“I’m glad, Mom, ’cause you hit your head pretty hard,” he replied.
She smiled weakly.
“Do you want me to stay?” the radio announcer asked. She managed to open her eyes a crack to see Lance standing beside the bed. Right. He’s the one with the deep, sexy, radio announcer voice.
“Yes,” she whispered. She felt him reach out and touch her cheek.
“Hello,” said a voice. “I’m Dr. Seymour. Can you hear me, ma’am?”
“Yes,” Serena replied.
“The nurse needs your health card information. Do you know where that is?” he asked.
“I’ve got her purse here,” said Lance. “I’ll take care of it.”
The doctor proceeded to ask Serena all the usual questions about name, age, city of residence. Then he told her that her spine was okay, so they would take her off the spinal board and get her some pain medication. She felt people undoing the straps, and then they rolled her slightly to the side so they could slip the board out from under her. Someone raised the head of the bed so she was partially sitting.
“Mom? Are you sure you’re all right?” Sam asked.
Serena finally managed to open her eyes and turn toward Sam. But the movement made her head spin and her stomach heave. Before she could say anything, she vomited on herself and the floor.
Perfect, Serena thought just as she passed out again.
* * * *
Lance stared at the vomit on his shoes and sighed. He couldn’t really be angry. She didn’t mean to get hurt. And as horrid as she looked covered in vomit with her curly hair matted around her head, he couldn’t help thinking she was still pretty. He called the nurse over. She took one look and left to get towels. When she returned, they began to clean up the vomit. The nurse wiped up as much as she could.
“I’m going to get rid of this,” she said, holding up the towel. “And I’ll get a janitor to mop up the floor. There’s a robe on the shelf under the bed. Can you get her out of those clothes and put it on her?”
Before Lance could protest, she had disappeared. Lance looked down at Sam.
“Those clothes are gross!” he said. “You need to get her out of them.”
Since Lance’s twin brother Liam had told him about this woman and showed him the video from the store’s security camera, he’d been having fantasies about undressing her. Somehow he never pictured it happening like this. Thank God she had on a button-down shirt. That would be easier than trying to pull a shirt over her head. He reached down and began undoing the buttons. When he reached the bottom, he gently pushed the shirt open and sucked in a breath. Fuck. Her tits were amazing. The purple lace of her bra cupped them perfectly and stood in lovely contrast to her pale, creamy skin. In spite of the situation, he could feel his cock getting hard. Feeling a bit like a creepy old man and trying not to look any more than necessary, he managed to get one arm out of a sleeve, and then the other. He picked up the hospital gown and placed it over her then carefully put her arms into it. He pushed it up to her waist so he could get hold of the waistband of her pants, and he carefully eased them down over her hips. He tried not to look at the purple lace thong she was wearing, but it was a purple lace thong. It was the kind of thing that just demanded attention. Silently berating himself for being a shameless pervert, he pulled the gown back down over her and eased the pants off her lower legs. He folded the clothes as best he could and placed them on the foot of the bed. He grabbed a sheet that was also under the bed and spread it out over her.
Then he sat down on the chair beside the bed and tried not to think about her body. He could hear a soft moan coming from her, and he stood and peered intently at her face.
“Serena?” he said softly. “Serena, can you hear me?”
She smiled and stirred. She opened her mouth to say something, then frowned slightly and closed it. She moved her jaw around for a moment then said, “Why does my mouth taste like puke?”
He stroked her hair back from her forehead, where a huge bruise was already forming under a lump the size of a golf ball. “Because you puked,” he said.
“Right,” she said with a groan. “I remember now.” She lifted her hand to her head and opened her eyes slightly. She looked up at Lance. “Lance,” she breathed. “You’re here.”
He loved the way his name sounded when she said it. “I brought Sam and your purse. And I hope you don’t mind, but I drove your car here as well. My brother will pick me up.”
She opened her eyes a little more and looked at him. “Thank you.”
He smiled at her. “No problem.”
She turned her head a bit and looked down at herself. “When did I get the gown?”
Lance was spared having to answer by the arrival of the doctor.
“Okay, Ms. Keegan, you’ve got a concussion. A fairly serious one. You must have fallen pretty hard.”
“I’m a klutz,” she said.
The doctor laughed. “Well, we’d like to keep you here tonight for observation and we’ll see how you’re doing in the morning. The orderly will be here in a moment to take you to your room.”
“Fuck,” Serena said.
“Mom!” Sam exclaimed.
“Sorry, honey,” she said to him. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do with you tonight if I’m stuck here.”
“Can I call someone for you?” Lance asked.
“Check my phone,” she said. “Try Lisa. If she can’t get him, then…well, I hope she can get him.”
Lance rummaged in her purse and found the phone. He scrolled through the contacts until he found Lisa’s number. He dialled it and someone answered on the second ring.
“Hey, girl! Did you see the sexy fish man again?”
Lance bit his lip to keep from smiling. “I’m the co-owner of Dalton’s Aquariums and More!” he said.
“Oh, fuck,” said Lisa. “Forget I said anything.”
“Already forgotten,” Lance replied, though he had stored the tidbit of information away. “Serena fell at the store today and hit her head.”
