Reluctant Prince (4 page)

“It’s okay, honey. Just relax.” An elderly nurse patted her arm.

Yeah right. She started to cough.

The hands that had worked so hard to restrain her now eased her up. Someone raised the back of the stretcher and tucked the torn sleeve of her blouse up to adjust the IV.

Once the coughing fit subsided, she fell back against the bed. She rubbed her chest, but it didn’t relieve her pain.

Someone adjusted a tube under her nose. Oxygen? Had she pulled it free in her struggles?

“Welcome back, Ryleigh. I’m Dr. Martin. Do you know where you are?”

The small cubicle housed a variety of machines, a tray holding an assortment of instruments and bloody cloths, the doctor, and two nurses. “I’m in the hospital.” Rawness scratched her throat. “What happened?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” The doctor had kind eyes, but his concerned frown hardened them.

Ryleigh licked her lips, but it did little to relieve the dryness. She tried to swallow, which led to another coughing episode.

A nurse pressed a paper cup into her hand.

Grateful, Ryleigh popped an ice chip into her mouth and moved it around, hoping to ease the worst of the discomfort and stall for time. Her stomach turned over, and she abandoned the cup on the counter beside her.

“There was an earthquake?”

The doctor nodded distractedly as he studied Ryleigh’s eyes.

“Is my sister here? I have to find my sister.” She sat up and tugged the tubing from beneath her nose.

“Hey, hey, hold on.” He stilled her hands, took the oxygen from her, and returned it to its place. “I’m not sure if your sister’s here, hon, but we can find out for you. Just lie back down so I can finish up here. What’s your sister’s name?”

“Mia.” She settled back down, tried to fight back the fear and co-operate.

“Her full name?”

Ryleigh dropped her head back without answering and reached for her head.

The doctor stopped her. “You have stitches in your head.” He pressed a piece of gauze against the injury and taped it into place. “Can you tell me what—”

“Please, doctor. I need to find my sister.” Pain hammered through her head. Her hands shook. Nausea threatened.

The doctor nodded to one of the nurses, who turned and left the room. “Don’t worry, honey. The nurse won’t be long. If your sister’s here she’ll find her.” He sat back and studied Ryleigh. “There, you’re all done. How do you feel?”

Ryleigh breathed a small sigh of relief. A safe topic. “Everything hurts.”

“You’ll feel better in a couple of days.” He patted her knee. “Just sit tight, and I’ll be back in a few minutes. We’re going to do some x-rays and clean up your feet and legs.” He stood, pulled the curtain aside and was instantly swallowed up by the bedlam of the emergency room.

She hadn’t noticed the stinging before the doctor mentioned it, but now it stole every bit of her concentration. Her feet and knees were on fire. She turned one foot up to examine the bottom and dropped it back down just as quickly. Ouch. Would she be able to walk? Well, she didn’t have a choice. She had to find Mia and get out of there. The last thing she needed was a social worker breathing down her neck. She’d be eighteen in less than a year, and then she could be Mia’s legal guardian. In the meantime, they both had to lay low and keep from drawing attention to themselves.

She sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the stretcher. Everything swam in and out of focus, and she gripped the bed tightly. Sweat coated her forehead. She stared straight ahead trying to steady her vision.

A shadow moved toward her.

She squinted in an effort to bring the shape into focus. Was she hallucinating?

The silhouette moved toward her, the same figure that had emerged from the flames just before she’d escaped the building. The sea of people parted as he strode through the chaos.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she struggled to swallow.

He didn’t seem much older than her, yet he exuded confidence and strength, power even. His features became more defined as he moved closer. Shaggy dark hair, strong jaw, full lips, cold, hard, intense eyes that locked onto hers, sucked her in, caged her.

A jolt of fear shot through her. Who was he? And why was he here? Had he been hurt in the earthquake? Somehow she didn’t think so. His black jeans and long-sleeved black shirt didn’t have a mark on them, unlike her own tattered skirt and blouse. Not to mention the ruined panty hose shredded around her legs.

He elicited strong feelings in her, conflicting emotions that made no sense. Why was she so afraid of him? More importantly, why was she so inexplicably drawn to him? She ripped her gaze away and pushed her hair behind her ears with shaky hands, the movement breaking the hypnotic trance he held over her.

