This girl’s gonna ride again. She has to.
“I really enjoyed making you squirm in front of the nurse,” Billie continues. “She’s cute, by the way.”
“I didn’t notice.”
Billie rolls her eyes. “Sure you didn’t.”
It’s the truth, though. The nurse could’ve been Shrek, and I don’t think I would’ve batted an eye. Billie has my attention, and despite her sly little remarks, she knows it.
I start to feel hot underneath my collar. This focus on her, this possessiveness, the flirting. It’s inappropriate. I should leave, even if everything inside me yells at just thethoughtof walking out of this little room.
“I hope everyone is okay.” Glancing at the door, I run my hand over my nape for what feels like the hundredth time. “Where is your family?”
Billie lifts a shoulder. “They’re coming.” A pause. “You were the first on the scene.”
“What?” I blink, turning my head to meet her eyes.
Hers are soft. Vulnerable. So is her voice when she says, “There were medics in the arena, but you beat them to it.”
My face flushes. “I don’t know if you remember, but I was All-State in the 100-meter dash.”
“I remember.” She cracks a smile. “You were the only one who ran track.”
The rest of them—my brothers and hers—played baseball and football. But I liked the way my body felt when I was hurtling around the curves of the track. It felt like meditation. The thump of my heart, the steady beat of my sneakers on the asphalt.
I’m not a runner anymore—don’t have the time or the energy for anything other than cowboying and hunting—but back in the day, I loved it.
“Everyone leapt out of their seats when you fell.” I straighten, sighing when my spine meets with the back of the chair. “I just so happened to be the fastest.”
That’s mostly true, anyway.
Billie’s eyes glimmer. My heart tips over. The hazel in her irises looks amber right now. Pretty and soft.
“Thank you.” Billie says the words with heartfelt sincerity. “For being there. And for?—”
“Knock knock!” A jovial woman in blue scrubs and matching skullcap steps into the room. “I hear we have a rodeo queen in our midst!”
Billie grins. “Are you going to help me straighten my crownandthe bones in my arm?”
Goddamn it, this girl won’t stop making me laugh. Go figure, when I allow myself to actually engage with Billie on a real level, she’s fun to be around. There’s this sense of lightness to her that somehow complements her sharpness.
“I’ll do my best. I’m Dr. Mansfield, and I’ll be operating on you today.”
Billie’s grin fades. “So I do need surgery.”
“I’m afraid you do, yes. But don’t worry, we’ll have you right as rain in no time at all. We have an OR opening up in just a bit here.” The doctor pulls up Billie’s X-rays on a TV screen and proceeds to walk us through where the fracture is and what the fix will look like.
In short: eight screws, two plates, and three hours of surgery.
Billie’s face is as white as a sheet. When I grab her hand, it feels cold and clammy. My stomach churns.
She swallows audibly as she turns her head toward Dr. Mansfield. “Is it going to hurt?”
“We’re very good at keeping you comfortable, but if you experience any breakthrough pain, please let us know.”
“Okay.”
Only, Billie doesn’t look okay after the doctor leaves and a team of nurses comes in to prep her for surgery. Her eyes nearly bulge out of her head when a nurse wheels in a tray bearing multiple needles.
