Kian

by Melody Anne

  She had to call the game department or roadkill services. But it wasn’t dead yet. Could someone help it? She felt terrible she hadn’t managed to avoid the beautiful creature. Looking back, she saw that Lily was still sleeping in her car seat. Roxie didn’t have to rush off. She needed to call someone.

  Without giving it much more thought than that, Roxie lifted her phone and dialed Kian. He was going to think she was crazy, but she didn’t care. If he could help the animal, then she’d take a little taunting. She didn’t want to be responsible for the kill. It was a senseless death.

  Kian didn’t say hello when he answered. He never had been the greeting type of person. It was something she remembered from the many times she’d called him while they were dating. He always answered the phone as if they’d been having a conversation and he was simply continuing it. Surprisingly enough, his greeting helped to calm her.

  “I was just going to dial you and see if you and Lily wanted to get lunch,” he said.

  “I’m out on the county road about fourteen miles in, and I hit a deer. It’s still alive and needs help,” she replied. The panic rose as she said this.

  Kian was quiet on the other end of the line, and she wondered if he’d heard her. He had to act fast if they were going to save the deer. They didn’t have time to ask and answer questions. She really wasn’t sure what he could do about it, but this was reminding her of how she had always turned to him whenever she had a problem. It had been like that for years, and when she didn’t have him anymore, she’d been lost for a while.

  Heck, maybe, for that matter, she never had truly found herself again. Roxie wasn’t sure. And thankfully, her mind was occupied, and she didn’t really have time to think about it right now.

  “Are you and Lily okay?” he asked, and that was when she noticed the panic in his voice. He’d been taking his time to control it.

  She heard movement and then his vehicle start up. “Yes, we’re fine,” she said, her voice growing more urgent. “But the deer isn’t.”

  “I’m calling the ambulance, and then I will call you right back,” he told her.

  “No!” she yelled, not wanting him to hang up.

  “What?” He sounded confused. “I’m on my way, but we need to get the ambulance out there.”

  “No, I swear Lily and I are fine. It was only the corner of the car that clipped the deer. We didn’t even feel the impact. Lily is in her over-the-top-safe car seat, and my seat belt held me tight. I might have a bruise or two on my chest, but other than that, I’m fine. I need help with the deer,” she repeated.

  “The deer?” He sounded confused.

  “Yes, the deer. It’s hurt.” At least now he was listening to her.

  “You want me to fix a deer?”

  “What is so hard to understand about that? You’re a doctor,” she reminded him in frustration.

  “I’m a people doctor,” he told her slowly, as if she were dumb.

  “So you can’t help an animal?” she snapped. The deer looked at her with such sad eyes, Roxie felt like sobbing. “It’s innocent.”

  “I’m on my way,” he said, his voice placating. She didn’t care. She knew he had a big heart, and he wouldn’t let the animal die if he could help it.

  “Good. I’m going to check on Lily again. Hurry.”

  She hung up the phone and missed whatever he’d been saying. But she had no doubt he’d be there quickly. He was probably driving at warp speed. Lily was still sleeping, so Roxie stood there at her car, keeping her eye on both the injured deer and on Lily, who was oblivious in the back of the car.

  Now that she had a moment to think, she realized it had been Kian she’d thought of first in her emergency, and he hadn’t hesitated to come to her aid. What that meant, she really didn’t know. She only knew she could count on him when it mattered most.

  Could she count on herself in the same way? Honestly, she couldn’t answer that.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was unreal, the urgency and panic Kian felt as he raced down the road to find Roxie and Lily. She had told him they were both fine, but he wouldn’t believe it until he was there, until he saw them, felt them, knew they didn’t have life-threatening injuries. He’d warned Roxie that vehicle she was driving was a death trap, and less than a week later, she gets into a wreck.

  One way or another, she was getting a safer vehicle. He didn’t care if it ended in them in a knockdown brawl. It was going to happen. He was a doctor, so he knew there were some things that simply were beyond his control. That didn’t mean he had to like it, and it didn’t mean he was simply going to sit idly by while those he cared about died of injuries he could have prevented.

