“No, that's fine. I want to get it over with,” I sigh. I need to get this over with so that I can move on.
“I’ll get him.” Heading toward the door and sticking his head out, he talks to someone in the hall.
In walks Packwood’s finest in blue. “Good afternoon. I’m officer Stevenson. I’m here to get your statement. I hope you did not suffer any lasting injuries.” The officer walks into the room and stands near the bed.
Evan takes my hand again and we both sigh and physically relax. “Thank you. I’m just banged up a bit. What would you like to know?’
“Your roommate stated that this may not have been an accident. I would like your account of what happened.” The officer pulled out a notepad and looks at me expectantly.
“Well, it was an accident, I wasn’t thrown off the cliff or anything. I guess I better start at the beginning,” I shrugged carefully.
By the time I’m done explaining what happened Evan was steaming, I swear I can see smoke coming out of his ears. Still feeling loopy from the pain meds, I can’t help myself and giggle at the thought.
The dutiful officer stands and listens to everything I say, making notes. He looks up sharply when I giggle and relaxes when he sees that I’m just feeling the meds. “From what I gathered is that Tom wanted to take a shortcut that you didn’t but you went along anyway because the other went. He started complaining about how long it was taking and you were concerned about the ruggedness of the trail and wanted to go back. He grabbed you and you pulled away. When he refused to let you go, you slipped and fell. Is that about right?” the officer asks.
“Yup, that sums it up,” I reply. I’m starting to feel the bumps and bruises, the meds must be wearing off. Almost as if he can sense my discomfort, Evan asks, “Is that all you need?”
“Yup, I do want to advise you that if you wanted you could press assault charges on Tom. He did grab you without your consent which led to you getting hurt.” He looks at me with concern.
“No, I just want to put this behind me. He is just a dick. After next week, I won’t ever see him again.” I say as I shake my head, which causes me to feel dizzy. Grabbing my head with my free hand, I lay back against the pillow. Evan steps closer to the bed and hits the nurse button. I look up to his face and murmur a thank you.
“I’m going to leave my card, just in case you need anything or change your mind.” The officer states as he heads for the door and hands Evan his business card.
As the officers leaves, the nurse walks in. Evan turns to the nurse, “I believe she needs more pain medication. She seems to be in pain,”
The nurse turns toward me as I lean up, “How are you feeling? Any pain, dizziness, or any nausea? You don’t need to put on a brave face, if you need it, take it. That’s why it’s here.” I can hear the concern in her voice.
“Yes, I think I am ready for more meds. The pain is coming back.” I lean back against the pillow and squeeze Evan’s hand in thanks.
The nurse steps out to get the medication. Evan turns to me. “So, um, we need to talk, but I want to wait until you feel better. Would you allow me to take care of you tomorrow when you’re released? Before you say anything, I know we just met and I’m not sure if you feel it, but we have a connection. This is really not a cheesy pickup line, I promise.”
Evan looks nervous. This can’t be good. “I feel it, not sure what it means but yeah, I feel it. Not sure about going home with you. You’re a stranger.” I’m not sure what this feeling is but I sense that I can trust him. It’s scary that I feel this way.
“Once I explain the connection, I think you will feel much better about this. Please think about it.” Evan pulls a chair close to the bed so he doesn’t have to let go of my hand, and takes a seat.
“What are you doing? Don’t you have to get back to work?” I ask, watching him get comfortable, well as much as he can in the uncomfortable hospital chair.
“My shift is covered, I’m staying,” He looks at me with a face that says that he’s in no mood for arguments. I shrug my shoulders, I’m not in the mood to argue about it either and if I’m being honest, having him near calms me.
The nurse comes back in and administers the medication through my IV. Yuck, I hate needles. I almost instantly feel the meds take me under. My eyelids grow heavy and it’s only a matter of minutes before I fall asleep.
