by Regina Cole
Shit. Not again. He really shouldn’t have done that. He stepped back, breaking their contact, and shoved his fingers through his hair.
“Yeah, great job. We’ll stop there tonight.”
She stared at him for a long moment, as if unsure what had just happened. Awkwardness flooded the space between them as Stacey wiped her face with the small gym towel. Rob kicked himself mentally. Shit. Why had he done that? Mixed signals. He would have to stop the flirting during training times with her. Obviously neither of them could keep it simple.
“I’ll let you get ready to go while I shut down the front counter. Meet me at the front door when you’re done.”
She blinked. “You still want to go out to eat?”
“I told you I would. Why would I have changed my mind? If you still want to, we’ll go.”
“Sure,” Stacey said with a hesitant smile. “No problem.”
As Rob walked away, he squared his shoulders. She had done incredibly well today. She could really accomplish great things here if she stuck with it. He just had to keep their association out of the gym during opening hours.
A few moments of meditation in his office helped him clear his head. It had only been excitement. He was proud of her, that was all. And the touch had just sparked memories of the previous night. No more, no less. He sat down in front of his laptop to shut it down, then stilled for a moment.
She was in the locker room now, grabbing a shower. The smell of her soap was still fresh in his memory, the taste of her, the sound of her cries as the darkness surrounded them both.
He winced and adjusted his pants, which had grown uncomfortably tight in the crotch.
He had to stay away. Keeping this—whatever it was—away from the gym was crucial. Last night had worked out fine, but what if someone came back next time?
Shaking off the thoughts, he finished packing up his things and shrugged into his coat. The office door clicked shut behind him, and as he began shutting down the computer at the front desk, the sound of footsteps drew his gaze upward.
She’d taken her hair down and brushed it out. Her cheeks were still a bit pink from the heat of her shower, but that just made her blue eyes seem brighter. The corners of his lips curled upward despite himself.
“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” Stacey wrapped her scarf around her neck. “Sorry I didn’t bring any nicer clothes. I didn’t really know what to plan for.”
“Want to take a rain check?”
“You’re not getting out of this that easily. Come on. I could use a beer.” Stacey’s grin was a touch too broad to be totally honest, but he let it go. He was just glad he hadn’t scared her off.
“Beer it is, then. Where would you like to go?”
“Know where Mitch’s Tavern is?”
“That’s a couple streets over on Peachtree, right?”
Stacey nodded as Rob shouldered the strap of his laptop bag and rounded the corner. “Yeah. It’s a tiny, dark little hole-in-the-wall. But they have great sandwiches and cold beer. I love that place.”
“Mitch’s it is, then. You can ride with me, if you’d like to.”
Stacey shook her head and passed him as he held open the door for her. “No, it’s actually closer to my apartment, so I’ll take my car home and just walk over. See you there,” she said with a wave as Rob tested the locked door.
Rob waited for a minute on the cold sidewalk, watching as she hurried away. Damn. She was cute.
He’d really have to watch himself around her.
Chapter 9
The cold night air seemed to slam through her as Stacey hurried to the parking deck. She wasn’t sure whether the cold was numbing her brain or if it was the weirdness with Rob just then. Why hadn’t she packed some nicer clothes? It had seemed like a good idea to grab some leggings and a comfy tunic top, but it was hardly date-night appropriate.
Date. Was that what they were doing? She’d thought so, but then that kiss—which was amazing, and his reaction—which was awful.
Her breath fogged out in front of her as she fumbled with her keys. She didn’t know what to think. He’d come on to her, but then he had pulled back so quickly she almost had whiplash.
She paused before closing the driver’s side door. That kiss, though. He’d really laid one on her. Intense, sexy, it carried with it all the memories of the night before, and the promise of more to come.
“Get going, weirdo. Don’t make him think you ditched him.”
Her own voice broke her reverie, and she shut the car door. She cranked the engine, and a cheery Christmas tune came through the speakers as the cabin came to life. Sighing beneath her breath, she put the car in REVERSE.
Her cell phone’s buzz in her pocket made her put on the brakes before she even started rolling.
“Hello?”
“Hey! Am I interrupting anything? Some post-workout nookie, maybe?”
Hannah. No patience at all. Stacey shook her head as she put the call on speaker and tucked it into her hands-free cradle. The car wound its way through the dark, serpentine corridors of the parking deck.
“No, no nookie. I flirted my ass off, he kissed me, then it got weird. But we’re going out for a drink right now.”
“‘Weird’?”
“Yeah. He pulled away really fast, and then he was acting all blustery and bossy and just—” Stacey rolled her eyes. “Weird.”
Hannah’s whistle filled the car cabin. “Girl, please. Don’t read too much into that. He’s totally into you. It’s going to be awesome. Have fun, and tell me all about it in the morning.”
“You know I will.” Stacey’s car rolled to a stop at the parking deck exit booth. “Let me go before I get on the road.”
“Nighty night! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” The wink was obvious in Hannah’s tone.
