by Sybil Bartel
“Decision’s made, darlin’.” Talon slid his arms under my legs and back in a half-second flat.
I panicked. “No!” I could find the right balance to let Marcus know I was hurt enough to have to stay in bed but not enough where he would do himself more harm than usual. He would drink himself into a stupor, but he’d stay away from me for a few days. That was all I needed. “I’ll rest at home. I don’t need to go into the ER.” Explaining an ER visit to Marcus would be hell.
“You need an X-ray.” Ben got out and slammed his door shut.
My panic turned into full-blown anxiety. “Stop.”
Talon didn’t even pause. Striding toward the entrance to the ER, he carried me as if it were effortless. “We’ll get you in and out as soon as possible, darlin’.” His accent came back in full force, as if he was using it to calm me down. “But a collapsed lung ain’t nothin’ to mess with.”
I could’ve struggled to get down. I could’ve screamed, I could’ve done half a dozen things to stop what was happening, but everything hurt, and I was losing the energy to fight.
I made one last plea. “Ben, please. You know I’m fine.”
The line back between his eyebrows, Ben matched his pace to Talon’s. “I don’t know that. That’s why you’re getting an X-ray. We’ll take it from there.”
Before I could say anything else, we were in the lobby of the ER and Talon was rattling off information to the admitting clerk like he was a doctor. Within minutes, I was put in a wheelchair and Talon, Ben and I were in a small room while a nurse took my pulse, temperature, blood pressure and put a thing on my finger to check oxygen levels. She reassured Talon the doctor would be in shortly, then we were left alone.
Ben took my hand. “You need anything?”
I pulled away. “To go home.” I hated hospitals. They brought back the awful memories of my mother’s last days, and I didn’t want to go there right now, especially not in front of Ben or Talon.
As if reading my thoughts, Ben gently squeezed my shoulder. “I know this isn’t your favorite place. We won’t be long.” He looked up at Talon. “Will we?”
Arms crossed, ankles crossed, Talon stared at me as he leaned against the exam table. “Why don’t you like hospitals?”
“Who does?”
“Anyone who needs one,” Talon clipped.
“Drop it,” Ben warned Talon.
Talon sighed and pulled his phone out.
Ben squatted next to my chair and lowered his voice. “I know you’re mad, but consider this a favor, for me.”
I didn’t say anything, I didn’t have to. A female doctor walked in and glanced at Talon. “Mr. Talerco, what a surprise,” she said dryly before glancing at Ben as he stood. “And I hear we have a celebrity as well.” She looked at me. “But I’m guessing we’re here for you.” She smiled, then nodded at the door as she looked back at Ben. “You can wait in the hall, sir.”
Ben squeezed my shoulder again. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
“I’m stayin’,” Talon announced.
The pretty brunette doctor held her hand out to me. “I’m Dr. McDean. I’m going to ask you some uncomfortable questions. Would you like Mr. Talerco to leave as well?”
Part of me wanted him gone, but the other part knew he could be my ticket to escape if they tried to admit me. I shook my head.
She smiled. “I see you had to think about that. Yes, I feel the same way about him as well.”
“Ah, come on, Doc. To know me is to love me,” Talon flirted shamelessly.
“So they say,” she replied without an ounce of humor. She held her hand out to me again. “Let’s get you up on the exam table. Can you stand?”
I nodded, and Talon moved in front of me.
Grasping my waist as the doctor moved out of the way, Talon lifted me to the table. “Lie back, darlin’.”
The doctor raised the back of the table as I lay back and Talon started in with the medical speak again. Something about contusions and pneumothorax as the doctor put a stethoscope under my blouse and told me to inhale.
After moving the stethoscope around a few places, she pulled back. “Can you roll to your side, Ms. Maher?”
“Yes.” With effort, I rolled.
She lifted my shirt and the cold metal of the device hit my back. I sucked in a breath.
“You must be in a lot of pain.” The doctor gently moved the stethoscope. “Did you tell Mr. Talerco who did this to you?”