Chapter Six
Evan
I startled awake. I must have fallen asleep in the chair next to Layla’s hospital bed. What woke me up? Then comes a vibration in my pants pocket. Standing up to get my phone out of my pocket, I walk near the door so I don’t wake Layla. “Yeah?” I say in the phone.
“How is she?” Lucas speaks from the other line.
“She’s improving. Nothing's broken but she has a concussion and some major bruising. I want you to know that I’ll need a few days off. I’m going to try to convince her to stay with me so I can take care of her.”
“Of course, I have already taken care of it. You take care and keep me up to date on all developments.” Lucas insists.
“I will. See ya.” I end the phone call and turn to check on Layla. She doesn’t look comfortable. Tossing and turning in bed, it looks like she is having a nightmare. I hurry to her side and take her hand in one of mine, and rub her forehead with my other. “Layla? It's okay. Layla?”
Layla groans awake. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a mack truck.” She groans and turns toward me. “Have you been here all night?” I must be a mess because my hair is rumpled and I’m is still wearing the same uniform I wore the day before.
“Yeah, I was worried and couldn't go home until I knew you were okay. Tell me you’ll let me take care of you.” I look at her sheepishly. I couldn’t leave her side, my bear wouldn’t let me even if I wanted to.
Before Layla can answer me, the doctor walks in with a nurse following behind him. “How’s my patient this morning?” He asks looking at her chart that he brought in with him. “It shows that you had a decent night. Are you ready to get out of here?”
“God yes, please, I’m ready to go.” Layla quickly responds.
“You’ll need to have someone stay with you for the next forty-eight hours. I can't release you until then.” the doctor insists.
Layla looks up at me and nods her head. She doesn’t really have much choice. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her out of my sight. “She’s going to stay with me,” I say looking to the doctor.
“All right then. I want you to eat something first and if you can keep it down then I’ll release you to your boyfriend's care. I am going to write you prescriptions for pain medication and something for nausea. You need to rest for the next few days and no heavy lifting or exerting yourself for at least two weeks. Follow up with your primary doctor next week. Do you understand?” The doctor starts to write down information in her chart and turns to the nurse. “Please order a soft food diet tray for our patient. If she holds the food down, then she may be discharged in two hours after eating.” The doctor walks out the door and on to the next patient, I assume.
“I will order you some breakfast. It should be here shortly. How do you feel dear? Any pain?” the nurse asks Layla. “I’m a little sore but no sharp pains.” Blushing Layla gives me a side look, then back at the nurse. “I do need to go to the restroom.”
“I’m going to step out and get myself some food from the cafeteria. I’ll be right back.” I say getting the hint and step out of the room.
* * *
Layla
My body starts to get a stronger achy, sore feeling than before as soon as Evan steps out of the room. The nurse comes to me and helps me sit up and slide off the bed to my feet. I gasp at the sudden pain. “Wow.” Dizziness assaults me and a wave of nausea hits me in the gut.
“Take it easy. We’ll go slow.” The nurse holds me by the upper arm. Taking a minute to gain my bearings, I take small shallow breaths to focus the pain. “Okay, I’m ready.” We continue to the restroom where I
take care of my needs. Taking a moment to splash water on my face and brush my teeth with the hospital supplied tooth sponge, I try to figure out my strange connection to Evan. It’s weird that my body seems to crave him. Grimacing at the taste, I rush through the teeth cleaning. My hair’s in two rat nest looking braids, oh well, I’ll deal with that when I get to Evan’s place, and maybe a bath. “I’m ready,” I call to the nurse.
The nurse is there so quick it startles me. “How are you doing?”
“I think I may be ready for more painkillers. For some reason, I feel worse since getting up.” I can’t figure out why my whole body aches, my ribs and head I can understand, but my whole body just feels sore, deep in my bones sore.
“It’s okay, dear. Your friend is here and waiting for you,” the nurse helps me out of the bathroom.
“There you are! I thought you were going to be a goner for sure!” Allie comes bouncing up to me and gives a big hug. I gasp at the pain but hug her back.
