A hand touched her shoulder and jolted her back to the present. Justus squatted in front of her.
As she sat up something stung her eye and she swiped at it.
Justus moved her fingers away from the area and pressed a soft cloth to her forehead. “Hold this.” He guided her hand back to press the cloth in place, then squeezed her shoulder. He set the flashlight on the floor beside her, the light spilling across the concrete floor. “Stay put for a couple more minutes while I get a paramedic to look at you, alright?” He jogged toward the half-open garage door before she could even give a response.
She nodded, but when she heard the squawk of a couple radios she realized she should probably go talk to the firemen. So, as soon as he was out of sight, she stood.
Dizziness drained through her and she bumbled a couple of steps and threw her arms wide to catch her balance. But the floor seemed to tip up to meet her. Everything turned fuzzy and her fingers lost their grip on the cloth Justus had just given her. Her legs betrayed her and became useless limp ropes. She gave her head a little shake to fight the tug of gravity and blackness, but lost the battle and slumped to the floor.
Cold. The cement floor in the garage was very cold.
Chapter 2
Justus ducked out into the rain and jogged toward the paramedics who were just exiting their vehicle. “I’ve got one person injured,” he yelled through the rain and wind. When the paramedic looked up, he could tell the man hadn’t heard his exact words. Justus pointed to the garage and motioned for the man to follow, then turned and ran back toward Dakota.
As he loped up the drive, he tossed a glance at the huge tree thrusting across the roof from the backyard. A shudder quaked through him. He’d been driving down the street when he’d seen the tree give way before the wind. He was in town for Reece and Marie’s wedding on Saturday, and they’d forgotten they had an appointment with the minister this evening, so had asked if he minded picking up Dakota.
He hadn’t minded in the least, and in fact had headed this way a little early. He’d been looking forward to seeing her again. Probably more than he’d been willing to admit to himself until he’d seen that nasty cut on her forehead, and witnessed her determination to do all in her power to lessen the damage to the house. He was so glad someone had been here to stop her from climbing up onto that roof in her condition. The gash on her head was definitely going to need stitches and she might even have a bit of a concussion.
He ducked back under the garage door. Dakota lay sprawled on the floor, her face, illuminated by the weak beam of the flashlight, ghostly white. “Dakota!” Terror clawed through him, and he dashed to her side. Why had he left her alone? His hand trembled as he fumbled to find her pulse. And then she moaned and pushed herself partway up.
“Easy, Dakota. I think you passed out.”
Even as he spoke she unsteadily tried to stand again.
“Whoa!” He lurched forward, gripped her shoulders, and guided her back onto the tool chest. Those crazy high heels she was in weren’t doing her any favors. Squatting before her, he heard the paramedics enter behind them. “You’re hurt worse than you realize. But the paramedics are here. Just let them have a look at you.”
A guy with “Marinville Fire and Rescue” emblazoned on the front of his jumper, squatted before her with a med. kit. He pulled a small penlight from his pocket and peered into Dakota’s face. “Hi there. My name is Luke. And this is my partner, Joel. We’re just going to do a quick assessment to make sure you are safe, okay? What’s your name?” The guy’s light paused on the once-again bleeding wound on her forehead, and Justus tightened his fists and refused entrance to the images of another blood spattered woman that threatened to usurp his attention.
“D-Dakota.”
Justus eased out a breath. At least she still remembered her own name. He started to back out of their way, but Dakota shot out one hand and clutched his arm. Her fingers slid over his forearm till they found his own. Her small hand trembled in his grasp. He swallowed and in that moment he wouldn’t have moved for a million dollars. “I’m not going anywhere, just let them look at you.”
The first paramedic continued to ask questions while the other shone his own light into her pupils, over her forehead, and then down to the wrist she held gingerly in her lap.
Justus heard air hiss between his teeth. Her arm was blue and swollen.
