by Apryl Baker
Both Jo and Mrs. Daniels gasped, but for entirely different reasons.
“How dare you speak of my son like that?”
“No one has to keep me safe from myself.” Jo’s angry eyes bored into his, the blue so brilliant, it could make the deepest oceans weep. “I’m perfectly capable…”
He put a hand over her mouth. “No, Josephine, you are not. The bloody mess under this towel says you’re not. When you need the damn grass cut, you call me.” He closed his eyes, trying to get a handle on his temper. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Because you were exhausted.” She cried out when she moved her leg.
“Don’t move.” He locked his hand around her calf, making sure she wouldn’t. “I might have been, but it doesn’t mean I can’t help you. I’m your FIBB, remember? We discussed this last night. It’s my job.”
The wail of sirens sounded. Thank God. He needed to get her to the ER before she bled to death. The towels they had wrapped around her had already soaked through.
Mason and Mrs. Daniels moved out of the way while the EMTs worked. He couldn’t stop the wince at her scream when they moved her from the ground to the gurney. Shit, shit, shit.
He pulled out his phone and called Keith. Thank God he picked up.
“Yo, Mase. How’s it going?”
“It’s Josephine. There was an accident.”
“What the fuck? Is she okay?” Fear, the same fear Mason was feeling, bled out of the phone.
“No. She was trying to cut the fucking grass, and I guess she slipped and…hell, I don’t know what the fuck happened, but her leg ended up under the mower. It’s pretty bad.”
“Fuck.”
“Call your parents, and I’ll call you as soon as I know more…” He paused when the EMT asked if anyone was riding with them. “Mrs. Daniels, can you ride to the hospital with her? I’ll follow in my truck.”
“I can’t. I have a lot to do today.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. She’s your son’s girlfriend, the woman he loves, and you can’t go to the hospital with her?”
“She’s not my daughter.”
“Thank God for that small miracle. I’ll ride with her. One of my brothers can pick up my truck.” He gave the woman one last disgusted look and climbed in the ambulance. “Piece of shit.”
The EMTs looked like they agreed with his estimation of the woman.
The squawking coming from his phone made him remember Keith. “Shit, I forgot you were there.”
“Did that bitch just refuse to go the hospital with my sister?” Keith sounded quiet. It was his tell. When he got quiet, you got worried.
“I’m going with Josephine to the ER. You want to talk to her?”
“Yeah. I want to talk to her.”
Jo took the phone from Mason, her eyes wide. She’d never seen him this angry in the short time she’d known him. He looked ready to murder someone, preferably Ray’s mom.
“Keith…” The tremor in her voice belied how brave she was trying to be.
“Jo, you okay?” Anger vibrated in Keith’s voice. Not that she could blame him after overhearing Ray’s mom. If it had been Ray and her parents, either of them would have ridden to the hospital with him, despite how much they disliked him. They would have done it because of how much she loved him.
“No, I’m not okay, Keith. It really hurts.” Tears spilled over. She wanted her brother so much right now. He was always the one who was there every single time she’d seriously hurt herself growing up. She just wanted her family.
“I’m getting on a plane, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can. I promise.”
“Thank you.” She pulled in a breath, the sound gasping and full of tears. “Here’s Mase. I can’t talk anymore.”
She didn’t bother to listen to the rest of the conversation. All she could feel was the blinding pain in her leg. Why had she even tried to cut the damn grass? She knew she was prone to accidents, being the biggest klutz on the planet. It was such a stupid move on her part, but she’d been mad.
Pissed off at Ray. That was all she seemed to be anymore.
He’d come home, apologized for his behavior, and then gone to his parents’ for a couple hours instead of being with her. Then this morning, when she’d asked if he could cut the grass, he said he was going fishing with his dad.
Again, everything but being with his girlfriend.
She’d told him she’d cut the damn grass, and he’d just nodded and said “Thanks” while he got his fishing gear together. Didn’t stop even once to think about her inability to stand on two feet for very long.
A part of her was starting to think maybe Keith and the rest of her family were right. Ray loved her; she knew that. She saw it in his eyes. What they’d gone through, well, it bound them forever. But sometimes love wasn’t enough. Maybe the past should be left in the past. The more she was here without anyone telling her what she didn’t want to hear, the more she was starting to realize they were right.
Especially since Mason came into her life.
He’d been so angry she hadn’t woken him up to the cut the grass. Had Ray been standing there, she had no doubt Mason would have beaten his ass. And right now, she might even welcome that. Ray knew she could get hurt, and he hadn’t cared.
But she was stupid enough to try to do it. It was as much on her as it was Ray. She knew better. Especially after the last time she’d tried to mow the lawn back home and this nearly happened. Her dad had saved her from any real harm. He’d been as upset as Mason too, but she’d only been trying to help out. He’d been so tired that day.
She felt the ambulance stop. The pain radiated all the way up her leg when it did. Jo knew without even seeing the x-ray and whatever other kind of test they ran she’d really screwed up this time. God only knew what kind of damage she’d done to herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She was rushed to a trauma room and away from Mason. She tried to explain what happened while they worked to get the bleeding stopped. It hurt like hell, but she was already woozy from blood loss. Once that was done, she was taken to x-ray and then to have an MRI. During all this, not once did they give her anything for the pain. Bastards.
