Cop's Passion

by Angela Verdenius

  “Not from me,” Alan said when she glanced back at him.

  “Nor me,” she said. “He was here this morning, by the way.”

  “Okay. Wait here.” The doctor pointed to the few spare chairs in the waiting room. “Someone will be out to see you both shortly.”

  It seemed to take forever. Alan went outside to talk on his mobile phone to someone, presumably the police station, while Maddy sat and worriedly jiggled her foot up and down. She glanced at the clock several times and watched people coming and going, all the while wishing she could be with Mike or that someone would tell her something. Alan came back in and sat beside her. He looked tired and she smiled at him and patted his hand. He smiled back and slumped in the seat.

  It was a couple of hours later before the doctor came out. “Maddy?”

  “Yes?” Heart beating fast, Maddy stood up.

  “Come this way.” He gestured to a small room on the side and she followed him in again with Alan right on her heels. The doctor slid his hands into the pockets of his white coat. “Mike has concussion, you were correct. He should never have been let out of hospital this morning.”

  “You think?” Angrily, Maddy folded her arms. “You weren’t the doctor on this morning, were you?”

  “No.” His bright green eyes regarded her steadily. “But it will be looked into.”

  She nodded before focussing on her main concern. “So how is Mike?”

  “He’s had some scans, x-rays and tests. All looks clear, but he’s staying until I’m satisfied he’s totally back to normal.”

  “That’s always hard to tell,” Alan joked, relief evident on his face.

  Dr Reed smiled and opened another door behind him. “You can go and see him but it has to be brief. He needs rest and half hourly observations for awhile.”

  Though Maddy was relieved, she still had worry beating inside her. Concussion could take a nasty turn if anything was overlooked.

  Mike’s room was next to the nurse’s station, and there was already a nurse checking his pupils and asking him questions. His answers were slurred, but she seemed satisfied and turned to Maddy and Alan with a smile.

  “How’s he doing?” Alan queried, looking at his friend lying on the bed.

  “He’s doing just fine,” the nurse replied, her eyes so warm and soft that Maddy took an instant liking to her. “And I’m Cherry, by the way. I’ll be helping to look after Mike today.”

  How a man so sick and pale could still manage to look dangerous was beyond Maddy, but that was Mike. And she was worried sick about him. Taking the chair beside the bed, she took his hand in hers.

  Immediately he opened his eyes and looked hazily at her. He smiled faintly and turned his hand over to clasp hers in a reassuringly strong grip.

  Alan thrust his hands into his pockets and rocked backward and forward on his heels, clearly uncomfortable but also unwilling to leave his friend. “How you doin’, Mike?”

  “Head hurts…” Mike closed his eyes. “Bloody….bottle…”

  “Don’t talk,” Maddy said. “Just rest.”

  He gave her hand another squeeze but obeyed. Or maybe he just couldn’t open his eyes, he was so tired and concussed.

  Cherry re-entered the room with a form in her hand. “Sorry to do this now, but I need to get some of this admission filled in and I can’t get direct answers from the patient, so…” She looked at Maddy and Alan. “You both are?”

  “Alan, a friend,” Alan replied. “And work mate.”

  “And you?” The nurse was writing on the admission form. “Are you family?”

  Maddy was about to reply “girlfriend”, because it seemed the most appropriate answer, but the reply “fiancé” came from the bed.

  Alan gaped.

  Maddy turned incredulous eyes to Mike.

  Mike looked blearily at the nurse and mumbled, “Marrying me.”

  “I think he means you.” Cherry smiled widely at Maddy. “So, you’re obviously the first contact person if anything happens? Not that it will, I’m sure, but the details need to be filled in.”

  “Well, I-“ Mike’s hand squeezing hers once more made her gather her scattered thoughts. “Yes.” She could sort out her concussed ‘fiancé’ later. Right now it was more important that he rested and got better.

  Then she was going to kill him.

  Alan was grinning from ear-to-ear as Maddy gave her phone number to the nurse, and she glared at him behind Cherry’s back. Unable to give much information, she was prepared to suffer incredulity from the nurse, but instead Cherry simply nodded and left the room with assurances she could get more information from Mike’s old notes from the A & E, which had come up with him.

