“You came back,” she stated, trying to sit up a bit straighter but finding it impossible to move without straining her abdominal muscles. He crossed over to the bed and placed the bag on the rolling table, lowering himself to a seated position next to her thigh.
“I have a captive audience, and you definitely can’t run away this time,” he told her with a wink. “I wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay, naturally.”
“That is very kind and noble of you,” she assured him.
“Well, don’t go too heavy with the noble business yet. The truth is, I might have an ulterior motive in coming over here tonight.”
“Which is?”
He traced his index finger across the back of her hand, and she felt goose bumps spread up her arm.
“I would really love to ask you to go out with me, but I probably can’t afford to treat you the way you’re accustomed to being treated. In fact, I know I can’t. But tonight, you’ve got no other plans, right?” He looked confident for a split second, and then slightly unsure. “I mean, you don’t, do you?”
“I’ll cancel all of them,” she assured him as he drew his eyes up to her face.
“I brought you a burger from Tiny’s,” he whispered, glancing back at the door. “Tiny wanted to shut down the whole place and come over here to take care of you himself, but I assured him I could handle it.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope you don’t mind that I brought one for me, too. Maybe we can do dinner and a movie?”
“What’s the movie?” she wondered, glancing towards the brown bag.
“Confession,” he stated, rising to retrieve the bag, “you are notorious about not giving people your number. Your friend Annie, though? She doesn’t have that problem. She gave Matt her number right away. He gave it to me.”
“You called Annie?”
He smiled as he walked to the door and pulled it closed after glancing out into the hall to be certain they weren’t being watched. When he returned to her side, he removed a cheeseburger from the bag and placed it on the tray in front of her.
“Annie says you love The Office, and you’re in luck because my parents happened to have it at their house.”
“Yes, I will admit that we’ve been known to pull all-nighters.”
“That’s what she said,” he informed her as he retrieved his own burger. “Did you like what I did there? That’s what she said?”
“You’re very clever,” she told him with a laugh. “But if you insist on this being a date, I feel like I should be completely honest with you.”
“Shoot.”
“If at any time you request that I remove myself from this bed during the evening, I will have to decline.”
“Because?”
“I have no idea where they took my clothes.”
“Just a guess, but I’m saying you probably won’t want to wear those clothes again,” he insisted, trying to figure out how to work the portable DVD player he had smuggled in.
She watched him silently as he stood in front of her—the way his back filled out his T-shirt, the bottom edges of his tattoo visible on his arm. She couldn’t put her finger on what so intrigued her about him, but she couldn’t seem to pull her eyes away as he studied the buttons and eventually had Steve Carell’s face on the screen. As he turned, he grabbed his burger and settled in the nearby chair.
“Hold on,” she said, giving him a bit of a glare. “I thought you said this was a date?”
“Uh-huh,” he agreed as he unwrapped his burger.
“So if you took me to Tiny’s, would you sit at a different table than me?”
“Definitely not.”
She struggled to move herself over in the bed and managed to scoot over only a couple centimeters. “Okay, if I could move my body, I would insist that you sit here with me. Unfortunately, it would appear that I’m currently paralyzed.”
“I can remedy that, if you’re okay with it.” He rose from his seat and prepared to slide his arm under her knees.
“No, don’t touch me! I wasn’t kidding about that whole no clothes thing.”
Laughing to himself, he wrapped the blanket around her to protect her backside and then slid his arm under her knees, scooping her up and moving her over about a foot. She winced slightly as her muscles stretched, but tried not to let him see. He then returned and placed himself beside her on the bed, their arms touching ever so slightly. Feeling rather self-conscious with him so close to her, she turned to look at the small DVD screen.
“So, we should talk about something, right?” She smiled as she picked up her burger. “Oh, I know. Have you gotten any more tattoos since you inappropriately showed me your naked torso?”
“Was that inappropriate?” He took a giant bite of his burger and turned to face her, giving her a teasing stare.
