Jonas watched her eyes going through a myriad of changes. She was cocky one minute then a glance passed between them and she faltered. How did she manage to come across so sure in the bedroom last night but out here seem like a skittered foal?
"Let's get this job done." Zoe stormed away leaving Brandon and Jonas shaking their heads.
"I suppose you aren't going to share what that was all about then?" Brandon quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Nope." Jonas followed Zoe, determined that he too could play her game.
****
Zoe wiped her hands over her face. The sweat was pouring down her cheeks and the breeze was hotter than she had felt it in days. In her mind she was heading for the dam once this day was finished. And she was taking a cold beer with her.
"Zoe, look out!"
Too late Brandon called out and she was hit from behind with the force of a rocket and sent flying to the side of the coral. Pain burst like an exploding fire cracker in her skull when she connected with the steel post and everything went black and silent.
"Zoe, Zoe, wake up."
It was impossible to open her eyes. Pressure gripped her skull to the point of the breeze moving over her hair was painful. The trickle of warmth running down the side of her face and pooling in her ear before flowing down her neck notched up her breathing and she started to hyperventilate. The smell reaching her nostrils was one of blood and she shivered. She could stand blood anytime so long as it wasn't her own and the smell was making her stomach heave.
A firm hand rolled her over to her side and her morning coffee and toast was vomited onto the ground. She struggled to breathe evenly and strong arms wrapped around her body. The voices surrounding her argued over each other until a sharp order was snapped out.
Jonas.
He was issuing orders and directing the men while holding her safely in his arms.
When her retching ceased, he pulled her close and stroked the hair from her forehead. "Just keep calm Zoe. You're going to be okay."
***
The blood running down her face scared him more than he would have imagined and he knew he was being snappy with the sheer fright of seeing her like this.
"Brandon, go and grab my car keys. We need to get her to hospital."
Jonas held her gently in his arms while issuing orders for the stock to be released into another paddock until he got Zoe out of danger.
The deep throttle of his car sounded amongst the mooing of the cattle and the commotion of the cowboys trying to follow his orders.
"Open the passenger door and let the seat right back Bran."
He accepted a clean bandage from Pete and pressed that to the gash on the side of Zoe's head, holding it while the older man attached it with tape. When the gate was open and the car ready, he lifted her as gently as he could in his arms.
"I'm taking you to the hospital, honey." He held her tight as she tried to protest. "You have a nasty cut and you went out like a light. The doctor will want to see you for that alone. I don't want you moving too much, okay? The less you make it bleed, the better for your stomach." He set her down on the plush leather seats and reached for the seatbelt bringing it across her chest and snapping the buckle in.
Brandon leant down and put his hand on his sisters arm. "Take it easy, Zoe bird and do what you're told. No answering back to the doctors, okay?"
He stood and turned to Jonas. "Call me as soon as you can."
"You make sure you call ahead so they will be expecting us."
Jonas shut the door. Hurrying round to the driver's side, he slid in the seat. Without another word, he floored it and the car shot off down the metal driveway leaving a trail of dust behind them. The drive into the tiny town hospital was fast and fraught with tension. Zoe whimpered as the wheels of the car found every rut in the dirt country road.
Jonas wiped the sweat from his forehead. A quick glance at Zoe showed how pale she was. Whether that was shock, pain or blood loss he couldn't be sure but it made him sick to the stomach that she had been hurt and he hadn't been able to do anything to stop it.
She had her back to the stock when a young steer had decided to bolt to the other side of the stock yard and she just happened to be in the way. It could have happened to anyone but to see her flying through the air head first into the steel barrier had taken his breath away.
Jonas finally hit paved road and put his foot down even harder. The high performance car leapt forward and hugged the tarmac.
"Don't kill ush," Zoe said, her voice slurred.
Jonas looked over and sucked in a breath. The blood was flowing freely down her face and the front of her work shirt was soaked. He was concerned about the pallor of her skin and ignored her plea to slow down.
