“At least you weren’t here for the madness last night,” I reply.
“I heard it was nuts. But thanks for covering for me,” she says with a smile. “I had fun taking the kids trick-or-treating.”
“I’m glad. Okay, I just got a call from an ambulance. MVA.” That’s code for a motor vehicle accident. “Two men coming in, one from each vehicle, two ambulances. One guy is just beat up. The other has a bad head injury. Let’s get two rooms ready.”
We jump up and get to work, readying two rooms for the accident victims. I let the on-call doctor know what’s coming in, and he assigns two ER residents to take the patients.
By the time the first ambulance pulls in, we’re ready to go.
“White male,” the medic calls out as we hustle him into a room, “thirty-four. Contusions to the head and shoulders.”
We’re bustling about, getting the man transferred from the gurney to a bed, grabbing IV supplies as the doctor rapid-fires questions at the patient.
When the person on the cot answers, I stop cold.
I know that voice.
I turn to look him in the face, and he seems just as surprised to see me.
His brown eyes are glassy, full of shock, but when he makes eye contact, he seems to calm just a little.
“Brax?”
“Hey, Josie.”
CHAPTER 2
~BRAX~
Is Josie really here, or am I hallucinating from banging my head against the steering wheel?
“Follow my finger,” the doctor instructs, and I try to focus on his hand as it moves back and forth, up and down. “Not bad.”
“Josie?” I ask again, convinced that I imagined her. Suddenly, there she is, standing next to my bed and pushing a needle into my arm. “What are you doing here?”
She raises a sexy eyebrow at me. “I work here.”
“Do you remember what happened, Mr. Adler?” the doctor asks while poking around my neck. They finally took the stupid brace off, so I’m not as uncomfortable as I was.
“Dude hit me,” I say, remembering the bright lights right at me. “He was on the wrong side of the road.”
“He’s next door,” a nurse says. “You can smell the alcohol on him.”
The doctor’s expression is grim as he examines my chest where the seatbelt was.
“You’re going to have some intense bruising,” he says and turns to the nurse. “I want x-rays of the chest and shoulders to make sure there are no fractures.” He looks at me again. “Are you allergic to any medications?”
“No,” I reply.
He keeps rattling off instructions, but it’s all turned to ringing and buzzing in my ears.
I’m tired.
Seriously fucking tired.
“You guys have this?” I hear Josie say. “I’ll see if they need help next door.”
“No.” I look for her, desperate to keep her with me. “Stay.”
“I’ll go,” another woman says and hurries away.
Josie sighs but stays and takes orders from the doctor. I just watch her as she listens and nods, asking questions in that sweet voice of hers.
God, I fucking missed her.
Everything about her.
“I’ll be back when the x-rays are done,” the doctor says and rushes out, leaving just me and Josie in the room.
“You’re so pretty.”
She sighs and spares me a glance. “You’ve got a good amount of pain medicine running through you right now. And you’re probably in shock or something.”
“I’m not in shock. And even if I was, it doesn’t mean you’re not pretty.”
She just types on her computer, her long, thin fingers flying over the keyboard. Noise comes from the cubicle next door—loud beeps and raised voices—before I hear “Code blue” over the loudspeakers and more people hurrying into the room. Someone shouts instructions I can’t follow, and not long after, all I hear is a long, high-pitched noise before the doctor says, “Call it.”
Josie’s head turns to the doorway, and then, with sad eyes, she turns to me.
“He didn’t make it,” she says softly under her breath, but I still hear her.
“Damn,” I reply. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I am, too,” she says. “Imaging will be here in just a few minutes.”
“I don’t have to go to them?”
“No, they have a portable x-ray machine. We don’t want to move you around too much in case something is broken. Stay still for a while.”
“Never was good at lying still.”
Her lips curve into a half smile, and I take that as a win.
“No, you weren’t,” she says. “But try. We’re going to run some labs, as well, check for inflammation and some other things. Can I call someone for you?”
“Just you,” I say simply. But she only narrows her eyes at me, and I see the edges of her temper starting to flare.
God, she’s magnificent when she’s good and pissed off.
“A family member, friend, girlfriend?” she says. “It’s not fun to sit in here alone.”
“I’m not alone,” I remind her. “I have you.”
“I’m working,” she says. “And I’m not your girlfriend anymore. Apparently, I dumped you.”