She pulled the oxygen from her face and dropped the tubing onto the counter but had no clue how to disconnect the IV. The thought of pulling the needle out of her arm sent bile rushing back up her throat. She forced it down again and searched the room for another solution. A pole on wheels stood in the corner. Perfect. She’d hang the IV bag from the pole and push it with her as she’d seen other patients doing.

She scanned the floor in search of her shoes. The pang of regret only lasted a moment when she remembered shucking the dreaded pumps somewhere in her rush to escape the building. “All right, here goes.”

Ryleigh sucked in a breath and held it as she pushed off the gurney and lowered her feet gently to the cold tile floor. The cool tile soothed the burn, but then she took her first step. Pain flared up her leg and into her hip. Her knee buckled, and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the fall.

Instead of hitting the floor as she’d expected, she crashed against a warm, hard body. Her eyes shot open, and she gasped, filling her lungs with a deep, rich, earthy scent.

“Whoa, are you all right?”

“I’m sorry.” She found herself face to face with the man of her dreams. “I…I…umm…”

He grinned.

Her heart skipped a beat.

“Where are you trying to go?” He looked down at her bruised, swollen knee and his grin quickly turned to a frown. “You shouldn’t be trying to stand.”

Heat crept up her cheeks. “I have to find my sister.” No way would she confide in this stranger, no matter how attracted she was to him.

“Can I help you?”

“That’s okay, thank you. I’m good.” She inhaled deeply, reluctant to leave the woodsy scent clinging to him and his strong arms surrounding her. It had been a long time since she’d had someone to lean on, someone to keep her safe.

She took a tentative step toward the corridor. Pain burned in her feet, but it was bearable. She cautiously shifted her weight to the other foot. She could do this.

His strong arms lifted her, cradled her against a solid wall of muscle.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Dark, brooding eyes stared back at her. Dangerous eyes. “This is foolish. You’re going to hurt yourself worse.”

“Put me down.” She tore her gaze from his.

He dropped her back onto the gurney. “Wait here.”

“Why would I listen to you? I don’t even know you.”

“Look.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “Do you want to get out of here or what?”

An image of Mia flashed through her mind. “Yeah.”

“Then you’re going to have to trust me.”

She lifted an eyebrow, using the skeptical glare she usually reserved for her sister. “Why would I do that?”

His crooked smile sent her heart racing.

“How far do you think you’re going to get with your feet all cut up? Besides, you don’t want germs from whatever might be on this floor to get in those cuts, they’ll get infected.” He held his hands pressed to her leg, an intense scowl marring his perfect features.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“What? Oh, nothing. Just checking how bad your injuries are.” He glanced over his shoulder, studied the busy corridor for a moment. “Wait here, okay? I promise I’ll come right back.” He hurried into the melee of the emergency room.

She swung her feet off the edge of the gurney. Would he come back? How long could she wait? Maybe she should let them tend to her feet before she left. She wouldn’t be any good to Mia if she couldn’t even walk.

“Look what I found.” The nurse’s singsong voice pulled her back from the brink of indecision.

“Mia.” Tears sprang into Ryleigh’s eyes. There was no way to contain them. A sob tore through her as the floodgates opened.

Mia pulled her hand from the nurse’s and ran to her sister. “Ryleigh.” She threw herself into Ryleigh’s arms. “Are you all right?”

Hugging Mia tight, Ryleigh helped her onto the gurney. The smell of smoke clung to the younger girl’s hair and clothes, burned Ryleigh’s eyes, but she only pulled her closer. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” She held Mia at arm’s length. Torn clothes, tear streaked soot covering her face, matted hair. No injuries she could see. Oh, thank God.

Mia collapsed back into her arms.

Ryleigh curled protectively around her.

“Come on, dear.” Tears filled the nurse’s eyes, but she wore a kind smile as she helped Mia move from Ryleigh’s grip. “Why don’t you sit right here next to your sister, while I clean up her feet?”

Mia clutched tightly to Ryleigh’s hand but inched up to sit beside her, allowing the nurse room to work.

“Where have you been?” Ryleigh brushed Mia’s hair behind her ear. “I was so scared.”

“They brought me in the ambulance with you but took you away as soon as we got here.” Mia choked back a sob, sniffed. “They wouldn’t let me see you.”

“It’s all right, baby.” She hugged Mia awkwardly. “You’re with me now. Everything is going to work out.” A sharp pain in her foot made her flinch.