“Shoot, sorry, I forgot! I was just so worried,” Allie stumbles over her words. “So, how are you really doing?” She asks looking sheepish.
Heading to the bed with the nurse’s help, “I’m a little beat up but the doc says I can go home after I eat something.” Resting my head back on the bed, I look at Allie knowingly. Allie is super sweet, if not bubbly.
“I’m going to grab you a tray of food, dear.” The nurse walks out the door.
Allie looks away, right as I see a look of guilt. “Umm...you know I have my finals this week and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to help. I feel really bad. I can be there for you when I’m not at school, but I’m worried that might not be enough.” Looking back at me, she can see that she has nothing to worry about.
I say with an understanding smile, “Honey, I know you want to help but you’re in a bind. I’ve already taken care of it. You need to be able to concentrate on your finals. I’m lucky that I finished mine last week except for this last class. I’m planning to stay with a friend.”
The nurse returns holding a tray with several covered items, “You ready for some food? I will be back in a few minutes with some more meds.”
I’m not feeling very hungry and my body is starting to go from an aching feeling to an actual almost burning. “Can’t wait. I’m actually not feeling very well. I believe the pain meds are wearing off.”
The nurse tsks and sets the tray on the side table and wheels it over the bed. “I will grab them now and be back in a jiffy.” Smiling kindly the nurse turns and heads out the door quickly.
The bright light of the hospital room is causing me to have a headache which was causing my stomach to be upset. If I really want to get out of the hospital today, then I’ll have to eat some of the breakfast. Lifting the cover to the first larger plate, I see scrambled eggs and plain grits. It doesn’t look very appetizing, not at all. Looking at the tray in hopes to find some butter or salt or even jelly to give the food some flavor, I find none. In another small bowl is plain oatmeal. Again, yuck, no flavor. I guess this is what they mean by a soft food tray. Lifting the fork to my mouth, I take a bite of the eggs and confirm that they are flavorless. Grimacing, I swallow them down with minimal chewing.
“That looks nasty, but you need to eat it.” Allie looks at the food with disgust.
“Man, hospital food sucks,” I wiggle on the bed trying to get comfortable.
The nurse walks in with a small knock. “Here we go.” She administers the pain meds through my IV. I feel some instant relief but the bone-deep burning feeling is still there. That is so confusing. “You’re going to have to eat more than this to get out of here,” softly scolded the nurse.
“I know, thank you, I’m working on it. The pain got to me for a minute but I should be okay now,” Picking up the fork again to show the nurse I’m trying to get the food down.
* * *
Evan
I walk down the hall toward the elevator. As I move farther away from Layla, my body starts to ache. This is going to suck. I need to get her home so I can explain what's going on. Man, I pray that she’s as understanding as she seems to be. As the elevator opens, out comes Layla’s friend, Allie, followed by Lucas. My eyebrow goes up as I spot him. All Lucas does is give a quick shake of the head like he doesn't want to get into it right now.
“Oh, it’s you,” Allie says looking at me with a confused look on her face. “What’re you doing here?”
“I stayed with Layla to make sure she’s okay and she doesn’t get messed with.” I come up with a quick explanation, hoping she believes me. It’s mostly true. I doubted anyone would mess with her in the hospital but it’s as good of an excuse as any.
“Oh, that’s nice. I hope that jerk didn't come here to mess with her. I spoke with the Professor since our exam trip was cut short and she said under the circumstances she would give us a passing grade. She also said that the Dean said Tom would most likely have to take the course over and will get a reprimand on his permanent record. He is going to be pissed.” Allie sways closer to Lucas as she speaks. He wraps his arm around her like it's the most natural thing in the world.
“Well, the jackass deserves worse but Layla doesn't want the hassle of pressing charges. She said she just wants to put it behind her. And no, he never made an appearance. She’s in her room if you are heading that way. She was cleaning up in the bathroom when I left.”
