Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) (25 page)

“Let’s just find out
where he was tonight before we get too far ahead of ourselves.  I’ll call you
as soon as I have some answers for you, and you call me if you get a lead from
Melody first.  No going off half-cocked and doing something stupid on your
own.  You were a military man, Cal.  Do me a favor and follow the chain of
command on this,” the lawman urged him before thumping him on the back and
heading toward the door.

Cal watched him leave,
fighting the urge to follow after the other man.  Breathing deeply he battled
the overwhelming desire to find the asshole who’d hurt Melody himself and solve
the problem in a permanent way.  Of course, then Zeke – despite how much the
other man liked him - would be obligated to arrest him and hold him accountable
for his crime.  He’d lose a few decades of his life in prison when he could
spend those years loving Melody and making a family with her, and that math did
not make him happy.  But damn, it was hard to keep a level head when the woman
he adored was at risk.

Heading back to his
Princess’s room, he mentally planned the lecture he’d soon be giving her… and
this time, he’d be yelling loud enough that even the deaf would hear.

The first thing Melody
noted when she finally garnered the energy to force her resistant eyelids to
open was the pounding pain in her head.  The next was the relieved face of the
man she’d fallen in love with looming over hers.

“There you are,
Princess,” she heard Cal say, his deep voice almost shaking with grateful
relief as she felt him moving closer to her.  “It’s about time you showed me
those gorgeous eyes,” he chided her softly, lifting his hand to stroke her
unmarred cheek.  “You scared the shit out of me.  Again, woman.  I’m not a
young man, Melody.  You’re gonna have to stop this crap,” Cal admonished, his
voice growing slightly harsher as her pain dulled slightly when she shifted on
the thin hospital mattress, taking some of the pressure off her sore muscles. 
Releasing an uneasy breath as she got a good look at the man she loved, Melody
could see the residual worry and fear burning fiercely in his gaze.  And
suddenly, it dawned on her.  She knew that
he
knew. 

About everything.

It was that thought
which propelled her upward in the bed, pulling a tortured cry from her lips as
she reached for him.  

Cal’s aggrieved eyes
softened on Melody face when she tried to sit up, and she hissed in a labored
breath. 

“Easy does it, dammit,”
Cal growled low in his throat as he slid a hand underneath her head to steady
her while she struggled to prop herself up on the pillows.  “You almost got hit
by a car less than four hours ago and took one hell of a hit when Austin pushed
you out of the way.  For fuck’s sake, settle down before you do yourself even
more damage.”

“Oh, my God,” Melody
gasped, ignoring both the pain and Cal’s obvious irritation as her body
stiffened and braced for bad news.  “Austin?  I thought it was the car that hit
me, not a body!  And certainly not the body of my newest freaking employee,”
she wailed, pushing a hank of her hair out of her face.  “Is he okay?  He
wasn’t hurt, was he?”  Guilt flooded her as she frantically clutched Cal’s arm,
her eyes begging him to give her an answer that wouldn’t break her heart.  God,
if she’d gotten a good man hurt because of her problems, she’d never forgive
herself.

“Baby, he’s
fine
,”
Cal said calmly, carefully, but insistently, pushing her back against the less
than comfortable pillows.  “Austin just left, in fact.  He busted his knee up a
little where the car clipped him, but otherwise, he’s in one piece.  You, on
the other hand, took a hit that would make a star NFL linebacker proud, and
knocked yourself out when you hit the asphalt.  It’s gonna take you a hot
minute to recover.  Especially after I get done blistering that beautiful ass
of yours for this bullshit,” he warned as his eyes darkened and his nostrils
flared slightly, his face indicating an emotional storm was coming.

His vaguely menacing
tone would have scared the life out of her if she hadn’t been able to see that
she’d shaken him to his core.  “I’m so sorry, Cal,” she whispered, lifting a
trembling hand to lightly touch his scruffy jaw. 

“Oh, you’re not sorry
yet, but you’re going to be,” he promised, his body going rock solid as she
touched him.  “I don’t know what I’m more pissed about, Princess.  The fact
that you nearly got yourself killed again tonight or the fact that you’ve been
lying
to me.”