“I’m sorry, dear. I’m going to give you something for the pain, so I can clean these wounds.”

Ryleigh nodded. “Thank you.”

The nurse prepared a syringe and injected it into Ryleigh’s foot, then went to work.

Ryleigh tried to keep her mind off the pain, occupying her attention by staring into the turmoil of the emergency room. An orderly pushed a stretcher past her cubicle. An elderly man, bleeding profusely from a head wound. Maybe he’d been caught in the earthquake. A woman stormed past, obviously angry. High heels clattered. Someone screamed. The odor of antiseptic clung to everything.

Her gaze traveled past the stranger, at first, but shot back to him almost instantly. She held her breath. He was big, his dark hair pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck. Sort of like her stranger, but different, older, his gaze harder, more intense. Dangerous, for sure, but so much more. His eyes held something…evil, something that made her skin crawl and the sweat creep down her back. She tried to turn away, but his gaze pinned hers, and she froze.

“Hi.” A woman dressed in a business suit entered the cubicle pushing a computer on a cart. She only blocked Ryleigh’s view for a second, but when she moved out of the way, the stranger was gone.

Maybe the pain made her imagination run wild.

“I have to ask you a few questions.”

Uh…oh.
The words splashed over her like ice water. Ryleigh no longer had a legal guardian, nor did she have medical insurance. “Ouch,” she screeched and pulled her foot away from the nurse.

“You have to stay still.”

“It hurts, though.” Ryleigh squirmed, more from fear of answering questions than pain.

“I know, but the quicker I get it done the sooner you’ll feel better.” The nurse smiled at her.

A small niggle of guilt tugged at Ryleigh’s conscience. “Please.” She let the tears flow freely down her face as she addressed the woman with the computer. “I’m in so much pain. Can’t you come back and ask questions later?”

A look of sympathy crossed the woman’s face, and she squeezed Ryleigh’s hand. “Sure. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Ryleigh finally took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Just as the woman pushed the clattering cart into the hallway, Mia coughed.

Using the sounds as cover, Ryleigh buried her face in Mia’s hair. “Did you tell them anything?” Unsure if the soft whisper of sound had reached her sister, she held her breath and waited for an answer.

The quick, discreet shake of Mia’s head allowed her to relax. She dropped back against the stretcher. With Mia’s weight pressed firmly against her and the knowledge that they were safe for the moment, she allowed her eyes to drift closed.

The kind nurse kept up an incessant stream of chatter, the sound merging with the background noise of the emergency department and creating a steady buzz in Ryleigh’s already pounding head. She tried to block the racket, the pain, the fear.

Letting her mind drift brought visions of the tall, dark stranger who’d disappeared once again. Had she imagined him?

Images of the second stranger intruded, ratcheted up the tension level, tightened her muscles,

Mia shifted.

The movement sent a bolt of pain through Ryleigh’s head. “Ugh.”

“You okay?”

Ryleigh caught the raw fear in Mia’s eyes.

“Of course, I’m okay.”

The tears spilled over and poured down Mia’s cheeks. She turned her face into Ryleigh’s chest and wept.

“It’s all right, baby. I’m fine.” She rubbed Mia’s back, smoothed her hair. Poor baby.

“I…was…” She sniffed, struggled to gain control. “I was so scared.”

“Baby, calm down. I’m here, everything’s all right now.”

“I thought you wouldn’t find me. Then I thought you were going to…” Sobs shook her tiny, fragile body.

“Oh, honey.” Ryleigh used her sleeve to wipe away her own tears. “I’m sorry. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

Mia lifted her head, her eyebrows drawn together, anger coloring her cheeks. “You can’t know that, and you can’t promise me that.”

Ryleigh grabbed a box of tissues from the counter, pulled out a couple, and handed the rest of the box to Mia. Her parents would have done anything to stay with their children. Her grandmother’s fight had been desperate, but futile, as she struggled to hold on until Ryleigh was old enough to be Mia’s guardian. She sighed. “Look. I can’t promise you nothing will ever happen to me, but I can promise I’ll be here for you as long as I live. Always. I’ll never leave you, baby, and there’s no way I would have left that building without finding you first. So no more worries. Deal? It’s just you and me now. We’ll always take care of each other. Right?”