Her Vigilant Seal

by Caitlyn O'Leary

“Okay, let’s get this over with.” Sophia grimaced.

  Mason was impressed how the officer asked the questions thoroughly yet kindly. He never made Sophia feel demeaned. The only time Sophia broke down was over her worry for her brother and the unknown woman. She was beaten, bruised and cut, and she was thinking of others. She was amazing. It was obvious Duffy thought so as well. As Duffy was closing his notebook the doctor came back.

  “Okay, let’s take a look at you.” He pulled back the gauze.

  “How’d this happen?”

  “Would you believe a bar fight?” Sophia asked. The doctor frowned at her. “It’s a broken beer bottle. I was attacked.”

  “Anyplace else you were hurt?” he asked briskly.

  “That’s the main place,” Sophia said.

  “Her chest and her ribs. I also saw a guy sitting on her legs,” Mason interrupted. Sophia looked at him and her eyes were wide with shock.

  “The wedding’s off. I didn’t know you were a tattletale,” she said with mock horror. Mason laughed out loud. He was trying to take her mind off a terrible set of circumstances, but she was giving as good as she got.

  The doctor looked from one to the other, clearly not knowing how to take them.

  “Do you want him in the room with us while I examine you?” In a second, her brave front crumpled and she looked lost, her green eyes were huge. He wanted to hug her, but there didn’t look like a spot on her body that wouldn’t hurt. He went with his gut and bent over and kissed her forehead.

  “I’m going to leave, honey. I’ll be right outside the curtain, and then I’ll be back when he puts in the stitches,” he assured her.

  She nodded and gave him a grateful smile. He couldn’t make out what was being said, but he heard the small screech she made at one point.

  “We need to get you to X-Ray,” he heard the doctor say. Jesus, what had those animals done to her? Mason waited for what seemed like forever before the curtain was pulled back.

  “You can come back in. I’ve just given her something for the pain and something to numb the area and cleaned it out. We need to get her up to X-Ray, but I know they’re backed up so it could be a while.” Mason moved over to her left side and Sophia held out her hand. He was more than happy to hold it.

  “It’s pretty ragged, you’ll want to consult with a plastic surgeon later on,” the doctor said matter-of-factly, as he closed the wound.

  “I’m having trouble moving it. Will that be permanent?” Sophia tried to reply in kind, but fell short.

  “Nope don’t worry, this didn’t damage the muscle or nerves,” the doctor assured her. Sophia didn’t watch as he sewed her up, instead she gave Mason a shaky smile.

  “X-Ray is actually ready for her,” a nurse said as she pushed passed the curtain.

  “We were due a miracle,” the doctor muttered.

  “How are all the people from the wreck?” Sophia asked.

  “It’s been bad. We had to airlift some up to Mission Hospital. We had fatalities. It was a drunk driver.” She gave Mason’s hand a tight squeeze. He hated to hear about those kinds of accidents.

  “Nurse, I’m done here. I need pictures of her ribs. I’m hoping they’re just bruised, but better safe than sorry.” The doctor looked at Mason. “You’ll have to stay here. She’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”

  “Mason, you don’t need to stay.” He looked at the woman with the bruised face, green eyes, and honey blonde hair, and knew he’d be staying even if it was for all night.

  “I’ll be here,” he assured her in a soft tone.

  When they finally brought her back the pain was obviously worse and they gave her more medicine, which made her very sleepy.

  “Sophia, we’re just going to have you rest down here for a bit longer. If we can, we’ll get you a bed upstairs. If not, you’ll just spend the night downstairs with us, is that okay?”

  “Whatever you want.” Sophia waved her good arm and gave them a goofy smile. Mason and the nurse laughed.

  “So you’re not admitting her?” Mason asked.

  “We don’t have a room right now. We want to keep her overnight for observation. You can take her home tomorrow.”

  “I can go home by my…my…my shelf.” Mason laughed with the nurse again. Sophia looked at them both and then she started laughing too

  “I’ll be here tomorrow, Sophia. I need to get my truck and get cleaned up.” He grinned.