I give Lucas a knowing look and move toward the elevator. My bear is not steady enough for any male to be near my mate, especially when we haven’t completed our mating bond.
“Okay then, See ya!” Allie and Lucas continue down the hallway toward Layla’s room. Lucas better stay outside if he knows what's good for him. He should know better than to go near a bear’s unclaimed mate.
The cafeteria’s not very packed since it’s midmorning, the breakfast rush is over and the cafe staff is preparing for lunch. I grab myself an OJ and four sausage biscuits then head to the register to pay. Wanting to give Layla and her friend some time to talk and spend time together, I take a seat at a small two-person table.
With the thoughts of how I am going to explain to Layla what she means to me and how the mating goes for polar bear shifters run through my head, I dig into my breakfast. I remember my parents’ bond but that was the only happy one that I remember. The new Alpha tore the new mated pairs apart with his decree.
It’ll be fine, Layla seems like a reasonable person. She will give me the chance to explain and get to know me. Finishing up my breakfast, I head back to Layla’s room.
Lucas is leaning against the wall near the door to Layla’s room when I reach her floor. “So you and Allie, huh?”
“You know we can’t resist, the pull is too great. And before you ask no we haven’t had the talk. But soon.” Lucas gives me a look.
“Good enough. I’ll stay in touch.” I wave to Lucas on my way in the door.
As the nurse walks out, I move to the side for her before walking into the hospital room. By this point, the separation is causing a deep pain that is almost borderline to a burning sensation. I try to mask the pain but I can tell it’s showing on my face. The pain from being separated from my mate is getting worse. I don't think I have ever heard of the separation symptoms being this bad this fast, but true polar bear shifter matings are few and far between.
Layla looks up from her plate and physically relaxes. I sense that she is feeling it too. “I see you have your breakfast. How are you feeling?” Moving closer to the side of her bed, I can’t resist putting my hand on her shoulder.
“I’m starting to feel better. Look, I’m eating hospital food.” She says with a huge smile. Even in the hospital gown, she looks sexy.
* * *
Layla
I look up into his startling blue eyes. Wow, I never noticed his beautiful eye color. Man, the meds are getting to my head. Giving my head a quick shake, I dig into the rest of the breakfast. I figure if I get it down quickly, the faster I’ll get out of here.
Evan
is slowly rubbing my shoulder and back. It feels so good. The achy, burning feeling has all but disappeared.
Looking at Allie, between bites I ask, “So, have you heard anything from the Professor? I haven't had the time to call her.”
“Actually, I have. I spoke with the Professor this morning. She is super mad. When she found out that Tom had lied to her about what happened and how you got hurt, she reported him to the Dean. In fact, I believe he will have to repeat the course and will have something put on his permanent record,” Allie explains.
“Wow. I guess he really got into some trouble.” I’m really feeling the meds now that the bone-deep pain has stopped.
Allie looks at me like I have grown two heads, “Of course, he got in trouble. The douchebag extraordinaire almost got you killed. I mean really, you could have been hurt a lot worse, maybe even killed.” She looks really upset.
“Allie sweet pea, I’m loving the dramatic flare, but I’m fine and he only grabbed my arm. I’m the idiot that slipped and fell. Thank you for being my bestie and having my back, but I’ll be fine,” I say to try and calm the girl down, but damn, she can be a bit protective. For a little thing, she definitely has a big bite.
“Aww... I love you too. I’m going to get going. You may have finished your finals, but I have one more to study for. You keep me up-to-date on your recovery and other stuff,” she looks over at Evan slyly with a shit eatin’ grin. She heads to the door after a short hug and leaves me alone with Evan.
Turning to Evan after pushing my almost empty tray away, “So, is your place close?”
He clears his throat. “Yeah, me and my crew bought an old cabin resort and restored it. We each have a cabin along with the main resort cabin used as the main hall for visitors and other things. I have a two bedroom cabin near it,” he tells me.
Evan’s Rescued Mate Page 4