The paramedic named Luke kept speaking to Dakota in a calming tone, even while he pulled bandages and gauze from his kit and spouted some medical jargon to his partner. It was the words “overnight observation” that set Justus’s heart to thumping so hard he was afraid the medics would hear it and turn to examining him next. His hand tightened of its own volition around Dakota’s.
Lord, haven’t I had enough of ambulances and hospitals for a lifetime?
Once again he forced the memories that tugged for his attention to the back of his mind and concentrated on the here and now.
Blood streaked one side of Dakota’s hair, turning the long blonde tresses into a dark, matted clump. Even though a white bandage now compressed the wound, he could see blood already seeping through it. As the medic lifted her arm to examine it more carefully, she tucked her lower lip into her mouth and scrunched her eyes closed.
His stomach bucked. He hated that he couldn’t save her from the pain.
The sound of firefighters clomping through the yard and yelling to one another rose and fell with the force of the wind.
Justus dropped his head down, staring at the blackness between his knees. The flash of another night so similar to this would no longer be abated. A night with so much more blood. So much more tragedy. So much more evil. A night filled with police and a manhunt for Treyvon McAllister, a boy-not-quite-turned-man who had so much of his life left ahead of him, but so much rage filling his heart.
He clenched his jaw and wrenched himself back to the present in time to hear…
“Would you like your boyfriend to accompany you on the ride to the hospital?”
Dakota’s gaze flashed to his, her eyes widening. “No, I’m fine. I can get myself there.”
The medic shifted in an uneasy way that raised Justus’s concern several notches. “I’d really like to encourage you to ride in the ambulance. We’d like to stabilize your arm a little better, and keep a careful watch on your head wound there.” The man tilted her a smile that tightened something inside of Justus. “Riding with us won’t be so bad. Joel might even tell you a few jokes along the way.” The man chuckled, and despite Justus’s annoyance over the slight flirtation, he appreciated the guy’s attempt to lighten the situation.
Both medics had eyed the structure overhead a few times and he knew they were considering the soundness of the building, since the other end had been smashed by the tree.
Justus didn’t bother correcting their misperception over his relationship with Dakota. He wouldn’t abandon her for anything, but he was going to need his wheels once he got to the hospital. “You should ride in the ambulance. I can’t have you getting blood all over the inside of my Z3.” He winked at her. “Will you be okay if I follow right behind you to the hospital?”
“O-of course.”
The paramedics both scowled like he was the lowest form of humanity.
But it wasn’t them who changed his mind. It was the disappointment he saw flash through Dakota’s eyes. He tilted his head and squeezed her fingers gently. “Never mind. I’ll just leave my car here and ride with you.”
“No. It’s alright. You don’t have to.” A frown pinched her brow.
“It will be fine. I’ll just have Jalen drive it over for me later.”
“Jalen?”
He brushed off her question. Jalen had worked with him for seven of the eight years he’d been at Deschutes Rejuvenation. And since Reece had known them both during his time working there, Jalen was also one of the groomsmen. The fact that the man was probably here more to talk him out of quitting his job than to be in the wedding didn
’t need to be mentioned right now. “Let’s just get you to the hospital, okay?”
“Wait, what about the hole in the roof? The flooring will be ruined if we don’t cover it.”
Justus almost chuckled at her persistent concern over the crazy tarp. Instead, he touched her shoulder. “Let’s just worry about you first. Besides, a single tarp isn’t going to be able to cover that hole out there.”
She swallowed. “It’s just…I’m responsible.”
A long damp strand of hair had fallen over her eyes, and he tucked it behind her ear, stirred by her distress. “I know. But there’s nothing you can do about a tree falling on the house. Right now the best thing you can do is to get yourself better. You can deal with the damages later.” He gently prodded her to her feet.
The paramedics rolled a gurney near her and helped her climb onto it. And as Justus followed her into the back of the ambulance he cast one more glance toward the house. He swallowed at the sight of the huge tree and the caved-in end of the house. Things could have been worse. So much worse.