  His heart pounded, and he couldn’t get control of his breathing as he nearly broke the speed limit by double. It was okay with him if a cop started chasing him. Then he’d have emergency vehicles on the way to the scene of the accident. It had taken all that was inside him not to call that ambulance he said he was going to call.

  Roxie had always been a stubborn woman. She could be injured and not wanting to make a big deal out of it because she was so focused on a damn animal. Not that Kian was against animals. He loved the furry creatures. It was just that he was more concerned about people.

  Kian’s first true breath didn’t come into his lungs until he located Roxie’s car on the side of the road. She was standing in front of it, and he couldn’t yet see the deer. His eyes were focused fully on her. But as he came to a stop in front of her, he looked down, and sure enough, it was a yearling, the horns barely sticking from its small head. And the poor thing was twitching. Most likely, there was nothing he could do for the animal.

  Roxie didn’t look up as he climbed from his truck and approached her slowly. Her face was washed of color, and she was gazing despondently at the creature on the ground. Shrugging out of his coat, he wrapped it around her shoulders, and finally, she looked up.

  “I’m fine, I promise. I need you to check on the deer,” she insisted.

  “I promise you I will, but I’m going to check you first,” he said, his voice commanding. He was in his element now, with a patient who didn’t think she wanted or needed help. He knew how to handle this situation.

  “I told you I don’t have injuries,” she said, her eyes flashing to the deer again.

  “Good, then this won’t take long at all,” he informed her.

  She let out a frustrated breath but then allowed him to lead her to the side of the car. “I’d rather you were lying down,” he said as he looked around.

  “I’m fine standing,” she said with a huff. “Get this over with.”

  Kian did as thorough an exam as possible on the side of the road. He pushed and prodded, took her heart rate, and listened to her lungs. She sounded fine, and though she had some soreness where her seat belt had dug in when she came to a sudden stop, she didn’t appear to have any injuries. He’d feel a hell of a lot better if he could have her scanned as well, but those were expensive tests, and he knew she’d balk at them when there was no physical evidence indicating she needed them. Maybe he’d wait to begin that battle.

  “You seem okay,” he said.

  “I know I am. Will you check the deer now?” she huffed.

  “No, I need to check Lily first,” he insisted. He opened the back door, and Lily was just waking up, her sweet little eyes shining up at him as she opened her eyes. She gave him a little smile before sticking her thumb in her mouth.

  His heart melted right there in his chest as he reached for her and slid his fingers down her flushed cheeks. She didn’t appear to be injured at all, but he’d still feel better doing a basic exam on her.

  Having no idea how to undo the straps securely holding her in, he had to move aside for Roxie to get her out of the seat. He watched, though, so he’d be able to do it next time. This was important stuff to know, and he wanted to be an active parent. He didn’t want his child raised by nannies or, if he took that route, solely by his wife. His own parents ha
d been wealthy, and yes, they’d had staff in the house whom Kian and all his siblings had loved, but they hadn’t let the staff raise the kids. His parents had come to their sporting events and school plays. They’d been an active part of their lives. That was exactly how Kian planned on parenting.

  “Come here, sweet girl,” he said after Roxie pulled her from the seat.

  Kian’s heart melted again when the sleepy girl willingly held out her arms to him and snuggled against his chest as she continued sucking her thumb. Her small body was languid and warm, and he ran his hands gently up and down all her limbs before he listened to the soothing sound of her heart and lungs.

  “She’s perfect,” he said, not ever wanting to let her go.

  “Yeah, she is,” Roxie said, her own voice soft. She shook her head, and the somewhat glazed expression on her face cleared as she held out her arms to Lily, who grumbled when she was taken away from Kian. He wanted to grumble, too. “You need to check on the deer now,” she insisted.

  Kian sighed with frustration. He hadn’t wanted to give up his daughter—not when she was being so dang snuggly. But he knew Roxie was going to be a wreck until he made a completely inappropriate medical decision regarding the damn deer.

