going to do. She needed medical attention so it was critical to get her out of the woods. She’d made it look easy to perch her atop her horse but she’d been riding for years so it came natural for her, even with a severely broken leg.
Chapter Fifteen
Luke paced back and forth, the entire length of the hallway in the emergency room lobby of the Holly Medical Center. Morgan was in surgery. He felt like she’d been there forever and no one had updated them at all. He got to see her before they wheeled her in so he’d made sure to tell her he loved her but did she believe him? They weren’t on the same page, hadn’t been in six years but the way she hugged him when they’d found her gave him a small measure of hope.
“Hey man, I got you some coffee.” Tyler handed Luke the vending machine cup. “Will you please go sit down and drink it, your pacing is driving me nuts.” Tyler walked over to the waiting area to sit with Uncle Bill and his lady friend Elsie. The men had called Bill once they’d started down off the mountain so he could have the pickup waiting to transport Morgan.
“Sorry but I’m going crazy here, they aren’t telling us anything.” He took a sip of the concoction and frowned. “This tastes like shit.” Luke threw the cup in the trash and walked over to the windows behind Uncle Bill.
“They’ll tell us something when they know what that something is. Morgan had a bad compound break Luke, and she hasn’t really been in there that long. You just have no perception of time.” Tyler smirked at Luke and grabbed a Western Horseman magazine from the waiting room table.
“I don’t know how you can joke at a time like this. Your sister is in surgery for god’s sake. What if something terrible happens?”
“Oh Luke, now honey you can’t think like that.” Elsie, the town’s previous postmistress and Bill’s lady friend spoke up. “You got her to safety as soon as you could and she’s in real good hands now. I’m sure she’ll be just fine. No news is good news they always say.”
No sooner had Elsie spoken than a woman in a white coat came around the corner looking for Tyler Masters. “Yep that’s me.” He rose from the uncomfortable setae and approached the attractive woman in scrubs.
“Hi there, I’m Doctor Breann Colby, I’m the on-call ER physician tonight. Are you Morgan’s brother?”
“Yes I am.” The others in his party joined his quickly. “This is the rest of our family.” Tyler introduced everyone and the doctor exchanged pleasantries with them all.
“So is she going to be okay?” Luke couldn’t wait any longer. “Can I see her?”
A smile broached the doctor’s face. “She’ll be just fine. As you probably know, she had a bad leg injury. She broke her tibia and fractured the fibula. The bone was protruding and we had to do surgery but she came through with flying colors. We’ll keep her here for a few days because when the anesthesia wears off, which should be in a few hours at most, she’ll be in a good amount of pain. Then we have her ready for pain meds that we’ll monitor. She also got a bit too cold while out in the woods so we just want her levels back to normal first.”
“So she can come home in a few days?” Bill looked to Elsie, commenting that they needed to get her room set up for her.
“Well tentatively but we’ll see how her progress goes. She’ll need to meet with the physical therapist a few times as well just to know the right way to use her crutches and the thingsshe can and can’t do. She will be moved to a regular room shortly then I’ll check in on her during my shifts plus she’ll have the normal daytime doctor too.”
“So it’s okay to see her?” Luke was biting at the bit to run right past the doctor.
“Yes but can we have just two of you go in at a time? She’s a little out of sorts still so I don’t want her to get overwhelmed. She may be in and out of sleep too so don’t let that discourage you.”
Between the four of them, they decided to let Luke and Tyler go first so the doctor led them into her temporary room.
“Hey sis!” Tyler approached the bed where his baby sister lay hooked up to wires and monitors. Luke didn’t move more than five feet into the room and stopped. She looked so weak and feeble and it was his fault. She would never forgive him now. He knew now, there were just some things they couldn’t get past.
“Hey man, your turn.”
“Oh, what?” Luke shook his head, bringing him back to the present with Tyler standing in his personal bubble.
“It’s your turn, to talk to Morgan. I’m gonna step outside and give the two of you some alone time. I think you need it.” Tyler patted him on the back and went out of the cubicle, closing the curtain.
Luke looked toward the bed and found Morgan watching him. She waved a hand, motioning him to come closer.
“Hi Morgan.”
* * * *
Boy is he a sight for sore eyes. What? Did I really just think that? Ugh…just because I broke my leg doesn’t mean he changed his bad habits. But, maybe I could give him a chance to explain himself before I convict him.
He walked closer, grabbing a chair from the corner of the cubicle to sit beside the bed. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was going to burst into tears. It was obvious he’d been beating himself up over her accident. It wasn’t his fault though, not really.
“Hi Luke. How are you?” He’d been running his fingers over her pale hand where the IV needle was taped.
It took him a few minutes to answer her, as if he was searching for the words. “You know it’s just like you to be lying in a hospital bed broken and worrying about me. I’m fine.”