His Safe Keeping (The Safe Series) (7 page)

“Baby?” he answered her, his voice full of concern.

“Irish, it’s me, Kris…” Krista informed him, like he didn’t know it was her. Wait, did she just say Chris? No, it must have been the phone cutting out or something.

“I know who it is. I don’t answer my phone to random people with, ‘baby,’” he told her and heard her giggle. He smiled. “Is there something wrong?” he asked her worriedly.

“Yes…” She started speaking and his heart dropped. “Well, no…” she continued.

“Baby, what is it?” He prompted her.

“I was supposed to bring popsicles. It’s my turn, but I forgot to stop by the store and get any.” She finished in a rush, like she had to hurry and get it all out.

“You want me to go get them for you?”

“Please? I mean, if you’re not doing anything, and you don’t mind, I would but—” She started, but he interrupted her.

“Krista. Stop. I’ll go get them and bring them to you.”

She was silent for a moment and then sighed. “Thank you,” she said so softly. Christ! To get that soft spoken ‘thank you,’ he would do damn near anything.

After she gave him directions and the room number, he was finally able to answer her. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He hung up his phone to go buy popsicles, with a big, dumb, smile on his face. He paused at that thought. Hmmm, buying popsicles was making him smile like an idiot. Yep! And, he didn’t even give a happy damn!

A little while later, Krista was watching as Kade took a step into the hospital room and stopped, looked around, then his eyes met hers and he smiled. Her heart felt as if it had skipped a beat. That man. That beautiful man was smiling at her, coming toward her, and then…Candy! One of the nurses who assisted Dr. Miller from time to time—the one who flirted with every guy in sight, the one who was now talking to Kade. Krista had to admit Candy was pretty. More than pretty, she guessed, with her perfect body that she liked to show off in uniforms which fit just a little too tight. And she had big, perfect brown eyes and long black hair that she was now tossing over her shoulder while she smiled at Kade, laughing at whatever he was saying. Krista thought she didn’t have a prayer if she had to compete with Candy. She looked away, not wanting to see Kade fall for Candy, just like every other guy did when Candy was around. Staring down at the floor, pretending she was adjusting the IV in her arm, Kade’s boots came into her line of sight and he squatted down in front of her.

“Baby, is there something wrong with your IV? Do you need me to get a nurse for you?” he asked with nothing but concern in his voice.

“No!” she answered him quickly, just a little too loudly and a little too sharp, as she jerked her head up to look at him. He was still smiling at her. She looked over to see Candy standing off to the side, looking…pissed? She looked back at Kade and in a more normal sounding voice she spoke again, “No, it’s fine.”

“Okay.” He stood up and held out a paper bag. “Popsicles?”

“Okay. Just put them in the fridge, over there.” Krista pointed to a small refrigerator/freezer combo across the room. He did as she asked, then turned and headed back over toward Candy. Krista watched as Candy stood straighter, pushing her boobs out—like they didn’t stick out far enough already—and smiling at Kade. Kade gave her a brief chin lift, picked up an empty chair and returned to Krista. Placing his chair as close to her as possible, on the opposite side of her IV, he sat, grabbed her free hand and kissed her palm.

“Still doing okay?” She was so stunned, all she could do was nod at him. “Good.” He gave her a warm look and then winked. At her! Lieutenant Lawson McKaden winked at her with everyone in the room watching! She smiled so big at him. She wanted to say…something, and not just sit there looking like a big dork, grinning like a fool. But then she heard someone clear their throat. Looking around, she saw everyone staring at her, and then Rachel spoke up, “Soooo, Kris…?” That was all Rachel said, but it was enough. She looked at Kade.

“Kade, this is Rachel, Mary, Tom, Sally, and Bill.” She introduced them all, pointing out each person. “Guys, this is my…uh…Kade.” She finally managed to stammer. Kade spoke to each person, but never got up and never let go of her hand. Then when he looked back at her, she explained to him. “They are all cancer patients. They are doing chemo treatments, not the same as me, but they were kind enough to let me sit with them, so I didn’t have to spend two hours by myself.”

Tom spoke up, “She’s a delight to have with us.” They all nodded in agreement. Even Sally, who was the quietest one of the group, agreed. “Kris is so sweet, and funny. She tells the best stories. They help keep our minds off of what’s really going on.”