"Tell me if you want to throw up again. I'll pull over."
Zoe tried to grin but failed and the gesture ended on a sob. "Shorry, so sore."
"Don't talk. I've got you covered, honey. We'll be there soon."
Jonas breathed a sigh of relief when the small town came into view. "Here we go, Zoe, nearly there," he said when he drove through the hospital gates.
He squealed to a park outside the emergency department and raced around to her side of the car. Lifting her from the seat, he turned to carry her inside kicking the door shut with his boot. As he walked through the door he was relieved to see the waiting room empty and a nurse hurried toward him.
"Mr. Ward, I was expecting you bring her in here."
He followed the nurse into the treatment room and laid Zoe on the bed. The nurse twigged something in his mind but now was not the time nor the place to think.
"Doctor will be here in just a second." She pulled the curtain and left them alone.
He held Zoe's hand standing beside the bed ready to go on the hunt for the doctor if he didn't materialize shortly.
“Shtop stressing," Zoe slurred squeezing his fingers.
"No. You know how I hate seeing you hurt. I'll just go—"
The curtain parted before Jonas could leave to find help and an elderly gentlemen in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck came into the room.
"Well well, what do we have here? Zoe Walters I assume. I haven't seen you for a few years, my girl and you appear to have grown up very nicely." The doctor pushed Jonas to one side and took her wrist in his hand. "Been fighting with your brother again or is this a little bit more serious?"
"Dr. Bob, you're shtill here?"
"Can't get rid of me that easily. Nice slur you have there." He lifted his head and spoke to Jonas. "Knocked unconscious was she?"
"Yes for at least three to five minutes." He hovered at the end of the bed watching as the town’s favorite doctor gave Zoe's vitals a quick check.
He held his breath when Dr. Bob peeled away the blood soaked bandage from her head. "Hmm, nasty cut there, Zoe. A couple of stitches I'm afraid. Shouldn't leave too much of a scar though. Bleed a lot, these head wounds, but not always that serious. On a scale on one to ten, what do you think your pain is?"
Zoe moistened her lips and looked at him.
"Don't try and be brave, kid. You are going to have the worst headache for a few days."
"I want to throw up it’s so painful. Maybe a seven or eight."
"She did throw up, Doc so I figured it's pretty bad." Jonas shook his head at her.
"I'll get you something for the pain. Back in a jiffy."
Her eyes flew open and a look of panic filled her face. Jonas reached past the doctor as she tried to sit up.
"Settle down, Zoe. I'll stay with you."
"You still haven't outgrown those panic attacks, I see." Dr. Bob nodded to them. "Just give me a minute and I'll get a suture tray too and you can sit beside the bed to keep her calm Jonas."
The doctor bustled out past the curtain and Jonas leaned down to wrap his arms around her shoulders. "It's okay... just a couple of stitches and I promise I won't let you go. You can watch me while he does it, okay?"
Her eyes were wild and fri
ghtened but she nodded her head and gripped onto his hands, her fingernails digging into his skin.
He eased her back down on the pillow and hooked a chair with his foot to sit on so he was at eye level with her. He kept her hands tightly in his and slowly she relaxed and closed her eyes again.
Zoe startled when the curtain was swept aside and the doctor came in rolling a cart with him. The same nurse from reception followed close behind. Jonas narrowed his eyes. It was Lucy Carmichael, the girl that broke them apart.
How much worse could today get?
He hoped that Zoe didn't recognize her. He cringed when she withdrew her hands from his and her breathing picked up a notch. She had seen her.
"Let me give you some pain relief, dear girl," Dr. Bob said. He withdrew a syringe from the drawer in the cart and took a vial from the dish on top. Checking it with the nurse against the chart, he inserted the needle and filled the syringe. "Not allergic to morphine from memory are you, Zoe?"
"N...no."
