Trinity (16 page)

“Who?” Dr. Hale and I both respond in unison.

“That’s Reese Dane. Dr. Dane’s twin brother. He’s a legend, on and off the track,” Freddy divulges.

“Track? What the hell are you talking about?” Dr. Hale asks, utterly confused.

“He’s a motorcycle racer. World famous, badass, Moto Grand Prix champion.”

“Why do you call him the phantom?” I ask.

Both Freddy and Lex look up at me and smirk. “Because you never see him coming, baby.” Lex flashes an overconfident smile. “He sneaks up on you just like a ghost.”

I roll my eyes so hard they nearly get lost in my head. Just what the world needs, a second Dane with an even bigger ego.

“Contact Dr. Dane,” Dr. Hale instructs Lex. “I’m sure he’ll want to know his brother has been in an accident. As for you two, let’s get Mr. Dane patched up and into recovery.”

We all nod at the doctor’s orders.

It takes close to an hour to reposition the bones in Reese’s leg and then cast him. On top of his injured lower extremities, he also had a dislocated shoulder that we needed to be popped back into place. All in all, it wasn’t the worst motorcycle accident I’ve seen. He managed to hang onto his life.

“Mr. Dane won’t be doing much racing.” Dr. Hale pulls off her gloves and discards them.

“No, he won’t.” I look down at the unconscious man. The resemblance is uncanny. Every feature the exact same as Dev’s. Dark wavy hair, high cheekbones, strong jaw, long thick eyelashes, and tons of ink. The most intricate designs I’ve ever seen. The entire right side of his body is covered—arm, chest, torso, thigh, calf. It looks like he’s half machine. Just like the Terminator when his fake flesh was pulled off his body.

“See something you like, Nurse Kincade?” Dr. Hale teases me.

“Huh?” I look up realizing I’m inspecting Reese a little too closely. “Oh.” I step back and clear my throat. I feel like I was just caught with my hand in the cookie jar. “I’ve just never seen a tattoo like that before.”

“You’ve never seen Dev without his shirt off then,” Dr. Hale purrs.

My face drops. “Not you, too.” I thought she had more respect for herself.

“Oh, God no. I have my own bad boy at home. I saw Dev changing his shirt in the parking garage after work one night. Lord.” She fans herself. I can’t even. It’s like Dev emits pheromones. “It’s definitely at least worth a peek.”

“I’ll remember that.” I scrunch my nose. The last thing I need is to be looking at Devlin Dane without any clothes on.

We walk out of the room together as Reese is wheeled into recovery. I can’t believe Dev has a brother. An identical twin. He never even hinted he had a sibling. I can’t get over the craziness of it all.

Dr. Hale makes her way back into the ER as I escort Reese. I’m not technically on duty, so there’s no place pressing I have to be.
Except the gym.
It’s close to ten p.m. by the time everything settles down. It’s a slow night in recovery, so I figure the nurses are probably catching up on charts—
or chitchatting
. Take your pick. It’s just me, a comatose Reese, and the guy snoring across the room.

As hard as I try, I can’t bring myself stop looking at Dev’s twin. It’s like I’m staring at a carnival attraction.

I lean in closer without even thinking and inspect the mechanical tattoo some more. It’s so detailed. Not one centimeter of skin is showing. I touch the lifelike metal gears and springs, marveling at the 3D effect, when Reese suddenly wakes with a start, latching onto my arm.

“Ouch!” He squeezes so hard I know I’m going to bruise.

“Where am I?” he demands in a panic.

I struggle to get free but his hand is like a steel vise. Maybe he really is part robot.

“Where. Am. I?”

“The hospital.” I jerk my arm. “You were in an accident. You sliced your thigh and broke your leg.”

“Who are you?” He looks directly into my eyes, his hand still clamped around my bicep. He’s holding me so tight, my limb is starting to go numb. If he didn’t just sustain life-threatening injuries, I would punch him just so he’d let go.

“I’m Nurse Kincade, and Mr. Dane, you’re fucking hurting me,” I grind out.

He releases me immediately. He may be Dev’s brother, but he definitely doesn’t share his bedside manner.

“Where’s my brother?” He looks around the room, skittishly. Geez, wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did we?

“He’s on his way,” I assure him in a calm tone.

“He’s right here.” Dev’s voice echoes behind me. “It would behoove you to be nice to Nurse Kincade. She saved your sorry ass.”

We both look up at Dev.

“You heard about that already?” I ask.

“I think the whole hospital heard, superstar.” He nudges me.

I bite my lip. I wasn’t trying to do anything heroic, just my job. “Say thank you, you schmuck.”

Reese sneers at Dev. “Thank you.”

That was heartfelt.

I look back and forth between the two of them in awe; it’s like gazing into a mirror.

“You’re welcome.” My response is actually genuine.

Reese glares at me circumspectly, as if he doesn’t know what to make of me. It’s a little unnerving. And frankly, rude.

“What happened exactly?” Dev asks.

“We were stopped at a red light. A drunk driver just barreled into him from behind. He went flying into some oncoming traffic and slammed into a car. He flew over the hood, but I didn’t see him land.” I reiterate exactly what I saw, leaving out the engine fornication moments before.

“Wow. You’re lucky, bro. I swear, it’s like a four-leaf clover is shoved up your ass with all the crashes you’ve lived through.” Dev crosses his arms and shakes his head incredulously.

“Yeah, real lucky.” Reese drops his head on the pillow and stares up at the ceiling.

“Can I have some alone time with my brother?” Dev asks.

