“Tulsa, you want to grab her legs and hold them up to your shoulders?”
“Sure.”
“Why is that?”Jed asked.
“She’s a little shocky, and I don’t want her to pass out.Not with her head injury.”He pulled out his blood pressure cuff and strapped it to her arm.He put his stethoscope in his ears, then pumped the bulb, inflating the cuff.He slowly released it, watching the dial.“Your blood pressure is a little low, but good.”He glanced up at Jed.“Want to tell me what happened?”
Jed relayed the information Sadie had given him in the truck, ending with, “It wasn’t Tinker, but when she asked what the fucker wanted, he told her nothing, but his friend wanted her.”Both Bacon and Tulsa frowned at that.“And he got handsy.”That earned some growling and swearing.
“You’re thinking Tinker sent this guy after Sadie?”Bacon asked as he reached for his supplies and began stitching her wound.
Jed saw that her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady and even.She wasn’t squeezing his hand as tightly and wondered if she’d fallen asleep.“Hey.You still with us, Sadie?”He shook their clasped hands a little to rouse her.
“Yes.”She applied a stronger hold on his hand to support her reply.
Another couple of stitches and Bacon was finished.“Okay.All done.”He gave them both instructions on what to watch out for and how to take care of her injury.He leaned back and pulled his gloves off.
Sadie opened her eyes.“That was fast.”
“The laceration wasn’t too bad, and you forget, I do this for a living.I’ve had lots of practice.”Bacon smiled and winked down at her.He reached for a bandage and applied it over the stitches.“This is a waterproof bandage.I know you’re going to want to take a shower to wash the blood out of your pretty blonde hair.”
Jed’s eyes narrowed on the doctor.Was he flirting with Sadie just to piss him off?
He offered his hand, and with Jed’s help, they got her into a seated position.
“Thank you so much.I appreciate you coming here and taking care of me.”
“Not a problem.”He gathered up his trash and threw it in the trash can.
“How much do I owe you?”She reached up to touch around the bandage.
“Nothing.”
“I have to pay you something for rolling out of bed this late at night.”
“No.You didn’t wake me up.Jed did.Technically, he owes me.”Bacon grinned as he started putting things back in his medical bag.
Jed suppressed a groan, afraid she would only dig her heels in harder, but she surprised him when she didn’t argue further.He could only imagine what Bacon would want in return.The last time he owed the man, he got stuck mowing his lawn for the entire summer—weed eating and hedge trimming, everything.Before he left, he told them both to contact him immediately if they had any questions or concerns.
Tulsa said he would follow him to Sadie’s in her car and have one of the prospects pick him up.
Jed packed a bag and drove to her apartment.He helped her inside, then explained to Willa that she’d been injured at work and told her to go back to sleep.As she started shedding her clothes, he was grateful for Bacon's foresight with the waterproof bandage.She jumped in the shower, not wanting to go to bed until she had the blood out of her hair.Once she was finished, he helped her into her pajamas and helped her into bed.The last thing he did before joining her was set his timer on his phone for one hour so he could check on her as Bacon instructed.
“Wake me at seven.I have to bring Oliver to school.It’s the last day before Christmas break.They’re having a party.”
“Okay, baby.Go to sleep.”
The woman was like the Energizer Bunny.She just kept going and going and going.One of these days, she was going to run out of steam.
9
Sadie
The sound of voices coming from somewhere in the apartment woke her from a bad dream.She was dreaming she was back at her car in Big Dick’s parking lot, but this time, instead of Jed showing up and scaring the attacker away, the man managed to knock her out and carry her off.Then her dream flashed to her waking up and finding Tinker looking down at her with a menacing smile on his face.Luckily, she woke up before it got any further.
She tossed the covers off and went to the bathroom to take care of business.She didn’t look at herself in the mirror until she was finished.The large bandage on her head wasn’t something she could easily hide.“Oh, God.I look terrible.”Would Dick take one look at her and tell her to go home until she looked better?She hoped not.She needed the money.
Maybe it didn’t look as bad without the bandage?She peeled it off, hissing as it took a layer of skin with it.She found a washcloth and wet the corner to try and clean up a little more around her injury.“Huh.”The stitches didn’t look nearly as bad as she thought they would.There were four nice, neat stitches in a perfectly straight line.Wow.Bacon did an amazing job.