Doc leaned over and lifted her shirt to swab her stomach. "This is best in the stomach muscles as I'm sure your remember me telling you last time you came to grief on the farm. Just a little sting."
Zoe cursed when the doctor plunged the needle into her stomach, the look on her face one of horror when her gaze met Jonas.
"You know it's for the best, Zoe. You can't sport a headache like that." He grabbed her hands again and held them tight when she tried to pull away.
The doctor got the sutures ready and turned her head to Jonas so he could clean her brow. The nurse handed him a green cloth which he put over Zoe's face leaving the wound visible in a small patch. Jonas peeked under the cloth, making eye contact with her.
"Don't move and you will be fine." Her warm breath rolled over his face and he rested his chin on their twined fingers.
"I'm going to put in some local now, Zoe. Don't move," Dr. Bob said.
She closed her eyes and gripped Jonas' hand tightly. He ignored that she had just dished him two minutes ago.
She kicked the end of the bed with her boots to let everyone know how much it stung.
"Sorry, it's not the nicest thing and I wouldn't bother for one stitch but you probably need a few in that cut."
They both stayed under the cloth with their gazes locked on each other while the doctor worked sewing her up. He wanted to speak to her, tell her it was going to work out between them if she would just give them a chance but with Lucy in the room it just wasn't possible. With any luck he would get the chance to talk to her later when they were alone.
The doctor took the cloth from Zoe's face and smiled down at her. "I know you are going to fight this but I want you to stay in overnight." He held up his hand when she started to protest. "It is for your own good. You've taken a serious hit to the skull, my dear girl and you were knocked unconscious. Twenty-four hours observation and you can go home." He helped her sit up and watched her skin pale and she swayed. "Don't feel so good do you?"
Using a gently hand the doctor pushed her back to lay her head on the pillow. "Nurse will call up to the ward and get you a bed for the night. I'll see you back here in the morning and if you have a good night you can go home then."
He smiled gently at Zoe, wrote a note on her chart and left the room.
Lucy came closer to the bed and Zoe all but growled at her.
"Um, I'll just go and call up to the ward. Won't be long."
She turned and scuttled away.
"Oh sorry Jonas. Maybe you wanted to speak to her," Zoe said in the sarcastic voice Jonas was so used too. She scowled at him but Jonas saw the look of dejection on her face.
"No and that is something we will sort out when you are feeling better. This has gone on way too long."
Zoe closed her eyes and signaled the end of the discussion.
He held her hand until Lucy came back with an orderly pushing a wheelchair.
"Your chariot has arrived, madam," he said angling it to help her from the bed.
She let the orderly take her arm and help her down. Lucy was standing ready to help but backed off when she saw the look in Zoe's eyes. Jonas stepped in and took the bulk of her weight. When she was settled he followed as the orderly pushed her down the corridor to the ward.
"Here you are, madam, your room is ready."
Another nurse arrived to help Zoe out of her dirty blood soaked clothes and into a hospital gown before tucking her into bed. By the time they had her settled a film of sweat was moistening her top lip and her skin was pasty white. She lay back on the pillow and Jonas pulled the chair close to the bed. He sat down and clasped her hand in his.
"Sleep, Zoe. I'm not going anywhere."
"Sir, you can't stay here after visiting hours but you can come back tomorrow," the nurse said as she tucked the sheets in.
"I'm not leaving her, so deal with it."
"I'll have to speak to the nurse manager about that, sir. It's not hospital policy to have family stay overnight unless we are dealing with children." She grabbed Zoe's chart and holding it to her chest, left the room.
"Don't go upsetting everyone, Jonas. I'll be fine," Zoe said her voice soft.
"Sleep, baby, I'll be here when you wake up. I can deal with a couple of nurses."
Her lips curved in a small smile and Jonas watched her fall asleep her fingers twined with his.