Talon surprised me by speaking up. “We’re handling it.”
The doctor merely nodded as she pulled my shirt back down. “You need an X-ray, Ms. Maher. Are there any other injuries?”
I rolled to my back and glanced between her and Talon. “I’m fine.”
The doctor eyed me, and before she could turn to look at Talon, he was already heading for the door.
“I hear ya, Doc. Loud and clear.” Talon winked at me, but he didn’t smile. “I’ll be outside with Wonderboy, darlin’. Holler if you need me.”
The second he walked out, the doctor sat on a rolling stool. “Okay, what really happened, Elyssia? Do you need a rape kit?”
My gaze dropped, and I shook my head. “No, nothing like that happened.”
“There’s no shame in it. This wasn’t your fault.”
I looked her in the eye. “I wasn’t raped.”
“Okay.” She studied me a moment. “I know your brother.”
I must’ve looked surprised. She was too classy to know my brother.
“Marcus, right?” She smiled. “I’m a few years older than him, but I knew him in high school.” She paused. “I also served.”
“Marines?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Navy. That’s how I know Talon. Is your brother deployed?”
“Um, no.” I straightened my shirt. “He’s home now. I thought Talon was in the Marines.”
“The Marines don’t have their own corpsmen. Navy-trained combat medical technicians deploy with Marine units and essentially become Marines,” she explained.
“Oh.”
She smiled. “Tell your brother Danny McDean said hello. Do you want to show me where else you’re injured?”
“My legs, but it’s okay.”
Her smiled softened. “Why don’t I be the judge of that?”
Inhaling what little breath I could, I sat up and undid my jeans. Embarrassed, uncomfortable, I peeled them down with some effort, and she quickly examined the bruising on the outside of my thigh and lower leg. Less than two minutes later I was dressed, and she was typing something on a computer terminal in the room.
“I’m ordering an X-ray. I don’t think you have a collapsed lung or any broken ribs, but let’s be sure. Then if all checks out, I can give you something for the pain and swelling, and we’ll get you out of here. But you need to take it easy for a week.” She eyed me. “No running.”
“I do karate,” I blurted, thinking of the classes I didn’t want to miss.
Her professional smile, the one she used on Ben and Talon, came back. “Not this week, you don’t. You need to heal before resuming any physical activity.” She stood. “You were lucky this time, Elyssia, but word of advice?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “Whoever he is, he isn’t worth it.” She patted my knee and walked out.
Ben strode back in. “You okay?”
I wanted to be mad at him, but I was so relieved the doctor hadn’t pushed the issue, I didn’t give him a hard time. “I’m fine.”
His frown deepened. “You keep saying that.”
Talon walked in, followed by another woman who identified herself as an admin and asked for my insurance.
Ben whipped out a credit card. “She doesn’t have insurance.”
The hospital admin took my information and Ben’s, then she left with his card.
“Ben—”
He held his hand up. “We’re not discussing it.”
Talon slapped Ben on the back and smiled. “Come on, darlin’. Let Wonderboy t
hrow his money around.”
A technician came in to take me for an X-ray. Twenty minutes later, he wheeled me back into the room where Ben and Talon were talking in hushed whispers. Talon smiled, but Ben looked pissed.
“What’s wrong?” I barely got the question out when Dr. McDean came back into the room.
“Good news.” She smiled. “No broken bones, no collapsed lung, but you do have considerable pulmonary contusions.”
Fear that I’d have to stay sank in. “What’s that?”
“Your lungs are bruised, darlin’.” Talon looked at the doctor. “We’ll look out for her. How bad’s the swellin’? She need oxygen?”
The doctor glanced at Talon. “Her breathing is labored and her oxygen levels are lower than I’d like. If she isn’t staying overnight, I’d recommend oxygen.”
“I don’t need to stay,” I blurted.
Talon nodded at the doctor. “I’ll handle the oxygen. She needs a script for pain meds though.”
