Well, crap. That voice—deep, commanding, and with the hint of Southern accent —was practically orgasm-inducing. Who knew rumbling voices could rumble straight to her lower belly and then spread heat through her body?
Kenzie grabbed the portable thermometer and shoved it into his mouth. “Your boss will understand. I will explain to Mr. Faulkner that medical personnel forced you to leave.”
The man paused in trying to argue and then his lip twitched as the fire chief cleared his throat and began to look nervous. It was as if saying Ryker Faulkner’s name was the same as conjuring the devil.
“Mppft.”
“Hush. We need your vitals. Get his blood pressure, Charlie.”
Charlie put the blood pressure cuff on as she shoved him back to sit on the edge of the gurney.
“ImRkr.”
“Hush or I have to take it again,” she lectured as Charlie got his blood pressure and she got his temperature. “Look, I’m the person who dragged you unconscious from the fire before giving you CPR to save your life. I say you’re done here and you’re getting your butt fully onto that gurney if I have to drag you there myself.” Kenzie saw the man’s lips tilt into a half smile. Crap, again. Was it medically possible for a smile—a half-one at that—to cause another near orgasm? Either way, she wasn’t going to turn into a pool of gooey, giggling hormones.
“Are you going to make me force you onto the gurney?” Kenzie asked again in her more lecturing tone.
The fire chief shuffled his feet. “Nurse, um, this is . . .”
Kenzie held up a finger to the chief and kept her gaze locked on the man. “Look, you were a hero tonight, but even heroes need to make sure they’re okay. I’d hate for you to go through so much to save so many only to have serious health issues later. Just go with Charlie and get a chest X-ray. Please.”
The man stared at her for a moment and then gave a curt nod. “For you. Since you saved my life. But I’m not riding on the gurney.”
“Oh my God! Are you okay? Why aren’t you at the hospital?” Kenzie turned to see a beautiful woman in a fitted red suit running toward them in four-inch heels. “Why didn’t you call me? What happened?”
Of course he was married. Someone who looked and sounded like that would be snatched up in a heartbeat.
“I’m okay, Olivia,” the man said as his face softened.
“You are not okay,” Kenzie said, turning to the stunning woman. “He needs to go to the hospital.”
“And you are?” the woman asked.
“Kenzie Carys. I’m a nurse at Charleston Memorial Hospital. I was on the way home after my night shift when I saw the fire. I had to pull him from the smoke after he collapsed trying to save more people. He needs a chest X-ray and probably some breathing treatments.”
“Olivia Townsend,” the woman said before surprising Kenzie with a hug. “Thank you for everything you did. I will drive him to the hospital right now. I promise.”
Kenzie gave them both a smile and Charlie wheeled the gurney away. Olivia reached for her husband and grabbed his arm. “We’re going now. Everything else can wait. Your family is going to throw a fit when they hear about this and find out you’re not at the hospital. Do you want a lecture from Gavin?”
Olivia dragged the man away. He took one last glance over his shoulder at her. “Feel better, Mr. Townsend,” Kenzie called out. His lips turned down into a frown, but Olivia practically shoved him into the fanciest sports car Kenzie had ever seen.
“So, you’re the woman who saved so many lives tonight.” A man in an FBI jacket said as he walked toward her after the car drove off. “FBI Special Agent in Charge Peter Castle.”
“Kenzie Carys.”
“I hear Ryker Faulkner owes you a lot. I know it’s been a long night, but can I ask you some questions?”
“Sure,” Kenzie said with a weak smile. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off and her whole body felt as if it were about to melt to the ground.
“You look ready to fall down. Let’s sit in my car and I’ll try to make this as quick as possible. I can even have an officer drive you home if you’d like.”
“Thank you, but I’m used to long hours. What questions do you have?”
Kenzie crossed her arms and got ready to answer questions for the next hour.
3
Ryker was ready to snap the head off the next person who came to check on him. That was why he didn’t want to go to the hospital. The hospital that had a wing named after him wouldn’t leave him alone. “Do you need anything, Mr. Faulkner? How about some more water, Mr. Faulkner? Would you like some pudding, Mr. Faulkner?” Did he even look like the kind of person who wanted a pudding cup, Ryker wondered.
“How much longer?” Ryker asked his cousin Gavin Faulkner. Gavin was Shadows Landing’s only doctor. And just like his lawyer, Olivia, had said, his family had descended on him as soon as they had woken up to the morning news.
“Not much,” Gavin said, looking at Ryker’s chart. “You were lucky. Your chest X-ray and blood tests are clear. Your breathing treatments should have helped and now that you’ve been on oxygen for a while, your levels are back up. They’ll take you off the oxygen and use the pulse oximeter to see if you can maintain those levels. If you can maintain the right level, you’ll be free to go.”
Ryker ripped off the oxygen and stared at the machine. “Ninety-eight. I’m good.”
The door to the private suite he was in opened and the hospital’s medical director and the head of pulmonology walked in, trying not to wilt under his glare.
The pulmonologist cleared her throat and looked to the monitors. “It looks like your oxygen levels are back to normal, Mr. Faulkner. I’m going to send you home with an inhaler to use for the next week and a course of antibiotics. I’ll see you in one week for a follow-up and then I can clear you.”
“Fine. Contact my office to set up a time.” Ryker began to stand up as the pulmonologist smiled and headed out of the room.
“I’ll go get the car,” Olivia said with a relieved smile. She was a good friend. Not just good, Olivia was his best friend and probably only friend who wasn’t family.
“I’ll come by later this afternoon to check on you,” Gavin told him as if warning Ryker not to run. He wouldn’t. As much as it annoyed him to be checked on, he trusted his cousin. If Gavin said he needed it, he’d do it.
“Love you,” his younger cousin, Tinsley, said as she rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I’ll come by with some food.”
His family cleared out until that the only ones left were the medical director and a wheelchair. “No,” was all Ryker said.
“Fine, but only because you practically pay my salary. I’ll walk you,” Dr. Mark Conroy said. “Now that you’ve been a patient here, what do you think of the money you’ve invested?”
“I think we can do better than pudding.”
Mark snickered. He was one of the reasons Ryker invested in the hospital. Mark was one hell of a medical director. He also had a sense of humor.
“You’re underestimating the power of pudding.”