Unexpected Lovers (3 page)
“Hey, Ryan.”
“Brett,” he answered with a nod, never taking his eyes off Whitney’s feet.
“Busy day?”
“Not until now.”
“Any problem en route?” Brett asked as they moved toward Whitney together.
“No. Gave her the Dilaudid and she did well.”
“Okay, people. We’ve got work to do.” Brett started directing people like a drill sergeant, and Ryan shook his head and smiled. His cousin fired off orders to the nurses, lab people, and radiology technicians in short order. He knew Brett would take good care of Whitney.
A moment later, a small terrified voice met his ear. “Ryan?”
He moved to her side and grasped her fingers. “I’m right here. You’ll be fine. You’ve got one of the best emergency room doctors working on you.”
“Oh yeah? Know him well, do you?”
“You could say that.”
She glanced to her other side.
“Hi. What’s your name?” Brett asked and Ryan knew he was trying to assess her mental status.
“Whitney Scott.”
“Do you know what today is?”
A frown wrinkled the skin between her eyebrows. “Mmm…June tenth.”
“What year?”
“Two-thousand-ten.”
“Well, Whitney, my name is Doctor Novak.”
Her gaze moved from Ryan to Brett and back, and the frown returned. Confusion was bright in her gaze.
“It’s okay to be confused, Whit. Everyone is. This is Brett Novak. He’s my cousin.”
“Damn! You two look so much alike. Same dark hair. Different eyes, though.”
Both men chuckled, and Brett said, “Yeah. We get that a lot.” Brett’s hands moved over her arms and then her abdomen, pushing softly as he asked if she hurt. “Whitney, we are going to be doing a bunch of tests on you. Blood work, x-rays, and a CAT scan at least. How’s your pain?”
“Not bad right now. Ryan made sure of that.”
Brett glanced in his direction when he said, “Yeah, he’s a pretty good guy.”
“No bias there, huh?”
A warm chuckle left his full lips when he looked down at her. “Not a bit. Do you hurt anywhere else?”
“My chest hurts a little.”
“Where?”
“My left?”
“Does it hurt worse with a deep breath?”
After a quick inhale, she said, “Not really.”
“We’re going to step out, and the nurses are going to get you undressed, put a catheter in, and get the tests ordered. I’ll be back to check on you shortly.”
“Ryan?” she asked, giving him a pitiful look.
“I won’t be far.” He squeezed her hand, and she nodded. Releasing her fingers, he stepped away from the gurney and followed Brett out to the desk.
“Grandview Trail, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“What was she doing out there alone?”
“She wasn’t. Her husband made the trek with her. They weren’t too far down the trail, but enough that it made it interesting getting to her.”
Brett’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “So where’s he now?”
Ryan raked his fingers through his hair. “Damned if I know, but if I get my hands on him, I’ll kill him.”
“Really? Why?” Brett asked, surprise evident on his face.
“From what she told me, he left her out there to die.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“No.”
“Be careful, cousin. You don’t want to get involved. Sounds like one hell of a mess.”
“Why the hell not, Brett? Obviously someone needs to help her. What if the asshole comes back to finish things once he finds out he didn’t succeed?”
“Doc? You better get in here!” the nurse yelled from behind the curtain where Whitney lay. “She doesn’t look good.”
“Shit!” Both he and Brett rushed behind the curtain just as the monitor over Whitney’s head starting making an erratic beeping sound.
Chapter Two
“Get the code cart, now!” Brett yelled.
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked, rushing to Whitney’s side.
“Damn it!” Brett quickly assessed her again. “How the hell did I miss that?” he grumbled quietly, noticing the neck vein distention. “I need a sixteen gauge needle and a large syringe.”
“Brett?”
“She’s probably in cardiac tamponade. I need to try to aspirate fluid from around her heart.” His gaze shot over to the nurses rushing around him as sweat tickled down his back. She could die from this if he didn’t intervene now. One nurse handed him the needle, and they all prayed.
Working quickly, he inserted it close to her chest wall, inward and upward, applying constant suction until blood rushed back into the syringe. A collective heavy sigh surrounded the group when the beeping of the heart monitor slowed and became more regular.
“Get a cardiologist down here immediately.”
“Damn, that was close,” Ryan said when their gaze met.
“Yeah, too close.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “I need those x-rays and scan.”
