“Yes, I’m her fiancé,” Gray lied smoothly. Luckily, Suzy was too far out of it to dispute this fact, and Gray didn’t intend to be dispatched to the waiting room while she was here alone.
“Ok, Mr. Merimon, I’m Doctor Mills, can you tell me what happened to your fiancé?”
“She fell down a flight of stairs, and as she was beginning her fall, the heel of her shoe caught between an opening in the steps, so I’m afraid she may have injured her ankle before the fall even took place. Her head slammed into the sidewalk at the end of the steps causing the cut on her forehead.”
“Did she lose consciousness at any point?”
“She drifted in and out on the way to the hospital.”
Making a few more notes on her chart, Dr. Mills said, “I’m going to send her for a CAT scan first, Mr. Merimon, and then we will go from there. I don’t want to risk injuring her further by doing a physical exam until we know what, if anything is broken. You’re welcome to accompany her and stay in the waiting room there.”
Suzy looked at him in panic as they started to wheel her bed out into the hall. Gray walked quickly beside her so that he’d be in her line of sight. Soon they were taking her to X-ray, and he was left on his own waiting. He decided to give Jason and Claire a call knowing her friends would want to know what was happening and also because he wasn’t sure if she had family locally that would need to be contacted.
Jason answered the call on the first ring, and Gray filled him in on what was happening. Jason promised that he’d let Claire know, and that they would be at the hospital as soon as possible. Gray also called his brother Nick who was due to arrive in town at any moment. He’d made no secret of his feelings for Suzy to Nick, hell everyone knew how he felt about her but her. She knew of course that he was attracted to her, and she fought that attraction at every corner.
“Hey Nick,” Gray began as his brother’s voice came onto the line, “just wanted to let you know what was going on. Suzy had an accident, and we are at the hospital.”
“Oh shit, you didn’t get your chance to sleep with her finally and give her a heart attack or something did you?”
“Funny, smart ass, no she fell and is having tests right now.”
Gray heard Nick take a deep breath, and then all joking was gone from his voice. “Man, I’m sorry. Is she ok?”
“I don’t really know anything yet. She took a pretty ugly fall though.” Gray gave Nick a brief rundown of what had happened, and even though he assured him that it wasn’t necessary, Nick insisted on getting the name of the hospital and told Gray he was only minutes out of town and would come there first. Gray was glad for all the support he could get at this point.
Finally, after what seemed like years, a different nurse came out and told him that Suzy was finished and was on her way back to her room. Gray rushed back, not wanting her to think he’d left her. When he entered the room, Suzy’s eyes locked on him, and she held her hand out.
Gray took her hand and pulled the seat up beside her. The nurse told him that they were just waiting for the results and that the doctor would be back in as soon as she had them. Gray leaned over the bed and brushed a kiss on Suzy’s forehead and asked, “How are you, baby?”
“Besides feeling like I’ve been beat with a baseball bat, I’m just great. You sure know how to show a girl a good time, cowboy.”
“Hey, I aim to please. I wanted to give you the most memorable night you have ever had, and I think I succeeded, right?”
“Oh yeah, I’m not likely to forget this. I want to make it known right now, though, that all my clingy behavior here is totally due to my accident so don’t get any ideas. We aren’t dating or anything.”
“Duly noted. As soon as you’re healed, I’ll sex you up, just as we planned.”
Suzy choked on a laugh, grabbing her ribs as if it hurt her. “Ugh, no jokes, laughing is torture right now.”
Just as Gray was getting ready to go find the nurse for pain medication, Dr. Mills walked in. “Got your results here, Ms. Denton, and as suspected you have broken your right ankle. We will get a soft cast on your ankle tonight and then have the hard cast put on within a few days. As for the pain you’re having in your ribs, there is no sign of any broken bones which is very good. I suspect that you have bruised your ribs which can be very painful as well. There was no indication of anything abnormal on the CT of your head and due to the level of your alertness, I will allow pain medication. I assume that your fiancé will be on hand to care for you?”
“You assume right, Dr. Mills. I’ll make sure that my fiancé is completely taken care of, rest assured. Will you be admitting her to the hospital?”
“Yes, she’ll be admitted tonight for observation due to the head injury and could possibly be released as early as tomorrow depending on how she’s doing. I’m going to start the process of having Ms. Denton admitted. How’s your pain level?”