  “No need,” she slurred.

  “I’ll be here, I promise,” his voice was firm, and he gave her his best commander voice.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted. The nurse gave him a sideways glance as she and the orderly started to wheel the bed to a corner.

  “That’s my fiancée, always thinking she can handle things on her own,” Mason joked.

  “Can. Can take care of myself. Always do.” It was the last thing he heard as the bed was pushed into the cubicle and the curtain pulled closed.

  ****

  Sophia remembered small moments of time from being overnight in in the ER. She definitely remembered the stitches they gave her. Thirty-two in all. There had been so much activity because of a huge pile-up on the freeway, and was why she had slept in the ER.

  Actually, it wasn’t all she remembered. She remembered Mason. She remembered him being so nice and funny. She was pretty sure it wasn’t just the drugs either. Could he be anymore wonderful? First he saved her from being raped, and then he pretended to be her fiancée and kept her company for hours. Come to think of it, it must be the drugs.

  One of the few things she did remember clearly was using a phone to call Margie yesterday to say she wouldn’t be able to make it into work, because she would be looking for Billy. She felt bad lying, but better that than Margie seeing her this busted up. But now all she had to do was get the hell out of the hospital, figure a way to her car, sneak in the back way to the diner without anyone seeing her, and fall into a dead coma.

  The nurse was nice enough to give her two hospital scrub tops, since she didn’t have a bra. They also gave her some prescriptions for pain medication she hadn’t intended to filled. She’d seen how out of it the narcotics made her mother before she died, and she hated the thought of taking them. But now she realized how bad the pain was in her shoulder and everyplace else, she guessed she was going to have to get them filled after all.

  She figured the hospital was about eight miles away from her car. It was going to hurt to walk there. Her legs were bruised from when the man had slammed down on top of her to keep her still, but she didn’t have a ride, and she knew Margie was busy at the diner and the DeLuca’s were busy at the pantry.

  One of the nurses told her she would be okay to leave at nine a.m. They had wanted to keep her overnight for observation in case she had a concussion. It was eight thirty in the morning and she was antsy to get the hell out of the hospital. She tied her sneakers one handed, which she saw as quite a success for the day.

  The curtain opened with a flourish.

  “You really should have waited for a minute I could have helped with that,” the nurse said.

  Sophia looked up and saw the woman from earlier standing next to a big man who looked familiar. She did a triple take. Mason was shaved and shiny and wearing a button down shirt instead of a T-Shirt. The man wasn’t a pretty boy. He was rugged. His hair was sun-streaked brown, he was tan from the California sun, and he had the most kissable lips. Dammit those drugs must be more powerful than she thought. Keep it in your pants, Anderson.

  “I brought your ride,” the nurse said. “I’m going to get your wheelchair. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

  “You’re my ride?” Sophia asked wide-eyed.

  “Yes, your ride home,” he said. “Remember last night you asked me to take you home?” Sophia kept staring at Mason, but now she saw the length and breadth of him, and that looked familiar too.

  “Do you surf?” She ran her good hand through her hair while
she wondered if she was losing her mind.

  “What?”

  “Do you surf Moonlight Beach?” she repeated the question slowly.

  He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a hard stare. “Yeah, I do. How do you know that?”

  “Engaged people should know things about one another.” She felt a sense of satisfaction that he was now off guard. He continued to stare at her and finally smiled. Damn, he had a great smile. What the hell was he doing there? He had done enough. And how in the hell had it turned out that the surfer she ogled for five days straight ended up being her rescuer?

  “How did you know to come here?” Lines showed between her eyebrows.

  “He called of course,” the nurse said as she wheeled in the chair. “I told him you were being discharged at nine o’clock. He told me you would be trying to leave earlier.” Damn, how had he known?

  “Let’s get you into this chair.” The nurse pushed down the footrests.

  “I don’t need that.” She could make her way on her own two feet even if it was going to hurt.