“You’re nearly always inappropriate, I’m afraid, but I find you fascinating.”
“That is quite a coincidence, because I likewise find you fascinating.”
“Enough so to write a song about me?” She snuck in a bite of her burger as his face tinted slightly red.
“I may or may not have written a song, depending solely on whether or not you liked it.”
“If I say no?”
“Then I have no idea what this conversation is about, obviously.” He finished off his burger as though he was making a point, and she took another small bite as she considered her words.
“So, if I say yes?”
“Then I meant every word.”
“You forgot how to breathe?” she prodded, enjoying his discomfort. She took another quick bite of her burger before she placed it in front of her.
“You have that effect on me, I guess. I’m having a bit of trouble breathing right now.”
“It’s because you ate your burger too quickly,” she joked, having a bit of trouble breathing herself. “That can cause problems, you know.”
He rose and threw the cheeseburger wrappers and remains in the garbage so they wouldn’t be discovered, and then he lowered himself beside her again, even closer this time so their arms were pressed against each other.
“Tell me something no one else knows,” he said gently, relaxing his head against the pillow as he looked at her. She turned her head toward his so she was looking into his eyes, making sure not to twist her torso and inflict pain on her abdominal muscles.
“No one else knows?” she repeated, gazing at him.
“Yes, a secret we can share.”
“Kind of like when you called me ‘baby’ in the ambulance?”
“I was clearly upset and delirious,” he countered with a bit of a grin. “Come on, give me some inside scoop on what makes Harley Laine tick.”
Almost transfixed by his gaze, she forced herself to think. “Well, I don’t like motorcycles.”
“I got that vibe the night at Tiny’s,” he stated, widening his eyes.
“But it’s not really the bikes themselves I don’t like, it’s more the idea. My dad fixes them, you know. That’s his job—his passion. So much so that he saddled me with it for life.”
“Your dad named you after his motorcycle,” Ryan said, wrinkling his brow a bit.
“Yes, exactly like everyone has teased me for my entire life.” She sighed quietly as she gave her eyes a quick roll. “So, your turn. Tell me something no one else knows.”
“I can’t get you out of my mind, Harley. And it has nothing to do with motorcycles.” Her heart fluttered a bit as his fingers spread across the palm of her hand and then intertwined with her own. Letting out a shaky breath, she wrapped her fingers tightly around his. With a start, she realized she was staring at his mouth, thinking about what it would feel like to kiss him, so she lowered her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes briefly when he rested his head against hers.
“Don’t forget me when you go home tomorrow,” he whispered.
“You’re not so easy to forget,” she admitted, smiling to herself.
R
yan remained there next to her on the bed while they laughed at The Office for a couple hours, until her breathing evened out and he looked down to see that her eyes were closed. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he paused near her hair, allowing her scent to linger in his mind for a moment longer. He had to go home and get some rest for work the next day, and she would likely be gone by the time he could come back to see her. Pausing near the edge of the bed, he grabbed the marker off the dry erase board on the wall that held the nurses’ instructions.
“Forgive me, Harley,” he whispered, pressing the tip of the marker to the inner section of her upper arm right beneath her armpit.
Harley was woken at midnight by a nurse checking her vital signs, and she quickly glanced around the room to realize she was alone. The television was off and the room was quiet. Aware that she had apparently dozed off and Ryan had disappeared, she sighed audibly.
“Everything okay?” the nurse wanted to know.
“I feel like I just woke up from a dream. It’s rather disappointing.”
The nurse checked the IV line and then gave Harley an understanding smile. “Well, maybe when you fall asleep you can go back to your dream. Sorry I woke you up.”
The nurse walked to the door and back out into the hall, closing Harley in the quiet. Reaching her right arm up, she attempted to rub her eyes and happened to notice a dark mark from the corner of her eye. Stretching her arm forward, she glanced down at her newly drawn ink that stretched from the inside of her armpit halfway to her elbow. Ten numbers, drawn carefully. With a quick laugh, she brought her left hand up carefully due to the IV line and traced the numbers on her arm with her finger.
