Remember Me (27 page)

“It’ll be okay.”

He frowned. “You should have it checked. It’s your livelihood.”

“Like you give–”

“Don’t,” he interrupted, his tone hot. “Don’t even finish that!” He sat on the edge of the bed. “Lucy, I’ve spent this past week trying to find you. I’ve driven past your house, past Flamingo Road and I’ve haunted Mason Hatch’s gallery so often I thought the guy was going to call the cops and have me arrested as a stalker. So don’t even hint I don’t care.”

“Why?” she whispered.

He swallowed. “Why what?”

“Why were you trying to find me?”

“Because…” He couldn’t tell her he loved her, couldn’t lay himself out there like that. “I was worried. When you left Monday…” He stopped, took a deep breath. “Look, there’s a lot we need to discuss, but now is maybe not the best time to do it. Please let me take you to the hospital, baby. I know you’re hurting.”

“Okay.”

She looked tired and miserable. He wanted to hold her, tell her everything would be all right, but there was still too much distance between them, too many things needing to be talked out before they could move forward. But he needed to touch her. Reaching out, he took her uninjured hand in his and stroked the back of it. He couldn’t look at her, was afraid he would see rejection there.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked after a few seconds. “Something to drink or eat?”

“No,” she whispered. Now the silence stretched a couple of minutes. “Brandon, could you just sit with me?”

“For a few minutes. I’ll need to help Stacey once we get to the marina.” Taking a chance, he moved next to her, stretching his arm along the shelf behind the head of the bed. “I’ve missed you, Lucy,” he said at last.

“Me too.”

He took her hand again, clasping it where it rested on the firm muscles of his thigh.

* * * *

Lucy stared at his profile, etching his sharp features into her brain so she wouldn’t forget him. He looked tired and thinner, something she could relate to. Her glance dropped to where he held her hand against his thigh and she swallowed at the surge of emotion threatening to choke her. Biting down on her lower lip, she shifted her face to the porthole.

Her arm ached, and she feared Brandon might be right. She might have broken it. God in heaven, what was the saying she used to hear?
If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
That was it, and exactly how she felt of late. Since meeting Brandon her life had become a series of peaks and valleys, not the placid plain on which she had existed until a few months ago.

She wanted to cry, between the pain and the embarrassment, but damn it, she couldn’t do it. Not in front of Brandon.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

The stroking of his thumb paused before continuing once again to soothe and relax her. “No thanks necessary, Lucy.”

She swallowed. “Are you okay?”

“Me?”

“You were shivering…on deck. And I know your leg… Well, it’s not quite where it should be, is it?”

He tugged at her damp braid. “You don’t worry about me. I’m good. It’s you we need to get checked out.”

“I don’t have any of my ID or anything with me.” Lucy knew how sticky hospitals could be. Would they even treat her?

“I’ll take care of it,” he assured her.

She wanted him to hold her. She wanted to be able to lean on him and know everything would be all right. The minute the thought occurred to her, she closed her eyes. They were as awkward as near strangers.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” At Brandon’s urgent questions, she realized she must have made some sort of noise.

“I…” Oh hell, she would go for it. What was one more slapdown in the grander scheme of things? “Could you hold me for a minute?”

He groaned. “Oh God, Lucy. That you would even have to ask…” He pulled her to him, careful to avoid jostling her injured arm, and nestled her head against his shoulder. She leaned her cheek on the solid, reassuring warmth of him. When his hand stroked her hair, she sucked in a shaky breath. “Don’t cry, baby,” he whispered. “We’ll get you to the hospital. Everything will be okay.”

Yeah. They could heal her arm, bandage her cuts and bruises, but who would stitch up the heart he’d broken?

Chapter 17

Brandon hated leaving Lucy to help Stacey bring her boat in and tie up, but he’d return in a few minutes. “I have to go,” he whispered, “just for a bit. Stacey needs help. Then I’ll get you taken care of.”

When he came on deck, Stacey looked at him. “How’s she doing?” His sister was already lowering sail and switching over to the boat’s motor so she could maneuver into the slip.

“She’s tired. Worried.”

“Did you talk?” Stacey asked in a casual tone, but he noted the guarded look on her face.

“Not really. There’s too much to discuss for the few minutes we had.”

“Hmm. So is she staying at Mason’s place?”

Brandon’s gaze narrowed. “Curious, aren’t you?”

Stacey shrugged. “He has a reputation.”

“To answer your question…I don’t know. I’ll get to that once I’ve gotten her arm tended.” His phone rang. Brandon pulled it out, saw it was Mason calling.

“Yeah?” He couldn’t help the
fuck you
that came through in the one word, but that’s what he was feeling.

“You’d better treat her right, asshole,” Mason barked.

Brandon turned away from Stacey. “You know, you don’t need to worry about that. I think I can handle it. After all, I’m here. Where are you?”

There was silence on the other end. “I’m about to make your day, although God knows I should have my fucking head examined because I have no idea why.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Give the phone to Lucy, ’cause I sure as shit ain’t talking to you about this.”

Brandon started to hit the End button, but he couldn’t do that to her. No matter how much he might want to cram his fist down Mason Hatch’s throat–and that was the understated response–the guy meant something to Lucy. “Call back in five. I’m helping Stacey bring her boat in to dock.”

More silence. “Your sister?” There was something in Mason’s tone Brandon didn’t even want to go into.

“Yeah, dude. My
married
sister.”

“Whatever. I’ll call.”

In a few minutes, Brandon was leaping off the boat onto the dock, then tying up. Once he was satisfied Stacey’s boat was secure, he untied the dinghy and towed it around to the empty slip next door, hauling it out of the water with Stacey’s help.