  “We need a vet here,” he said. “If vets even treat wild game.” Hell, he didn’t know.

  “It can’t be much different from a person to an animal,” she pointed out. “We both have organs and stuff.”

  “True,” he said, unbelievably seeing her point. That wasn’t something he would have ever thought could happen. But he did know that in some small places, people have brought their animals to medical doctors when a vet wasn’t around. He had nothing to lose by trying.

  Kian inched closer to the deer, which looked panicked as he neared. “Don’t you worry there. I’m a doctor and only trying to help you,” Kian said, feeling incredibly foolish for talking to the animal, which didn’t appear reassured.

  It kicked its legs weakly, as if it wanted to get away but didn’t have the strength. He didn’t think the poor thing was going to make it, but he sure as hell didn’t want to tell that to Roxie, who had put her faith in him. If he messed this up, she might think he’d mess up everything.

  Dammit. He was going to make sure the damn deer lived. Then, he’d have to make sure it went to a hunt-free zone, because he wasn’t putting all this hard work into an animal just to have it be dinner. Not that he minded a good venison steak, but he certainly couldn’t eat an animal he’d saved, or one that he put a face on. Crap, now he was getting all philosophical. He needed more sleep, he assured himself. Then he’d be back to normal.

  As he knelt by the animal’s side, he continued to talk softly, and surprisingly enough, it began to calm. He ran his hands along its body and tried to feel for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed out of place. He didn’t know deer anatomy, but it didn’t seem to have a swollen stomach and didn’t appear to have any broken bones. The thing might just be in shock and needing the cuts sewn up and disinfected. He might actually be able to save this thing.

  “Is he going to make it?” Roxie asked, standing right behind him.

  “I don’t know,” he said, not wanting to raise her hopes only to dash them. “But I think I’ll call Doc Evan and get him taken in. We might be able to.”

  Doc Evan was a local vet with magical hands. Kian had seen more animals saved by his hands than by any other vet. He was in high demand, and it was a good thing the guy owed Kian a favor or two, because this was going to cost him.

  Kian placed the call and explained the situation to the doc, and then had to grit his teeth as the guy laughed so hard, he couldn’t speak for several moments. Kian turned away so Roxie couldn’t see his scowl as he waited for the doctor to calm down.

  “Man, Kian, I am loving this. You’re out there performing CPR on a deer to impress a girl. I gotta see it in person,” Evan said between bouts of laughter.

  “You’re a damn vet. Aren’t you supposed to want to save animals?” Kian pointed out.

  “I don’t typically make it a habit of saving roadkill,” Evan told him after a few more chuckles.

  “Well, obviously, the damn thing isn’t roadkill yet,” Kian snapped.

  “Okay, okay, I’m on my way,” Evan said before hanging up.

  There wasn’t much the two of them could do as they waited for Evan to show up. Kian had no idea why Roxie was so invested in this animal. Maybe it was because she’d been the one who had hit it, or maybe she just needed a miracle, but because she was invested, that meant he was, too.

  “Why don’t we let Evan take the deer to his place and we can swing by the hospital and have a scan or two?” Kian asked.

  Roxie rolled her eyes at him. “I’m not going to tell you again that I’m fine. I’m staying with the deer,” she said, her voice firm. Both she and Lily appeared perfectly okay, and he wouldn’t insist any of his patients undergo unnecessary tests, but Roxie wasn’t just any patient. She was special, and Lily was his daughter.

  Still, he’d been watching them for thirty minutes straight, and there were zero signs of injury. He might have to let this one go. Taking a loss wasn’t easy for him to swallow.

  Doc Evan showed up and cracked a few more jokes at Kian’s expense, then the two of them sedated the frightened deer before loading it in the doc’s trailer. Roxie insisted on following him back to his farm, where he had secure places for animals to recover.

  Kian was at the back of the parade, not wanting her to drive the damn car, but since she insisted on not leaving it, he had no choice. He was tense the entire thirty-mile drive. He was buying her a new car and then dropping hers off a damn bridge. That thought cheered him up immensely.

