At some point, Ruby stopped running her mouth. She pulled in on herself, becoming a smaller and smaller ball. By the time she was tucked up against my side, I couldn’t resist the urge to put my arm around her. How hurt was this child that she sought comfort from a stranger?
There was more to her story than some flippant attitude and a broken wrist. I don’t think she was aware that she let out soft, audible whimpers.
“Ruby?”
Instinctually, I braced, protecting my own. Ruby wasn’t one of my men, but in the few minutes of her succumbing to her pain, she became mine to protect. A left-over hazard of the job. However, it didn’t look like I needed to protect her from Kenzie. And I had to assume the beautiful woman rushing toward us was her older sister. There was a similarity to their features. They were clearly related.
I cleared my throat and reminded myself to focus on the situation, not the curves under Kenzie’s fast food worker’s uniform. Never thought polyester work pants and a corporate Polo could be so attractive on a body. Then again, Kenzie had one hell of a body.
Distractions aside, I managed to fill Kenzie in on our current status. I admired her gumption, and her ass when she got up to ask the triage nurse why Ruby wasn’t being taken into the back. She returned to sit with us before I managed to finally introduce myself. Her hand was so small and soft in mine, I didn’t want to let her go. Something stirred in my chest. Something bigger and stronger than the protective urges I already had for the little sister. I could already tell they were going to end up being important to me. Maybe that was just wishful thinking as I looked at Kenzie. Or maybe I wasn’t really thinking. My blood supply was leaving my brain for regions south of my belt.
“Retired Army, okay. Really?” she asked.
The uncertainty in her voice caught me off guard. Then again, it was safe to say that so far, both of these sisters had me off balance in one way or another.
“What? You sound dubious.”
“Nothing, I just thought you looked like an expensive lumberjack, but the Army makes more sense.”
I ran my hand over my jaw. I had a few days’ worth of stubble, but nothing that could be called a beard. “I don’t have enough facial hair to be a lumberjack,” I complained.
“Excuse me, are you Ruby’s guardian?” The woman wasn’t dressed like a nurse, but she had the same style of ID badge clipped to her collar.
“I am,” Kenzie answered.
“I need her insurance card. Can you come with me, and we can get her checked into the system?”
Kenzie gave me a wry grin as she stood and followed. She came back a few minutes later and sat with a heavy sigh.
Ruby whimpered. I gently patted her back and made a soothing sound at the same time Kenzie did. Our hands brushed. I was very aware that was not the moment to feel something for Kenzie, but there was a buzz of something more than static electricity when we touched. She glanced up at me, and our eyes locked. Her large, luminescent eyes were the sacred pools of a siren, luring me into their depths. I don’t know how long we stared into each other’s eyes like that. The connection that was happening between us was shattered moments later.
“Ruby,” a nurse with a clipboard called out.
“Hey, kiddo, you think you can walk?” I leaned over to look at the kid under my arm when she didn’t immediately jump up as I expected her to.
Kenzie was on her feet and was coaxing Ruby to move.
She moaned and shifted.
“Are you kidding me? You are not asleep,” she scolded.
“No, but moving hurts,” Ruby moaned.
She had been full of sass and sarcasm, but now she just sounded like a wounded little girl.
“Thank Mr. Bowers for bringing you to the ER and calling me,” Kenzie directed.
Ruby moved slowly, as if everything hurt. She didn’t look like she could focus very well when she looked at me. She managed to nod. Her skin looked almost green around the edges of her mouth and under her eyes. I had seen that look of pain before. The body was barely managing to hold it together.
She took one step away, Kenzie started to say something, and for a second time that day, I was catching Ruby as she started to go down.
“Ruby? Ruby!” Kenzie started yelling.
Clipboard nurse was suddenly next to us, no longer waiting impatiently by the double doors.
“I’ve got her,” I said.
“Can you carry her, or should I get a chair?” the nurse asked.
“Lead the way.”
“Are you sure you can carry her? She’s not as small as she used to be.” Kenzie started to hover around like a frantic bee.
