Me And Mr. I.T. (Kupid's Cove Book 2) (11 page)

He was snickering, and I elbowed him with my left arm. “What’s so funny?”

“You told the guy who hit you in the face with a Frisbee to enjoy his stay.”

I shrugged, the pain in my eye increasing as the minutes ticked by. “I told you, I’m always…”

“On the clock. I know,” he said.

I stopped walking and bent over, the pain in my eye making my head feel like it might explode. “Sorry, I need to stop for a second. My head is killing me.”

I toppled over forward, the grass breaking my fall, and lay on my back as the stars began swimming above me.

He knelt on the grass near the resort door and pulled my right hand down, even as I fought against him. “Oh, boy.” He put my hand back on it and had me stay on the grass while he ran inside the hotel, for what I assumed would be a nice comforting pile of ice to hold to the throbbing, yet white-hot, pain.

Within two minutes, I heard Lei’s voice as she ran toward me. She pressed a cold pack in my hand. “Are you still doing okay, Ellie?” she asked anxiously and I noted the pained look on her face.

“I’ll be okay once this blasted headache backs off,” I said, putting the icepack to my face carefully. “Did my husband desert me already?” I joked, remembering to call him by his official/unofficial title.

“No, he’s getting the keys to one of the vans. He’s taking you to Queen’s Hospital.”

I shook my head, but thought better of it when the stars spun around in the sky and made the mushrooms in my belly want to come back out. “All I need to do is lie down and ice it. I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Her lips were set in a thin line. “You are lying down, but I don’t think so, Ellie, and neither does your husband. You might have a concussion.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes since the one in my right socket was killing me. “I don’t think you can get a concussion from a Frisbee.”

I saw tires stop at the curb in front of me and she helped me up. “You’re wrong there. You can get a concussion from less force than a Frisbee flying through the air. It’s best to get it checked out.”

Maltrand took my left arm. “She’s right. At the very least, they need to do an x-ray to make sure you don’t have a broken bone in there somewhere. Please don’t argue with me about this. You know Gideon would want you to be seen.”

I groaned as they helped me into the passenger side of the van. “Sure, now you’re gonna pull out the big guns,” I said as I rested my head on the headrest.

Lei pulled the seatbelt across me and snapped it into place. “I’ll be waiting for a report,” she said as she closed the door.

Maltrand pulled the van away from the curb and headed toward town. The hospital was only a few minutes from the hotel.

“Why was Lei still at work?”

“Apparently Sam called in sick, again,” he answered waiting at a stop sign.

“Maybe I should start with Sam’s Facebook profile then. My plan of attack was to start with the employees who missed the most work.”

“Ellie?”

“Huh?” I asked, closing my left eye. I was starting to feel car sick as we drove.

“Please stop worrying about work. You don’t look good. Are you going to be sick?” he asked, accelerating slowly, so he didn’t make it worse.

“The car ride is making me dizzy,” I answered, bile rising in my throat. “Tell me we’re almost there.”

“I can see the hospital.”

“I’m not gonna make it. You have to pull over,” I begged. He slowed the van and when it stopped, I opened the door, hanging my head over the road and relieving myself of dinner. Every time my stomach heaved, my head pounded. I was choking, and crying from one eye, trying to get myself under control. He was holding my shoulders and talking softly to me from inside the van. It had to have been awkward, but I finally leaned back against the seat, my stomach empty.

He reached around me and pulled the door closed and then the van started moving again, slowly. “I’m pulling up to the emergency doors, but I want you to stay in the car until we get a wheelchair, okay.”

I brushed my hand at him, the other still holding the cold pack. “I can walk. Geez, I think you’re overreacting.”

The van slowed and the speed bump he took at barely above a crawl seemed to rattle my brain around in my skull. I moaned audibly, even as I tried not to.

“So far you’ve fallen over while walking and lost the entire contents of your stomach on the road. I’m not going to risk you falling down again on my watch. As it is, Gideon and Katie are going to be frantic and flying over here to make sure you’re okay.”

I turned in my seat and grabbed whatever part of his shirt I could reach. “Please, don’t call them. Katie had an appointment today. I don’t want to make anything worse, okay. I haven’t talked to her yet about what happened at that appointment.”

He put his hand over mine on his sleeve. “Hey, calm down. I was kidding about them flying over here. It’s all right, let’s just go get that eye looked at so we can go back to the hotel and rest.”

He slipped from the van and I did as he asked, waiting in the seat until an orderly brought a wheelchair for me. I was weak and Maltrand had to lift me up and out of the van into the chair. Something told me as they wheeled me between two curtains and helped me onto the bed that tonight was going to be a long one.

Mr. I.T.

When I finished checking Ellie in and giving them the insurance information, she was already waiting to see a doctor. I pulled the curtain back and saw her on the gurney still holding the icepack to her face. She was gray and her forehead crinkled as though she was in pain. They had elevated her head, but her lips pinched together in a way that told me she was uncomfortable.

“Hey, my Frisbee Warrior,” I said as I sat in the chair next to her. She groaned a little at the name, but her lips tipped up, so I knew she was okay.

“Hi,” she said, her voice sleepy. “I’m tired.”

I smoothed the hair back off her forehead. “You can’t fall asleep, Ellie. The doctor will be in any minute.”

