Scattered Ashes (10 page)

“Damn!” she swore and clenched her eyes shut.

“Well, I’d say the chances are good she’ll be all right,” he said, chuckling.  “Nicole, I need you to open your eyes again, please.”

“It makes my head hurt,” she said, trying again to get away from him.

“I know.  But I need to see your pupils so I know whether we need to call an ambulance.”

The thought of having to go to the hospital got her attention, and she forced open her eyes in spite of the pain.  At first, everything was blurry. She could tell by the shapes where both Sarah and the guy were.  Sarah hovered in the background while the stranger knelt beside her, leaning close.

“Well, her pupils are normal-sized, so that’s a good thing.”

Nicole lifted her hand to her head, but the stranger stopped her.  “Easy there.  You cut your forehead on the bricks.”

“Must be why it hurts,” she muttered and blinked, trying to get the world to come back into focus.  It worked.  The guy’s dark hair took shape first, and when she could finally see his eyes, she realized just how brown they were, much darker than Jordan’s.  She chewed her bottom lip not only to distract herself from the pain splitting her head but also to try and make things seem less foggy.

“Are you a doctor?” she asked, puzzled at how he knew so much about caring for a head wound.

“Nope.  Used to be an EMT.  Now I’m just a lawyer.”  He turned to Sarah.  “Do you think she broke anything?”

“I don’t think so,” Sarah said, chewing her nails as she anxiously watched him check out her friend.

The guy turned back to Nicole.  “Do you think you can sit up?”

If it’ll keep me out of the hospital, you betcha,
Nicole thought, taking a deep breath.  “Probably.  Could you at least tell me your name?”

He chuckled, and Nicole found irritation in it.  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I only tell people who are standing so if you can get to your feet, I’ll let you know.”  He winked at her.

“Funny guy.”  She gritted her teeth and started to sit up in spite of the way it made everything fuzzy and unbalanced.  She was grateful when the stranger slipped his hand to her back and gently helped her upright.

"You okay?” he asked softly, the sudden smugness gone as he watched her.

“Of course I’m fine.  It’s just a little bump on the head.”

“I wouldn’t….” he started to say when Nicole found herself falling, with only his arms to keep her from hitting the pavement.

“I’m okay,” she said.  “Just a little dizzy.”

He lifted her hair to peer at the wound on her forehead.  “Be that as it may, I think maybe we might want to take her to a hospital, and we need to call the cops to report that guy.”

“No hospitals,” she spat, “and I really don’t feel like talking to the cops.  I didn’t have much money and no credit cards in the wallet.  I just want to rest.”  She tried to step out of his arms, but he refused to let go.

“Stubborn, aren’t you?”

“Yes.  Now will you tell me your name?”

The grin returned.  “Michael Adams at your service.”  He looked around.  “Do you live in the city, or are you staying at a hotel?”

Sarah said “Hotel” at the same time Nicole muttered “We live here.”  He frowned, looking from one to the other before shaking his head.

“Okay.  You two need to get your stories straight.  Which is it?”

This time, Nicole said “Hotel” and Sarah replied “We live here.” They looked at each other in horror as he started laughing. 

“How about the truth this time?”

“Neither,” Sarah finally admitted, a flush creeping into her cheeks.  “Our reservations fell through, and we live two hours away, in Bristol.”  She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall, almost looking like she were about to burst into tears.

“Okay, that settles it.”  He slid Nicole’s arm around his neck and wrapped his arm around her back.  “Let’s go.”

Nicole tried to plant her feet, but she was still so dizzy she could barely walk.  “Where do you think we're going?”  She tried to sound condescending.  Instead, her voice only wavered weakly.

He nodded toward the hotel just ahead, the one right on the canal.  “My hotel.  You need to get comfortable, and you aren’t going to be able to do that in a car or with all these people watching.”

Sarah stepped into his path.  “We’re not going to your hotel.  We don’t even know you.”

“Good point.  Then again, I do have an extra room that you can use with no strings attached, and I don’t think you want to find a bed for her at the hospital, so if you would just humor me, I’d appreciate it.”  He looked from one to the other, waiting for more arguments, and when none came, he started walking again. 

Although Nicole would have preferred to make it on her own, she knew she couldn’t.  As it was, she leaned heavily against Michael’s chest, aware he was just a little taller than she was, but it felt good to know his arms were keeping her standing.  More than once, she felt herself drifting toward blackness.  Michael must have sensed it, too, because he would then shake her back to wakefulness, saying, “Your head just hit the wall, which means you need to stay awake--unless you want me to take you to a hospital.”

That threat worked wonders at keeping her conscious.  It just seemed to take a long time to walk to the hotel, and her head was splitting.  Once they'd finally arrived, Michael slipped his plastic key into the lock and propped open the door.  Sarah swept in behind them.

“Here we are.”

Sarah and Nicole studied the room and the way he had neatly arranged his belongings.  The maid had obviously been there, as the bed was made and the trash empty.  “You’re very neat,” Nicole muttered, feeling more light-headed than ever.

“Interesting thing for you to notice.  Let’s get you to the bed.”  He eased Nicole down on it and waited until she was settled before warning her.  “Remember, no sleeping for a while, okay?”