“Find Mac,” he told his sister. “He can find a spot for it until Mason decides what to do with it.” His phone buzzed. “This will be Mason again. Let me return and give it to Lucy.”

Back on board, he handed her the phone before going to stand near the porthole while he watched Mac and Stacey discuss the dinghy. He didn’t want to see Lucy’s face while she talked to Mason, but he couldn’t help but hear her end of the conversation. There was a stretch of silence, so Mason must have been telling her something.

“You can’t? Mason, I…” Pause. “He said he’d take me to the hospital.” She lowered her voice, making it harder for him to hear.

Another pause. Brandon snuck a glance at her and saw her cradling the phone between her head and her shoulder while she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I don’t know… I’m not sure I can…” Pause. She sighed. “That hasn’t worked well for me.” This time when he glanced at her, she was biting her lower lip while she listened. “I guess it will have to be. I’ll see you then, Mason.”

She held the phone out to him. “Everything okay?” Brandon asked.

She shook her head. “Mason can’t make it here tonight. Do you think you could wait for me at the hospital, then take me to his house?”

Anger flared. She thought he would drop her and leave her? Swallowing the sharp retort that threatened, he sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not going to desert you, Lucy. I’ll be happy to take you.”

She glanced out the window. “What about your sister?”

“She came in her own car. I was staying the weekend at the family’s house, but Stacey planned to go to the city. So no worries there.”

“Oh.”

“We should go,” Brandon murmured. “The sooner we get someone to look at your arm, the better.”

* * * *

She hated hospitals. Nothing had changed about that. Brandon didn’t look much happier. Although he’d gotten everything arranged so the bills would come to him, they were standing their ground when it came to allowing him into the treatment area with her. Lucy looked at the doctor while she clutched Brandon’s hand.

“Please. He’s my fiance.” She didn’t dare look at Brandon and just hoped he kept a poker face, but she did not want to be on her own while they examined her arm or did anything else. When the doctor started to waffle, Lucy added, “I get panic attacks.” She breathed a little heavier.

Now the young doctor looked nervous. “All right.”

Once they were in the glassed in cubicle and the curtains were drawn, she dared a glance at Brandon.

He had one brow arched. “Panic attacks?”

She stuck her chin up. “I don’t like hospitals. It was either that or I was walking.”

“Oh no, Lucy. Not happening.”

“See. That’s why you should be here, to make sure I don’t.”

She lay on the bed and closed her eyes. From across the room, the scrape of the chair moved closer to the bed, then stopped. After a faint rustling, the upholstery creaked as Brandon settled his big frame in the seat. The silence stretched for a minute, so she opened her eyes and found him staring at her with a thoughtful expression.

“What did you do at the hospital in Colorado?”

She closed her eyes again. “They didn’t need to do much. I was out of there pretty fast. Matt gave me a ride.”

Brandon took her hand. She felt calluses on his fingers. Must have been from sailing because being a hotshot executive didn’t give anyone calluses. “Lucy, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.”

She swallowed. “Don’t! I can’t do this right now. I wasn’t telling a total lie about how I feel about hospitals. I just…need…”

He squeezed her hand. “It’s all right. You want me to see if I can light a fire under them?”

She nodded. “I don’t like it here. It’s where my grandmother…”

“Oh shit! God, baby, I’m so sorry.”

She forced herself to look at him. “You couldn’t know. But if you can influence them, I would appreciate it.”

He touched her cheek. Instant warmth where his fingers made contact with her skin eased her.

She caught his hand and pressed it close to her for a moment. “Thanks, Brandon.”

It seemed to her he was gone for only a minute, but when he returned, the head of the ER department was with him. A tall, older woman, she got down to business without delay, unwrapping Lucy’s arm and examining not only the bruising and burns but also the swelling. After pursing her lips, she said, “I’ll need an x-ray, but I’m inclined to agree with your assessment, Mr. Barrett.”

“You think it’s
broken
?” Lucy was horrified. How the hell could she work with one arm incapacitated?

“A fracture. It is probably pretty small, but we’ll get some pictures so we can be sure. The tech will be here in a minute to take you to radiology.” She patted Lucy’s good hand and departed.

“I didn’t want to believe you,” she whispered, glancing at Brandon and then looking away. Her stomach knotted and her throat tightened. The panic attack she’d fibbed about earlier to get Brandon permission to stay with her was more of a reality now. “I won’t be able to work.”

He took her hand and squeezed. “Don’t borrow trouble. Wait until you know for sure, baby. Once you do, then we’ll figure it out.”

We. The two of them would figure it out. It seemed he meant it. He stayed with her while they went to radiology. Once the ER doc looked at the pictures and discovered what Lucy did for a living, she called in an orthopedist. It was a small fracture, but they wanted to make sure it wouldn’t require surgery since she would need full use of the wrist.

After looking at the x-rays, the arm and wrist and Lucy’s general physical condition, he said, “This is your left wrist. Tell me what you do with your left hand?”

She explained both the process of working on the wheel and also what she did with coils and slabs. He listened, nodding every now and then.

“The fracture is very small, and the bone is still in position, so we won’t need to do any reduction. However, the abrasions you suffered complicate the situation. I can’t very well put you in a cast until those are healed. We can immobilize with a brace, which will fit over the bandages. Once the abrasions are healed, we’ll take more x-rays and make a determination then.”

“How soon will you need to make a decision about surgery?” Brandon asked.

“We have about a two week window. I’d like to see her again in a week.”

Lucy closed her eyes, willing herself to be calm. “What type of recovery time are we talking about before I can be fully functional again?”