“She’s a lot lighter than some of the men I’ve had to carry. I’m good.”
“Wha—?” Ruby started to smack her lips like her mouth was dry and sticky.
“It’s okay, Ruby, you passed out. Can we get her something for the pain?” Kenzie asked as we followed the nurse down the hall and finally into a room.
I set Ruby onto the bed. “There you go. They’ll take good care of you.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Bowers, for being in the right place at the right time,” Kenzie started.
“Tate. Mr. Bowers was my father. I’m glad I could help out.” I put my hand on Ruby’s leg. “You take care, okay?”
“Don’t go,” Ruby whimpered.
“Ruby, we need to let… Tate get on with his day.”
I smiled at her hesitation at saying my name. I liked the way my name sounded on her lips. I liked the way her name felt in my mouth. I was thinking way too much about her lips and kissing her when I should have been more worried about Ruby. Maybe I was allowing myself to be distracted because Ruby was safe?
I shook the thought off. I had spent far too many years being on constant alert. This distraction in the form of Kenzie was almost worrisome. Almost. She was a lovely distraction, and I wouldn’t mind discovering just how distracting she could be.
“I can stick around for a little bit,” I said with a shrug. Any excuse to stay and get to know Kenzie. “How about this? I’ll stay until they take you back for X-rays.”
I knew they would get her wheeled off to the X-ray room sooner rather than later. I wanted to stick around, but I also didn’t want to seem like some kind of creep, overstaying my welcome. I stood out of the way, my hands shoved into my pockets. Kenzie sat nervously on the one chair in the room.
A different nurse swept into the room.
“Can my sister have something for the pain?” Kenzie asked. She sounded desperate.
I wanted to reach out and touch her, offer support and comfort. But I was a stranger, and she hadn’t sought refuge with me the way Ruby had.
“Sorry, not until the doctor reviews the X-rays in case they have to do a surgical reset.”
“Oh, crap, that’s going to be so expensive,” Kenzie said under her breath. I know I wasn’t meant to hear that.
“What happened? Skiing?”
“Fell off my skateboard,” Ruby groaned.
“Were you wearing a helmet?”
“Always,” Kenzie growled. “You were wearing your helmet, right?”
“Yes, I was wearing my helmet.” From Ruby’s annoyed response, I figured this had been a much-discussed situation.
“Did you hit your head? Can we see the helmet to make sure?” the nurse asked.
“I don’t know,” Ruby said.
“Where is your helmet?”
“Oh, right, it’s in Tate’s car with my board,” Ruby said.
“I’ll be right back,” I announced as I pushed off the wall. I jogged outside and grabbed Ruby’s helmet and board from the back of the truck and headed back inside.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The triage nurse stopped me as I headed toward the double doors that led into the area with the ER rooms.
I held up the helmet and board. “I need to give these back to Ruby.”
“Ruby?”
“The kid I brought in with a broken wrist,” I clarified.
“Yes, What’s her name?”
“Ruby,” I repeated.
“Her full name?”
I looked at the woman and tried really hard not to glare and to not shift into officer mode. I couldn’t pull rank on her. She wasn’t a soldier, and I wasn’t in the Army any longer. With a grimace, I shook my head. “Not a clue,” I admitted.
“Well, family members only,” she said rather smugly.
“I’ve already been back to the room with her. I carried her back there,” I tried to explain.
“I’m sorry, but rules are rules. We have to protect our patients.”
She had a point. I didn’t have to like it, but I would abide by her rules.
I held out the items. “Would you please make sure that Ruby gets these back?”
She took the helmet, glancing at the collection of stickers, and sneered as she took the board. “I will, thank you.”
I turned to leave, and then a thought hit me. I strode up to the window where Kenzie had checked in.
“Look, I know you can’t tell me patient names, but can you tell me how much this is going to cost? Does she have a copay?” I explained exactly what I wanted to do.
The woman took my credit card with a smile. “This is the nicest thing I think I’ve ever seen anyone do.”
