Recalled (23 page)

See?
I told myself.
He’s completely different from the guy in your vision.

I knew this was true. It was obvious they were two different people.

So why did something inside me keep whispering they were the same?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Suture -
thread of catgut or silk or wire used by surgeons to stitch tissues together.”

Dex

I didn’t really start to notice everything around me until I was sitting in the passenger side of the Roadster. The cold air outside acted like a wakeup call and really brought some clarity back into my head. I must have been completely out of it to agree to let her drive my car. I was about to tell her that I was the one who would be driving when she started yelling at me.

“What were you thinking?” Piper demanded as she put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

I calculated the odds I had of getting her to pull over and let me drive. I didn’t think they were very good and besides, I was comfortable.

“I didn’t like that guy’s attitude,” I said in response to her question. And my answer was actually true. Sure, I needed a reason to get her out of the diner, and sure, this would buy me some points for what I had planned, but when I saw him shove her, anger slammed through me.

“Well, I’m probably going to get fired,” she said, flat. “And you’re bleeding all over yourself and this car.”

I was such a hypocrite. Beating on a guy with a bad attitude directed at Piper when all the while I plotted her death. I didn’t have a right to be angry at anyone for what they did to her… yet I felt strangely territorial when it came to her. No one was allowed to hurt Piper. No one but me.

I was a world-class ass. I deserved an eternity of floating through an empty void.

For a moment I imagined what it might be like there. Maybe I should just cut my losses and let myself get recalled.

“Dex!” Piper demanded, worry in her tone.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

“Hey! Stay with me. We’re almost there.” She flicked some switches in the dash and directed the heat vents toward me except they weren’t blowing heat yet and the air was icy cold.

“That’s freezing!” I complained.

“It will keep you awake.” She retorted. “And don’t be sorry. That guy had it coming. In the couple weeks he’s been at the diner he’s done nothing but torture us all.”

I didn’t say anything else as she pulled into the parking lot of the clinic where she interned. She got out and came around to open my door and I looked up at her. “What are we doing here?”

“You need stitches. He hit you with a frying pan.”

A frying pan. My plan worked a little too well. I knew there was a joke in this somewhere but I just couldn’t find one. This didn’t feel funny.

“Come on,” she said and I followed her into the side door of the clinic. She called out a greeting to one of the nurses who exclaimed over my bloody face and we were ushered into an empty exam room.

“We’re pretty backed up,” the nurse said, apparently this is a morning of accidents for everyone. “Unless you want to stitch him up?”

Piper shook her head. “My hand is too unsteady this morning. How about I get him cleaned up a bit then I will go out there and help out while you stitch him up?”

“Are you all right? You look pale.” The nurse said, reaching out to feel Piper’s forehead.

She smiled. “I’m fine, Jackie.”

“Well when I come back I want to hear about what happened,” she said, giving me a pointed look.

“It was the other guys fault,” I told her.

“It always is,” she said around a sigh then disappeared out of the room.

Piper began going through cabinets, pulling out supplies and creating a small pile on the rolling table beside her. Then she washed her hands, pulled on some plastic gloves and rolled her tray over beside me.

“Hold still. This might hurt,”

I watched as she ripped open a little pack of wipes and stepped closer to me. She smelled like coffee and pancakes. She gripped my chin in her gloved hand and titled my face upwards and brought the pad down near my hairline. I winced when she wiped it.

“That’s cold!” I growled.

“Serves you right,” she snapped and wiped me again. The cut began to sting and I let out a growl. She pulled back and dropped the pad, now covered in red onto the table. She reached for another then looked at me. “We need to check you for a concussion.”

“I don’t have one,” I denied.

She half smiled and said, “Okay tough guy.”

She positioned herself between my legs and lifted the wipe once more. She was so close I could hear her breathing. It was a soft sound and her chest rose and fell steadily. Her free hand brushed through my hair, pushing it away from the cut, but instead of short quick strokes, her hand moved slowly and went through my hair all the way to the back of my head.

I heard her clear her throat, but I didn’t look up. My stomach was bouncing around and my heart was pounding. I told myself I might have a concussion after all… but deep down I knew that wasn’t it. It was her closeness affecting me.

I liked it.

Once more the voice programmed inside me—inside this body—whispered,
Kill her now.
I could. I could reach over to the table and grab something sharp. I could use it to take away her life.

But then she would stop breathing.

And I liked that sound.

I told that voice to shut up and I listened once more to the breaths that filled her lungs.