  Maddy sighed and settled back in the chair while Alan looked out the window and hummed to himself. The poor bugger looked dead on his feet but he obviously wasn’t about to leave Mike just yet.

  Or maybe he was politely waiting to take her home so that he could go home himself and flop into his own bed.

  Dr Reed entered shortly after with Cherry behind him. He bent down and peered into Mike’s eyes with a penlight and asked him the usual questions of what he remembered, where he was, the date and several other things. Thankfully, Mike was able to give the correct answers after a few wrong starts. Dr Reed tested the strength in his hands and feet and when Mike groggily squeezed the doctor’s hands as instructed, Maddy saw the doctor wince a little. As far as she was concerned, that was a good sign.

  “No problems so far.” Dr Reed straightened and shook his hands unobtrusively for a few seconds before checking the observation chart. “You can stay for another five minutes or so and then I must ask you to leave so Mike can rest. All right?”

  “Sure.” Maddy nodded.

  “I’m going out now to talk to Mike’s Sergeant, who’s waiting down in the A & E.” The doctor stood aside for Cherry to precede him out and when she glanced up at him and smiled, Maddy didn’t miss the warmth that flowed between them.

  Hello, was there something going on between the handsome doctor and the, well to be blunt and perfectly honest, pretty but plus-sized nurse? She was sure of it when Dr Reed and Cherry left the room, the doctor’s hand unconsciously brushing the small of her back.

  Maddy turned her attention back to Mike, who was resting quietly. A lock of thick, black hair fell over his brow, half covering the white primapore at his hairline. Even in sleep he couldn’t look defenceless. Every heavy swell of muscle combined with his height and dangerous looks just screamed strength, and yet she still felt the urge to stand in front of him and protect him from harm.

  Good thing he didn’t know that, because he wouldn’t have been amused.

  Relaxing a little now that she knew there wasn’t any imminent danger, Maddy reclaimed his hand and held it gently.

  “Man, he can’t even look sick when he is sick,” Alan said, as though reading her thoughts. “Even like that he could scare the shit out of anyone.”

  “Does he scare the shit out of you?” Maddy asked him wryly.

  “Naw. He treats me real gentle.” Alan winked and Maddy laughed, feeling some of the tension ease from her.

  Reluctantly she left when Cherry returned to see them out of the room. After giving the sleeping Mike a kiss on his brow, she walked down the hallway with Alan by her side. “He should never have been allowed to leave in the first place.”

  “You know Mike. When his mind is made up nothing but a stick of dynamite will shift him.”

  “I don’t care how stubborn he is, he’s staying here until the doctor lets him go and I agree that he’s ready.”

  Alan looked at her in amusement. “So when did Mike propose?”

  Maddy gave him a dirty look. “You don’t want to go there.”

  “Sure I do,” he said cheerfully.

  “I bake a lot and one day you’ll get a lovely cake from me, but you won’t know if it contains laxatives or not. Still want to go there?”

  “Huh. Probably not.”

  �
��Wise choice.”

  ~*~

  Mike opened his eyes to find Tim sprawled in a chair by his bed with an open magazine held up to his face. Mike half expected it to be a vet magazine but when he lifted his head and squinted at the page nearest him, he stood corrected. He’d never seen a horse that wore a tiny bikini and had fake breasts the size of watermelons.

  “Those could put your eye out,” he rasped, licking his dry lips.

  Tim peered over the top of the magazine. “Hello, sleeping princess.”

  “What are you doing here?” Mike tried to sit up, only to feel a heavy thumping in his head that made him subside immediately.

  “Waiting for my princess to wake up.” Tim reached across to a glass of water with a straw in it and held it out to Mike. “Do you need me to kiss you to wake you up properly?”

  “Not if you want to ever use your mouth again.” Taking the water, Mike almost spilt it on himself.

  Placing the magazine face down on the bed, Tim leaned across and steadied the glass for him. “There ya go, sweetheart.”

  Mike scowled at him, but the movement made the stitches at his temple pull. “Ouch.”

  “Oh, baby, does your boo boo hurt?”

