Authors: Angela Verdenius
“Hang on a minute-”
His mobile rang in his hands and he glanced down to see the ambulance station’s number. Thank God! “Work. Gotta go.” Striding from the clothes shop, he put the phone up to his ear. “Ryder.”
“Got a call out,” Donny said. “Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”
“I’m right across the road, be there in seconds.” Swinging onto the motorbike, Ryder shoved the mobile into his pocket, slid the helmet on and throttled the bike.
Called out to a farm where a farmhand had fallen from the barn roof he’d been mending and managed to impale his leg on a star picket, Ryder had to shelve his worry to the back of his mind, but it never quite left him. No sooner had they delivered the farmhand to the hospital than he and Donny were called out to a car accident, his spike of fear that it might be Dee calmed when he found out from Kirk, who was already there, that it was a van carrying a man. Not that it made it any better, but it wasn’t Dee, which meant he could go into professional mode.
If it had been Dee, he wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t have fallen apart.
Cripes, where had that weird thought come from? He dismissed it immediately.
They were on their way back into town when they passed a dark blue Ford Laser hatchback with bright yellow daises on the front doors. Recognising Molly’s car, Ryder waved, smiling when she waved back.
As he passed the car, he saw that she had passengers in there, recognising Ash easily as she sat in the passenger seat, which meant that the other two passengers were probably Del and - yes! He caught sight of a pretty, serious face gazing out the window as he passed. Dee. She was with them.
He sank back into his seat in relief. Okay, she was safe, he knew where she was, she was with the girls.
And his seed was inside her.
For one insane second he almost slammed on the brakes, only to remember that he had a patient in the back of the ambulance he was supposed to be taking to hospital, not on a field trip to see the woman whom he’d shagged without protection.
Jesus!
He actually slapped his forehead in exasperation. Nothing he could do right now, he had an injured man in his care.
Setting his jaw, clenching his teeth, Ryder continued towards town.
See, this is what happens when you let your dick rule your head. Things go to hell in a hand basket
. He’d have to see her after, at least he knew where to find her now. She might not have her mobile, but the other girls carried theirs.
Besides, the woman should have been carrying hers when she drove out of town. Anything could have happened and she’d have no way of calling for help.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. Damn it, he was going to ream her good later for leaving town without telling anyone and not taking her mobile. Goddamn woman with her stubborn, independent ways. He ought to have Kirk slap her in handcuffs so she could do nothing else but listen.
Or I could do it. Bet she’d look real cute in nothing but a pair of handcuffs. Heh heh.
He started when he realised he was getting a stiffy.
Jesus! What is wrong with you?
He white-knuckled it all the way to the hospital.
They’d missed lunch, so he spent a couple of hours with Donny cleaning and restocking the ambulance, doing the paperwork while they ate sandwiches.
Simon stuck his head around the door just as Ryder was shoving a file onto the shelf. “Hey, I’m going to the pub after work for dinner. Coming?”
“I’d like to, but I have something to do first
.” Dee. Not do her. See her. Not that doing her is a bad idea, but - shit!
“Sure, no worries.”
Ryder took a deep breath. “Next time.”
“It’s a date.” Simon fluttered his eyelashes. “Sugar plum.”
“I’ll give you sugar plum.” Ryder hesitated. “Listen, can I talk to you later?”
“Sure. Everything all right?”
“Actually, forget it.”
“Uh huh.” Simon leaned against the doorframe.
“What’s the ‘uh huh’ shit?”
“You need man cave time.”
Donny looked up from where he sat at the desk. “What?”
“Man cave time,” Simon repeated.
“Are you two an item?”
Ryder gaped, Simon grinned.
“Not lately,” Simon replied. “He’s not even coming to dinner with me, never mind seeing my man cave.”
“You start spreading shit around,” Ryder warned Donny, “I will rip your nuts off.”
“I don’t think anyone would believe me.”
“Because there is
nothing
to believe.”
“Sure.” Donny looked back down at the paperwork. “Like I said, no judging here.”
Ryder glared at him.
“Wow, I thought I was the only one who got those looks,” Simon said. “You really are a fickle bastard, aren’t you, honey?”
Donny sniggered.
Before Ryder could give a foul-mouthed retort, the station house phone rang.
Donny answered it. “Gully’s Fall Ambulance Station. Oh hi, doc. Yeah, he’s here. It’s about who? Dee?” Donny looked at Ryder, the laughter fading from his eyes. “It’s the doc at the A & E department.”
Dee was at the hospital? Alarm gripped Ryder as he grabbed the phone from his workmate, placing it to his ear to bark out, “Ryder here. What’s wrong, Eric? Is Dee all right?”
“Kind of,” Eric replied.
“Kind of?” Ryder’s grip on the receiver tightened. “What do you mean ‘kind of’? How bad is she hurt?”
From out of the corner of his eye he saw Simon approach, all humour wiped from his face.
“She had a little accident at home, fell onto some broken pottery and gashed her arm badly.”
His heart actually stuttered with a touch of relief, though concern still warred inside him. “I’m coming right now.”
“Glad to hear it. She won’t let me put stitches in and is threatening to leave.”
“Don’t you let her walk, Eric. I’ll be right there and she
will
have stitches.” In the background he heard Dee arguing, Del’s voice chiming in. “You tell Dee I’m coming and if she leaves, I will personally hunt her down and drag her arse back there.” He hung up. “Donny, you’re holding the fort. The next shift will be in shortly, you give them handover. I may not get back in time.”
“Knowing Dee,” Donny replied dryly, “you’ll be arguing with her until midnight.”
“There’s going to be no arguments,” Ryder said grimly. “Call me if you need me.”
“No worries. Have fun.”
