by Maxene Novak
“Heather. Are you awake?”
That threw her for a loop. He knew her name? How? She was sure she had never heard that voice in her life. Had she?
“Heather. Can you squeeze my hand?”
Nope. She didn’t know that beautiful voice, but she wanted to, or should she say she wanted to know the person it belonged to. She concentrated on her hand, forcing every ounce of energy into it that she could until she felt her fingers move. She wouldn’t say she would call the slight movement squeezing, but the reaction from her unknown friend told her she’d been able to move them enough for him to feel.
“Oh my god!” the man’s voice cried out. She felt him move closer to her. He smelled good. Wow. A sexy voice and the masculine, woodsy sent of his? Yup. He could be a keeper. She laughed inwardly again. She heard the click of him pressing a button near her, then a voice sounded over an intercom asking if assistance was needed. “Yes. She’s waking up.”
The excitement in his voice only made his deep baritone sound sexier to her ears. Man! She needed to open her eyes. She needed to see this man. This stranger who’d taken time out of his life to read and care for her. This man who was so clearly invested in her well-being if the excitement over her wiggling a few fingers was an indication. She had to see him, to know him. She felt him bend down close to her. She could feel the heat of his body over hers, and then she felt his breath against the side of her face.
“Come on, Heather,” he whispered. “Open those eyes for me.”
Heather felt a chill rush through her body, but instead of making her cold it heated her from the inside out. How in the hell could a stranger have such an effect on her, and when she was nearly comatose at that! She had to see his face. Her eyes still felt like they were being anchored down on her face, but she was determined to do as he asked. She could still feel his body close to hers and she knew he was watching her, waiting to see if she would in fact open her eyes for him. With every last bit of strength she possessed, Heather’s eyes slowly drew open. At first everything was blurry. She could tell there was a bright light on somewhere in the room, but it was being blocked out by something. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes again it was a little easier and things were clearer. The thing blocking the light wasn’t a thing at all. It was a him. A man, the man who’d captured her attention and helped her wake up, was hovering over her with a smile on his face that took her breath away.
Her mystery man was gorgeous. Like sex on a stick. Even just looking at his face she just knew he had a hard, muscular body. He was bald, but not in a hair fell out way. In a sexy, badass, Vin Diesel way. The kind of sexy bald head a girl would love to rub her hands over. His eyes were warm and brown, and they creased slightly at the outer corners as he continued to smile down at her.
“Hey,” he said.
Heather watched his mouth as he spoke. It was a beautiful mouth and she wondered what it might feel like pressed against her own. She licked her lips and realized her mouth was pure sandpaper.
“W-a-ter,” she said, but it came out dry and froggy. Great! She was alone with a man who had a voice like sex, and she’d turned into Kermit the frog.
Her mystery man straightened and moved away from her for a second, then he was back holding a cup with a straw in it. He moved the cup towards her and took the straw between his fingers and held it to her mouth. Heather wrapped her lips around the straw, keeping her eyes on him, and took a slow sip. The cool water hit her tongue like a life-force, and she pulled harder, sucking down the water until she heard that slurping sound that told you the drink had run out.
“I’ll get you some more after the doctor checks you out,” he told her as he pulled the cup away.
Heather was about to thank him when she heard a door open and another man’s voice filled the room. “Ah, Ms. Young. I see Evan here finally succeeded in waking you.”
Evan. Her mystery man’s name was Evan. She looked at him and he smiled. Yeah. She liked Evan. It suited him. The doctor walked up on the opposite side of her bed from Evan. “I’m Dr. Lowry,” he said. He was an older man with a receding hairline. Not like the badass baldness Evan had going for him. It was the hair loss that came with age for some men. “How are you feeling?” the doctor asked.
Heather thought about his question for a second, and for the first time since she woke up she realized that her head was pounding. “My head,” she said while moving her hand up to rub her forehead. When her hand was met with what felt like bandages or gauze her eyes grew wide and she shot the doctor a distressed look. “What’s going on?”
“It’s okay,” the doctor said as he reached out and pulled her hand away from the bandages. “You were in an accident. Do you remember?”
Heather looked down at her lap as she thought back over the last things she could remember before waking up. The memory of a mustang flying towards her popped into her mind, then the memory of the impact as he slammed into the van she was driving. Oh God! “The kids! Lorie!”
“They’re okay, Heather. Everyone is okay.” She looked at Evan and he placed his hand against her face, cupping her cheek. The warmth of his hand was comforting. She was glad he was there, even if she didn’t really know him. Hearing him tell her that the people she cared for were fine helped her calm back down. Honestly, she didn’t know if she would have believed it if it had come from the doctor. The doctor might lie to keep her calm, but she didn’t think Evan would lie to her about that. Not when he’d sat with her, a stranger, and been there for when she woke up.
“Evan’s right, Ms. Young,” the doctor chimed in, “and you are going to be okay too.”
“What happened?” She gestured to the bandage on her head.
