The nurse patted her arm. “Well, there’s a gentleman here to see you, but I’ll have to send him away if you don’t co-operate.” The nurse glanced over her shoulder at Mitch and winked.
He winked back and stood to the side, just out of Nadia’s line of vision so as not to distract her. The nurse had questions she needed to ask. He was aware of the drill of dealing with concussion patients and he didn’t want to disrupt that.
“Can you tell me where you are, Dr. Fletcher?” asked the nurse.
“Hill Country Medical Center.”
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Tornado in Hunt and a can of something hit me on the head.”
“Very good.” The nurse checked items off on her tablet. “What month is it.”
“June.”
“Okay good, you passed.”
“Fabulous. Now can I go back to sleep?” Nadia shifted in the bed and Mitch’s eyes were drawn to her slender arm lying on top of the blankets, an IV attached. Her head was covered in a bright white bandage. He imagined her ribs would be bandaged as well.
“Sure, you can sleep, but then you’ll miss seeing your visitor.”
Mitch stepped further into the room now that the examination was over. “Hey Boston, how you doing?”
“Mitch? What are you doing here?”
Mitch hooked his leg around the metal chair resting against the wall, and dragged it closer to the bed. The plastic covered cushion hissed loudly when he sat down. “I came to see how you’re doing. You were a bit spacey when the doors were closing on the ambulance. How are you feeling?”
“I’d be feeling better if they’d let me sleep. I’m so tired,” she grumbled.
A smile stretched his lips, and his muscles protested a little at the action. It had been a long time since he’d spontaneously smiled. “Doctors always make the worst patients and you know why they have to keep waking you.”
“I’m fine. My head doesn’t even hurt that much now.”
“I’m sure they’ll let you out soon enough. But as I said you weren’t making any sense when the paramedics were treating you.” Mitch had had to fight the desire to climb in beside her and hold her hand while they settled her in the ambulance. He couldn’t go with her though, he’d been needed to help extract some others who were trapped. He had a job to do, and people were counting on him and his team to search for missing or injured loved ones.
He was grateful his parents were safe he couldn’t imagine what some of them were going through not knowing if the person that completed them was safe or not.
Was Nadia that person for him?
Where the hell had that thought come from? No way was he in any shape mentally to consider a relationship. Although twice she’d pulled him out of his attacks. And she hadn’t kicked him out of the room yet.
“How are you doing, Mitch? Are you okay?” She asked and beneath the white bandaged covering the cut on her head, her brow furrowed and her eyes darkened with concern.
Even lying in a hospital bed she was worried about him. He got up from his chair, this time the cushion squeaked, the medical center really needed to get new chairs. Leaning forward he pressed his lips gently over her wound. He then kissed her cheek before finishing with a brief brush across her lips.
What possessed him to kiss her like that? Like he cared, he had no idea, but he had to admit it seemed right. There was no awkwardness. It was like he was meant to be in this room, right at this moment with her.
Mitch sat back down and picked up her hand, being careful not to dislodge her IV. “I’m fine. I’m sorry for how I acted coming out of my attack. I remember now that I kissed you, not the other way around.” Even lost in his mental fog he’d sought comfort from her. It seemed that her touch and her presence soothed the attacks and made them not so scary.
“I’m glad. Have you seen anyone about them? Do you know what triggers them?” The more she asked the stronger her voice got.
How many times had Gene said the same thing to him? His parents as well. He could talk to her further about them, but in a hospital with her recovering from a severe concussion and seriously bruised ribs, wasn’t the time or place. “Boston, now’s not the time to talk about it, but,” he held up his hand to stop her from protesting. “I’ll talk to you when your head isn’t hurting so much.”
“Promise, because that would mean a lot to me.” She yawned and he could see her energy was waning.
“I promise. Now go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake.”
With his promise and declaration, he’d made the commitment he was going to see her again. Surprisingly the thought didn’t freak him out as much as he thought it might. Or should.