All this took about an hour, and she was grateful when they finally took her to a room in the ER to await the results. They came and did blood work too.
“Miss?”
“What?” Jo blinked, not realizing the nurse was even in the room.
“Do you have insurance, honey?” The nurse was young, not much older than herself. She seemed nice, her smile sympathetic.
“I do. I just don’t have my purse with me. Can I have someone bring it in later? Or maybe call my dad. My insurance is through him since I’m still in school. He might be able to give you the policy number.”
“That will work. What’s his number?”
Jo rattled it off and then started answering the nurse’s questions. One of her jobs must be admission work since Jo was taken to a trauma room instead of check-in on arrival.
“You go to school at NYU?” the nurse asked when she inquired about Jo’s occupation.
“Yeah. I’m a sophomore there.”
“Me too.” The girl grinned. “I’m getting my RN. I got my LPN license at the vocational school my senior year in high school. My name’s Beth.”
“Nice to meet you, Beth.” Jo had met a couple of people since school started, but none she liked as much as this nurse. It was weird. She’d barely met the girl, but something clicked the way it had with her best friend back home. “I just moved here, actually. Great way to ruin the semester.”
“I’m sorry.” Beth scrunched her face in sympathy. “Tell you what, once we get you out of here, why don’t you come meet me and my friends for a cup of coffee or something? We’ll show you around.”
“That would be really great.” At least one good thing came out of this crappy day. She might have found a new friend.
“You decent, Josephine?” Mason called.
“Yeah, come on back.” She shifted, and a little hiss escaped her from the pain.
“Didn’t they give you anything for the pain?” Mason asked as soon as he saw her face. She shook her head, and he looked mad enough to hit something. “I’ll take care of that right the fuck now.”
“Boyfriend?” Beth asked as she turned off the computer and turned around.
“No. He’s my brother’s best friend and has declared himself my fill-in big brother. I’m just glad he’s here. My boyfriend, Ray, is fishing with his dad.”
“At least you have someone here. I’ll come check on you in a bit. My shift’s almost over, but let me get your phone number. We’ll hook up for lunch when you’re feeling better.”
“Sure.” Jo scribbled her number down in the little notebook the nurse carried, along with her name.
“The doc will be in shortly,” Mason announced, coming back into the room. “Fuckers. I told them to get their asses in gear. There is no excuse for letting you sit here in pain.”
Beth’s eyes went round when she finally saw Mason. They glazed over a little too. It was something Jo was used to. She couldn’t not be and spend any time around Mason. He wasn’t merely cute or handsome. He was gorgeous, but more than that, his personality drew people to him like flies.
It always amazed her he enjoyed spending time with her at all. Jo was a very boring person. She knew this. Hell, she could go hours without saying a single word. She’d rather stay in and read than go to a party. Sure, she had a lot of fun playing video games and interacting with her subscribers, but deep down, she was pretty bland. Mason was as far from bland as you could get. Maybe that was why they balanced each other out so well. He pulled her into fun things, and she reminded him not to go so overboard he got into trouble.
“You know what’s wrong with your leg yet?”
“No.” She nodded to Beth. “This is Beth. She goes to NYU too.”
Mason’s eyes flickered to Beth, and he jutted his chin out in greeting. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she squeaked and then blushed. “I have to go.”
He rolled his eyes when she scampered out of the room. He didn’t care what kind of effect he had on women. He seemed to be more and more irritated by it these days.
Mason pulled a chair over to her bed and sat, taking her hand. “How ya doin’, moye dragotsennyy?”
“Not so good. I’m woozy and in a lot of pain.”
He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Josephine. I don’t think my heart can take it. Plus, Keith will beat me black and blue if anything happens to you.”
“He said he was coming.”
“Yeah. He’ll be here in a couple hours. I already got one of the brothers at the frat locked down to go pick him up when his flight gets in.”
“Can I see your phone?” He wasn’t going to like this, but…
“Why?” His eyes narrowed.
“I need to call Ray and tell him what happened.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he exploded, and she flinched. “That fucker is why you’re here right now!”
“No, he’s not. I’m here right now because I chose to try to cut the yard, knowing it could turn out badly.”
Mason’s mouth opened and closed several times. Jo saw the war in his eyes. He didn’t want her to call Ray. He blamed him for what happened, and sure, it was partly his fault for agreeing it was okay for her to cut the grass. But not all of it.
“I hate that fucker.” He handed over his phone then stalked out of the hospital room, his back ramrod straight and his fists clenched tightly.
She texted Ray to tell him she’d be calling from Mason’s phone. It took him five minutes to text her back. She was lucky he did. He hardly ever looked at his phone while fishing.
He picked up on the first ring. “What is it?”
She gritted her teeth at his irritated tone.
“Did your mom call and tell you I’m in the hospital?”