  Ignoring his friend, Mike took a long swallow of the water. It tasted like pure gold to a poor man, and he emptied the glass in another long swallow.

  “Okay, princess, maybe you should take it easy there.” Tim took the glass away.

  “I’m still thirsty.”

  “Yeah, well let’s see if you hold that down first.”

  “What do you mean? I’m fine-” Mike stopped as a wave of nausea swept over him.

  “That’s what I mean.” Tim watched him closely. “Want a bowl?”

  “Nope - urp.” Mike held one hand over his mouth.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Tim retrieved a bowl from the bathroom and placed it by Mike’s elbow. “Want a hand to sit up?”

  Feeling a little better already, Mike noticed that he wasn’t lying flat on his back but was slightly reclined.

  “Might be a good idea,” Rick said as he walked in and took the bed controls in his hand. “Let’s get you up a bit, see how you go.”

  “I can sit up myself,” Mike protested, but then he felt the bed rise up behind him and within seconds he was in a semi-fowlers position. Okay, this was better, he had to admit, just not aloud.

  Rick fished a penlight out of his pocket. “Look at the light.”

  “Just don’t go towards it,” Tim said. “You know what happens to people when they go towards the light.”

  Mike flinched as the light seared his eyeball. “Is this really necessary?”

  “Yes. Now open your eye.”

  “It is open.”

  “No it isn’t.”

  “Do you know what it’s like to have a light shining in your eye?”

  “No, but I do know what it’s like to have blue and red lights flashing behind me and I don’t flinch when it happens. Now open your eye.”

  “I’ll let you read my dirty magazine if you do as you’re told,” Tim drawled, turning the page of the magazine he’d retrieved and was now enjoying while leaning against the wall.

  “I thought friends helped each other when they’re down.” Scowling, Mike opened his eye and suffered through the light shining into it. “Jesus, a man could go blind here.”

  “I thought that only happened if I was by myself with this magazine.” Tim glanced up. “Maybe I should swap it for the penlight.”

  “Just hold still.” Rick flicked the light to Mike’s other eye. “I always thought friends shared news.”

  “Here we go.” Tim sighed and closed the magazine. “Having you two as friends is almost like having two girlfriends. All this sharing shit. You’re starting to confuse me.”

  “Easily done.” Rick clicked off the penlight.

  “Can I have another drink?” Mike asked. “My mouth feels like the bottom of a cocky’s cage.”

  “That’s plain nasty. I withdraw my offer to kiss you awake.” Tim poured more water into the glass and held it out to Mike. “If you’re going to barf, don’t do it in my direction.”

  Rick watched as Mike took several smaller sips and washed the water around his mouth before swallowing. After several seconds had passed and they were all sure that Mike wasn’t going to spew water everywhere, he asked mildly, “So, when did you get engaged?”

  “Huh?” Mike looked at him.

  “Your fiancé? Remember?”

  Oh yeah, he remembered all right, and he glanced around involuntarily. “Where’s Maddy?” He was disappointed not to see her nearby.

  “Your fiancé,” Rick replied, “was here all yesterday evening making you take your medicine and stopping you from yanking out your drip.” He nodded towards Mike’s arm.

  For the first time Mike noticed the drip hanging above him from a frame. A line went down into a - “Is that a needle?”

  “Yep.” Tim smirked. “I was on my way home from a calving and I popped in here and slid that little sucker in for you. The bill from the vet clinic should be in your mail box now.”

  Rick rolled his eyes.

  “I don’t like needles.” Mike frowned at the line. “Can this come down now?”

  “No,” Rick replied. “Not until you’re drinking properly.”

  “I didn’t dribble my drink.”

  “I mean, until you’re drinking without vomiting everywhere.”

  What a ghastly thought. Mike slid his gaze around the room. “So where’s Maddy now?”

  “One track mind, hasn’t he?” Rick observed.

  “He’s very Maddy-minded,” Tim agreed.

  Suddenly realising exactly where he was, Mike’s gaze shot back to Tim. “Did you bring me here?”

  “No. That delightful task fell to Maddy and your trusty side-kick, Alan.”

