“Physically, she’s doing well,” Brody told him. “I’m worried about her emotionally.”
“Emotionally? Why?”
“She’s really wound up, Jake. I don’t know what to do for her. She won’t accept any sedatives.”
“Don’t you dare give them to her without her permission,” Jake told him angrily.
“I won’t. I wouldn’t have given them to you if you weren’t about to destroy your leg with the way you were moving, Jake. Step back and look at it objectively, buddy. I did the right thing for you at the time.”
Brody looked at Jake and saw the anger fading from him. As a doctor, Brody had to make hard decisions all the time. His choice to sedate Jake had been his only available option in order to keep his cousin safe. Jake had been in such bad shape, he would have punctured a lung with his broken ribs, or opened up the stitches in his leg and undo any repair that the surgery had done for it.
“You’re right. Sorry, Brody,” Jake said sincerely. “I was out of control. I was just worried about Claire. I need her. She’s my mate.”
“I know,” Brody said, smiling. “I’m happy for you, Jake. Congratulations. I knew you two were meant for each other.”
“Well, that remains to be seen,” Jake said, sighing deeply. “I hope she’ll take me back. I’ve been a complete ass.”
“No! Not you!”
“Just because you’re my cousin and a damned good doctor, it doesn’t mean I won’t take a swing at you for being a wiseass, Brody.”
Brody couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, Jake. I’ll back off,” Brody promised. “Just make sure that you treat her like a queen. She deserves it.”
“She does,” Jake agreed. “Brody, I’m worried about something. I know you probably can’t tell me, but I need you to make sure that Claire isn’t pregnant. I need to make sure that if she is, the baby wasn’t hurt by the gas leak.”
Brody’s eyebrows went up just a fraction at Jake’s words, but he recovered quickly. “You’re right, Jake. I can’t tell you one way or the other about a possible pregnancy. You’ll have to ask Claire that question. But, you should know that if she is pregnant, the gas would not have affected either her or the baby. All the women were taken out of the diner and given oxygen within an acceptable timeframe. The possibility of that gas hurting any of them or any baby they might be carrying would be relatively low.”
Jake nodded, not really getting an answer to the pregnancy question, but hearing that if Claire was pregnant, she and the baby would be okay, did a lot to settle his worry. Extending his hand, he waited for Brody to accept it then shook it with a firm grip once he did.
“I never thanked you for helping me, Brody,” Jake said sincerely. “I really appreciate what you did for me and what you’re doing for Claire. Thanks for everything.”
“You’re very welcome, Jake,” Brody said, smiling as he shook the youngest McKade brother’s hand. “Go on and see Claire. I think she needs you, cousin.”
“Not as much as I need her,” Jake said softly.
Brody smiled and released his hold on Jake’s hand. He nodded briefly then turned and walked away. He was happy that his cousin was mated to Claire. He wanted them both to have happiness in their lives. He wished he could find the one woman that the Great Spirit had destined for him, but he knew that it wasn’t meant to be. He had always felt that he would never be given the chance to love a woman and make a life with her.
Working long hours and coming home late every night hadn’t exactly given him many opportunities to meet someone. Most of the women he worked with were married or in relationships. Besides, he knew he shouldn’t start a workplace romance. That was the best way to ruin his career if the relationship went sour.
His Aunt Mary had told him that he would find his mate when he least expected it. He truly hoped that she was correct. He wanted a mate. He wanted someone to love and care for. Aunt Mary had told him that his mate was going to be someone very special. She had also said that his mate was going to know that he was kind and loving the moment she met him.
Brody didn’t really understand how that was possible, but he held on to that hope. Maybe there really was a woman out there who would understand him, see into his soul, and not be put off by his size. He always believed that if one special woman could just see how much he had to give, she might give him a chance to love her. He was a gentle man who ached to share his love with one special woman.