  “Hospital rules.” There were always rules, Sophia figured. She sat in the chair and started to slip her arm out of her sling so she could wheel herself.

  “Honey, I’m going to push you. Put your arm back in the sling,” Mason said in a gentle command.

  “So what’s my new last name going to be again?” She looked over her shoulder at him.

  “Gault.” He chuckled. “Let’s get you out to my truck and you can tell me where to take you.”

  He parked her at the front doors of the hospital and then jogged to his vehicle. She was not surprised when he drove up in a large black truck that looked like she would need a crane to get in. He opened the passenger door and came back for her.

  “I can walk now,” she said hoping he wouldn’t push her in the wheelchair anymore.

  “I’m sure you can,” he said as he picked her up. She let out a small screech.

  “What the hell?” she asked in a loud whisper not wanting to cause a scene.

  “You’re in pain, aren’t you?” he whispered back.

  “Well d’huh.” Her attempt at humor came out as a groan.

  “So let’s minimize it where possible. It doesn’t hurt me to carry you and it hurts you to walk. It’s an easy fix.” He had her buckled into the passenger seat before he finished with his argument.

  “Now, where do I take you?” He sounded all business like.

  “To Encanto Park.”

  “You want to go on a picnic?” He was smiling kind of. But he didn’t start the car, instead he stared at her.

  “That’s where I left my car.” She cut her eyes over at him.

  “What did the doctor say about driving with your arm like that, Sophia?” The warm tone didn’t fool her, he was going to be bossy about the whole thing.

  “He said I shouldn’t but I don’t have a choice. So please take me to park.”

  “You do have a choice. I can take you home.” Yep, bossy.

  “And how do you propose I get my car to my apartment?” she asked in as reasonable a tone as she could muster. Who in the hell was he to butt his head into her business?

  “I’ll drive it to your place. Later one of my teammates and I will get you your car. It’s easy. Now where do you live?” How could he sound so reasonable when he was being so unreasonable?

  A horn honked as someone from behind them got impatient.

  “We need to go, they’re waiting.” Sophia gestured to the car behind them.

  “We’re not going until this is settled. Honey, where do you live?” His sky blue eyes stared at her intently and she realized he would remain in the passenger pick up lane until she answered him. She tried one last time.

  “I’d really prefer it if you would take me to the park.” This time her voice came out almost pleading.

  “Sophia, it’s not safe. I’m not sure it’s even legal. Haven’t they given you something in the hospital for pain? Should you be behind the wheel of a car?” Damn it, he was right, but she really didn’t appreciate his high-handed manner. What’s more, she didn’t like people to know where she lived. Not that she was ashamed of it, but it was safer to remain anonymous. She sat there. The horn honked again, but he didn’t move and he didn’t take his eyes off hers. He didn’t seem impatient, as a matter of fact, he only looked caring. She finally told him to head to San Clemente.

  When they pulled up to the diner, Mason grinned.

  “You wanted breakfast first? This is a great idea, I’m starved.” He kept driving down another two blocks until he saw a parking spot. “Let me circle back and drop you off so you don’t have to walk and then I’ll park. I can take you to breakfast and we can get to know one another.” Sophia didn’t have the heart to tell him this was where she lived since it was obvious the man needed to eat breakfast.

  “Okay, I’ll wait for you inside.” She knew this was not going to go well when she made an appearance and she was right.

  “Sophia! My God girl, what happened to you?” Margie came over and just stood and stared. Before she had a chance to answer Margie started to cry.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s not as bad as it looks.” Sophia awkwardly stroked the older woman’s forearm with her left hand.

  “What happened?” Sophia slipped her arm out of her sling and put her arms around the older woman and then groaned in pain.

  “Sophia, put your arm back in the sling,” she heard Mason say. Sophia and Margie both lifted their heads to look up at the formidable man standing in the diner doorway.

  “It’s fine,” Sophia lied as she cautiously eased it back into the sling.