  “What the - why am I here?” Mike started to push upwards, only to have the sledgehammer resound in his head, and he almost fell back on the pillow.

  “That’d be why,” Tim said helpfully.

  “Concussion,” Rick explained. “Maddy found you in bed with concussion, and she and Alan got you here.”

  “Your fiancé,” Tim added.

  Now fragments were coming back to him. He’d gone home and his head had been thumping. He’d barely made it to his bedroom and collapsed on the bed, just wanting to sleep. Dimly he remembered a cool, soft touch on his forehead while he…ye gods, while he threw up in the toilet.

  Yeah, now he sort of remembered. Maddy and Alan getting him out of the house, he’d been so dizzy. Into the back of the patrol car and leaning against Maddy’s big, soft breasts, it had been such a relief for his aching head, and she’d held him during that nauseating trip through the streets. Something about a hospital and after that he really didn’t remember much at all.

  “So,” Tim said. “Your fiancé?”

  Mike looked at him and scowled. “Why do you keep saying it like that?” And Goddamn, the stitches were pulling.

  “Man, I didn’t even know you were engaged.”

  “Going by what Alan said, neither did Maddy.” Rick grinned widely. “He reckoned the look on her face was priceless.”

  Everyone, Mike thought, believed Rick Reed was such a mild man, but he had a mean streak at times. Like now. Backing up Tim was just pure meanness. Jesus, he was the doctor, he should be keeping Mike calm, not egging Tim on.

  “Cherry,” Rick continued, “said poor Maddy looked like she’d been hit by twenty tonnes of something.”

  “That’d be Mike.” Tim nodded.

  Mike took another sip of water and raised one eyebrow carefully. “Maddy shouldn’t be so surprised.”

  “Really?” Tim asked interestedly.

  “Yeah. I told her…” Mike trailed off.

  “Yeah?” Both Tim and Rick said together.

  “Nothing. We’re going to get married one day. That’s it.”

  “Does Maddy know about this?” Tim queried, la
ughter lurking in his eyes.

  “Not in so many words, no.”

  “Oh boy.”

  “But anyway, we’re going to get married.”

  “One day.”

  “Didn’t I just say that?”

  “Oh yeah, you did. Can I be here when you tell Maddy?”

  “She knows.”

  “Odd. According to my fiancé, she seemed pretty surprised.” Rick was absolutely intrigued. “Come on, Mike, give me something to tell my Cherry.”

  “There’s nothing to tell your Cherry. She heard it from me first.” Mike waved his hand around, almost splashing water from the glass. “What’s the big deal?”

  “He really doesn’t know,” Tim said. “Poor bastard. That bottle really did kill off some brain cells.”

  Rick’s pager beeped and he sighed. “Just when it was getting interesting. Gotta go, Mike, I’ll check on you later.”

  “Hey,” said Mike, as his friend started to leave the room. “Can I go home now?”

  “No.” Rick strode out of sight.

  “Shit.” Mike scowled. “Ouch. I’m leaving anyway.”

  “No, you’re not.” Maddy walked in the door.

  Man, she looked so good. He drank in the sight of her. Her dress was a soft yellow, all silky and pretty, and the red belt around her waist just accentuated those luscious curves, those hips, those -

  “And you’re not coming off that drip until you’re drinking,” she continued, placing a patchwork bag on the bed and a dainty pot of flowers on the table while studying his face. “You look a little better.”

  Ignoring his friend, his gaze only for Maddy, Mike held out his hand. “Come here and give me a kiss.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Tim advised. “He said his mouth is like the bottom of a cocky’s cage.”

  No wonder Tim had never found the right girl. Mike glared at him. “Isn’t it time you left?”

  “That’s rude.” Maddy’s cheeks were pink, and it sure wasn’t because he’d been rude.

  “No, what’s rude is that I want a kiss and you’re just standing there.”

  Maddy looked at Mike and sighed. “He really is the most awful patient.”

  “And your fiancé,” Tim said helpfully. “Well, gosh, look at the time. Gotta go and check some dogs. Toodle-pip!” He waved his hand, gathered up his magazine and left with a happy stride.