As he passed by the emergency room entrance to make his way to his office, he had to push aside the loneliness that was slowly choking the life out of him. The pain of always being alone with no one to show him love or gentleness was too much. How could a person be expected to live this way? To never know the gentle touch of a woman’s deep love was breaking him apart. His work and his family couldn’t fill the deep chasm of emptiness inside of him.
There was a flurry of movement around him as the emergency room doors burst open and a gurney was rushed inside. A young woman with dark brown hair that was long and thick was on it. She was thrashing about and turned onto her right side as the gurney was wheeled next to him. Her left hand shot out, and she grabbed for his white coat, pulling him close to her. Brody was mesmerized by her beautiful blue eyes.
“You’re at Denver Memorial Hospital,” he told her calmly. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll help you.”
“Please,” she whispered. “Please help my sister.”
“Where’s your sister?” Brody turned to Jack Porter, the EMT who was attending her. “Jack, was her sister with her when you responded to the call? Was it a car accident?”
Jack shook his head. “Domestic abuse,” he said quietly. “Her father was beating her. I didn’t see her sister when we arrived.”
Brody looked at the young woman in horror. He covered her left hand as she held onto his lab coat in a death grip. He could see the many bruises on her forearms and face and was disgusted that a father could do that to his own child.
“Please, help my sister,” the woman begged again. “Her name is Tessa. I told her to hide when our father started yelling for me. She’s probably still in my room. Please, you have to go and get her. She’s probably scared. She’s only four.”
“What’s your name, honey?” Brody asked her gently.
“Trina Jacobs.”
“Okay, Trina, I’ll go and find your sister,” Brody promised. “You just stay calm and let the doctors have a look at you.” He turned to face Jack. “Do you have her information?”
Jack nodded. “Bryce Fletcher was the police officer who responded to the call. He’s taken her father into custody. I guess it’s not the guy’s first time doing this.”
“Hell,” Brody muttered.
“Yeah, I agree,” Jack whispered. “Bryce is still at the house. We can call him and have him check on the sister.”
“No!” Trina called out, pulling Brody closer and gripping his hand as he touched her face to try to calm her.
“Trina, try to stay calm, honey.”
Trina’s blue eyes suddenly turned white, and she stared off into space as the soul of this man was shared with her. She felt his goodness. She knew in her heart that she could trust him. Taking a cleansing breath, her eyes slowly changed back to her original blue. She knew that the man had seen it, but he didn’t say one word about it. He just looked at her calmly as if it was something that happened every day.
“What’s your name?” Trina asked him quietly.
“Brody Walters.”
“Brody, you have to go and find Tessa. Tell her your name. You have to tell her that Trina said it’s okay to go with Brody. You have to tell her that the secret code is cotton candy unicorns.”
“Cotton candy unicorns?” Brody asked, unable to keep the smile from his face.
“Don’t laugh, Brody Walters,” Trina said firmly. “No kid should ever go with a stranger without a code word that they know so they can trust that it’s not a bad guy.”
“You’re a pretty smart lady,” Brody sa
id, smiling down at her. “You’re a good big sister. You’re going to be a good mother.”
Trina smiled sadly. That was very nice of him to say, but she knew better. She wasn’t going to be a mother. No man was ever going to want her. She was too much of a freak.
“Please go and get my sister,” she said finally. “The judge said that if my father did anything like this again, I would be given full physical and legal custody of her. Judge Kristina Scott will confirm it.”
Brody nodded and squeezed Trina’s hand gently. “Okay, Trina, I’ll go to your house and find your sister. Officer Fletcher will help me get the necessary paperwork I’ll need from Judge Scott. Don’t you worry, honey. Everything will be straightened out. You just let the doctors get you better.”
“Can you come back with Tessa when you get her?”
“I will,” Brody promised.
Trina closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks. She eased back onto the gurney and did her best to relax. “Thank you, Brody Walters,” she whispered.