Her heart swelled, and she relaxed back against her pillow as she closed her eyes to let sleep overtake her again. She wouldn’t escape without Ryan’s phone number this time. He was so insistent about that fact, he had tattooed it on her arm.
C hapter Eleven
The sun spread through the horizontal blinds as Harley reluctantly sat up and gingerly placed her bare feet on the floor. She wasn’t in excessive pain; the worst portion seemed to be as she was rising from a reclining position, or alternately lowering herself. As long as she was upright and moving around, she could almost forget that she had been wounded at all, until she accidentally brushed against the stitches. Still, she felt almost fortunate to have ended up in the hospital, simply because she had spent time with Ryan.
Glancing at her arm again, she rummaged through her purse until she found her phone and could program his number safely inside. Since he had taken care to make certain she had it, she didn’t want it accidentally sliding down the shower drain.
“Up and around this morning?” her doctor asked as she walked into the room.
“Yes,” Harley stated cheerily. “This has been a delightful bed and breakfast, but I do believe I’m ready to return to the real world.”
“I hardly blame you. Just let me get a quick look at the stitches to verify that there’s no infection, and I’ll sign your discharge papers so you can be on your way. Someone give you a serial number?” She motioned to Harley’s arm as she helped her back into the bed.
“Handsome EMT wrote his number on my arm while I was asleep,” Harley told her, laughing. “Think I might get stab wounds more often.”
“I certainly wouldn’t recommend that,” the doctor said with a knowing smile. “Your stitches look good, though. We’ll have you out of here in no time.”
Grinning, Harley struggled to right herself in the bed and placed a call to Annie, begging her to come pick her up and bring some comfortable clothes. Naturally, Annie grilled her about why she hadn’t been answering her phone, scolded her for not calling sooner, and said she was scared to death when she saw the story on the news. Harley could barely get in two words edgewise before Annie said she was on her way and hung up.
Believing she should at least ask for what she could salvage of her clothes from the day before, she stepped up to the doorway, peering into the hall as she held the back of her hospital gown closed with her fist. While she craned her neck to try to locate a nurse, she happened to lock eyes with a girl two doors down who was doing the very same thing. Smiling rather guiltily, she gave a quick wave with her right hand. The girl responded by shyly retreating a couple inches. Peeking back and forth down the hallway, Harley cinched the back of her gown a bit tighter and crossed over to the other girl’s room.
“Hey,” she said breezily as she stepped up to the young woman, who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. “Are you trying to break free, too?”
“Actually, I was just looking for my mom,” she stated, glancing down the hallway again.
“Want company?”
She nodded shyly and stepped back into her room. As she retreated, Harley couldn’t help but notice that her movement was hampered by several lines and tubes that she had to drag with her. As the girl settled herself carefully back onto the bed, Harley pulled the back of the gown tightly beneath her legs and lowered herself on the light tan armchair.
“I’m Harley Laine,” she began, smiling at the younger woman, who pulled the pole containing all the cords closer to her bed in order to make herself more comfortable.
“I recognize you from the news,” the girl stated, glancing at the door again.
“So you’re clearly at the advantage here. You know who I am, but I don’t know you. What’s your name?”
“Kelsey,” she added, self-consciously tucking a strand of dishwater blonde hair behind her ear. “Kelsey Andrews.”
“Pretty name.” Harley crossed her legs under her gown, feeling a little absurd simply due to the knowledge that she wasn’t wearing proper underclothes. “Do you come here often?” She meant the comment as a teasing joke, but Kelsey seemed to shrink a bit before answering.
“Quite a bit lately, yeah.” Fiddling with her cords, she avoided making eye contact with Harley.
“How old are you?” Harley dared to ask quietly, gazing at the girl. She was quite pretty, but her coloring was slightly off and she had dark circles under her light brown eyes.