Chapter Eight
Zoe tried to open her eyes and winced. Her head was throbbing like she had the worst hangover. It took her a few minutes to remember what happened and where she was. She lifted her lids just a tiny bit and sighed. She had it right. Bloody hell, in hospital again, the bane of her childhood. She had spent too many days here as a youngster because she was so damned accident prone. One of the joys of living on the farm had been very few limits and she always managed to do something requiring stitches or masses of bandages or the occasional plaster cast.
It was lucky Lilly hadn't inherited her skill of being accident prone. When she was a baby Zoe had panicked every time her baby had fallen over. She was so overprotective of the tiny little girl that even her friends had remarked on it.
When Lilly was three, she had been running away from Zoe on a visit to the zoo. She was laughing and heading toward the monkey enclosure when she had turned to her mother to call out and missed the edge of the footpath.
The screams had wrenched at Zoe's heart. The blood had poured from the cut in her chin and Zoe had panicked. She sat on the ground with a screaming child in her arms and sobbed wishing she had someone to help her. Sitting with Lilly in the waiting room in hospital, Zoe had cursed Jonas. "If you only knew what you were missing out on Jonas. I wish I could tell you, I need some help here. Lilly needs her father."
But they had coped without him and once they were home the thought of contacting Jonas had fled her mind. Zoe couldn't bear the thought of rejection if she gave in and told him. Best to leave well enough alone. Luckily it had been the only time her little girl had needed to visit the hospital. She managed to get through her early years with nothing more than the occasional scraped knee.
Now Lilly was at school and Zoe was the one in hospital. She choked back a sob.
Tears filled Zoe's eyes thinking about her little girl in boarding school without her mother there for support. She brushed away the tears before they could fall. Soon she would be back in London, no matter what Jonas said. Her daughter was more important than any block of dirt and although it was the place where they had grown up, Zoe would have no hesitation in signing it over to Brandon if that was what the board would allow. She needed to be home with her baby girl.
Her fingers were numb and gingerly she looked down at her other hand. It was clasped tight in Jonas's palm. There was no hope of withdrawing it because he had an iron grip on it. Zoe's heart leapt as the memories came back to her. He had driven like a madman in his beautiful car over the dirt roads and ruts that shook his car to get her to the hospital. She dreaded to see what it looked like now.
The
idiot. The very sweet idiot.
Fuck, no. That bitch worked here, I do remember that much. She was in emergency when I came in.
Zoe ripped her hand from Jonas's pushing his from the bed. A sob escaped her lips before she could swallow it back.
"Zoe? Baby, what is it?" Jonas looked at her with panic in his eyes as he surfaced from a deep sleep. "Are you okay? Can I get you something?" He rubbed his face and stood up reaching for her hand again.
"I want to go home. Please take me home, Jonas. I need to get out of here."
"Do you feel okay?" He glanced at her face, stroking a finger down her cheek steering clear of the bandaged side of her head.
"She’s here and I want to go home."
"Honey, she probably isn't even on duty this morning."
"I don't care if I'm being irrational, okay. Just get me the fuck out of here now or I will walk out myself." Zoe threw back the blankets ready to get up.
Jonas pushed her back on the pillow and held her down by her shoulders. The feel of his hands seared her skin and the heat rushed up her face. She gazed up at his beautiful face and sighed. If she could have shut the door now Zoe would have done it. Locked away in their own room she would be very tempted to tease him until he took her if she didn't pin him down first, even with that bitch out there.
"No Zoe, not here," he said locking gazes with her. They could read each other so well sometimes it embarrassed her.
Like now.
"Promise me you will stay in bed and I'll go get Dr. Bob. If he says you can go I'll take you home in a flash."
"Okay." She licked her lips and relaxed against the pillows fighting to suppress the heat pooling between her thighs.
Jonas looked at her with his eyebrow quirked before nodding and walking out of the room.
Zoe wiped a hand tentatively over her brow.
Outback Thunder Page 8