“Oh, fuck,” said Lisa.
“Indeed,” said Lance. “We’re at the hospital now, and the doctor wants to keep her here tonight but she needs someone to watch Sam.”
“Of course! I can be over there shortly,” Lisa said. “What room is she in?”
“We’re not sure yet,” he replied. “We’re still in the ER.”
“Okay, well, I’ll find you when I get there,” Lisa said. “Tell her I’ll see her soon.”
Lance disconnected the call and told Serena that Lisa was on her way. The orderly arrived then to take her up to her room. Lance led Sam along behind the bed and they rode up the elevator with her. When the orderly parked the bed outside a ward room with four beds, Lance stopped him.
“This is the room?”
“That’s what they told me,” the orderly said. “I have to get the nurse to help move her.”
He walked off down the hall.
“Sam,” he said. “Stay right beside your mom. I need to go talk to the nurse.” And he jogged down the hall after the orderly. They arrived at the nursing station at the same time.
“Excuse me,” Lance said to the nurse, purposefully lowering his voice. He knew it sounded sexy and found it worked out well for him. “I don’t want my friend in the ward room. Is there a private room available?”
“Well, since she didn’t have any private insurance to cover the extra cost, we put her in the ward room. That’s standard policy,” the nurse said.
Lance pulled his Visa out of his wallet and handed it to the nurse. “You can charge the difference to my card.”
She smiled. “That’s fine, sir. Just let us figure out which rooms are available, and we’ll come get her settled in.”
“Thank you, Kathy,” he said, reading her name tag. She blushed slightly and went to the clerk who was at the desk.
Lance went back down the hall to stand with Serena and Sam. Her eyes were closed again, but she held Sam’s hand in
hers and his head was resting on the bed beside hers. It was a lovely sight.
Finally, the orderly returned and wheeled the bed further down the hall to a private room and pushed it inside. The nurse followed.
“Serena,” she said. Serena responded weakly. “I need you to get out of the bed and into the other one. I’ll help you, and we’ll take it slow.”
“Okay,” Serena replied.
The nurse slid an arm around Serena’s back and slightly under her arms to help ease her to a fully seated position. She had Serena swing her legs over the edge and carefully get down on the floor. Then she helped her take the few steps to the bed and get settled in there. And though Lance had tried not to look, the gown hung wide open at the back and he got a nice view of the purple lace thong from behind. His cock jerked to attention again, and though he tried to tell it that now was not the time to be acting like this, he was unsuccessful.
Serena was settled in the bed and the nurse was getting her a glass of water when a light knock sounded on the door.
“Lisa!” Sam called and ran to hug her.
“Hey, kiddo,” she said as she ruffled his hair. “Mom pull one of her klutzy moves again?”
“Yes,” he said with an exaggerated sigh.
Lisa moved further into the room to see Lance standing there. He was holding his hands crossed in front of his crotch and hoped she wouldn’t see the tent in his pants. She looked him up and down and smiled.
“Fish man?”
“Lance,” he replied.
“I’m Lisa. Nice to meet you.” She went to her friend’s bedside. “What am I going to do with you, Serena?”
“Find me some pain meds, stat,” Serena replied. Lisa laughed softly.
“I’ll stay at your place tonight with Sam,” she said. “It’ll be easier. We’ll come in again tomorrow. Where’s your car?”
“I drove her car here,” Lance said. “It’s in the parking garage. My brother can pick me up. And actually, Ms. Keegan, if it’s okay, I’m going to call him and leave now.”
“Of course it’s all right,” Serena said softly. “You’ve done more than enough already. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lance left the room and made his way down to the hospital lobby. He texted Liam and then settled in to wait. When the big black SUV pulled up to the door, Lance ran out and hopped in.
“How is she?” Liam asked.
“She’s got a concussion,” Lance said. “She puked on my shoes.”
“Nice,” said Liam, laughing.
“And then the nurse made me undress her.”
“She did what?”
“She told me to get her clothes off and put the gown on her, and then she took off before I could say anything,” Lance said defensively.
“So? How was it?”
“Liam, really. The woman was sick. I’m amazed you’d think I would take the opportunity to ogle her while she was unconscious.”
Liam looked at him expectantly.
“Oh, fine,” Lance said. “My cock’s getting hard again just thinking about it.”
Liam laughed.
Chapter 3
After the nurse gave her some Tylenol, Serena said to her, “When did they put the gown on me?”
“You were wearing it when you came up from the ER,” the nurse replied. “You should get some rest. We’ll be waking you up again in an hour.”
“Yippee,” Serena said. She rolled her eyes and then groaned when the action made her feel a little nauseous again.
“Lance put the gown on you,” Sam piped up.
Serena and Lisa turned to stare at him. “What?” Serena whispered in horror.
“Lance took your clothes off. They were really gross, Mom. All covered in puke! He put the gown over you.”
“Fuck,” Serena said.
“Mom,” Sam said in a warning tone.
“Sorry, sweetie.” She turned to Lisa and said in a low voice, “I cannot believe he stripped me down while I was unconscious and covered in puke. I think I’m going to die!” She covered her head with her hands.