Her heartbeat quickened
in her chest as she noted his turbulent eyes and tight face.  “Cal, I didn’t
lie,” she denied quickly.  “I might not have been completely forthcoming, but…”

“Some motherfucker has
been sending you…
my fuckin’ woman
… threatening notes and you’ve been
fucking hiding it, Melody!  Do not try my patience now by attempting to
convince me that you should get away with it on a fuckin’ technicality!  Did
you lie to my face?  No.  But you sure as all fuck haven’t been totally honest
either, have you?” he shouted angrily, shoving away from her to pace the length
of the room.  “I almost lost you again, Mel!  All because you’re as willful as
a fussy toddler and refuse to let me protect you!”

“No, I refuse to let
you smother me, Cal.  There’s a big difference,” she muttered, instantly
knowing she’d said the wrong thing when his almost violent eyes flashed with
hurt. 

“Smothered you,” he
breathed, his voice shaking with disbelief. “You’ve got some psycho breathing
down your neck, and you think that
I’m
the problem here?”

“No!” she shook her
head, wincing in pain at the way the movement caused her head to throb. 
Grabbing the side of her head, she inhaled deeply, willing the pain and nausea
to ebb.  “It’s just that sometimes – while you’re seeing to my safety – you
forget that I’m a woman that’s been accustomed to dealing with my problems on
my own in my own way.  Brad certainly never concerned himself with…”

“For the last fuckin’
time, Melody,” Cal cut her off coldly, “I am not Brad Weller.  I don’t look
like him.  I don’t sound like him.  And based on the fact that your body acted
like it had never had an orgasm before a few weeks ago, I don’t fuck like him.”

Melody recoiled.  “I
know you’re angry, but you don’t need to be vulgar, Callum.”

“Evidently, I do since
you don’t seem to pay attention when I coddle your delicate sensibilities,” he
exploded.

His loud voice seemed
to echo inside her aching head and it brought tears to Melody’s eyes.  It was
clear that if she didn’t find a way how to manage the roaring macho masculine
moron raging at her bedside, her head was going to explode.  “Please quit
shouting,” she whimpered, lifting her hand to press against her bruised temple
as tears filled her eyes.

“Shit,” Cal cursed
softly, his face instantly a mask of regret as he moved quickly back to her
side, brushing her hand away so that he could stroke the angry bruise with his
thumb.  “I’m sorry, baby,” he apologized, using his thumb to tenderly brush one
of the teardrops that had escaped her eye away.  “Don’t cry.   If you cry, the
pain is just gonna get worse, and then one of those gaggle of nurses outside
are gonna give me hell.  Not an excuse, but you scared me; I’ll get a handle on
it though, baby,” he swore.  “I won’t get loud any more… at least not until
your head can handle the sound,” he amended, bending to press his lips against
her warm forehead.

“Don’t be too easy on
her,” a sandy-haired man wearing a starched white coat said wryly from the open
doorway.  “I’d be pissed off, too, if my wife went out and almost got herself
made into a hood ornament.”

“And if you yelled at
me like that man just did while I was recovering from a concussion, you’d be
sleeping on the couch for a month,” a pretty woman in pink scrubs retorted,
shooting a censuring glare toward  Cal as she followed what Melody assumed was
her doctor into the room.

Shooting startled eyes
at Cal, she relaxed slightly when he offered her a slight smile. 

“It’s okay, babe. 
That’s your doctor and his nurse,” Cal reassured her with a wink as he held her
hand.

“I’m also his wife as
you might have guessed already,” the woman added with a smirk, shooting her
husband an obviously fond look.  “Millie Daniels,” she introduced herself,
patting Melody’s leg as she reached for the patient’s wrist and took her pulse
while her husband grabbed the chart from the end of the bed.

“And I’m Dr. Mack
Daniels, but most folks around here just call me Doc.  Give me a minute to look
over your test results, and we’ll get started on me telling you how lucky you
are to still be here.  Maybe you’ll listen to your man then,” the man in the
white coat shared grumpily as his finger moved down the page of the clipboard.

Millie snorted.  “While
you might find his bedside manner to be a little lacking, he’s a pretty great
doctor,” she soothed an alarmed-looking Melody before rolling her jade colored
eyes at the distracted doctor.  “And I’m not just saying that because he’s my
husband.   I’m talking as a nurse right now.   If I were talking about my
husband, I’d agree that he’s acting like a horse’s ass,” she said meaningfully,
meeting the doctor’s eyes when they lifted to narrow at her.

Melody laughed at the
couple’s antics as she felt the calming feel of Cal’s thumb stroking the top of
her hand.  “How bad is the damage?” she asked a tad nervously, looking at the
forbidding doctor standing at the end of her bed.