“Almost done,” she said low, reaching for another wipe. “Does it hurt very much?”

“Yes,” I whispered and my eyes widened.

She lowered her hand and looked at me. She was so close I could see all the different colors that made up the depth in her eyes. I don’t know why I said yes. My head didn’t hurt. In fact, I didn’t even think of it at all.

“I meant to say no,” I said, still looking in her eyes. The room around us seemed hushed; there were no other sounds but the ticking of the wall clock and Piper’s slow, even breathing.

“You hit that guy for me,” she whispered.

I felt myself nod. I might have needed an excuse to get her out of the diner, but I’d hit that guy because he hurt her.

She brushed at my hair once more and I leaned a little closer, my eyes closing.

“It wasn’t the first time you did something to protect me,” she whispered again.

I nodded again, my hands coming up to grip the sides of her waist.

She looked down at me and I pulled her even closer. I could now feel the heat radiate from her body and into me. Her face leaned closer to mine and I lifted mine up.

Inches… mere inches…

“Tell me who you really are,” she said, the words practically touching my lips.

My hands tightened around her and it took a minute for her words to actually make it to my brain. When they did, some of the haze I felt ebbed away and my eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

And just like that the moment was lost. The corners of her mouth fell and she looked at me with some kind of disappointment in her eyes. The door to the room opened, and she jumped back like she was caught doing something illegal and turned away.

“His wound is all clean. His pupils seem responsive so I don’t think he has a concussion. He’s ready for stitching.”

“Doc could use you in exam three,” the nurse said, coming in and grabbing a pair of gloves.

Piper disappeared from the room without a backward glance. The nurse pulled up a stool holding a needle and thread. “Did she numb you?”

“No,” I said. “Just do it.”

“It’s going to hurt,” she warned.

“I don’t care.”

“You got it bad,” she said, shaking her head.

“What are you talking about?” I ground out as she directed me to lie back.

“Piper. Only a lovesick fool would refuse numbing.”

“I’m not lovesick,” I demanded as she stuck the needle in and began to stitch me up. It hurt so much I almost asked for that numbing shot.

She made a sound like she disagreed, but I gritted my teeth against the pain.

I wasn’t lovesick. I’d never loved anyone in my entire life. I wasn’t about to start now.

* * *

When Piper let herself back into the room, the nurse was applying a bandage over my stitches. The whole upper half of my face hurt and I was rethinking my plan of getting her out of the diner. Why did my plans always end up with me getting hurt?

“I hear you had some morning!” the nurse exclaimed to Piper.

Piper glanced at me, then back at the nurse. “How much did you tell her?”

“When a woman has a needle in your head, you tell her whatever she asks,” I said, wincing and pushing myself into a sitting position.

Piper shifted and I noticed she was holding something in her hand. She came farther into the room and handed it to me. It was a cold pack.

“Here, this’ll help with the swelling.”

I took it gratefully.

“Now, tell me why you look so tired,” the nurse questioned her.

“It’s nothing,” Piper protested.

“Working too hard. Between school, work and this place, you never have any time to breathe.” She nodded her head.

I took advantage of the moment to set my plan into action. “I think she needs a vacation. After today, I think I need one too.”

“Ooh, yes! A vacation is what you need.”

I almost forgave her for jamming a needle in my head repeatedly.

Piper smiled. “That would be nice, but I don’t have time for that.”

“It’s the weekend. Why don’t we drive up to that resort I keep hearing people talk about… you know, the one northeast of Fairbanks…?” I snapped my fingers like I was trying to remember.

“Chena Hot Springs Resort?” The nurse supplied the name.

“That’s the one,” I agreed.

“I hear that place is nice. You can see the aurora borealis up there.”

“The what?” I said.

Piper smiled. “The northern lights. They’re supposed to be beautiful.”

“Good, let’s go,” I said, shifting to stand up.

“We can’t just go there,” Piper said.

“Why not?” the nurse demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

“I have work at the diner and here at the clinic.”

“I’ll cover for you here,” the nurse replied.

I was starting to like this lady.

“I really think lying low after what happened at the diner this morning is a good idea,” I said, trying to sound convincing while holding an ice pack on my head. “Besides, you should probably watch me for at least twenty-four hours in case I do have a concussion.”

“I thought you said you were fine,” Piper demanded.

The nurse snorted.

“I am. But just in case…” I looked at her and grinned. Maybe I could be charming too. “And you should probably drive. And I’ll pay for the entire weekend.”

“A free vacation?” the nurse exclaimed. “If you don’t go, I will.”