“Seventeen.”
“I remember seventeen,” Harley said, staring up at the ceiling as she reminisced. “My biggest worry was whether or not I’d fail trigonometry and physics. Oh, and whether Brent Dillard would ask me to prom. He didn’t, by the way. I ended up going with Rick Dillard, his cousin. He only asked me because his dad was friends with my dad, and somehow they guilted him into it. I hadn’t really come into my own back then. Really skinny, no curves at all. Not that I have many curves now, but padded bras do wonders in that department.”
Kelsey tittered a bit and placed her hand over her mouth.
“I’m sorry. You probably think I have no filter.”
“No, that was funny,” Kelsey insisted. “Did you scribble all over your arm?”
Harley glanced down at the two numbers that were visible under the sleeve of her gown. “Oh, can I tell you a secret?” She grinned slyly at the younger girl, who nodded hesitantly. “I was rescued yesterday by this completely handsome EMT, and he wrote his phone number on my arm.”
“That sounds like a romance novel,” Kelsey told her with a sigh. “Do you have to stay here long?”
“They’re getting ready to release me as we speak.” Harley hesitated as Kelsey’s eyes drifted to the door. “I was poking my head into the hall looking for my clothes.”
“Kelsey, what are you doing up?” Harley heard the unfamiliar voice behind her right shoulder, and she twisted and pulled her stitches, causing an unavoidable grimace. “Did something happen?”
“No, Mom, I was just looking for you. And then Harley Laine came to visit me.”
“Oh.” The older woman nearly jumped, glancing over at Harley. She quickly smoothed her dark brown shoulder-length hair and looked a bit self-conscious. “Goodness, what a surprise! What brings you by?”
Glancing down at her hospital gown, Harley stifled a giggle. “I’m just down the hall, actually. Managed
to injure myself yesterday, rather stupidly I’m afraid. I was peeking into the hallway at the exact time Kelsey was doing the same.”
“Goodness, where are my manners?” Kelsey’s mother stepped forward and extended her hand towards Harley. “Regina Andrews.”
“Very nice to meet you,” Harley added, not getting up because she didn’t want to have to readjust her backside.
“We like watching you on the news,” Regina said, settling on the edge of Kelsey’s bed. “Well, when we watch TV, which isn’t very often.”
Harley hesitantly glanced from mother to daughter. “Kelsey said you’ve been here a lot lately.”
“Yes, but we’re praying that things will look up for us soon.”
“Do you mind if I ask…” Harley hesitated, torn between not wanting to pry and wondering what could be wrong with the pretty teenager.
“Kelsey has cirrhosis of the liver,” Regina began, placing her hand on Kelsey’s against the bed.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Andrews,” Harley said quietly, unsure what that meant but knowing from their exchanged looks that it couldn’t be good.
“She had a blockage of the bile duct, which started the disease a couple years ago,” the mother continued, recognizing Harley’s quizzical expression. “The healthy liver tissue is replaced with scar tissue, which keeps the liver from functioning the way it should. She takes diuretics but occasionally we still find ourselves here due to fluid retention.”
“And what will they do?” Harley asked, referencing the doctors and the hospital.
“She’s on the transplant list,” Regina offered bluntly but calmly. “She’s always tired, and she rarely wants to eat. And you can see she has a bit of jaundice and bruises easily.”
“Does that mean no prom for you?” Harley attempted to smile at the blonde teenager.
“Most likely not, but there was no Brent Dillard for me, anyway,” Kelsey admitted with a shy grin. “Besides, I’d be just like you and wouldn’t fill my dress out.”
“If you were going to prom, I’m sure you’d be better dressed than I was in my old prom bomb—it was a blue poofball nightmare. It belonged to Rick Dillard’s older sister, and my mom had to put a couple seams under my arms just so it wouldn’t fall off. Good times.”
Crowned (Girls of Wonder Lane Book 2) Page 11