Shoulda Been a Cowboy (Rough Riders 7)

Cam sighed. “You wanna watch TV with me or something?”

“Sure.”

When Anton plopped down on Cam’s left side, close enough their hips touched, Cam didn’t mind the invasion of his space as much as he’d thought.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Week Eight…

The queasy feeling wouldn’t let up.

Domini ate crackers, drank soda water, but every time she stood up too fast, she got dizzy.

“Domini, sweetie, you okay?” Neva asked.

“Just a little lightheaded. I’m sure it’ll pass. I haven’t been getting much sleep.”

Neva smiled in her sweet, grandmotherly way. “Child, with all that you’ve been through in the last two months…not to mention being a newlywed…I don’t imagine letting you rest is on the top of the deputy’s agenda.”

How true that was. Cam was insatiable. He was fabulous. And Domini was so crazy in love with her husband it wasn’t funny.

She patted Domini’s hand. “If you need anything, you let me know, okay?”

“Thanks, Neva.”

Domini noticed a spatula underneath the prep station and bent to pick it up. When she stood, spots danced in front of her eyes, her hearing muffled, and then everything went black.

A lifetime later she heard, “Domini? Can you hear me?”

She was cold. Her head hurt. And why couldn’t she open her eyes? “Yes.”

“Stop pissing around with this, Dave, and call the ambulance.”

That brought Domini out of her stupor. “No. I’m fine, you can’t—”

“Easy.” Gentle hands pushed her shoulders down. “We’ll get you taken care of.”

“What happened?”

“You passed out, that’s what happened,” Beatrice snapped. “Dammit, you went down like a sack of potatoes.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Which is why we need to call the ambulance, because something ain’t right with you.”

Domini opened her eyes. “You can’t do that. Cam is on duty and all ambulance calls go through dispatch first. He’d hear it and freak out.”

“Honey, he is your husband. He should freak out. He should be there when you talk to the doctor.”

“No. He’s got—” no idea I’ve been keeping something really big from him, “—too much going on today to hold my hand when I’m perfectly fine.”

Bea wouldn’t let up. “I don’t know what your deal is, Domini, but you’re not perfectly fine. I’ll agree not to call an ambulance, if you let Neva drive you to the hospital. Right now.”

Dave and Neva murmured their agreement with Bea’s assessment.

“No hospital.”

“The doctor then. I’ll call Doc Monroe. I know she’ll get you in right away.”

Damn. Doc Monroe was the last person Domini wanted to see, but it appeared she’d have no choice. “Okay. Call her.” She looked at the concerned faces hovering above her. “But no one calls Cam, got it? I will talk to him after I’ve seen Doctor Monroe. There’s no reason to make him worry.”

“Neva. Get your car and bring it around back.”

Neva disappeared. Bea left to make the call, leaving Domini with Dave. She attempted a smile. “Help me up?”

Dave extended a hand and Domini slowly rose to her feet.

“See? I’m fine.”

He just shook his head. “No. You’re stubborn.”

At the doctor’s office, Domini convinced Neva to return to Dewey’s to help with the lunch rush. But Neva walked her into the clinic, making sure Domini didn’t skip out on her appointment.

She filled out the medical forms, intentionally leaving some sections blank. Although medical records were supposed to be confidential, in a town the size of Sundance, Domini wasn’t taking chances.

A young nurse called out, “Domini McKay?”

Domini followed the nurse back through the maze of exam rooms and ran straight into…Keely. She couldn’t go anywhere in this town without running into a member of Cam’s family.

Keely’s blue eyes narrowed. “You look like a ghost. What’s wrong with you?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Doc Monroe and I are working on a project together and I’m wrapping a few things up. Where’s Cam?”

“At work. What project?”

“Nice try, sis, with the bait and switch, but you didn’t answer my question. What’s wrong with you?”

“Maybe she didn’t answer because that’s none of your business,” the nurse retorted. “This way, Mrs. McKay.” She led her into an exam room in the farthest corner and shut the door in Keely’s face. The nurse gave her a tight smile. “I’ll get rid of her, don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

The nurse weighed her, took her blood pressure and her temperature. Then she drew a vial of blood. She gestured to the gown on the exam table. “You’ll need to get undressed completely. Put the gown on with the opening in the front. The doctor will be in shortly.”

Domini perched on the exam table. Before too long her eyes began to droop and she laid back. The last thing she remembered was the crinkly sound of the paper beneath her bare butt as she tried to get comfortable.

Two sharp raps on the door startled her awake.

Doctor Monroe strode in and smiled. “I’d ask how you are, but the fact you’re here is pretty much my answer.” She sat on the rolling stool and flipped through the papers on the clipboard. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“It’s silly I’m here at all. I passed out in the kitchen at Dewey’s, my coworkers panicked and offered me the choice of the emergency room or you, so here I am.”

“Mmm-hmm.” The doctor didn’t look up. “Your medical history seems to have quite a few gaps.”

“I’m not sure about some of it.”

“Because…?”

“I was orphaned at age eleven and they didn’t have my full medical history. Then my medical records were lost in the immigration paperwork.”

“Mmm-hmm. Understandable.” Doctor Monroe shut the folder. “But complete and total b.s. So why don’t you tell me the truth if you expect me to help you?”

Startled, Domini stared at her.

“First thing, strictly off the record, I assure you I’ve never had designs on Cam McKay, which you might’ve mistakenly believed. Cam is a patient. I don’t date my patients. Period.