Fun? Dee was hurt, there was nothing funny about it, even less so when she had such a phobia of needles. Hell yeah, Ryder knew exactly why she was kicking up such a fuss about stitches, but the woman was going to have them if needed.
“Let us know how she is.” Simon watched Ryder get on the heavy motorbike. “Maybe you need reinforcements. Want me to come?”
Ryder pulled the helmet on, fastening the strap beneath his chin with impatient jerks. “I don’t need reinforcements. I can handle Dee.”
“Mmmm.” Hands in pockets, Simon arched one brow.
Ryder roared out onto the road, heading towards the hospital, there in a matter of minutes and parking the motorbike near the A & E entrance. He was pulling the helmet off as he strode into the A & E, using the ambulance bay to enter directly.
A small group of people stood in the middle of the A & E arguing. Several large spots of blood were on the floor. Ryder’s gaze swept over the group. Del looking frustrated, Eric with one hand on his hip as he tried to reason with his patient, a nurse called Sandy gesturing in annoyance, and a pale-faced Dee gripping a tea towel to her upper arm. Blood dribbled from the wet material to drip onto the floor.
“I’m not having stitches,” she growled. “Give me some Steri-Strips. A bandage. Cripes, I’ll go home and wrap a bloody sock around it if I have to!”
“Don’t be an arse,” Del snapped.
“The cut is deep,” Eric said calmly. “Steri-Strips won’t work.”
“So just wrap it good and tight. Use that glue shit or something you people have in the ‘fridge. Crap on a stick, I have glue in my shop if you need it.”
“Dee, be reasonable,” Sandy said.
Like that was going to happen. Ryder dropped the helmet onto a nearby bench and strode forward. Enough was enough.
“I’m going home,” Dee declared. “You won’t do anything about it, I’ll do it my bloody self.”
“You leave and Ryder will kill me,” Eric retorted.
“Ryder can kiss my fat arse.”
“Dee,” Ryder said.
Everyone looked around at him with varying degrees of emotions.
Relief and anger warred for supremacy on Dee’s face.
“Thank God you’re here,” Del said.
“Amen,” muttered Sandy.
Ryder snagged Dee around the waist, hand clamping on her hip as he turned her and propelled her towards one of the trolleys. “Come on, babe.”
“No bloody way!” She tried to hang back.
He simply placed himself behind her and used his body to crowd her forward. “Don’t make me pick you up and dump you on it.” He yanked the curtain aside, turned her around, shifted his hands so he gripped both her hips, and backed her up to the narrow bed.
“Don’t make me kick your arse, Montague!”
Dee Miller had a phobia around needles, but anyone who knew her was well aware that she didn’t always listen to commonsense, not when it came to needles. She’d sooner cauterize a wound with a smouldering stick than have a needle. It was jump her, hold her down and get the needle in. Well, that’s what her parents had done when she’d been a kid, but it wasn’t something that could be done now. Maybe.
“This is illegal.” She glared up at him. “I have to consent.”
“I consent for you.”
“You can’t! You don’t have the legal right!”
“Really? We’re going to argue legalities?”
“Bloody oath! I am not having needles anywhere near my skin!”
And she wasn’t walking out of here without stitches if he had to hold her down himself. But he knew Dee better than she thought. Arguing with her wasn’t going to work, she’d had enough time to get a full head of steam up.
Speaking calmly, he framed her face with his palms. “Babe, listen to me.”
“No, I-”
“Babe.”
“Ryder, I can’t - no.”
Bending down, he looked her directly in the eyes. “Dee.”
Unexpectedly, her eyes filled with tears.
That hit him hard, deep down. Those beautiful eyes swimming with glittering tears, the scared look on her face, the way she shifted closer to him as though seeking reassurance.
Gently, slowly, he moved his head forward, placing his mouth at her ear, speaking softly, forcing her to listen, to stand still. “Let me look at your arm, babe. Okay? Let me look, check it out.”
A shiver went through her. “I don’t want a needle.”
“Let me see.”
She swallowed, sniffed. “Ryder.”
“Babe.”
Several seconds of silence then she nodded, barely discernable, a silky strand of her fragrant hair tickling his nose. “Okay.” When he drew back, she whispered fiercely, “Just a look.”
“Up on the bed.” He waited until she’d reluctantly placed her foot on the step before he gripped her waist and lifted her the last few inches, settling her on the thin mattress.
Using the brief respite of her surprise, he carefully peeled the tea towel off her upper arm and looked. Not to mention winced inwardly. Oh shit, yeah, she was going to need stitches and not just a couple. The gash was long and deep, blood welling up to drip down her arm.
Ready to take over, Sandy appeared beside him holding a wad of gauze in a gloved hand.
Taking the gauze, he pressed it gently to the oozing laceration, putting light pressure on it as he shifted his gaze to meet Dee’s panicked eyes. “Babe, I’m going to be right here with you the whole time.”
“Oh no.” She started to shiver. “Oh no. No no no.”
“It needs stitches.”
“Steri-Strips.”
“No.”
“Glue.”
“No.”
“Not stitches.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t.” She started to look for a way to slip down. “I can’t do this.”
Ryder blocked her, stepping forward so that his hips rested against her knees, his hand still holding the gauze over the angry gash, his other hand slipping around to hold her nape gently but firmly. “Dee, you need stitches. Nothing is going to fix this. If you leave it, it could get infected, it won’t heal properly. Stitches.”
Her eyes were huge. “I don’t like needles. You know I don’t like needles.”
“I know.” Placing his forehead against hers, he looked deeply into her eyes. “I know, babe. I’ll be here with you the whole time, I won’t leave your side. I promise. It’s got to be done, Dee. You know it, I know it. We’ll do it together, okay?”