Cop's Passion (21 page)

“He’s had some
scans, x-rays and tests. All looks clear, but he’s staying until
I’m satisfied he’s totally back to normal.”

“That’s always
hard to tell,” Alan joked, relief evident on his face.

Dr Reed smiled
and opened another door behind him. “You can go and see him but it
has to be brief. He needs rest and half hourly observations for
awhile.”

Though Maddy
was relieved, she still had worry beating inside her. Concussion
could take a nasty turn if anything was overlooked.

Mike’s room was
next to the nurse’s station, and there was already a nurse checking
his pupils and asking him questions. His answers were slurred, but
she seemed satisfied and turned to Maddy and Alan with a smile.

“How’s he
doing?” Alan queried, looking at his friend lying on the bed.

“He’s doing
just fine,” the nurse replied, her eyes so warm and soft that Maddy
took an instant liking to her. “And I’m Cherry, by the way. I’ll be
helping to look after Mike today.”

How a man so
sick and pale could still manage to look dangerous was beyond
Maddy, but that was Mike. And she was worried sick about him.
Taking the chair beside the bed, she took his hand in hers.

Immediately he
opened his eyes and looked hazily at her. He smiled faintly and
turned his hand over to clasp hers in a reassuringly strong
grip.

Alan thrust his
hands into his pockets and rocked backward and forward on his
heels, clearly uncomfortable but also unwilling to leave his
friend. “How you doin’, Mike?”

“Head hurts…”
Mike closed his eyes. “Bloody….bottle…”

“Don’t talk,”
Maddy said. “Just rest.”

He gave her
hand another squeeze but obeyed. Or maybe he just couldn’t open his
eyes, he was so tired and concussed.

Cherry
re-entered the room with a form in her hand. “Sorry to do this now,
but I need to get some of this admission filled in and I can’t get
direct answers from the patient, so…” She looked at Maddy and Alan.
“You both are?”

“Alan, a
friend,” Alan replied. “And work mate.”

“And you?” The
nurse was writing on the admission form. “Are you family?”

Maddy was about
to reply “girlfriend”, because it seemed the most appropriate
answer, but the reply “fiancé” came from the bed.

Alan gaped.

Maddy turned
incredulous eyes to Mike.

Mike looked
blearily at the nurse and mumbled, “Marrying me.”

“I think he
means you.” Cherry smiled widely at Maddy. “So, you’re obviously
the first contact person if anything happens? Not that it will, I’m
sure, but the details need to be filled in.”

“Well, I-“
Mike’s hand squeezing hers once more made her gather her scattered
thoughts. “Yes.” She could sort out her concussed ‘
fiancé
’
later. Right now it was more important that he rested and got
better.

Then she was
going to kill him.

Alan was
grinning from ear-to-ear as Maddy gave her phone number to the
nurse, and she glared at him behind Cherry’s back. Unable to give
much information, she was prepared to suffer incredulity from the
nurse, but instead Cherry simply nodded and left the room with
assurances she could get more information from Mike’s old notes
from the A & E, which had come up with him.

Maddy sighed
and settled back in the chair while Alan looked out the window and
hummed to himself. The poor bugger looked dead on his feet but he
obviously wasn’t about to leave Mike just yet.

Or maybe he was
politely waiting to take her home so that he could go home himself
and flop into his own bed.

Dr Reed entered
shortly after with Cherry behind him. He bent down and peered into
Mike’s eyes with a penlight and asked him the usual questions of
what he remembered, where he was, the date and several other
things. Thankfully, Mike was able to give the correct answers after
a few wrong starts. Dr Reed tested the strength in his hands and
feet and when Mike groggily squeezed the doctor’s hands as
instructed, Maddy saw the doctor wince a little. As far as she was
concerned, that was a good sign.

“No problems so
far.” Dr Reed straightened and shook his hands unobtrusively for a
few seconds before checking the observation chart. “You can stay
for another five minutes or so and then I must ask you to leave so
Mike can rest. All right?”

“Sure.” Maddy
nodded.

“I’m going out
now to talk to Mike’s Sergeant, who’s waiting down in the A &
E.” The doctor stood aside for Cherry to precede him out and when
she glanced up at him and smiled, Maddy didn’t miss the warmth that
flowed between them.