“You’re very welcome, Trina Jacobs,” Brody whispered back, glad to see the smile that came to the beautiful woman’s lips. He had the sudden urge to kiss those lips, but he knew that he couldn’t.
Squeezing her left hand one last time, he straightened and watched as the gurney was pushed away from him. He turned to face Jack Porter and sighed heavily.
“What’s the extent of her injuries, Jack?” he asked after a moment.
“She’s got broken ribs and a broken right wrist,” Jack said, clenching his teeth as he thought about how the woman had been beaten. “There are some areas of discoloration on her side and stomach. There are several welts on her legs and back. He beat the hell out of her, Brody.”
“Bastard,” Brody whispered.
“You got that right.”
“I’m going to call Bryce and then head out once I notify the hospital that I’m leaving for the day. Is there anything else I should know?” Brody asked.
Jack nodded. “There were three packed suitcases outside of the house,” Jack told him. “Two of them had been opened and the contents were thrown across the yard. It looks like Trina was about to take her sister and get out of there.”
“I’ll find her sister and get the suitcases,” Brody said with determination. “I hope Bryce can get the legal papers in place so I can bring Tessa back here as soon as possible.”
Jack watched as Brody walked with determined strides toward the main desk of the emergency room and picked up the receiver of the hospital phone. He was glad that Brody had been close when they had pulled in. He knew that Brody Walters was the best man to help Trina Jacobs. He would be the one who would ensure that Trina and her sister Tessa were taken care of.
“Just pick up the phone without asking, Jack Porter,” a woman’s voice startled him out of his thoughts.
He looked at the nurse who spoke to him and saw the fire in her pretty blue eyes. Sandy Matthews was the one person that he looked forward to seeing whenever he came into the hospital.
“Hi, Sandy.”
“Don’t be all sweet to me, Jack,” Sandy said firmly. “You Porter boys have always thought you could do anything you want and get away with anything you want.”
Jack smiled at her fire. She certainly had attitude toward him. He loved it. But she was wrong. He and his brother Martin didn’t think they were privileged or thought that they deserved special treatment. They certainly didn’t think that they would ever have someone spoil them. If she only knew that it was exactly the opposite, she might look at him differently.
Jack wanted Sandy to look at him differently. He wanted Sandy to be his. He knew that was never going to happen, though. Sandy was bright and filled with goodness. He saw the way that other men looked at her and wanted to date her. He didn’t really know why Sandy pushed them all away.
“I apologize,” he said softly, reaching out and touching her hand as it rested on top of the desk.
Sandy was stunned by the warmth that filled her at Jack’s touch. She closed her eyes and took a breath to calm herself.
Oh, hell! He’s my mate!
Jake pushed open the door to Claire’s hospital room slowly. Stepping inside, he saw that she was moving restlessly in the bed and whimpering softly. He walked over to her bedside and looked down at her. She didn’t look injured. Only the oxygen mask covering her nose and mouth was any indication that she needed any medical help.
As he looked down at her, he saw the way her body was tensing and could see how she was struggling. He pulled off his hat and placed it on the bedside table, stepped closer to the bed, and gripped the bedrail.
“Claire?” he questioned, his voice firm. “Tell me what’s wrong, angel.”
“It’s too much, Jake,” she told him, moaning softly. “I can feel the pain of everyone here. Please, help me.”
She never opened her eyes as she spoke. Her forehead was tight, showing him that the pain in her head was intense. Her breathing was labored. Jake could tell that she was struggling to put up her shields, but he knew that her weakened condition due to the accident was preventing her from helping herself. He had to do that for her.
Jake walked around the bed and climbed in beside her, drawing her into his arms and settling her head on his chest so that her face rested in the crook of his neck and her cheek touched his bare skin. He ignored the many wires that were connected to her and the oxygen mask that covered her nose and mouth. He drew her tightly against his chest and held her firmly. She wasn’t going anywhere. He needed her to stay exactly where he had her.