The doctor handed me a prescription she’d already written. “Take the pain medication, use ice packs to help with the swelling, and Mr. Talerco will help you with oxygen. If your symptoms get worse, come back in immediately.”
“Okay.” I took the prescription, and Ben broke his silence.
“Will she have any permanent damage?”
The doctor leveled Ben with a look. “She should be fine, but she needs time to heal before resuming any physical activity.”
My cheeks flamed at her insinuation.
Ben only nodded. “Understood.”
“Take care of yourself, Ms. Maher.” The doctor patted my shoulder. “Once you sign the release paperwork, you can go home and rest.”
Relief settled in, and I was able to take almost a full breath. “Thank you.”
Ten minutes later, Talon and I were waiting at the ER entrance for Ben to pull his car up. I’d refused to be carried and Ben wouldn’t let me walk back to the car, so here I was.
Talon eyed me. “Anythin’ you wanna tell me before Wonderboy pulls up?”
I ignored his attempt to get information out of me. “Why do you call him Wonderboy?”
Talon smiled a smile that got him a lot of attention. “The fact that you’re askin’ that tells me you haven’t seen him in action.”
My stomach flipped. “What action?”
Talon cocked his head. “Drummin’.” Then he laughed. “Get your mind outta the gutter, darlin’.”
I blushed. “I wasn’t….” I trailed off as Ben pulled up.
“Sure you weren’t.” Talon smirked before opening the passenger door and helping me in. He started to tick off a list of things for Ben to watch for overnight when he took me back to his place, but I didn’t hear any of it. I started to freak out all over again. Besides the fact that Marcus would lose his shit if I stayed at Ben’s, I wasn’t going to cross that line with Ben. “I’m going home,” I panted, my heart rate kicking up.
Two pairs of eyes turned on me. Talon spoke first.
“You feelin’ worse, or somethin’ wrong with the sleepin’ arrangements?”
“I can go home.” I didn’t look at Ben.
Talon glanced at Ben, then he inclined his head and looked back at me. “Two choices. Wonderboy’s place for the next two days, or I carry you back into the hospital myself and stay till you’re admitted.”
I took as much of a breath as I could mange and turned to Ben. “I’ll be fine at home.”
Ben’s intense blue gaze was unwavering. “Are you going to tell Marcus?”
I swallowed.
Ben looked across me to Talon. “Where do I get the oxygen?”
Talon glanced at his watch. “I’ll handle it. Meet you at your place in thirty.” Talon looked at me. “Give me your script, darlin’. I’ll fill it for you.”
Embarrassed, pissed, defeated, not knowing if I should offer Talon money, I pulled the written prescription out of my pocket and silently handed it to him. I wanted to cry.
Ben nodded at Talon. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Talon reached across me and fastened my seat belt like I was a child, then he shut my door.
Ben pulled out of the hospital’s parking lot.
SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE was going to cry.
I reached for her hand, but she pulled away. “You breathing okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her voice was barely audible.
She wasn’t fucking fine. My hands tightened on the wheel. “I know you don’t want to be at my place.”
“I’ve never even been to your condo.”
Penthouse. I didn’t correct her. I’d bought it right before her mother passed. Before that, I’d lived in the same shithole studio I’d rented when I was eighteen. The only thing worse than the location was the actual building. But it’d been cheap as fuck, and it was the only thing I could afford working two part-time jobs when the band was starting out. Myles and Neil had helped me soundproof the place. Then I’d spent all my money on the drum set that now sat in Myles’s recording studio.
My new condo had a new drum kit. It had new everything. “You’ll be comfortable there.”
“Marcus said it’s… nice.”
I refrained from smirking. I’d bet my original drum kit that he hadn’t used the word nice once in describing my place. When he’d seen the penthouse, he’d said it was perfect for a pretentious rocker asshole. I didn’t tell him I’d bought the whole building, or that I’d also bought an oceanfront condo in a high-rise in Miami Beach that Neil had built. I didn’t have a fucking 401K or a military pension. I had real estate. Which was more security than I’d ever had, including the success of the band.
