Wes sat on a small rolling stool and wheeled over to me, feet up, like a child playing at a doctor’s appointment. “I’m going to sleep on your couch tonight, little Ellie. And Gray can sleep on Arch’s. That way if either of you need anything, you’ve got us.”
“That’s sweet, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. I doubt I even need stitches.” My head pounded as I said it.Maybe I’ll need stitches after all.
“I insist. You’re not going to lift a finger after this idiot almost got you killed.” He pointed to a bruised Arch. The skin around his eyes was a deep purple.
“I didn’t almost get her killed! That guy had a heart attack or something.” Arch’s voice was a mix of pissed and panicked that someone would assume he hurt me.
“I’m messing with you, man. We all know you didn’t do it on purpose. These things happen.” Wes wheeled over to squeeze his friend’s arm and show he didn’t mean his teasing words.
A nurse walked in with two charts, followed by an orderly. “All right, dearies, it’s time for the CAT scan. Then you’ll come back here to wait for the results.”
She turned to the guys. “Gentlemen, this could take a while. Would you prefer to wait here or go out until they return?”
Gray and Wes looked at each other for a moment, then turned to Arch. “We’re going to go get some dinner. Text us when you’re back in here, and we’ll come quick.”
“Sounds good, man, thanks,” Arch and Wes did some sort of complicated handshake, then Gray gave Arch a high five. Then, the two hotties came over to my bed. Each grabbed one of my hands and simultaneously brought them to their lips. With their lips on my hands, lava worked its way down my body as they stared at me through their eyelashes.
I believed they meant it as a gentlemanly and flirty gesture, but it was incredibly sensual. My mind strayed.Dear lord, now I want to know what else they might be able to do as a team… Ellie, don’t be a dirty whore. You’ve only known them a few days.“Bye, guys,” I whispered. With a bow and a flourish, they left.
I giggled and turned to Arch. “You have some competition, Romeo.”
Arch laughed at my expression and raised his eyebrows. “I’m not worried.”
The nurse interrupted our banter to take us to our test. The CAT scan waiting room was lined with beds and wheelchairs filled with injured people. Arch distracted me from the waiting and my growing headache by telling me about his little sister, Moriah, who he was close to growing up. His parents lived in Atlanta, but he wasn’t as close with them.
When his head started hurting, too, I told him about my mom and dad. I spoke softly, reflecting on the joyous time before Mom’s death and especially before the stepbitch came into the picture.
My head nestled comfortably on the pillow, and I only meant to close my eyes for a moment. The next thing I knew, a nurse wheeled me into a small room with a large circular machine in it. I drifted off again once settled in for the scan and didn’t wake up until we were in the ER. I didn’t remember getting out of the machine and onto the bed. Arch talked to Wes and Gray quietly from the bed beside me.
“I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to sleep through your visit. I hope I didn’t snore!” I checked for drool and found a nice wet spot on my pillow. When random shouting in the hall distracted the three of them, I flipped my pillow over to hide the moisture.
“Don’t worry, Ellie.” Gray came over and stroked my hair out of my face. “You’re given a pass to sleep as long as someone watches you. Plus, after your CAT scan, they gave you a shot in the arm. You woke up, but it worked fast. You conked out.”
“What did they give me? How long was I out?” I hated missing time.
“She said it was a painkiller and anti-nausea medicine combined. And about two hours. We should be close to being discharged.” Arch stared at me around a big white bandage on his face. The bruises around his eyes darkened in the time I slept. “You talk in your sleep.”
“I’m a vivid dreamer.” I didn’t want to talk about the types of dreams I had. The worst of them were related to my family. I tried to take the focus off of myself. “You look pitiful. Is your nose broken?”
Arch shook his head. “No, but it’s pretty banged up. It should heal a lot faster than a break, thankfully. And burns from the airbags and whiplash. I’ve got to take it easy for a few days. You’ve got a mild concussion and need to be monitored through the night for regular breathing. We told the nurse that Gray is your fiancé. They gave him all the discharge instructions.” I gazed from Arch to Gray as Arch continued, “I was going to say it was me, but Gray beat me to it.”
Wes’s laugh filled the room. “I was going to, as well.”
“I don’t think I can have three fiancées, but whatever floats your boats!” I watched the boys give a few subtle glances between themselves but chalked it up to my concussion.
The nurse returned and gave me my discharge instructions, which matched what I’d already been told. Wes snatched the prescriptions for pain and nausea medicines from the nurse so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. “I’ll get these filled on the way home. Hand me your insurance card and tell me where to go.”
I wrote down my usual pharmacy on the corner of the discharge instructions and handed it over. It happened to be the same one Arch used. He gave Wes his prescriptions.
When I tried to move unassisted from the bed to the wheelchair, dizziness almost put me on the ground. Gray caught me and propped me up against him before I could ask for help. He practically carried me to the wheelchair, and then took up a post behind me. He was overly concerned for a man I’d only met once at a party. His attitude was sincere, though. I let him fuss. I suspected some of his motivation came from his childhood trauma about hospitals.
The nurse gave me a knowing grin and busied herself behind Arch before Wes shooed her away. She led the way to the patient loading area where Gray’s black SUV—remarkably like Arch’s—was waiting.
“Do you guys buy them in bulk?” I asked sarcastically.
Arch laughed and shook his head. “No, Gray got one first, and I liked it so much I bought one, too.”
Gray helped me into the front. Arch toughed it out and helped himself into the back seat while Wes chuckled. “I could’ve helped you in, Arch.”