“You received the brunt of the impact in the accident, and it resulted in a pretty severe head injury that required several sutures. While we worked to close up the open wound, your stats dropped and we discovered you had developed a brain bleed. We had to perform surgery to stop the hemorrhage, but everything went well. You will need to take time to fully recover, but I don’t expect you to see any long-lasting side effects.”
Heather took a minute to absorb everything he’d just told her. “How long have I been out?”
“Just a few hours. You’ll need to stay here for a couple days for monitoring before you go home. Do you have anyone who can help you when you leave?”
She wouldn’t ask Lorie to take off work and take care of her. The kids needed her. She’d be fine alone for a few hours, right? And she knew Lorie would stay with her while she wasn’t working.
“Yes, she does.”
Heather’s eyes shot over to Evan after he answered the doctor. Had he already talked with Lorie or something?
“Great,” Dr. Lowry said. “I’ll need to talk with them as well before you go home. Go over your aftercare with both of you.”
“Umm.” She looked back to Evan when he spoke again. He was rubbing the back of his neck and seemed to be nervous about something. “I’m going to help her when she leaves.” His eyes flashed to Heather and then darted away again. Ah. Now she knew why he’d looked nervous.
“Evan, I can’t—”
“Steve, can we have some time, please?” Evan asked the doctor. Apparently they knew each other since Evan seemed to be addressing him by first name now. A memory came to her then. She was in an ambulance and Evan was there. The memory rushed her brain. He was the paramedic who saved her from the wreck.
The doctor nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him and Heather looked at Evan. He still looked nervous. “Evan, I can’t ask you to take care of me. You have a life, a job that is pretty important, and I’m sure a family who needs you. I have friends and people who can help me.”
“I know. Lorie already volunteered to make arrangements to take time off of work, but when she told me what she does I had to offer to help. Those kids need her. There are plenty of paramedics, but there aren’t nearly enough people who do what Lorie does, and seeing those kids with her it is c
lear she does it right. I never take time off and I have leave that I’ll lose if I don’t take it soon. Plus, I am EMT certified and that could come in handy helping you for the next few weeks.”
Heather did a double take. Weeks. Did he say weeks? “I need help for weeks? I thought he said I was fine?”
“You are doing very well, Heather, but brain surgery and the head trauma you suffered are a big deal.”
He reached for her hand and she let him take it. She needed the comfort his touch brought her right then. Looking down at his hand covering hers, she noticed his wedding ring for the first time. Oh god! There was no way she could take this man away from his wife and family for weeks. “Evan, you need to be with your family, your wife. I’ll find someone else.”
Evan cleared his throat and looked away from her. “My husband will understand. Believe me, when I tell him what happened to you he will likely demand I make sure you’re taken care of.”
Heather rolled her eyes. She regretted it immediately as it seemed to add to her headache. She shut her eyes and pinched her nose for a moment, trying to release some of the pain. She heard the clicking of a button, then the sound of the nurse over the speaker was back.
“Can we get something for her pain, please?” Evan replied to the nurse.
“We’ll get her something right away,” the voice on the other end of the speaker said.
Heather looked at Evan again. “Evan, it is really nice of you, but I can’t…”
He cupped her cheek again and she closed her eyes as she absorbed the warmth of his hand and leaned into his touch. Dammit! Why were all of the men she was attracted to married? Okay, so it was just Blake and now Evan, but still.
“Trust me, Heather. Blake won’t have it any other way.”
Heather’s eyes shot open and she stared at Evan. Blake? Had he just said Blake? It couldn’t be the same Blake. No way. “What’s your last name?”
“Martin.”
Holy shit! This had to be a joke. Not only were the only two men she’d ever truly been attracted to married, but they were married to each other. It was like she woke up in a crazy alternate universe where everyone was out to trample on her heart. “You’re who Blake’s married to. I saw his ring. I just assumed…” Heather let her voice trail off as a single tear slid down her face. Evan wiped it away with his thumb, but the sweet gesture only spurred on more tears.
“You guessed he was married to a woman. I get that, but he could never love another woman after you. You were it for him. That’s why I know he would want me to do this. To take care of you.”
Heather blinked a few times trying to blink away the tears. “He used to love me. I know he did, but he loves you now. You don’t need to take care of me.”
“He’s always loved you, Heather. Not past tense. Love doesn’t just go away. He does love me. I know that without a doubt, but I also know he still loves you. It’s okay. I’ve known about you from day one with him. Please, let me do this for you. For him.”
Heather knew that she should say no, but she was hung up on his saying that Blake still loved her. Not that it mattered. Whether he loved her or not, he was married and she was not a home wrecker. Still, she couldn’t force herself to say no again.
“Fine. You can help me, but it’s only because you are right about Lorie. The kids need her more than I do and I don’t want to take her away from them. Evan’s smile came back and she couldn’t keep from smiling in return. She would probably go crazy being around him for the next few weeks, but at least she would go crazy while getting to see that sexy smile every day. It was a hardship she could live with…hopefully.
CHAPTER SIX
Blake
Blake smiled when he saw Evan’s name flash across his phone’s screen. “Hey, babe. I was just about to call you. I thought your shift ended a few hours ago. Did you get held up on a call?”