I changed the subject. “You still assisting in the karate classes with the younger kids?”
“You haven’t been gone that long. Nothing’s changed.”
Everything had changed. I’d just been too fucking stupid to make a move that night before I left on tour. Now she was beat to hell. “A lot’s changed.”
She leaded her head back. “How long are you home for?”
I glanced at the clock. Three more days. “Less than a week now.”
Her voice still quiet, there was more than tiredness and pain in her tone when she spoke. “Can you please stop by my house?”
Marcus knew I’d paid his mom’s mortgage off, but I didn’t know if she knew. I didn’t care. I was just glad she was referring to it as her house and not Marcus’s. “I’ll take you to my place and get you settled. I’ll grab whatever you need from your house later.” I knew she didn’t want a confrontation with her brother right now, and I didn’t fucking blame her. He was going to piss himself when he found out she was staying with me. I didn’t give a fucking shit, but she would, and I wanted to spare her that.
“I can get my own things.”
I gave in and changed the subject. “Is Marcus home?”
“He’s probably at the gym.”
I switched lanes and tried to get some information out of her. “Who does he work out with?”
She turned her head toward her window. “I know what you’re doing.”
My fingers drummed a rhythm on my leg. “I’m driving, Elyssia.”
“You’re prying.”
Goddamn it. “You’ve never kept secrets from me before.” She knew everything about me. She knew my carpenter father had worked himself to death. She knew he’d resented me, even before he’d died on a construction site. She knew he’d blamed me for my mother leaving. I’d told Elyssia things I’d never told another soul, and she’d told me everything she’d wanted out of life. She’d even told me once she wanted to live on the beach. I bought that fucking condo in Miami with her in mind.
Her chest rose and fell with her shallow breaths. “Ben….” She trailed off as she inhaled.
“Save your breath. We’ll talk later.”
Frustration bled into her tone. “It doesn’t matter if we talk now or later. We’re having two different conversations. You have your life, and I have mine.”
Everything I’d ever worked for was because of her. The second I’d first laid eyes on her I’d wanted more out of life than a hot meal. She’d made me want to be better. She’d made me want to become someone that she’d be proud of. One smile, and her sweet innocence was something I knew I’d want forever. No way in hell was my life separate from hers. “Stop—”
“No, you know it’s true. Your life is… it’s set. You made it. The band made it. You need to be around Myles and famous people and other musicians. That’s your life now. I appreciate what you’re doing, but you don’t need to spend your week off babysitting me.”
Every fucking muscle tensed. I pulled over and threw the Jeep in park. “Babysitting?” I practically growled.
She tried to hide her shock at my tone. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I really don’t.” Every word was a challenge I had no fucking right to throw at her. “You, injured or not, are my priority. Period.” I told her the fucking truth I should’ve said years ago. “I get that you’re confused. I know how we left things before I went on tour sucked. I know you’re hurting. But I’m going to take care of you, then we’ll talk when you’re feeling better.” Not touching her was killing me, but I didn’t have that right. Not yet.
Her body still, her expression guarded, she stared at me.
Then she fucking destroyed me.
“You don’t have to pretend we’re family anymore.”
HIS JAW TICKED, HIS face locked down, and with more force than he needed to, Ben threw the car back in drive and pulled onto the road.
My heart, my soul, they broke apart into a million pieces.
I saw the determination in his expression. I knew the honor he carried, and the debt he felt toward my mother for everything she’d done for him. But she was dead, and I couldn’t make him stay around out of obligation. I loved him too much to do that to him.
So I gave him his freedom.
He didn’t get along with Marcus. His life was going places, and he didn’t need to be saddled with a poor girl and her sick brother. I knew how the media worked. They’d dug up Myles’s entire past since the band had been on the road, and they’d made a meal out of his parents’ deaths and his upbringing. I wasn’t going to let that happen to Ben.