“I hope you weren’t wearing granny panties,” Lisa whispered.
“Purple lace bra and matching thong,” Serena said with a giggle.
“Well, that explains the hard-on he had when I got here,” Lisa said.
“He did not!”
“He was trying to hide it,” Lisa whispered. “But let’s just say there was a lot to hide.”
“Oh. My. God. I just don’t know what to say.”
“I think you need to get your ass back to that fish store as soon as possible.”
“I don’t think I can ever look at him again! He’s seen me mostly naked, unconscious, covered in puke…”
“Well, it can’t get any worse then, can it?” Lisa said.
“Don’t even say that. You’ll jinx me.”
“Don’t worry about it. He saw all that and he still stayed to make sure you were okay. He had his chance to run and he didn’t. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t scared off.”
“I’m just going to try not to think about it,” Serena said.
“You should get some rest. Do you want me to pick up some real jammies for you? Unless you prefer the hospital gown,” Lisa said.
“Real jammies would be grand,” Serena said.
“Okay, we’ll see you a bit later, then.”
Serena waved as Lisa and Sam left, and then she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
“Ms. Keegan, wake up.” Someone was shaking her. But she’d just fallen asleep!
Serena opened her eyes and looked around. A nurse was standing beside her. She took Serena’s pulse and checked her eyes.
“You’re looking better,” the nurse said. “How’s the pain?”
“Not too bad,” Serena said. “I have to pee, though. Could you give me a hand? I don’t want to end up on the floor again.”
The nurse helped her to the bathroom and waited outside the door to make sure she was okay. When Serena came out again, she was feeling a bit steadier. As she walked back to the bed, she noticed a huge flower arrangement on the window sill.
“Where’d the flowers come from?” she asked.
The nurse grabbed the little envelope from the holder and brought it to her. “They arrived while you were asleep,” the nurse said. “Call if you need anything else.”
Serena watched her leave and then looked at the envelope. Her name and room number were written in a neat script. She opened it and pulled out the card.
Hope you feel better soon. Take care. The employees of Dalton’s Aquariums and More!
That was nice, she thought. She sat holding the card in her hand and gradually drifted off to sleep again, dreaming about her favourite employee.
The next time she woke, Lisa and Sam were sitting in the room. “Hi,” she said.
“Mom!” exclaimed Sam. He climbed up on the bed and hugged her. “Are you feeling better?”
“A bit,” Serena said.
“Who sent the flowers?” he asked.
“The people at the fish store,” she said.
“Lance is so nice,” Sam said. “You should have seen him trying to drive our car ’cause he’s so tall. He kept hitting his head.” He giggled.
Lisa was standing beside her. “I brought the jammies. There’s a couple pair in case you puke again. Plus some clothes for when you actually get out of here.”
“Thank you,” Serena said. She took the bag and carefully made her way to the bathroom. Lisa had also included a hairbrush and some dry shampoo. Serena took her time and felt more normal when she was done. Who knew falling on your face could make you feel so shitty? Sam and Lisa stayed to visit a bit longer, but then they left her to rest.
By the time morning rolled around, Serena was ready to throttle the nurses. Being woken up every hour sucked. She was more tired than ever, and now she was really hungry, too. There was a tray of food sitting on her bedside table. Coffee, cereal, yogurt, and an apple. It was a p
retty decent meal considering it was hospital food. And she didn’t feel like puking anymore.
The doctor came by around ten, and after checking her over, pronounced her fit to go home.
“No driving for a couple days, and try to avoid anything that may cause further injury.”
“Well, you better keep me here then, because apparently walking is hazardous to my health,” Serena replied drily.
The doctor laughed. “Take a couple of days off work, too. I’ll write you a note and leave it with the nurse. Don’t take anything stronger than Tylenol for the pain because we don’t want to mask any symptoms. Make sure you follow up with your family doctor in a few days.”
Serena thanked the doctor. She went into the bathroom to get dressed. When she came out again, she was surprised to see Lance standing near the window, looking at the flowers. He turned when he heard the door.
“How are you doing?” he asked. His deep voice made her insides squirm. But in a good way.
“Not bad,” she said. “They’re going to send me home. Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
“It was the least we could do,” he said. “Can I drive you home?”
“But how would you get home?”
“I can take a cab.”
“That’s not fair,” she said. “Let me call Lisa.”
He moved closer and touched her cheek. She could feel her face heating. “Let me help you,” he said softly.
He shouldn’t be allowed to use that radio-announcer voice. Serena just couldn’t resist it. “Okay,” she whispered. He smiled at her, and Serena thought she would turn into a puddle right there.
“Just let me call my brother,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He walked out as the nurse walked in, pushing a wheelchair and carrying some papers. She went over the discharge papers and then had Serena sign them. She looked down at the billing sheet.
“Excuse me,” she said to the nurse. “There’s an extra charge for the private room, right? Where do I pay for that?”
“Oh, your boyfriend took care of it,” the nurse told her. “He’s such a sweet man. He was so worried about you.”
Landing the Big Ones [Hedon Falls] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3