That wasn’t the reason why and we both knew it, but she blew out a breath and grimaced when the icepack slipped. I grabbed it and sucked in a breath at the way her eyelid and face hung limp. That Frisbee did more damage than I initially believed. I tried to keep my face neutral.

“I’m so sorry, honey. I thought I gave you enough warning, but you turned right into it.”

She shrugged. “Accidents happen. You didn’t call Gideon did you?”

Her voice went up an octave with the question, so even though I had, I lied to her. “No, but I did text Lei that you were getting checked out.”

She relaxed against the gurney again and we sat in silence. I held the icepack to her face and stroked her hair. “Did they give you anything for the pain?”

“No, I told the nurse it didn’t hurt that bad.”

“So in other words, you lied,” I teased.

“I wanted to be clear headed when the doctor came in. I didn’t think it would take this long.”

“Listen, before he comes in, they’re going to think we’re married. I’m going to let you do the talking because I don’t have any knowledge of your medical history.”

Before she could answer, the curtain swayed and a man in scrubs stood at the end of the bed. “Eliana Kekoa?”

Ellie waved from the bed at the older man. “Aloha.”

He patted her leg under the thin sheet. “It doesn’t look like a very aloha kind of day. You’re supposed to catch the Frisbee with your hands, not your face.”

She tossed her hand up. “Who knew?”

The doctor turned to me. “Are you her husband?”

I nodded, shaking his hand. “Maltrand Kekoa, nice to meet you.”

“Aloha, Mr. Kekoa. I’m Dr. Vandegaurd,” he introduced himself. “I have a few questions and then we’ll get you down for an x-ray, okay, Mrs. Kekoa.”

“Call me Ellie, please,” she said and I tried not to smile at her reaction to him calling her Mrs. Kekoa.

I stood, so he could examine her eye, while I held her other hand. He pushed around the eye socket, watching her reaction. “Are you wearing contacts, Ellie?” he asked when he dropped his hands to the bed.

“I have one in my right eye,” she said, “but I can’t lose it, so I don’t want to take it out.”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to. I’ll get a contact case and a nurse. Your eye is very swollen and I’m worried the contact could shift and damage your sight if we don’t remove it.”

She put her hand up and braced it on her forehead, staring at the ceiling. “It won’t damage my eyesight.”

“All the same, that eye needs to water, and I know for a fact, that contact is going to start floating around when I move the lids to check. I’ll be right back.”

He swiped the curtain aside and she didn’t move, her left eye still focused on the ceiling, but a tear ran from the corner down the side of her face into her ear. I grabbed a tissue and dabbed at it.

“Hey now, it’s okay,” I promised her. “They’ll make sure you don’t lose the contact, don’t stress.”

“I’m already stressed,” she whispered, her voice bordering on tearful. “My whole damn face hurts. I’m tired and I want to go to sleep.”

I kissed her temple. “I know. After you’ve talked to the doctor maybe they can give you something for the pain.”

The doctor came back through the curtain with a younger looking male nurse who carried a contact case and set it on the rolling bedside table.

“I’m guessing this is starting to hurt, right, Ellie?” Dr. Vandeguard asked.

“You would be right. I can’t get my eye open to get to the contact. It’s too swollen.”

He patted her shoulder. “That’s why I brought Marty in with me. We’re going to retract the lids gently and I’ll have you remove the contact. Once that’s out, I’ll give you some pain medication to help you get through the x-rays. I have to be careful with what I give you because you might have a concussion.”

I tried not to look smug when he said it, but I was glad I wasn’t the only one thinking it. They moved the head of the gurney until she was sitting straight up and down. I sat on the edge of the gurney and held her hand. The doctor and nurse discussed the best way to open the eye, finally deciding on attempting to use their fingers before trying any instruments. The nurse pulled down gently on the lower lid while Dr. Vandeguard lifted the upper lid away from the eye. I could tell it was causing her great discomfort, but she was able to remove the contact while they had it open. Instead of letting go, Dr. Vandeguard leaned in closer to the eye and finally nodded at Marty to let it go.

He patted Ellie on the shoulder. “I’m going to order the x-rays and a combination of Tylenol and Advil for you. That’s all you can have for the next few hours until we know your cognitive function.”

The nurse helped Ellie put the contact in the case and I held my hand out for it. “I’ll keep it in my pocket so it doesn’t get lost,” I assured him.

I tucked it in my shirt pocket while he left the room. She was crying again and I leaned down kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

She swiped at her nose and motioned at my pocket. “Go ahead and ask. I know you want to.”

I brushed a stray piece of hair off her forehead. “Of course I want to ask, sweetheart, but it can wait. I notice far more than you think I do, but that doesn’t mean I care about you any less. I would rather we talk about it later, when you’re feeling better.”

Her left eye went closed and I didn’t object. I knew she wasn’t sleeping as much as she was trying not to look at me.

“While you’re having the x-ray I’ll call Lei and make sure she sends up a spare rollaway. I want you to have the bed to yourself tonight. I’m afraid I might roll into you and hurt you. I’m taking you directly to that bed as soon as we’re done here.” I kept stroking one finger down her face until the nurse returned with the medication. She swallowed it with a sip of water from the straw, though most of it dribbled out onto the gown covering her shirt.

I looked up at the nurse. “What’s going on?”

He asked Ellie to smile, frown, and move her face back and forth. She could do it, but the right side didn’t move symmetrically with the left. It was as though it was a few seconds behind and some motions she couldn’t even make.