Sweet Temptation (25 page)

       He watched as two lights came his way and two paramedics walked in, “I’m Jason, and this is Terry. What happened?”

Jason sat down beside Skylar.

“I wasn’t here, I think she slipped and hit her head on the side of the bath,” Nate answered.

“Has she been unconscious the whole time you’ve been here?”

“No, she was awake for a minute or two, that’s it.”

“Okay, what’s her name?”

“Skylar,” he answered.

“Skylar, my name’s Jason. Can you hear me?”

No response.

Terry checked her pulse, respiration rate and pattern. Jason felt around her neck to see if there were any problems. Turning Skylar over onto her back, she moaned. “Skylar, can you hear me?” Jason asked.

“Nate.”

“I’m here, baby. You need to answer the paramedic.”

She looked over towards Jason.

“Do you know where you are?”

“In my bathroom,” she answered with a shaky voice.

“What’s today’s date?”

“Seventeenth of August.”

“Okay.” Jason looked her over. “Do you hurt anywhere?”

“My head hurts,” she sobbed.

“Anywhere else?”

“No.”

“We’re going to roll you back onto your side so I can have a look, okay? I’ll be as gentle as I can, but bear with me,” he said.

Jason and Terry counted to three, and rolled her. Skylar groaned at the movement. Jason lifted the towel away from her wound, moving her hair aside to get a better look. “You have a deep laceration and the bleeding looks like it’s slowed down.” He replaced the towel and rolled her back.

“She’ll need stitches for the laceration, also an X-ray, she might have fractured her skull, but I doubt it.” Terry stood up, grabbed the gurney from the lounge and moved it as close as he could to the bathroom door. “Skylar, we’re going to lift you and put you on the gurney.”

She nodded.

Jason grabbed the flat board, and positioned it behind her back, placing her gently on it and strapping her in.

“On the count of three, ready.”

“Okay,” she said.

Nate stood as close as he could to her, not letting her out of his sight.

“One, two, three.” Jason and Terry lifted her off the ground carefully and made their way to the gurney. Skylar tried not to groan at the pain surging through her head, but she couldn’t help it. Once she was on, Terry strapped her in.

“Nate,” she cried.

He walked up beside her and held her hand in his, “I’m here.”

“I don’t feel well.”

“I know, baby. The paramedics are taking you to the hospital to get fixed up.”

Skylar tried to sit up quick, but the agonising pain in her head stopped her. “I don’t want to go, Nate. I hate hospitals.”

“You have to, Sky.”

“I don’t want to go alone, Nate.”

“You won’t be. I’ll be with you the whole time. I’m not going anywhere.” Nate smiled at her, and leaned down and gently kissed her.

“Thank you.” she answered him.

“Ready?” Jason asked.

Nate nodded.

The two men guided the gurney towards the front steps, lifted it down the stairs, and then pushed her towards the ambulance. Opening the back door, Jason slid her in while Terry sat beside her.

A car screeched
into her driveway and Alex leapt out, moving quickly towards the ambulance, “What the hell happened, Nate?” he asked.

“I really don’t know. I heard her scream and rushed over. My guess is she slipped and hit her head on the side of the bath.”

Alex nodded his head. “I can only take one of you,” Jason said.

“You go; I’ll call Dom and Chantal and meet you there.” Alex slapped him on the shoulder.

Nate slid on the chair next to her. “I can’t give you anything for the pain until the doctor has seen you, alright?” the other paramedic said.

Nate understood that as it was a head injury. He had had several of them growing up. Skylar closed her eyes when Nate held her hand. Looking at the lights was making her feel dizzy. He rested his other hand on her shoulder and stroked her cheek with his thumb.
It felt good having him here with her
, she thought.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the ambulance bay next to the entrance of emergency. When she was inside, they placed her in a room and informed the nurse about the situation.

“Hello, Skylar, I’m Dr. Malcolm,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hi,” she said.

Lifting her file from the end of the bed, he said, “Your vital signs are good, the X-ray shows no fracture, which is good. You will have to stay overnight for observation, since you were unconscious longer than normal.”

“Okay,” Skylar answered.

“Now, for the laceration we’ll give you a local anaesthetic to numb the area, then we will stitch you up, and you’ll be as good as new.”

She nodded.

“I’ll go let the nurse know and get everything ready. I’ll be back soon.” He replaced her file and walked out.

An hour later, the doctor was finished stitching her up. “All done, the nurse will come back with the morphine for the pain. You will have to come back to get the stitches removed in a week; keep it dry as you can until then.”

