I don’t get to say anything else because he pulls up to the emergency room. I start to open the door, but before I can, he’s out and running inside. I manage to get my legs out of the car before he’s back with a wheelchair. He lifts me like I weigh nothing and sets me in the chair.
“I need to park, but I’ll wheel you into the front desk so you can get checked in.” He frowns. “Do you have your ID on you?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes. Of course, I do.” I fish in my front zipped pocket and find my wallet, showing him my ID.
He rolls me into the check-in desk before heading back out to move his car.
“Can I help you?” An older woman asks.
“Uh, yeah, I hurt my leg,” I start to say, but I notice her staring after Ty, and I roll my eyes.
“That your boyfriend?” she asks.
“No,” I say with my teeth clenched.
“Well, honey, if he’s not your boyfriend yet, you better snatch his fine ass up, because that boy is head over heels for you and trust me,” she looks down at me, “They don’t make many like that.”
I close my eyes and collect myself. “So, what do you need from me for check-in?” She starts rattling off a list of things and hands me a form, but internally I’m still wondering why she thinks Ty likes me. I mean he kissed me and apologized for dumping me like a piece of trash, but that doesn’t mean he wants to get back together, or does it?
Ten
Tyson
I practically sprint back into the Emergency Room, but I don’t see Brit.
“Excuse me, my...” I trail off because I want to call her my girlfriend, but she isn’t.
“Your girl just went back,” an older woman says. She looks at me like I’m a piece of meat, and I step back from the desk.
“I... can I go back there?” I ask her, clearing my throat.
“She says you aren’t her boyfriend,” the woman states with a raised eyebrow.
“I am, she just doesn’t know it yet,” I growl as my emotions start to get the better of me.
The woman smirks. “That’s what I thought. Room seven,” she replies, pointing toward the door.
I nod and walk inside. The ER is busy with nurses and doctors walking around. I pass several rooms before arriving at room seven.
The curtain is pulled closed, but I can hear her talking to someone.
“Ouch. Yep, that hurts,” she squeaks. I step around the curtain, and she looks up at me. She’s in a hospital gown, and her leg is in full view. Her ankle is swollen and bruised, and a doctor is poking at it.
“I’m going to order an x-ray. I think it’s likely a sprain, but let’s make sure,” he says as he turns and types something into a computer.
“Hey,” she says to me, her cheeks turning pink. I’m not sure what she’s embarrassed about; I mean I’ve seen her with zero clothes on, although it’s been a few years.
“You want me to wait out front for your dad?” I ask her.
“You can stay. I just texted him with my room number.”
“OK, someone should be in soon to take you to get the x-ray,” the doctor says to her as he nods and exits.
She leans back in the hospital bed. And I realize I have her all to myself right now, and she can’t go anywhere.
“Can we talk?” I ask as soon as the doctor is out of earshot.
She looks over at me and crosses her arms. “Fine,” she says with so much defiance that I raise my eyebrows.
“We clearly still have feelings for each other,” I point out.
She rolls her eyes. “Of course, I still care about you. Just because you dumped my ass doesn’t mean I suddenly stopped loving you.”
I smirk. “So, you still love me.”
She turns a bright shade of red. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Ty, fuck off. This conversation is ending quickly if you don’t get to the point.”
I sigh and lean onto her hospital bed, putting my arms through the openings and touching her good leg.
“Fine.” I lean in toward her. “Brit...” I trail off and look her in the eye. She has the most beautiful eyes; they are so vibrant and full of life, just like her.
Her face softens as she looks back at me. “Yes?” she says in a low voice. That voice. She has no idea how fucking sexy her voice is. The fact that she’s questioning herself, that she’s back here, makes me want to shake some sense into her. She is amazing. The world needs to see how amazing she is.
“I—”
“Ms. Evans?” A nurse knocks and enters the room.
“Yes?” Brittany replies.
“I’m here to take you to get your x-ray,” the nurse says as she walks over and gets the bed ready to wheel out.
“Oh. OK,” Brittany says. She gives me an apologetic look.
I curse under my breath. And nod to her as she is wheeled out of the room.
I look up at the ceiling. “Seriously?” I ask no one.
“You OK, Ty?” Jim asks as he walks into the room a minute later, a look of confusion on his face. “Where’s the patient?”
I sit back down in one of the two chairs in the small room. “They just took her to get an x-ray.”
“Oh, right.” Jim sits down next to me. “So, we didn’t get to catch up the other night. How are you?”
I shrug. “I’m all right. How are things at the gallery?”
“Same old. I’m surprised you didn’t stop by when you came back.” He raises an eyebrow, and I feel the guilt seep in as I look down at my shoes.
“I should have,” I admit with a guilty lopsided grin. Jim was always like a father figure to me, an extra dad.
He claps me on the back. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just giving you a hard time. I had heard you were back.”
“Yeah, word gets around. I needed a reset after the accident. Christopher offered me a position at the resort and, here I am.”
“Sometimes, we belong to a place, even when we’ve left it,” he says with age-old wisdom.
“I suppose.”
“Do plan on staying a while?”
“I don’t know. I’ve recently applied for a grant to bring some city kids here for a camp. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. If that works out, then I may stay for a while.”
“Well, best of luck to you then. That sounds like a great program,” he replies with a smile. I’ve always liked Jim. He’s quiet, but he sees everything. And he gives great advice. Now I do feel guilty about not having gone to see him. I guess I figured he’d hate me because of how I ended things with Brit.
“What?” he asks me.
“There’s no hard feelings between us, right?”
His eyebrows knit together. “Why would there be hard feelings between us, Ty?”
“I just... I mean,” I stumble over my words. “Things didn’t end well between Brit and me.”
He laughs, and I feel like an idiot.
“Kiddo, if I got upset with everyone that Brit had a following out with, well, that’s a waste of my time. Plus, you all were kids. I can hardly hold a teenager responsible for their actions when it comes to breaking up with someone. I admit, I was upset when it happened. Any father would be. But that was a long time ago.”