Stacey swiped her monthly pass card at the terminal and waited for the barrier to rise. It had been a good night after all, hadn’t it? Maybe the weirdness was just Rob’s way of reacting to whatever they had going on. After all, it wasn’t like Stacey had expected this, either. And the night was only partially over. When was the last time she’d been on an actual, honest-to-God date? It was hard to remember. Maybe a year ago? Eighteen months?
Trent was—when? Halloween? Last Halloween?
The stoplight was red. Stacey used the rearview to check her reflection briefly. She did look like she’d just spent ninety minutes in the gym, but at least she smelled nice and he’d already seen her. She’d tried to look as cute as possible before getting to the gym, and the decline in her appearance was pretty much his fault anyway.
“It’s going to be fine,” she said to the nervous-looking girl in the mirror. “Just a casual drink. You can do this, flirting isn’t that hard. Just suck it up, smile, and do your best.”
Feeling a little bit better, she readjusted the mirror and waited for the light to turn green. Once it did, her toe pressed lightly on the accelerator, and she began to cross through the intersection.
The glance both ways was habit, but the pickup roaring directly at her was a complete surprise.
The impact, when it came, was sudden, sharp, and incredibly loud. Without thinking, Stacey slammed her eyes shut and braced herself, but it was too late.
Tires screeched. Glass showered over her right side as her body connected with the driver’s side door. The air bags deployed. She wanted to cry out, to scream, but her heart was in her throat blocking the way. Clinging to the steering wheel, she rode out the impact until the car came to a drunken stop, halfway up on the sidewalk with a pickup truck’s grille much closer to her than it should have been, stuck against the crumpled passenger side of her car.
I’m alive, she thought for a brief, euphoric moment before everything went dark.
* * *
Rob dragged a finger through the condensation on the dark wood of the table just inside Mitch’s Tavern. The music was low, conversation and laughter buzzing around him. It was the perfect place for a casual d
inner with a friend. But his particular friend wasn’t there yet, and he was starting to get a little worried.
It was her idea to go out, so where was she? He frowned down at his cell phone’s screen. Nine thirty-eight. It had been over half an hour since they’d left the gym together. He’d been sitting here alone for nearly twenty minutes.
Had she run scared again? The only thing that had happened since last night was that kiss. His stomach tightened. She’d enjoyed it just as much as he had, but then he’d pulled back. The bewildered expression in her blue eyes still stung.
She’d agreed to come out with him, though, so that was something. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman who’d stand him up like that, even though he had sent mixed signals.
“Would you like to order something?” The server, a young guy with thick dreads and a ready smile, stopped by the table.
“No, thanks, I’m going to wait for her. She’ll be here in a minute.”
“Okay, man.”
As the server walked away, Rob picked up his phone. She had seemed a bit edgy on the way out the door. That too-bright smile stuck out in his mind’s eye. Something was off. He just needed to call her.
Two rings, three. He looked over at the booth across the aisle, where a couple was chatting over a basket of nachos. Six. Seven.
He was about to hang up when her voice mail kicked on.
“Hi, you’ve reached Stacey Hough, deputy director of city planning. Please leave your name, number, and a detailed message—”
Before the recording finished, his phone beeped and he looked at the screen. Stacey was calling him.
He clicked over with a relieved sigh.
“Stacey, hi. I was starting to wonder where you are. Everything okay?”
The sound of sirens registered for a brief half second before the reply came.
“This is EMS. Are you local? Do you know Stacey?”
Rob’s shoulders tensed, and his guts twisted. “Yes, and yes. What happened?”
He tossed a couple of bucks on the table in thanks for the water and was heading down the narrow stairs to the sidewalk before the EMS tech had finished her reply.
“We’re on the way to Charter Memorial. Your friend was in a car accident. Can you meet us there and give us some information on her? We couldn’t find any ID at the scene, and she’s unconscious.”
“I’m heading there now.”
“Go to the emergency department.”
The call disconnected, and Rob shoved the phone into his jacket pocket. It was a damn good thing his gym’s records were web-based. He’d be able to give a half-decent medical history on Stacey. And since part of the gym’s signed agreement included giving health information to medical professionals in the event of emergency, he didn’t have to worry about the legalities of it.
Damn. Guilt swallowed him as he slammed the car door behind him and cranked the engine. If she hadn’t been heading out with him, then maybe—
He shut the thought down as he pulled out into the street. The blame game wouldn’t help her now. God, they hadn’t said how badly she was hurt. But unconscious? It didn’t always take a hard hit to be knocked out, though, he knew that.
He stopped at the red light on Ivy before turning right. Blue lights flickered on the buildings lining the street. His guts twisted in on themselves, becoming origami as he slowly advanced toward the chaos.
A car accident. A gray pickup truck had T-boned a white Jetta, and the pair of vehicles were completely blocking his lane. A cop with a flashlight was directing traffic onto the side street.
“Shit,” Rob breathed as he moved through the intersection and onto Madder Avenue. “That’s got to be it.”
The traffic was unusually thick because of the forced detour, and Rob’s frustration tightened his grip on the wheel. That was no tiny fender bender Stacey had been involved in. She could have some pretty severe injuries.
“Please let her be okay,” he muttered as he pressed harder on the gas pedal, blissfully free of the worst road congestion.