“Got it,” she said, gritting her teeth as he walked over to one of his suitcases and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol he handed to Sarah.  “This might help with the pain.  He thumbed toward the next room.  “I’m on a business trip with a friend, and he unknowingly booked a room with two beds.  I’m going to go see if he’s in there, and I’ll move my stuff out.”

Sarah reached for her purse.  “I can pay you for the room.”

He shook his head.  “Don’t worry.  It’s paid for.  Just take care of Nicole--and like I said, I’ll be rooming next door if you need something or she gets worse.”

As he grabbed a few of his things, Sarah caught his arm and said, “Thank you.  So much.”

“It’s the least I could do,” he said and headed out the door.  “I’ll be right back to get the rest of my stuff.”  He glanced at Nicole.  “And remember not to let her sleep.  I’m serious about that.”

“Yes, Mother.” 

Sarah waited until he was gone before breaking the silence.   “Well, that was interesting.”  She wandered over to the bed and sat down as Michael came back from the other room and grabbed another load of his things.  He scanned the room and said, “Well, one more load and I should be done.”  He disappeared into the hallway.

“What was interesting?” Nicole asked, raising her hand to her head.  Sarah saw what she intended to do and grabbed her best friend’s hand.

“Everything.  And you probably still don’t want to touch that.  I should go down to the store and get some peroxide.  Will you be okay by yourself?”

Forcing herself to open her eyes, Nicole finally nodded.  “Yeah, I think I can manage.  I just won’t be getting up from this bed because the room is still spinning.”

She watched Sarah cross her arms over her chest and frown.  “You sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?  You did hit that wall pretty hard, you know?”

Nicole waved her away dismissively.  “I’m not going to the hospital--and don’t you have some peroxide to get?”

“All right.  I’m going.  You stay put.”  Sarah slipped her purse straps over her shoulder and headed out.  A moment later, Michael returned.  He glanced around the room, looking for Sarah.

“Where's your partner in crime?”

Nicole forced her eyes open and started to sit up.  That, of course, really got his attention.

“You should stay put,” he said, moving closer as he eyed her.  “Otherwise, you just might end up on that floor, and it’s not nearly as soft as you might think.”

“You trust my balance so much,” she muttered, sensing he was right.

“Oh, I know you’re unbalanced,” he replied.  “I could sense it about you a mile away.  Then again, it usually takes one unbalanced person to recognize another.”  He walked to the chair and sat, still watching her carefully.

“You know, you really don’t have to babysit me.  I can stay out of trouble.”

He laughed loudly and shook his head.  “Somehow how I doubt that.”  He watched her glare, and the laughter slowly died.  “Besides, I’d rather just sit here until your friend—"

“Sarah,” Nicole interjected.

“Okay, until Sarah comes back.  So I guess you’re just going to have to suffer my presence until then.”

The longer Nicole stared at him, the more his features—the wide face, blunt chin, and perfect teeth—grew on her.  It wasn’t that any of those features by themselves were particularly attractive; it was what happened when all of them came together, and when you added the smile to the mix, he was devastatingly handsome.

“What are you staring at?” Michael asked, leaning forward as he braced his elbows on his thighs and waited.  His gold watch gleamed in the late-afternoon light.

“Nothing,” she muttered, embarrassed and looked away.

Another laugh.  “Okay, now I
know
you hit your head hard,” he muttered.

“And why is that?”

“You were checking me out, and women don’t do that sort of thing.”  He raked his hand through his hair.  “Obviously it has to do with the brain damage you’ve suffered.  Maybe you need a CAT scan.”

Nicole gripped the blanket, feeling her head throbbing a little too much.  She just wasn’t sure if it were because of the cut or being slammed into the wall.  Did it really matter, she wondered.  “And why do you think women don’t find you attractive?”

“Are you saying you do?” he asked, offering a smirk as he leaned forward even more.

“I didn’t say anything.  I asked a question, if you remember.”  She felt herself blushing and hated that feeling, particularly in this case, because she did think he was attractive—not that she wanted him to know it.

He nodded slowly.  “So you did.  My mistake.”

Tired of lying in bed like an invalid, Nicole moved to sit up, which made him rise quickly from the chair and step toward her.  “I don’t think you should be doing that.”

She nodded and gritted her teeth.  “I got that the first fifteen times you said it, Michael.”

He laughed again, but that didn’t keep him from hovering.  “You remembered my name.  That’s definitely a good sign.”

She glared at him.  “Sign of what?”

“Not having a severe head trauma?” he suggested hopefully.  “I have no clue what you were thinking--unless it had to do with staring at me.”

“You're insufferable,” she snapped and got to her feet, which was the wrong thing to do.  Immediately the world started spinning, disoriented her, so she closed her eyes.  She could feel herself falling until Michael wrapped his arms around her again.  Once she'd stopped feeling so dizzy, she opened her eyes and found her face just a few inches from his, and she was right.  If she thought he was attractive from a distance, up close was worse, but at least he wasn’t smirking.  Instead, he frowned and stared at her as though he were mentally trying to check her out.  For a moment, they just stood like that, his arms wrapped around her.  Her heart was racing, and she couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away from his dark brown eyes.  Her eyes seemed to hold the same lure for him.