Kade looked at her then and in a voice filled with confusion, had to ask her why they all kept calling her. “Kris?”

Krista shrugged her shoulders. “Most everyone calls me Kris. I think you are the only one who calls me Krista. But, then again, you never did ask me my name.” She grinned up at him.

For the next two hours, they ate popsicles as Kade talked and laughed with everyone in the group, never once letting go of her hand. And every once in a while, he would bring her hand up to his mouth and kiss her palm. In front of everybody. But, he did it twice when Candy walked by, and once when Candy glared over at her. The look on her face! Krista could not stop the giggle that erupted, which caused Rachel to bust out laughing, which, of course, had Mary laughing, and then, before she knew it, they were all laughing so hard their sides were hurting. That was when Dr. Miller came in, along with another doctor—he was the cancer doctor and everybody just called him Big Doc C—and they both stopped mid-step, grinned, and Dr. Miller crossed to Krista. “Kris, how are you feeling, darlin’?” Dr. Miller spoke directly to her, and she felt Kade’s grip on her hand tighten. She looked at him and then back at Dr. Miller.

“So far, so good,” Krista responded to Dr. Miller’s inquiry.

“How about after last week’s round?” Dr. Miller asked.

She looked back at Kade and then back at Dr. Miller again, trying to decide what she wanted each of them to know. “It was…not too bad.” She definitely didn’t want Kade to know she’d stopped twice before he’d found her on her third stop.

“Krista.” She heard Kade call her name. And the look Kade gave her said he knew she was holding back. She dropped her eyes and then faced Dr. Miller.

“I had a very bad dizzy spell,” Krista said, and she felt Kade’s hand tense for a second. “But, it passed pretty quickly.”

“And…” Kade prompted.

“And I became very nauseated, but that also passed when I laid my head down.” Krista stopped speaking, and she could feel Kade’s hand tense again when she said no more.

“Krista, tell him all of it,” he demanded as he sat there gazing at her, his jaw tight.

She took a deep breath and felt his hand squeeze hers, lending her his strength. “It hurt, really bad, like all the blood in my veins had turned to fire.” Kade gripped her hand in both of his, so she hurried and finished. “I got sick, twice, then slept some and when I woke up, I felt weak, but not as tired as I usually do. The next day, I felt a lot, as in a whole lot, better.” All the time she talked, Dr. Miller was taking notes.

“You do know these rounds will get worse before they get better, right?” Dr. Miller asked. She nodded because she did know all of this. They had discussed these new, more intense, rounds in depth. “Kris,” Dr. Miller murmured. “If it gets too bad, you have to tell me, and we can try something else.” Krista just nodded her head again before she answered.

“I know. We talked about this. I can do it.”

“I’ll be with her. I’ll take care of her,” Kade stated this firmly.

She watched as Dr. Miller looked over at Kade, almost with contempt. “And you are?” he asked, rudely.

Krista jumped in before Kade could say something that would probably contain the F-word. “This is Kade, he’s a…uh…friend of mine.”

“A really good friend,” Kade added, stressing on the ‘good’ part of ‘good friend.’

Dr. Miller ignored Kade and turned his attention back to Krista. “You take care and if you have any problems or any questions, or
anything
, you call me.” And he was stressing the ‘anything’ in his statement. Tucking his clipboard under his arm, he added one more thing. “You have
all
my numbers, Kris, right?” She just nodded again, wondering what that was all about. “Okay then. I’ll see you next week or earlier if you need me.
Anytime
.” Dr. Miller nodded at her as he was leaving the room. He just stared at Kade, who gave him a chin lift. Then Candy came over to remove the IV needle from her arm. When she did, she jerked just a little harder than was necessary and Krista jumped. Not a lot, but enough for Kade to notice.

“Sorry.” Candy smirked. Then Kade leaned over Krista and got into Candy’s face which was still bent at Krista’s side. He spoke low, but not too low that she couldn’t hear him.

“Bitch. You ever and I mean
ever
, hurt her again, I’ll make damn sure you’ll be damn sorry. You got me?” Then Kade straightened in his chair and stood, holding his hand out to Krista. When she put her hand in his, he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He asked her a question spoken into the top of her head. “You okay, baby?”