He shouldn’t have kissed her. If he hadn’t, then maybe she’d have ridden with him over to the bar. But he’d put the awkward distance between them, and now she was on her way to the hospital. The guilt ground and chewed at his insides, and the sickening feeling tightened his guts into knots.
Charter Hospital was only about three miles away, but the drive seemed to take forever. By the time he’d thrown his gearshift into PARK, he had enough nervous energy stored up to run a marathon.
The automatic doors didn’t open fast enough. He turned sideways to fit through the opening doors, and three long strides took him to the counter.
“Stacey Hough just arrived by ambulance. They told me to come.”
The man behind the counter didn’t seem fazed, or even interested. He barely glanced at Rob before asking, “Patient name?”
“Stacey. Hough,” Rob repeated through gritted teeth.
The keys clicked as the man typed. Rob fought to keep still. It was a losing battle. He needed to go find her, to help in what little way he could, to make up for this somehow. No matter how much of a freak accident this had been, he couldn’t absolve his feelings of guilt until he had seen her and had done what he could.
“I don’t see a patient by that name.”
“I know they beat me here, but she was unconscious. I gave them her first name, but the call was so brief that they might not know her full name.”
“What was the nature of her emergency?” The man arched a brow in Rob’s direction.
“Car accident.” The words felt awful as they fell from his lips. God, why her?
The man nodded. “Entered the system as Jane Doe. You can go through to the nurses’ station.” His hand moved beneath the counter, and a low buzzer sounded. The door to the right of the counter swung open. Rob nodded his thanks and walked through.
The rabbit warren of a hospital always made him vaguely uneasy. It was too closed off, too artificially bright and sterile. He’d gotten more exposure to them during recent months, with his dad’s testing and hospital stays, but now the discomfort seemed to loom larger than ever.
He followed the signs past the triage stations and stopped when he reached a huge counter, surrounded on all sides by frosted glass–enclosed treatment rooms, any of which could be holding an unconscious Stacey.
“Excuse me.” He waved down a scrubs-clad woman who had been riffling through a pile of paperwork. “I’m here for Stacey Hough, she just came in via ambulance as a Jane Doe. They needed some information about her.”
The woman nodded. “Yes, thanks for coming so quickly. Come over here with me, and I’ll get you set up with someone who can grab that info from you.” She started toward the bay of desks on the opposite side of the ward, but Rob couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Is she okay?”
The woman looked at him for a brief moment.
“I don’t have any information on her right now. Let’s just get the demographics in, and then we’ll go from there.”
Rob nodded, and as much as he wanted to argue, to force them to let him see her, he followed after the nurse.
He had to do what he could to help. And right now, that meant following her instructions. As much as he hated it.
Chapter 10
When Stacey opened her eyes, all she could see was white—a harsh, too-bright wash of light. Her breath caught in her throat as she wondered if she was dead. But then beeps crashed through her consciousness, and the low hum of voices surrounded her. She blinked hard, but the shapes around her only darkened a little, never coalescing into real objects.
“She’s back. Stacey, can you hear me?”
“Yes.” Was that her voice? It was more like a croak. Totally unrecognizable.
“Do you know what day it is?”
“Tuesday. Was I in an accident? It feels like a dream.”
“Yeah, you’re right. On both counts. But don’t worry, you’re going to be okay. The doctor’
s coming in and he’s going to check you out.”
Injuries? Oh yeah. Her brain had been swimming so fast that the vague, uncomfortable feeling had seemed like background noise, but when she focused on it, it roared to life. Pain. It blossomed along her right leg, curling up insidiously to the right side of her ribs and spreading until her entire body flamed with it. She gasped, and the friendly man who had been speaking to her patted her hand.
“It’s okay, we’ve got you. This will make you more comfortable, but it will also let you sleep.”
There was a little twinge in the back of her hand, a cool sensation as if someone was pouring chilled water into her vein, and then a blanket of comfort settled softly over her. Her eyes closed.
* * *
When she woke this time, it really felt like waking. The beeps were fewer now, not as many voices, either. Her head was foggy, probably from medication, but at least she was conscious. Body one giant ache, head full of cotton. Wow, she was in great shape.
She looked around. Hospital room, but not of the comfortable variety, if there was such a thing. This one was austere. There was the usual medical bric-a-brac along the bedside, an IV pole with those little machines that controlled medications, that kind of thing. A bedside table with a phone was there, too, but there was no recliner, no couch, nothing more for visitors to sit on than one hard plastic chair.
“I must be in the ER.”
Her voice broke the quiet, bringing her back to herself a bit. That was right. The pickup truck had sideswiped her. She didn’t even know how she’d gotten here, though she guessed an ambulance had been involved. She was alive, but she was alone.
Damn. She picked at the threading edge of the white hospital sheet. Well, at least her fingers still worked. Her knuckles were rough and reddened, probably from the air bag.
She had lived and worked in Atlanta for almost two years. Her family lived miles away, up in North Carolina, but never before had she felt this isolated in the city. She had friends, of course, but nobody whom she could call on in this situation. They all had their own lives, their own problems. Who would come rushing to the emergency room just to sit by her side in the middle of the night?
