“I won’t let her outta my sight,” I say.
He nods. “Let’s get her to her room, and I can examine her more thoroughly.”
I lift Mellie into my arms and carry her across the clubhouse to the spare room she’s been staying in. She should be going toourroom, but I’m determined to respect her wishes.
As I’m setting her down on the bed, Mellie’s eyes flutter open, and she groans.
“My head hurts,” she says quietly.
“I know, baby.” I kiss her forehead. “But you’re gonna be okay.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.” She darts her tongue out to swipe away the blood on her split lip. “Peach?”
“She’s being dealt with.”
She nods, closing her eyes. “Tired. I’m tired.”
“Don’t let her fall asleep,” Sawbone instructs. “At least, not yet.”
“Sleep,” she mumbles.
“No sleep, baby,’ I say, situating her so she’s upright and leaning against the headboard.
It takes Sawbone ten minutes to examine Mellie to his satisfaction. Once he’s finished, he crosses his arms over his chest and levels his gaze one mine.
“She’s lucky. I don’t think Peach hit her hard enough to cause actual damage,” he explains. “Her ribs aren’t broken, but she’s bruised pretty badly and will be sore for a while. The cut on her lip will heal quickly.”
“And her head?”
He shrugs. “That’s another matter entirely. She doesn’t appear to have a concussion, so she can sleep, but I still want her woken up every two hours. If she doesn’t exhibit any symptomsbeyond being sore and tired, I think she’ll be just fine. But if anything, and I do meananything, changes, she needs to be taken to the hospital immediately. I’m confident in my medical abilities, but we simply don’t have all the necessary equipment to get her through brain swelling or bleeding.”
“Understood.”
21
MELLIE
“Oh, c’mon, like that was a hard one,” Lyric taunts.
He leads me over the rocks to the beach, and I inhale sharply when I take in the scene before us.
“You like it?” he asks nervously.
I jump into his arms, wrapping myself around him like a spider monkey. “I love it. A candle-lit dinner on the beach… What’s not to love?”
“This isn’t just any candlelight dinner,” he says, carrying me closer to everything he has set up. “It’s special.”
I push against his shoulders so I can look him in the eye. “It’s not my birthday, and it isn’t our anniversary, so what’s the occasion?”
“Do I need one to spoil you?”
I laugh. “No, but I know things have been busy with the club. I’m sure Rowdy had something to say about you taking the night off.”
He smirks. “He didn’t, actually.”
“Oh?”
“Anyone ever tell you that you ask too many questions?”
