“Give them a call. They’ll do a more thorough assessment and get you a treatment plan.” Pain sliced my gut. I needed to leave,now.
“What do we owe you?”
I waved it away as I bent and picked up my bag, trying to conceal the enormous pain I was in. Slinging it over my shoulder, I gave a feeble smile.
“Pop by the practice sometime this week, I’ll sort it out. I really have to go. I have patients first thing.”
There was no way I’d be treating any patients in this condition, but they didn’t know that. With a quick wave, I forced my legs forward and down the path toward my car, feeling like I was about to fall over at any moment. When I was out of their sight, I broke into a run, needing to get to my car and home as fast as I could. There I’d be able to use some of my special teas to help rid myself of the pain.
When I reached my car, I tossed my backpack in the back seat, but when I went to open the front door, all I could do was sag weakly against the side of the car. Closing my eyes, I put my forehead against the cool metal and drew in a breath, and then another, willing myself to have the strength to get home.
“Faelan? What’s wrong?”
Bloody hell.
Pasting a smile on my face, I turned as Luch’s arms came to my shoulders and gaped at his bare chest.
“Um, I …”
“Were you about to drive? Like this?” Luch’s golden eyes tracked across my face, and I fluttered my lashes furiously, trying to clear the fog that was starting to cloud my vision. Or maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt—just a loose pair of running shorts and a baseball cap—and despite the pain, my thoughts went an entirely different direction.
“What’s happened to you?” Luch’s hands at my arms steadied me.
“I’m … dizzy …” I waved a hand in the air and heaved in a breath. My chest felt tight, and I tried to breathe past the pain that wreathed my ribs.
“That’s it. Hand over your keys.” Luch took them from my hands and I gasped as he lifted me and deposited me neatly in the passenger seat, before hopping behind the wheel. “Have you eaten today? Food, water?”
“No. Emergency. Horse.” Talking was painful. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the seat, not caring about anything else other than that we were moving, and I wasn’t the one who had to get myself home.
“I’ll figure out what you mean by that shortly.” Gravel crunched under the wheels of the car and then it came to a stop. Squinting my eyes, I realized we were at Luch’s cottage.
“No,” I gasped, weakly. I needed my magickal tea to help me with the pain. “Home. I need…”
“What you need is to be quiet and to let a doctor take care of you.”
“No.” I whipped my head back and forth, but I was too weak. I’d done one too many healings of a magickal nature lately, and my recovery from taking in pain from such a large animal would be difficult. “Home.”
“Not a chance, darling.” Luch scooped me out of the front seat like I weighed nothing, and I vaguely heard barking as he crossed to his cottage.
“Oban. Tell your dad he’s lost his mind.”
“Let him help you.”
“I can’t. He doesn’t…” I trailed off, realizing I was talking to Oban out loud.
“I don’t what?” Luch asked, and I shook my head, unable to keep talking. The pain banded my chest, downmy sides, and into my legs, and my back was so tight it had seized up.
Luch fumbled at the door and then pushed inside, and I sighed in relief when he laid me on his bed. His masculine scent surrounded me, and I rubbed my cheek against his pillow, inhaling whisps of cedar and soap. I wanted to be exactly where I was and a million miles away. Another wave of pain rolled through me and I whimpered. Luch’s hands were at my wrist, and I blinked up at him as he checked his watch, counting my pulse out.
“Vitals are elevated.” Luch held a hand to my forehead, checked my eyes, and angled my chin. “Does it hurt to breathe?”
“Luch.” He could run me through every normal diagnostic test that he wanted. Nothing would be explainable or really matter for that part. What I needed to do was rid myself of the pain I’d taken inside of me. And for that, I needed my special tea, a grounding spell, and to be connected in nature.
None of which was happening so long as I was lying in this bed.
Sighing, I tried to shove up on my elbows and gasped in shock when Luch just pressed me back down onto the bed. His hand burned at my chest, warm through my jumper, and I squeaked in protest as he raised my shirt.
“Bloody hell, Faelan. Were you riding the horse? Have you been thrown? You should have told me.” A thunder cloud rolled across Luch’s handsome face as he expertly stripped me, despite my protests, and gaped down at the skin he had bared. The shock in his eyes said everything Ineeded to know, but still I dragged my gaze down my body and winced.