  They got to the farm, and a couple of the local kids were doing volunteer work, including Jeff, who ran up to see what was happening. He insisted on helping Doc take the deer into the barn, and there really wasn’t much for Kian to do.

  “Want to get your hands dirty?” Evan asked.

  “Nah, do you know what these hands are worth?” Kian said with a smug smile.

  “Not much, in my opinion,” Evan told him with a wink.

  Kian wasn’t at all offended. Evan had grown up with money himself but had never taken advantage of it. Evan hadn’t been as lucky as Kian and his siblings, though. His family had been super assholes who had treated Evan like shit. If it hadn’t been for his grandmother, he wouldn’t have received a dime to even go to school after his dad ran away with the nanny and his mom married some rich foreign guy and fled the country.

  His parents were both pissed when his grandmother left her entire estate to Evan, and instead of giving either parent a dime, he invested in the community and continued his work as a vet. He was a good guy and somebody Kian easily called a friend.

  “Can I take Lily to see the pigs? Mama just had a litter last week, and they’re pretty cute,” Jeff said.

  Roxie looked to Kian for confirmation that their daughter was safe with Jeff, and he nodded, his chest puffing out that she was turning to him to ask.

  “That would be wonderful, Jeff. Thank you,” she said, and the boy glowed at being trusted. It warmed Kian’s heart. It also went right over his head that he’d thought of Lily as their daughter. That might freak him out if he took the time to think about it.

  “Can you grab that antiseptic, Roxie?” Evan asked.

  “Of course,” she said, and for the next hour, she was Evan’s assistant, and Kian found himself on edge as the doc flirted shamelessly with Roxie, making Kian grind his teeth. He knew his friend was doing it on purpose to get a reaction from him. He also knew Evan wouldn’t make a move on her since everyone in the town knew she was his, but that didn’t mean Evan wasn’t going to torture the hell out of him. Kian looked forward to payback. He wouldn’t forget, not even if it took a few years.

  “I think this guy might actually make it. He sure as hell is lucky you’re the one that hit him,” Evan said as he sat back on his heels, surprise i
n his eyes, his clothes bloody and hairy.

  “Really? You aren’t just saying that to make me feel better?” Roxie said, wringing her hands.

  “I really think he’ll make it,” he said again.

  Kian found himself clenching his jaw so tightly, he was surprised his teeth didn’t snap when Roxie launched herself across the small space between her and Evan and held on tightly as she gave him a big hug.

  She pulled back and gripped his cheeks, and for a moment, Kian saw the doc completely mesmerized by her. Yeah, she had that effect on people.

  “Thank you so much, Evan, thank you,” she told him before hugging him one more time and giving him a smacking loud kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best.”

  “Well, hell, if I’d have known I’d get that reaction, I would have been trying to hit deer just to save them,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, you’re a true hero,” Kian grumbled.

  “Damn straight,” Evan said as he winked at Kian. “I saved the day this time, and you had to stand by and watch me work.”

  Kian grumbled at the doc, trying to decide if it was okay to punch him now that the animal was out of danger. He decided that might not earn him too many brownie points with Roxie, and right now he needed all the merit badges he could get.

  Jeff and Lily came running back into the barn right then, both of their cheeks flushed as Lily talked a million miles a minute about how cute the pigs were.

  “Can I have a pig, please, can I?” Lily asked, her eyes wide in her excitement.

  “We don’t have anywhere to keep one,” Roxie said, and Kian felt his own heart breaking when tears sprang to Lily’s eyes and spilled over.

  “I’ll bring the pigs to my house,” Kian said. The girl could have asked for anything, and he would have granted it, just to make that heartbroken expression disappear.

  She turned to Kian and gave him a watery smile. “Can we live there?” she asked.

  Hell yes! He was about to yell just that when Roxie cleared her throat, and he looked up, finding her intense look on him. He would be toast if he said that. Of course Lily was going to live with him, but he had to do it in the right way.