  “Your poor face. Sophia, what happened to you? Baby, let me get you some ice.” Margie left Mason and Sophia standing by the hostess stand as she went to the back to get some. Sophia eyed a booth in the back corner, and picked up a menu and motioned Mason to follow her.

  “Do you work here?” Mason asked as she slid him the menu.

  “Yep. I live above the diner.”

  “Oh honey, did you just mean to come here and go to bed? Why don’t you go and rest. Give me your car keys and tell me the make and model. Drake and I will go and get it and drop it off later.” The concern and guilt was evident in his voice.

  “No, it’s okay. I should eat something to go with the medicine.” Sophia tried to make him feel better.

  “What medicine?” Margie asked as she brought over an ice pack for Sophia. “Did they give you some pain medicine? Are you actually taking it? You better be Sophia Anderson. You’ll just get worse if you can’t rest.” Sophia looked down at the placemat on the table trying to avoid the two people staring at her.

  “You are going to take the medicine they prescribed, aren’t you?” Mason asked. His voice sounded like velvet wrapped around steel. Sophia was beginning to respond to it even when he was being bossy.

  “If it becomes necessary,” she hedged.

  “Damn it Sophia, I know you hate medicine but it’s necessary. If Billy was hurt you’d make him take it, wouldn’t you?” She looked up and met Margie’s eyes. She nodded.

  “Okay then. Can I bring you the usual?” Margie held her pen high over her order pad and stared down at her.

  “Yes ma’am,” Sophia said smiling up at Margie. She really loved it that the woman was trying to take care of her.

  “What about you boy, what would you like to eat?” Sophia held back a grin at the idea of the man who stood well over six feet being called a boy.

  “What’s good?” he asked with an easy grin.

  “Everything I serve is good,” Margie responded proudly.

  “Then I’ll leave it up to you,” Mason said putting a smile on Margie’s face.

  “Oh, he’s a keeper Sophia.” Margie winked at her.

  Chapter Five

  Mason loved good diner food and this was excellent diner food. He was stunned he hadn’t heard about the place, because SEAL
s knew where to go for good chow. The only thing that marred the meal was seeing Sophia in so much pain. Not that she would admit it. It was obvious she was right handed, because she was having trouble eating with her left hand. Then moving her jaw was painful, and Margie had given her Eggs Benedict. Finally she just ate the little bit of egg and hollandaise sauce giving up on the ham and English muffin. He’d gotten mashed potatoes to go with his steak and eggs. He forked them all on to her plate. She gave him a shy smile.

  “So will it be okay if we bring your car tomorrow instead of today?” Mason asked casually.

  “Oh no, I need it today.” Gotcha.

  “Are you planning on making another trip down to the Encanto tonight?” Mason asked in an offhanded manner as he forked in another piece of steak.

  “Uhm, no. I mean I can’t not with this sling and all.” Even with the bruises on her face her blush was obvious. The woman couldn’t lie to save her life.

  “Then why do you need your car?” he demanded.

  “I don’t. I just didn’t want to leave it down there longer than necessary. It’s not a safe place.” Sophia continued to fumble her way through the lie.

  “No shit.” Mason continued to eat. It was one of the things he’d learned, no matter what the situation you had to fuel your body. “So you want to rescue your car and not your little brother, huh?” She continued to take small bites of the potatoes. Apparently she was only going to fall for his offhanded questions one time.

  “I can help you look for him.” There was no way she was going out there alone.

  “Mason, I don’t know you. You have your own life. I’m not going ask you to help.” Damn he admired her, even if she was fighting a losing battle.

  “You haven’t. I’m offering.” That made her look up. Apparently she wasn’t used to people offering help. Her chin jutted out.

  “He’s my brother. He’s my responsibility.”

  “According to the cop last night he’s in foster care so he’s the state’s responsibility.” Now the chin came up.

  “He’s my brother. My baby brother. My mother got sick and couldn’t take care of him and he ended up in foster care. As soon as I can, I’m going to petition for him to come and live with me.” She pointed her fork at him for emphasis.