“You could say that.” Evan’s voice sounded off; unsure. Nothing like the confident man Blake had married.
“What’s wrong?” Blake asked.
“Diane and I responded to a call yesterday afternoon involving a van of kids and some asshole who ran a red light.”
“Oh, shit. Were the kids hurt?” Blake hated it for Evan whenever he lost a child on the job. It wasn’t easy losing anyone, but the kids always stuck with him. It was something he couldn’t imagine dealing with himself. He honestly didn’t know how Evan did what he did every day.
“No. They were scared, but they’re all okay. The woman driving the van had a pretty bad head trauma though. The other car t-boned the driver’s door. She wound up with a large open gash on her face that runs into her hair, and had to have brain surgery to stop a hemorrhage caused by the impact.”
“That’s horrible. Is she going to be okay?”
“Yeah, but she’ll need someone to keep an eye on her for a while once the hospital sends her home, and I kind of volunteered.”
“I don’t understand. What exactly did you volunteer to do?”
“To stay with her for a few weeks until the doctor releases her from his care. Or maybe she can stay with us. We haven’t really worked out all of the details yet. And work is okay. Jones has been after me to take time off before I lose it, so this takes care of that.”
Blake held the phone out in front of him and stared at it for a minute. Had his husband lost his mind? He wanted to live somewhere else for a few weeks, or have some stranger live with them. Blake wasn’t heartless, but this was just a lot to take in. “Evan, I don’t know…”
“It’s Heather, Blake.”
Blake’s world stopped for a beat. Did he just say Heather? No, it couldn’t be his Heather. Well, she wasn’t exactly his, but still. No way. It was too big a coincidence, but he had said there were kids in the van and Alex had told him Heather was volunteering at that new children’s home yesterday.
“Blake? Are you there?” Evan sounded worried.
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“Look, I know this is a lot to process. We’ve got a couple days before she will be released from the hospital to come up with a plan.”
“What room?” Blake cut Evan off.
“We could put her in the guest room if she’s okay staying with us.”
“No.” Blake shook his head even though Evan couldn’t see him. “What room is she in at the hospital?”
“Oh. It’s room 438. Why?”
“I’m on my way.” Blake hung up the phone without waiting for a response from Evan and grabbed his keys.
The next thing Evan knew he was pulling into the hospital parking lot without any memory of the drive there. He parked and made his way inside, heading straight for the elevator and the fourth floor. He didn’t bother checking with the nursing staff at the desk when he exited the elevator. Instead he followed the signs on the wall that indicated rooms 425-440 were to the left. He tried not to run as he made his way down the long hallway. He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do once he made it to Heather’s room, he just knew he had to see her. To see for himself that she was okay. He didn’t know how she would feel about him showing up there. Hopefully Evan had told her who he was since he’d agreed to take care of her. He would have to properly thank his husband for that later. For now he was focused on Heather.
The door to the room was closed and Blake opened it slowly. If Heather was sleeping, he didn’t want to wake her up. When he cracked the door, he could hear Evan’s voice. It only took him a second to realize Evan was reading from To Kill a Mockingbird. Blake smiled. He teased Evan about his proclivity for reading the same books again and again, and this one was Evan’s favorite. Blake was surprised Evan even needed to look at the book anymore.
When he stepped into the room Heather’s eyes were closed and Evan was holding her hand as he read. His husband looked over and Blake smiled. “Don’t you have that memorized by now?”
“Not completely.” It wasn’t just Evan’s voice that had answered him. Heather had responded as well. Heather and Evan look
ed at each other and smiled.
“Is it your favorite too?” she asked Evan.
“Yeah.”
“He’s only read it about a million times,” Blake told her.
Heather looked at him then and smiled. It was the first real smile she’d given him. When they’d met at work a couple days ago he’d known her smile had been forced, but not this one. It was real and it made his heart do a somersault in his chest. He walked over and stood beside her bed next to Evan. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve pretty much got a permanent headache, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Of course not,” Blake rolled his eyes at her but kept the smile on his face. “Well, I’m glad that Evan and I will be able to help you while you work on getting better.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I hope you’re not planning on taking off work for the next several weeks, mister. I happen to know you don’t have any paid-time-off on the books yet, and with your senior editor out you’re going to be busy.”
Blake and Evan laughed. “No, I wouldn’t even dream of taking off work, but I will be home nights and weekends, and I can assure you I’ll be helping this one take care of you.” He nudged Evan’s shoulder and his husband smiled up at him from his seated position on the chair.
When Blake looked back at Heather, she was looking at him like he’d said something crazy. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Are you telling me that your plan is to move me in with the two of you?” Her eyes landed on Evan with a glare.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Evan and Heather turned their eyes on Blake. They were both glaring now.
“I didn’t agree to move in with the two of you,” Heather told him.
“I’m sorry, Heather,” Evan said. “Blake, this is not something we’ve discussed. I’ll stay wherever is best for Heather.”