Chapter Nine

They were on their way back home when the dizziness started. Krista was just sitting there, doing nothing, and she began to get dizzy. Very dizzy. She laid back on the head rest and closed her eyes, but that didn’t help. Turning to her side, she laid her cheek on the back of the seat and closed her eyes, and that was when she heard Kade speak. “Hey, Krista, you doing okay? You need me to stop?”

Stopping wouldn’t help with the dizziness so she just answered quietly, “No, I’m okay.” She opened her eyes to look at him.

He looked over at her. “You’re not okay.” That was all he said, jaw tight. Krista closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass. All of sudden, the dizziness did pass, but it went straight into the most horrible wave of nausea. The nausea was so hard that she dropped her head, trying to put it in her lap. But the seat belt was holding her back. She brought her knees up to lay her head on and looked at Kade.

“I’m sorry.” She managed, but she said it so quietly she wasn’t even sure he heard her.

“Sorry ‘bout what?” Yeah, he’d heard her.

“Putting my shoes on your seat.”

“Does it help?” he asked her back.

“Yeah, maybe. A little.”

“Then I don’t give a shit about the seat.” Was his quick answer, so, okay then. They rode for a while in silence. They were about halfway and basically in the middle of nowhere, when she saw the pull-off where she’d stopped the last time. Where she had met Kade. Krista looked over at it as they passed, then turned her head to look at Kade, wondering if he noticed it too. Yeah, he noticed. He gave her a smile, and as bad as she felt, she couldn’t stop the smile which she felt growing on her own face.

Kade knew the pull-off was coming up because he remembered the exact spot he’d seen Krista for the first time. Right there! Hell, how could he forget? She caught him smiling at her and her own smile grew even bigger. Then it faded and she looked…pained? “Baby, you okay?” She only sat there, holding herself still, trying to breathe deep. Tears came to her eyes. “Fuck,” he growled. Maybe a little too loudly and then he was pulling the truck over. He reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt. When he touched her to pull her over to him, she yelped like he’d hurt her, and he jerked back. “Did I hurt you? Damn, baby, I’m so sorry! Tell me what to do! How can I help you?” He was becoming frantic. She was just sitting there, breathing so deeply he thought she was having trouble catching her breath. And the tears! Streams of tears were rolling down her face. He wanted to hold her, wipe away her tears and take away her pain. He had to do something, but he was too scared to even touch her again. He jerked open his door and ran around to her side, then just stood there and rubbed her hair. That was the only thing he touched—her hair. Kade had to touch her, or a part of her, or he would die. He felt it in his bones. “It’s going to be okay, baby.” He felt helpless. All his years of training was for shit! The one time someone needed his help, and all he could do was stand there, helpless, and stroke her hair. Finally, she looked up at him and his heart broke to see the pain etched on her face.

“I’m going to be sick.” Krista gasped and damn near fell out of the truck. He helped her down, touching only where he had to so she wouldn’t fall. He stood and watched as she threw up over and over and over. Fuck! She didn’t have that much in her. When her body began to shake, he couldn’t take it anymore and wrapped his arms around her lightly from behind. Krista leaned back into him, so he held her tighter until she stopped trembling. He then turned her around in his arms, holding her close to his chest. “Baby?” He didn’t even know what to ask.

“I’m okay. The burning has passed.” She sighed, breathing hard. Kade laid his cheek on the top of her head and just stood there holding her. He felt her body jerk a second before she stepped out of his arms, turned back around and started throwing up again. He stood by her, holding her hair out of the way, wishing he could do something for her. When she started to shake again, he pulled her back into his arms, but she stopped him this time. “I’m okay,” she stated again, trying to sound convincing, but her body was still shaking.

“You’re cold,” Kade stated flatly and walked her back to his truck. He reached behind the seat and pulled out another blanket exactly like the one he’d given her the day he first met her. Wrapping her in it, he picked Krista up and gently placed her back in the truck. This time he didn’t fasten her seatbelt, but just shut the door. He got in on his side, reached over and pulled her in, close to his body. There! She could sit in the middle, right beside him, and only then did he reach over and fasten her seatbelt. “Lean on me if you want, or turn to the side and lean on the back of the seat,” he told her, trying to help her the only way he could. When she turned to her side but lay her face against his shoulder, he heard her whisper quietly.

“Warm.” He placed his arm across her legs and over the top of the blanket which was covering her and got back on the road. He hoped she would sleep, and this time when he carried her into the house, he would use his key and he wouldn’t have to wake her up.