Dakota woke to weak rays of sunshine and a dusky hospital room. Her brow furrowed. What was she doing here? She rolled her head toward the sound of a cart trundling by in the hallway, and pain sprang up from every corner of her mind. Her eyes fell shut and a low moan escaped.
A rustle of movement sounded on the other side of her bed and despite the throbbing she forced her neck to turn toward it and squinted a peek. The motion was at least tolerable this time.
Justus Teague, looking like he’d just woken up, sat on the front lip of a leather chair with wooden arms that couldn’t have been comfortable to sleep in. He scrubbed fingers back through his blond curls, standing them all on end at protruding angles, and then met her gaze with a sleepy one of his own. “How are you feeling?”
Confusion plucked at her. She scrunched her eyes closed and tried to remember how she came to be here. It was only a moment before everything came back to her in a rush. She focused on Justus again, choosing to ignore his question because somehow she thought he might overreact to the fact that her head felt like it could possibly split open at any second. “Thank you for riding with me to the hospital.” A flash of memory – her clutching his hand – pressed her lips closed in embarrassment. She averted her gaze.
He stood and lifted a cup with a straw to her lips. “Not a problem. I’m just glad I was there to help.”
She realized how thirsty she really was, and that her voice had sounded dry and parched a moment ago. She guzzled like a dying woman at a desert water hole, then sank back against the pillows and sighed. “Thanks.”
He tipped her a nod.
Pain pulsed through her skull again. “Do you think they might have some Tylenol I could take?”
Something tightened his features and he strode toward the door. “I’ll get you a nurse.”
He was back only moments later, a nurse bustling on his heels. “Your man here says you’re hurting? Where is your pain, hon?”
Her man? Dakota didn’t look toward Justus who was already back in his chair on the other side of the bed, but she would have loved to see the expression on his face over that misperception. Realizing she’d left the nurse waiting for her answer, she responded quickly, “My head.”
“Well, that’s to be expected considering the blow you took last night. Anywhere else?”
Dakota slowly assessed the other regions of her body and informed the nurse of a slight twinge in her left ankle and a larger one in her right arm.
“Also to be expected since your x-rays and scans revealed a fracture of your arm and a sprain to your ankle.”
Dakota nearly groaned. How was she supposed to walk down the aisle for Marie’s wedding in less than a week if she had a sprained ankle? She didn’t even remember them doing any scans.
The nurse was still talking. “The good news is, you don’t appear to have anything more than a super mild concussion. So you’ll probably get to go home here after a bit. First let’s get you some breakfast and I’ll put a little pain killer into your IV line.” The nurse hastened back in the direction she’d come from.
Dakota didn’t care about breakfast, but killing the gremlins that were kicking the inside of her skull sounded heavenly. She hoped that by “a little” the nurse meant at least a truckload of some painkiller that ended in “ine,” or maybe a cocktail of several of them. Her eyes dropped closed until she remembered Justus was still here. She glanced over to find him, elbows propped against his knees and one cheek resting on clasped hands, studying her. Weariness draped his features, and the blond stubble he normally wore trimmed close and carefully groomed, looked a little thicker than normal.
“Have you been here all night?”
He nodded.
“I’m surprised they let you stay.”
A grin transformed the tired lines of his face. “Let’s just say it took a little bit of charm and a whole lot of persistence.”
She offered him a weary smile. “Thanks for being here, but you don’t have to stay. Go home and get some rest.”
Humor tucked around the edges of his eyes. “I can’t have all these nice hospital staff thinking I’m the worst boyfriend in the world.”
She laughed, then, as shards of fire shot through her head, gasped and stiffened.
Justus was standing by her side in an instant. “Sorry. What can I do?”
She eased out a breath and wrinkled her nose at him. “Don’t make me laugh. At least not till a few minutes after she gets back with that painkiller.”
He touched her shoulder, his face serious. “You got it.”