“I will,” she said.

“I’ll let the nurse know now, and then I’ll see you in the morning. If everything is good you can go home then.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you then, Skylar.” Smiling, he left her room.

Nate slid his chair closer to her, “How do you feel, baby?”

“I’m cold.”

“Do you want me to buzz the nurse for another blanket?” Nate asked.

“No, can you lie with me at least until I’m asleep, please?”

“Of course.” Nate pushed back his chair and slid in beside her, lying on his side. Skylar crawled over, rested her head on his arm, watching her stitches and wrapped herself over him. Taking a breath in, she relaxed and fell asleep right there in his arms.

* * *

Nate watched her sleep for a bit. How the hell did this happen? If he were there none of this would have happened. The nurse walked in, “There’s people out in the waiting room asking about her,” she said.

“I’ll go and let them know what’s going on, thanks.” She lifted up Skylar’s file and wrote some things down. “I’m just going to administer the morphine into her drip. It will take effect straight away.”

“Thanks.”

She walked over and injected the morphine into her drip. Smiling at him, she made her way back to where she placed the tray she carried in, threw the syringe in her trash bin, and walked out. Nate lifted Skylar’s head and pushed her pillow under her, gently sliding off the bed not to wake her. He pulled up the blanket and left the room. He stepped down the hallway towards the waiting room. As he rounded the last corner, he noticed Dom, Chantal and Alex standing there. Chantal spotted him first. Letting go of Dom, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him. Nate hugged her back. “How is she, Nate?”

“Skylar’s asleep now, they just administered morphine for the pain, and I don’t think she’ll wake any time soon.” He held onto Chantal and walked up to Dom and Alex. “Her vitals are fine, she received ten stitches, but she will be fine. They’re keeping her overnight just to be safe.”

Both Dom and Alex nodded at him.

“So how did it happen, has she said anything to you?” Alex asked.

“I have no idea how it happened, and she never told me either.”

“We can’t do anything for her just standing here, we’ll go home. Are you staying here?”

“Yeah, I’ll stay with her,” Nate said.

“Ring us if something comes up,” Alex said.

“I will.” Nate hugged Chantal and watched all three leave the room. Heading back to Skylar’s room, he noticed a guy staring through her door. Picking up his pace, the guy turned around and saw Nate coming towards her door. Wide eyed, he turned and took off. Frowning he walked up to the nurses’ station. “There was a guy standing near my fiancée’s door. Do you know who it was?”

The nurse looked over the visitor’s log. “No, you’re the only one who has signed in to see her, sorry.” Nodding, he went and opened Skylar’s door, closing it behind him. He slid into his chair and closed his eyes, and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

Skylar couldn’t get comfortable on the bed she was in, plus the excruciating pain in her head didn’t help either. Sitting up slightly, she held her head and groaned, “Nate.” She couldn’t make him out, her eye sight was fuzzy.

Nate reached for her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“My head is really hurting.” Skylar started to cry, she had never been in this much pain, ever.

“I’ll get the nurse.”

She reached for his wrist and squeezed it. Moments later the nurse came in, “Everything all right?” she asked.

“Skylar’s head is hurting. Can you give her anything for it?”

Walking up to the IV machine, she pushed a couple of buttons. “I have just upped the dosage; she’ll feel the effect in a minute or so.”

“Thank you.” Nate smiled. Smiling back, she walked out. “How does it feel now, darling?” he asked as he sat down on the bed beside her.

“Better.”

He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “Can you sleep with me? I feel safe when your arms are around me.”

Smiling down at her, he removed his boots and slipped in next to her. Placing his arm under the pillow she was on, she cuddled closer to him. Wrapping her arm around his hip, she entwined her legs with his, and laid her head near his chest. He laid his other arm over her hip and pulled her closer to him. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, “Better now?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

He could feel her breathing against his chest. This was the only place where he wanted her to be. Smiling, he rested his head against the wall and fell asleep with her, exactly what she had asked for.

* * *

Nate woke early the next morning when the nurse came in to check on Skylar. “Morning,” she said.

Nate smiled at her.

“Breakfast will be served in thirty minutes. If you want a decent cup of coffee, you’ll have to go to the cafeteria.”

“Thanks, will you stay in here with her while I race down there to get one?”

“Sure.” The nurse pulled over a chair and sat down next to her. Nate took off down the hall to grab his coffee. When he returned the nurse left them alone. Nate stood at the window sipping his coffee. When Skylar woke, he strolled over towards her.

“Breakfast will be here soon, if you’re hungry.” He kissed her on her cheek.