She settled immediately as his bare hands slid beneath the hospital gown that she wore, and he caressed her naked back with soothing touches over and over again. He could feel her heart slowing as her soul merged with his.
“That’s it, angel. Breathe slowly and match your heartbeat to mine.”
“Thank you, Jake,” she whispered. “You know, if you want to, I wouldn’t mind making love right now.”
He laughed softly as he held her tighter. “Angel, you’re going to regret teasing me. I just may have to punish you for putting such thoughts into my head.”
“Oh, that would be nice, sir,” she whispered, hugging him tightly before relaxing her hold on him and settling against his chest.
It wasn’t long before she was resting peacefully, finally able to relax now that he was there to block out the emotions from all the people who had taken care of her and touched her since she had arrived at the hospital.
Jake ran his hands up and down her back, loving the soft curves of her body as he explored the sexiness of the flare of her hip. He pushed aside any thoughts of making love to his angel and concentrated on healing her pain. There would be time enough later to initiate a physical relationship with her. He didn’t know if she would be open to it, but he certainly hoped that the goodness in her would allow her to open her heart to him once again.
“Sir?” she whispered.
“Yes, angel?”
“Okay, just checking that you’re still here.”
“I’m here, Claire,” he whispered, doing his best to clamp down on his need for her.
When she had called him sir, he had nearly lost his mind with pleasure. He knew she didn’t really realize what that honorific represented. If she did, she wouldn’t have said it to him.
“You are to sleep and get better, angel,” he told her firmly. “When the doctor says you’re okay, I will be taking you home. With me.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered, hugging him tightly before finally falling asleep.
“Hell,” Jake whispered. “How am I supposed to stay away from you when you always give me what I need, angel?”
Claire stirred restlessly, pulled from her slumber by his voice. She struggled to understand what he had said.
“Are you okay, Jake?” she whispered.
“I’m fine, angel. Go back to sleep.”
“You belong to me, you know,” she said, smiling as she opened his flan
nel shirt and slid her hand inside it. She caressed the spot directly over his heart.
Jake sighed heavily. He closed his eyes and tugged her closer to him. He couldn’t deny her any longer.
“I guess I do,” Jake admitted quietly as she rested her hand over his heart and touched the proof of his love that she didn’t even know was there.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“About damn time,” Claire said, wheezing through her mask.
Jake laughed and reached up to pull the oxygen mask down so he could kiss her lips. It was a soft, gentle kiss that was quick but firm. Replacing the mask, he looked down at her.
“You belong to me, angel,” he told her finally, unable to keep the smile from his face when he saw the love that shown in Claire’s eyes as she looked up at him.
“So, you’ve finally accepted that, stubborn man?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Jake laughed and snuggled her closer against his side. “Sleep, angel,” he told her gently. “We can talk about everything after you’ve rested.”
“Just one thing before I sleep, Jake,” Claire said softly, looking up at him.
Her eyes were gentle as she looked at him, but he could tell that she was worried. “What, angel?”
“I want a family with you,” she told him, her voice firm despite her exhaustion.
Jake smiled, reaching up and brushing the softness of her black hair away from her forehead. He eased forward and kissed each of her eyelids before leaning back and laughing softly.
“I want that, too, angel,” he told her, smiling when he saw the relief that was mirrored on her beautiful face at his admission. He slid his hand beneath her hospital gown and covered her abdomen. “You’re not pregnant now, Claire?”
“No,” Claire whispered. “Why do you ask me that?”
“I was wondering if we had made a baby the night we made love,” Jake told her quietly. “I thought about it a lot, angel. I liked thinking about my baby growing inside of you.”
“I would like that,” Claire said quietly.
She sighed as Jake kissed her forehead. The peace that filled her at his touch was beautiful. She could feel the kindness of him. She could also feel the happiness he was experiencing at the thought of touching her pregnant belly. It was good to know that he truly wanted that with her.
Jake's Angel [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 11