“Well, my specialty is
delivering babies, but all doctors on staff here do monthly rotations through
the ER as part of our contract with the hospital.  And I’d say it’s my
professional opinion based on my examination and all your test results that
you’re one lucky-ass woman.  As I’m sure this guy has informed you,” he
continued, nodding at where Cal perched on the chair beside her bed, “Your
injuries could have been a whole lot worse.  As it stands, you’ve got a
mid-grade concussion and some bruising and contusions over one side of your
face and body.  In short, it was one of the lighter cases of road rash that
I’ve seen.  You also had a gash in your forehead that required a handful of
stitches which we took care of while you were slightly sedated.  Those can come
out in ten days or so.  Otherwise, you’re still in one unbroken piece.  It’s
gonna be a real sore piece for a few days, but it’s all still fully intact. 
Based on what your man has shared with me, you might wanna give some serious
consideration to listenin’ to both him and me and not making any snap decisions
about your safety that could affect your continued health.   Less than a month
ago, you’re in here for anaphylactic shock from eating a freaking cookie that
contained some form of peanuts.  It’s my understanding that cookie might have
been sent to you by somebody that intended to do you harm.  Tonight, you nearly
get mowed down by a speeding car.  You’ve been getting threatening letters. 
Lady, at some point, your luck runs out.  Let your man take care of you while
you recover and for Christ sake, listen to him and stay safe.  Otherwise, next
time I see you, I might be sending your body to the morgue instead of releasing
you into Mr. Valentine’s custody,” Dr. Daniels lectured, his deep voice stern
and serious.

Giving Cal big eyes,
Melody whispered, “He doesn’t sugarcoat anything, does he?”

“Nope,” Millie and Cal
both said in unison.

“I tend to try and keep
all my patients hale and whole, Miss Reardon, and I’ve got this feeling in my
gut that says sugarcoating wouldn’t grab your attention.  You see, I like my
patients to notice me and
pay attention
when I’m trying to save their
lives,” the doctor stated mildly, unperturbed by her comment.  “You seem like a
nice lady, and given the fact that your guy here nearly threatened to gut me if
I made any errors with your case when he learned I wasn’t a trauma surgeon, but
a lowly OB-GYN, I thought it’d be in all our best interests to be as clear as
crystal with you.”

“Sorry about that,
Doc,” Cal mumbled, staring down at the fingers he had laced through Melody’s. 
“My girl means the world to me.”

“Hey, I don’t blame
you.  I would be the same way if this shit was happening with my own wife…and
she’d probably be just as hardheaded,” Dr. Daniels returned evenly with a
knowing look in the nurse’s direction.  “Believe me, no apologies are
necessary.”  Turning his attention back to his patient, he went on.  “At any
rate, I’m agreeing to release you tonight on the condition that you agree to take
it easy for the next 48 hours, let your boyfriend wake you every two hours and
ask you a few basic questions, and you take your pain meds without a hassle. 
Come tomorrow, you’re gonna feel like you got hit by a semi.  Don’t be a hero;
take the medication without giving your old man shit.  I don’t care if you
do
think you need to be at your store stocking shelves for your grand opening,
take a day off.  Seriously.”

“How’d he know I was
opening a store?” Melody asked Cal out the side of her mouth.

“This is Paradise,” the
doctor mocked.  “Everybody tells everything to their doctor in this town.  I
even heard through the grapevine that Honor was making a triple-layer cake for
this shindig you’re having.  That true?”

“Uh huh,” Melody answered
slowly as the doctor dropped a prescription for painkillers in Cal’s hand.

“I’ll be there then,”
he stated with a satisfied nod.

Millie grinned when her
patient shot her a confused look. “Honor’s cakes are the
bomb
.”

“Oh,” Melody responded weakly,
not knowing anything else to say at that moment.

Dropping her chart back
into the metal holder at the end of her bed, Dr. Daniels clasped his hands in
front of him and stared at her.  “So, in closing, you need rest, relaxation,
and to stop doing crazy shit that nearly gives that guy,” he said, jabbing a
finger in Cal’s direction, “a stroke.” 

“Got it,” Melody agreed
softly, carefully nodding her head.

“Great.  We’ll step out
and let you get dressed.  Millie will be back with your discharge paperwork and
some bandages for you to do your wound care at home.  You’ll need to change the
dressing on your head once a day for the first three days.  Then, you can leave
the dressings off completely.  Just put some antibiotic ointment over the
stitches and leave the wound uncovered.”