Hello, was
there something going on between the handsome doctor and the, well
to be blunt and perfectly honest, pretty but plus-sized nurse? She
was sure of it when Dr Reed and Cherry left the room, the doctor’s
hand unconsciously brushing the small of her back.

Maddy turned
her attention back to Mike, who was resting quietly. A lock of
thick, black hair fell over his brow, half covering the white
primapore at his hairline. Even in sleep he couldn’t look
defenceless. Every heavy swell of muscle combined with his height
and dangerous looks just screamed strength, and yet she still felt
the urge to stand in front of him and protect him from harm.

Good thing he
didn’t know that, because he wouldn’t have been amused.

Relaxing a
little now that she knew there wasn’t any imminent danger, Maddy
reclaimed his hand and held it gently.

“Man, he can’t
even look sick when he is sick,” Alan said, as though reading her
thoughts. “Even like that he could scare the shit out of
anyone.”

“Does he scare
the shit out of you?” Maddy asked him wryly.

“Naw. He treats
me real gentle.” Alan winked and Maddy laughed, feeling some of the
tension ease from her.

Reluctantly she
left when Cherry returned to see them out of the room. After giving
the sleeping Mike a kiss on his brow, she walked down the hallway
with Alan by her side. “He should never have been allowed to leave
in the first place.”

“You know Mike.
When his mind is made up nothing but a stick of dynamite will shift
him.”

“I don’t care
how stubborn he is, he’s staying here until the doctor lets him go
and I agree that he’s ready.”

Alan looked at
her in amusement. “So when did Mike propose?”

Maddy gave him
a dirty look. “You don’t want to go there.”

“Sure I do,” he
said cheerfully.

“I bake a lot
and one day you’ll get a lovely cake from me, but you won’t know if
it contains laxatives or not. Still want to go there?”

“Huh. Probably
not.”

“Wise
choice.”

~*~

Mike opened his
eyes to find Tim sprawled in a chair by his bed with an open
magazine held up to his face. Mike half expected it to be a vet
magazine but when he lifted his head and squinted at the page
nearest him, he stood corrected. He’d never seen a horse that wore
a tiny bikini and had fake breasts the size of watermelons.

“Those could
put your eye out,” he rasped, licking his dry lips.

Tim peered over
the top of the magazine. “Hello, sleeping princess.”

“What are you
doing here?” Mike tried to sit up, only to feel a heavy thumping in
his head that made him subside immediately.

“Waiting for my
princess to wake up.” Tim reached across to a glass of water with a
straw in it and held it out to Mike. “Do you need me to kiss you to
wake you up properly?”

“Not if you
want to ever use your mouth again.” Taking the water, Mike almost
spilt it on himself.

Placing the
magazine face down on the bed, Tim leaned across and steadied the
glass for him. “There ya go, sweetheart.”

Mike scowled at
him, but the movement made the stitches at his temple pull.
“Ouch.”

“Oh, baby, does
your boo boo hurt?”

Ignoring his
friend, Mike took a long swallow of the water. It tasted like pure
gold to a poor man, and he emptied the glass in another long
swallow.

“Okay,
princess, maybe you should take it easy there.” Tim took the glass
away.

“I’m still
thirsty.”

“Yeah, well
let’s see if you hold that down first.”

“What do you
mean? I’m fine-” Mike stopped as a wave of nausea swept over
him.

“That’s what I
mean.” Tim watched him closely. “Want a bowl?”

“Nope - urp.”
Mike held one hand over his mouth.

“I’ll take that
as a yes.” Tim retrieved a bowl from the bathroom and placed it by
Mike’s elbow. “Want a hand to sit up?”

Feeling a
little better already, Mike noticed that he wasn’t lying flat on
his back but was slightly reclined.

“Might be a
good idea,” Rick said as he walked in and took the bed controls in
his hand. “Let’s get you up a bit, see how you go.”

“I can sit up
myself,” Mike protested, but then he felt the bed rise up behind
him and within seconds he was in a semi-fowlers position. Okay,
this was better, he had to admit, just not aloud.

Rick fished a
penlight out of his pocket. “Look at the light.”

“Just don’t go
towards it,” Tim said. “You know what happens to people when they
go towards the light.”

Mike flinched
as the light seared his eyeball. “Is this really necessary?”

“Yes. Now open
your eye.”

“It is
open.”

“No it
isn’t.”