“We’re taking her now, doc,” the technician said from the head of the bed.
“Good. Jackie, go with her. If anything should change, call me immediately.”
“No problem, Doctor Novak,” she answered, moving with the gurney as they headed out of the department.
He moved out to the desk and took a seat in the chair in front of his computer. A sigh rushed from between his lips as he tipped the chair back.
“Brett?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got to get back. Keep me updated on how she is, okay? If she regains consciousness, make sure she knows I’ll be back.”
The look in Ryan’s eyes concerned Brett. He’d never seen his cousin this worried about anyone outside of the immediate family. “All right. I’ll call you later.”
“Thanks.” Ryan nodded and turned toward the ambulance bay.
The automatic glass moved when he got close to it and headed outside to meet the ambulance while Brett watched with a heavy heart. With a quick shake of his head, Brett went back to work, hoping the woman who had already seemed to have snagged his reluctant-to-get-involved cousin by the balls wouldn’t hurt him in the process.
* * * *
Whitney’s chest burned with each breath as she struggled to figure out where she was and what had happened. The steady beeping near her head annoyed her with its droning, constant tone. Her eyelids felt like they weighed ten pounds each when she tried to open them, almost like dirt and grit scratched under both lids.
A soft moan rumbled in her chest and bubbled out from her lips when she struggled with consciousness.
“Whitney?”
Not recognizing the voice near her ear, she frowned and tried to focus.
“Whitney, open your eyes.”
Struggling against the grit behind her eyelids, she slowly lifted them.
“Doctor Novak?”
“Yeah. How do you feel?”
“Like shit.”
He chuckled warmly, and her heart constricted at the sound.
Why would that be? I hardly know the man.
“Call me Brett. You’ve had a rough couple of days.”
“Days?”
“Yes. You’ve been here at the hospital two days now.”
“Damn,” she whispered, not liking the weak sound of her voice. “What happened? The last thing I remember, I was in the emergency room.”
“You went into what we call cardiac tamponade. Basically, it means you had fluid around your heart from the trauma of the fall. We had to aspirate it.”
“No wonder my chest burns.”
Searching the room for a moment with her gaze, she hoped Ryan would be nearby, but disappointment clouded her mind when she didn’t spot him.
Why should he? He was just the rescuer. It’s not like he cares.
“Ryan’s not here at the moment, but he’ll be back in a few minutes. He went to get coffee.”
Am I that predictable?
A frown pulled down the corners of his mouth when he said, “He’s been here off and on since you were brought upstairs.”
“You don’t like that idea for some reason,” she whispered, wanting to know why Brett seemed upset at the idea of Ryan visiting her.
He cocked a questioning eyebrow. “It’s not that.”
She shifted in the bed and moaned softly at the pain that shot through her like a lightning bolt. “Then what? Your eyes give you away, Brett.”
“I don’t want to see Ryan hurt, and I’m afraid getting involved with you is going to do that to him.”
“Why?”
“He told me about how your husband left you in the canyon.”
“Oh.” Focusing on the wall on the other side of the room, she asked, “Do you two share everything?”
“Almost. We’re very close.”
The door swung open, and when she turned her head, her heart slammed against her ribs as Ryan strolled through the door, two large cups of coffee in his hands.
“You’re awake.”
“Yeah,” she murmured, hating how she’d come to depend on his presence and how safe he made her feel in such a short time. “Is one of those for me? I’m dying here.”
The two men chuckled, and Ryan said, “Sorry, darlin’. I imagine now that you’re awake, it’s going to be clear liquids for a day or two.”
Her toes curled at the endearment. “How about caffeine intravenously?”
“No can do,” Brett replied.
“Damn,” she whispered.
Ryan handed the second cup to Brett and took a seat by the bed. “How are you feeling?”
She looked at Brett and then back to Ryan.
“What?”
“I think I just had this conversation with your cousin.”
“So share.”
“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. My chest burns and my leg is killing me.”
“Did Brett fill you in on what happened?” Ryan asked, taking her hand in his.
With a quick glance at where he’d entwined their fingers, she pulled her hand back and said, “Yeah.” With a quick rush of air from between her lips, she shifted her gaze to the ceiling above, trying desperately to calm the rushing in her ears. “So, when can I go home?”
“Home?”
“Yeah, back to L.A.”
Focusing on Ryan’s face again, she almost missed the look between the two men.