“Absolutely.” I immediately start to walk backward. I can imagine the emotional trauma Reese is probably experiencing right now. It has to be disconcerting to wake up in a hospital bed with a cast halfway up your thigh and have absolutely no recollection how or why you got there.

“See you tomorrow,” I tell Dev. “Feel better,” I throw out at Reese. They both reply with the same answering head gesture, and my tailbone tingles unexpectedly.

Holy shit.
Not one Devlin Dane, but two.

Have. Mercy.

I
watch Kayla hurry out of the room. She’s still wearing her pink scrubs from earlier with my brother’s blood smeared all over the front. I’m glad it was her. The girl is smart as a whip and knows what she’s doing. It’s probably why she stays the hell away from me.

“Got a crush or something?” Reese asks snidely.

I turn to face him. “She’s a colleague.”

“And that’s stopping you why?” he grunts.

I shake off the idiot remark. Who I want to fuck is irrelevant at the moment.

“How do you feel?” I redirect.

“Like I just got hit by a car.”

I peer down at my snarky brother.

“Seriously.” I pin him with a stern glare.

“A little bit of pain,” he discloses.

“Where?”

“My leg and shoulder.”

“What about your chest?” I narrow my eyes.

“No, none there,” he grumbles.

“Perfect. Just what I want to hear.”

“Where’s my stuff?” Reese asks tensely, possessively.

“Relax, your precious backpack made it through the accident unscathed.” The fucking thing is like his security blanket. “I can’t say the same for your clothes, though.”

“I don’t give two shits about my clothes. My backpack is all that matters.” He settles down a bit. “How long am I down for?” he cuts to the chase.

It’s my turn to grunt. “You broke both bones in your leg. You’re out for the rest of the season, man.”

“What?” Reese nearly jumps out of bed. “Isn’t there anything we can do to speed up the healing process? Cortisone injections? Hydrotherapy?”

I shake my head vigorously. “This isn’t a torn muscle. I know you understand that. It’s highly unlikely you’ll race again soon.” I deliver the bad news.

Reese punches the mattress. I know how devastating this is for him to hear. Ever since I can remember, racing has been his life. It’s like he breathes it, and this year, he was a shoo-in to take it all home, again. To defend his Grand Prix title. Winning is what drives him. “Recover the right way and go back even stronger next year.” I place a consoling hand on his shoulder.

Anger radiates from his body. I know if he could get up, he’d wail on me. And I’d let him.

“I want a second opinion. What the fuck do you know anyway? You’re a cardiologist.” He lashes out, jerking his arm.

I huff. “You forget my first concentration was sports medicine. I’ve seen this. And I know how long the healing process takes.”

He bristles, fighting back the bubbling emotion.

“I’m going to get you set up in a private room. A little peace and quiet and some rest will do you good.”

“I don’t want peace and quiet. I want fucking fast.” He pulls on his hair with both hands.

I sigh sympathetically. “I know you do. But that’s not an option at the moment.”

Reese makes a sound in this throat like a perturbed cat. This is killing him.

“Want me to stick around a while? Keep you company?”

“Nah, I’m good.” He turns his head away petulantly. For a world famous motorcycle racer, who is a pillar in the Grand Prix community, he can act like a sulky child sometimes. I’ll let it slide this time. His season, and whole reason to be, just went up in smoke.

“How come you never told me you had a brother? A
twin
brother?” Kayla asks as I exit the hospital room. She’s leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for me.

I shrug. “Subject never came up.”

“Bullshit. You know I have no siblings. You know my aunt’s a detective, and my parents are divorced.”

She’s got me there. “I don’t know why I never brought it up.”

“Are you not close?” she snoops.

“We’re close. We’re just . . . different.”

“I noticed.” She pushes off the wall. She’s adorable in her bright pink Nikes and messy bun.

“What are you still doing here?” I snoop back. “Waiting for me?”

“Waiting for my ride,” she sets me straight. “I sort of had to abandon my truck on the side of the road to save your brother’s ass.”

“I can give you a ride if you need one.” I slide closer to her. “Maybe help you clean up. Get you out of these dirty clothes.” I tug on the hem of her shirt.

Kayla shakes her head flirtatiously. “My aunt is on her way. She heard about what happened. Said someone will be here tomorrow to take your brother’s statement. She’s going to take mine.”

“You sure?” I press.

“I’m positive.” She looks me directly in the eyes, steadfast.

One day, I’m going to break right through that resolve, but tonight, I’ll let her be.

Someone suddenly clears their throat behind me. I glance back to see Sam, Kayla’s hard-ass aunt, standing there authoritatively. She’s an older version of Kayla, dark-brown hair pulled back into a tight bun and big brown eyes with flecks of gold. The fact that she packs a piece makes her ten times more the MILF. Well, AILF.

“If you don’t step back, Dr. Dane, I’ll be forced to handcuff you.”

I smile. Did I mention she has a wicked sense of humor, too?

“My apologies, Detective Kincade. I know how protective you are of your niece. I was just keeping an eye on her.”

Both Kayla and Sam laugh animatedly. They don’t buy my shit for a second, and I think that only makes me respect them more. The Kincade women share the same traits: beautiful and no bullshit.

“I appreciate that, Dev, but I think Kayla can look out for herself.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind.” I back away reluctantly from Kayla.

She shoots me a cutsie grin over her shoulder as she walks off. “Later, Dr. Dane.”

“Later, Nurse Kincade,” I mutter under my breath as I watch her hot ass stroll down the hallway. One day, one way or another, I’ll have her more than just passively saying my name. I’ll have her moaning it, screaming it, dreaming about it. I’ll have her living for it.

One day.

One way or a-fucking-nother.