“Do you know
what it’s like to have a light shining in your eye?”

“No, but I do
know what it’s like to have blue and red lights flashing behind me
and I don’t flinch when it happens. Now open your eye.”

“I’ll let you
read my dirty magazine if you do as you’re told,” Tim drawled,
turning the page of the magazine he’d retrieved and was now
enjoying while leaning against the wall.

“I thought
friends helped each other when they’re down.” Scowling, Mike opened
his eye and suffered through the light shining into it. “Jesus, a
man could go blind here.”

“I thought that
only happened if I was by myself with this magazine.” Tim glanced
up. “Maybe I should swap it for the penlight.”

“Just hold
still.” Rick flicked the light to Mike’s other eye. “I always
thought friends shared news.”

“Here we go.”
Tim sighed and closed the magazine. “Having you two as friends is
almost like having two girlfriends. All this sharing shit. You’re
starting to confuse me.”

“Easily done.”
Rick clicked off the penlight.

“Can I have
another drink?” Mike asked. “My mouth feels like the bottom of a
cocky’s cage.”

“That’s plain
nasty. I withdraw my offer to kiss you awake.” Tim poured more
water into the glass and held it out to Mike. “If you’re going to
barf, don’t do it in my direction.”

Rick watched as
Mike took several smaller sips and washed the water around his
mouth before swallowing. After several seconds had passed and they
were all sure that Mike wasn’t going to spew water everywhere, he
asked mildly, “So, when did you get engaged?”

“Huh?” Mike
looked at him.

“Your fiancé?
Remember?”

Oh yeah, he
remembered all right, and he glanced around involuntarily. “Where’s
Maddy?” He was disappointed not to see her nearby.

“Your
fiancé
,” Rick replied, “was here all yesterday evening
making you take your medicine and stopping you from yanking out
your drip.” He nodded towards Mike’s arm.

For the first
time Mike noticed the drip hanging above him from a frame. A line
went down into a - “Is that a needle?”

“Yep.” Tim
smirked. “I was on my way home from a calving and I popped in here
and slid that little sucker in for you. The bill from the vet
clinic should be in your mail box now.”

Rick rolled his
eyes.

“I don’t like
needles.” Mike frowned at the line. “Can this come down now?”

“No,” Rick
replied. “Not until you’re drinking properly.”

“I didn’t
dribble my drink.”

“I mean, until
you’re drinking without vomiting everywhere.”

What a ghastly
thought. Mike slid his gaze around the room. “So where’s Maddy
now?”

“One track
mind, hasn’t he?” Rick observed.

“He’s very
Maddy-minded,” Tim agreed.

Suddenly
realising exactly where he was, Mike’s gaze shot back to Tim. “Did
you bring me here?”

“No. That
delightful task fell to Maddy and your trusty side-kick, Alan.”

“What the - why
am I here?” Mike started to push upwards, only to have the
sledgehammer resound in his head, and he almost fell back on the
pillow.

“That’d be
why,” Tim said helpfully.

“Concussion,”
Rick explained. “Maddy found you in bed with concussion, and she
and Alan got you here.”

“Your
fiancé
,” Tim added.

Now fragments
were coming back to him. He’d gone home and his head had been
thumping. He’d barely made it to his bedroom and collapsed on the
bed, just wanting to sleep. Dimly he remembered a cool, soft touch
on his forehead while he…ye gods, while he threw up in the
toilet.

Yeah, now he
sort of remembered. Maddy and Alan getting him out of the house,
he’d been so dizzy. Into the back of the patrol car and leaning
against Maddy’s big, soft breasts, it had been such a relief for
his aching head, and she’d held him during that nauseating trip
through the streets. Something about a hospital and after that he
really didn’t remember much at all.

“So,” Tim said.
“Your
fiancé
?”

Mike looked at
him and scowled. “Why do you keep saying it like that?” And
Goddamn, the stitches were pulling.

“Man, I didn’t
even know you were engaged.”

“Going by what
Alan said, neither did Maddy.” Rick grinned widely. “He reckoned
the look on her face was priceless.”

Everyone, Mike
thought, believed Rick Reed was such a mild man, but he had a mean
streak at times. Like now. Backing up Tim was just pure meanness.
Jesus, he was the doctor, he should be keeping Mike calm, not
egging Tim on.