His total seriousness almost made her laugh again. She opened her mouth to tease him about it, but just then Marie and Reece knocked at the open door. She changed her intended words. “Hi, you two. Come in.”
They stepped into the room, followed by Riley and a dark haired Hispanic looking man she’d never seen before.
Marie rushed to her side. “Dakota! I can’t believe it! I hardly slept last night, I was so worried about you. Are you going to be okay?” She leaned over the bed and gave Dakota a gentle hug.
Dakota patted her back. “I’m going to be fine. Where’s my munchkin?”
“Darlene is watching her this morning.”
Reece’s mom seemed to have come around one hundred percent in her opinion of Marie over the last few months. Dakota was glad about that. Especially for Marie’s four-year-old daughter Alyssa’s sake.
She moved on to a more pressing matter. “I just hope this isn’t going to ruin the wedding.”
Marie waved away her concern and rejoined Reece at the foot of the bed. “Our wedding should be the least of your worries. I can’t believe a tree fell on House of Hope!”
“Crazy, huh?” Dakota tried not to wince when Marie rested one hand on her sprained ankle at the end of the bed.
Reece pushed his ever present cowboy hat back on his head and folded his arms. “So what do you hear about when you get to make your escape?”
Dakota offered a thin smile, feeling her energy already beginning to flag. “The jailer said I’m up for parole this morning sometime.”
Just then the nurse stepped back in carrying a breakfast tray. “Well, look at you, Miss Center of the Party.” She offered Dakota a wink as she set the tray on the rolling bedside table. She pulled a syringe from her coat pocket and reached for Dakota’s IV port. “A few painkillers and you’ll be up and dancing with one of these handsome guys in no time.”
Everyone chuckled and Dakota couldn’t remember being happier to see a syringe full of drugs in her life.
A warm hand settled against her shoulder. “You alright?”
She forced herself to meet Justus’s concerned scrutiny. “I’m fine.”
He stepped over to his chair and pulled his black leather jacket from the back. “Tell you what. We’ll all let you eat and we’ll run grab a bite ourselves. Then I’ll be here again about ten to see if you’ve been released and to give you a ride, alrigh
t?”
As nice as it would be to simply agree and let him control the situation, he’d already done more than enough. Besides, she knew from talking to Reece that Justus had done time. How safe could it be to be alone with him, no matter how secure he made her feel?
She arched her brows at Marie. “Actually, if Marie’s done with my car I can just drive myself?”
Marie darted Reece a look, then Justus. Neither man seemed to want to meet Dakota’s gaze. But there was compassion in Marie’s eyes when she looked at her. “Um… We sort of don’t want you driving yourself anywhere, at least for a couple days.
Dakota’s brows shot up. “We?”
Marie winced and swung a finger to Reece, then on to Justus, and back to herself with a tiny nod.
“Guys! I’m a big girl who bumped her head. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and don’t need you babying me.”
Justus cleared his throat. “You have a slight concussion. A broken arm. And a sprained ankle. Be reasonable.” Without giving her another chance to protest he turned to the nurse. “So will ten be a good time to check back?”
The nurse agreed that the timing should be about right and adjusted Dakota’s table. “You just eat when you are ready, okay?” With that she made her way from the room.
Despite her grumpiness over their three-way conspiracy, Dakota liked the feeling of being taken care of – especially by Justus – just a little too much. How was it she could so enjoy the company of an ex-con? Her parents were always thousands of miles away on another continent, and she’d simply adjusted to doing for herself, she supposed. But now…she met Justus’s warm blue eyes filled with concern and her heart sped up in a way it hadn’t since Jason. Jason. There were so many reasons why she needed to avoid a relationship right now – especially with a guy like Justus – and she suddenly felt a little desperate to avoid the impending alone-time with him.
She tore her gaze from his and settled it on Marie. “Marie, Justus has already done more than enough. Couldn’t you pick me up then?”
Song of the Surf (Pacific Shores Book 3) Page 2