“What?” Something rattled and bounced. His fishing rod, maybe. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m at the hospital, Ray, so no, I’m not all right. I was cutting the grass and tripped. The lawnmower ran over my leg.”
“Shit, Jo. How bad is it?”
“I don’t know. Doctor hasn’t come in yet to tell me. It hurts like hell, though. Mason is raising hell trying to make them bring me some pain meds. Nurses can’t until the doctor comes in or orders it.”
“Fuck, yeah. He needs to raise hell about that. They shouldn’t leave you sitting there in pain.” He pulled the phone away, and she heard him telling his dad what was going on. “Thank God Mason stayed over last night.”
“Yeah, especially since your mom didn’t think it was her responsibility to come to the ER with me when Mase asked her to. He was going to follow in his truck. Instead, he ended up riding in the ambulance with me.”
“Mom knew and didn’t go with you?” The puzzlement behind his words was almost laughable. She kept telling him how much his mother didn’t like her, but he never quite believed her.
“Yeah, Mason made her help him stop the bleeding. I bled all over her towels.”
He was silent for the longest time. “She’s just not sociable, Jo. You know this.”
“Sociable?” Jo laughed into the phone, her pain making her harsher than she normally would have been. “She left your girlfriend in pain and severely injured. Had it been you, any of my family would have been there for you, and you know it.”
“What do you want me to say here, Jo?”
“I want you to take my side. For once in your life, take my side.”
He let out a long sigh. “I’m not going to fight over the phone about this. Call me back when the doctor comes, okay?”
“Fine. Are you heading back now?”
“Why would I head back? There’s nothing I can do right now that will help.”
“Seriously?” she all but screamed into the phone. “I’m lying in a hospital bed, in pain and scared, and you’re going to fish instead of being here with me? What is wrong with you?”
“Jo, calm down. You’re not by yourself. You just said so. Mason’s there.”
“Mason isn’t my fucking boyfriend. You are!”
“Call me when the doctor comes, okay?”
She counted to ten, but it didn’t help. “Do you love me?”
“You know I do.”
“Then why is fishing more important than me?”
“That’s not it, Jo. My dad and I always go fishing on his weekends off. He doesn’t get another for almost a month, and it might be too cold by then.”
“You know, Ray, maybe my family is right, and I’m an idiot. If you don’t get your ass here, then we are going to have a serious discussion about me moving the hell out and breaking up with you.”
“Jo…”
“No. Here are your choices. Stay at the lake with your dad and say goodbye to me, or get your ass here to the hospital where you should be because you love me!” She hung up before he could respond.
Asshole.
Why she was even surprised was beyond her. She’d known what he’d say when she called, but she hoped she would be wrong. Classic Ray.
Mason came in hot on the heels of who she hoped was the doctor.
“Ms. Maxwell.” The older man in the scrubs smiled kindly at her. “Seems like you had a pretty bad accident.”
“I’m the clumsiest person I know, so I’m not surprised.”
He clucked at her. “You’ve done some damage. You’ve torn ligaments and tendons, and it’s going to require surgery to fix. I’ve got you scheduled to go up immediately. Your surgeon will meet you there and answer any questions you have. The sooner we get it repaired, the better. You also lost a lot of blood, more than we realized. You’ll need a blood transfusion as well while you’re in surgery.”
“I need surgery?” Her hands shook. She’d never hurt herself like this. Before she freaked out, Mason was right
there. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her to him, careful not to jostle her leg. His familiar scent helped to calm her, and when he wrapped his arms around her, she let him comfort her. She needed it.
“Yes, young lady, you do.” The doctor nodded. “I’ve ordered some pain meds for you. I’m sorry we couldn’t give them to you earlier. I had a suspicion you might need surgery, and I didn’t want to do anything that might interfere with the anesthesia. I’ve consulted the anesthesiologist, and he signed off on what you could take and still go under. The nurse will be in to give you the meds and take you upstairs to the surgical ward.”
“Where can I wait?” Mason asked and picked up her hand, twining his fingers with hers. It felt so right, she went completely still. Her heart hit a fast beat, and she almost yanked her hand from his. She might have had she not been scared out of her mind.
“I’ll have the nurse show you to the surgical waiting room when they come and collect Ms. Maxwell.” With that, the doctor left them alone.
“I’m scared.” Jo gripped Mason’s hand. “I’ve never had any kind of surgery.”
“It’s gonna be okay, moye dragotsennyy. I promise.” Mason hugged her, and Jo let herself sink into the embrace. He was here, hadn’t thought twice about coming, and Ray wanted to stay on the lake and finish his fishing trip. She was beginning to realize exactly how stupid she was. The past could only keep her bound for so long.
“Mason?”
“Yeah?” he whispered.
“Promise you won’t leave me alone.”
“Never, Jojo. Never.”
They stayed that way until the nurse came and took them upstairs. Mason kissed her forehead, as was his habit, and gave her an encouraging smile. She could do this. She could be brave.
It was going to be okay. It wasn’t a life and death surgery. They were just repairing her leg.
It was going to be fine.
Chapter Thirteen