This time Reagan was sure Ahmed was going to pass out. Then his face flushed with anger. “Who touched my Spawn?” he demanded. “I’ll neuter that dog the second I find him.”
“Ahmed, it was planned. After Robyn got those tracking titles and made the news on her search-and-rescue ability, Bridget and Sydney decided to breed her. Sydney’s donating a puppy to the Keeneston sheriff’s department and they’ve already received a list a mile long of people who want a puppy. Robyn was bred to the top Vizsla in the country. He had both his show and his master hunter title. Everyone from the show world, hunting world, search-and-rescue, to the military wants one of those puppies. I’m surprised Bridget or Sydney didn’t tell you. We didn’t know if she was pregnant yet, though. We were going to ultrasound her next week. She’s twenty-three days along by my count.”
“Excellent!” Dr. Monroe grinned.
Ahmed did not grin. Instead he hurriedly picked Robyn up in his arms and stood up. “She needs food. And more water. And a soft bed. Thanks, doc,” he said to Dr. Monroe before grabbing the phone and ordering Katelyn to send him everything he needed to take care of a pregnant dog.
“That’s a man who loves his dog,” Debbie said with astonishment as Ahmed kicked the door open and rushed down the hall with Robyn in his arms. Reagan didn’t have the heart to tell them Ahmed wasn’t the owner. After the past twenty-four hours, she was sure he had moved up from “last man on earth to watch Robyn” to “Godfather” status.
“Well, the wife will certainly never believe me when I tell her about my day. I can take you to the surgical waiting room if you’d like,” Dr. Monroe said as he opened the door for Reagan.
“Thank you for all you’ve done for me today,” Reagan said sincerely.
“You’re welcome. The nurses have filled me in on what’s going on. You and your husband are very brave. I’ll bring you an ice pack for your face as well as medicine to help with the pain. I think you should also know that the media knows you’re here and the FBI has already called, wanting updates. We did not give out any information to either of them. I want you both fully recovered before the wolves descend.”
Reagan stopped walking and hugged Dr. Monroe tight. “Thank you.”
Dr. Monroe shoved his glasses up his nose and appeared to puff up. “Well, you’re quite welcome. Surgery waiting room is right here. I’ll be back in a jiffy with your ice pack and meds.”
Reagan took a deep breath. Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay. She repeated it five more times in her head before pushing open the door to the full waiting room. She was greeted with silence and then everyone from Keeneston rushed forward.
28
Carter didn’t know whether he was awake or asleep, dead or alive. He remembered getting married. And then it went fuzzy. He had images of Cy running angrily at him. Then he had images of Reagan crying. He had images of Aniyah shooting off his toe. And he had images of him standing with his hospital gown flapping open in front of all of Keeneston while his mom snapped a picture.
Suddenly everything went black and it felt as if someone had reached into his brain and begun to pull him out. It hurt and he didn’t want to, but he opened his eyes enough to look down at him. He was dressed in a hospital gown nightmare. His gown was on backwards and open to his waist where a large white bandage began.
“Carter?” Reagan asked, appearing at his side. “Can you hear me?”
At least Reagan wasn’t crying in this dream, but why was there a huge bandage down by his package . . . oh no! Carter moved his hand to feel under the sheet and let out a sigh of relief.
“What is it, Carter?” Reagan asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I still have my penis.” Reagan flushed red and swallowed down a laugh as he pushed the sheet down. “See?”
“Yes, I see,” Reagan grinned as she leaned forward to kiss him as she pulled up his sheet.
“Hey,” Carter said once she stopped kissing him. “This is my dream and I want my sheet off. And why aren’t you in a naughty nurse outfit? Maybe give me a sponge bath,” Carter winked as he reached out to tug at her shirt.
“Do you want to get shot twice in one day?” A deep, feral voice snapped from the darkness.
Carter turned his head and saw Cy sitting with Gemma and his own parents. His hands were fisted while Gemma and his mother were looking anywhere but at him. His father, on the other hand, looked highly amused.
“So, it is a nightmare. You have that same look again,” Carter said with a sigh. “Damn, and I thought I’d at least get to see you naked again,” Carter winked to Reagan, who was shaking her head. “You’re shaking your head just like that one time when we were in the middle of making out and I had your thighs over my shoulder and your dad knocked on the door. That was funny. You have the same exact look on your face as you do now.”
Cy growled angrily and Carter rolled his eyes as he lolled his head back at his nightmare. “Do you know you sound like a mix between a wet cat growling and a rabid dog? It’s really rather funny.”
Carter’s father lost it then. He broke out laughing, and Carter rolled his head back over to find Reagan laughing as she tried to pull the sheet up again. “I’m not going to see you naked, am I? Damn nightmare.”
“Not right now,” she said kindly as Cy mumbled something about “never” seeing her naked.
“Well, have Aniyah shoot me so I get this nightmare over with. Maybe in the next dream I can see you in a naughty nurse outfit without our parents in the room.”
“Mr. Ashton, I see you’re awake,” a doctor said, coming into the room with a clipboard and a smile. “How are you feeling?”
“He wants to have sex with my daughter,” Cy said with a strangled voice.
“Wet cat, definitely,” Carter muttered as he nodded to himself. Maybe this is the part of his dream where he gets marched around the hospital naked.
The doctor’s eyes dropped down and Carter saw him struggling to hide the smile. “Well, I guess that answers the question if there was any damage to the groin. As much as you’d like to engage in sexual intercourse with your wife, you need to recover a little while longer. Once you get home, you’ll need to check with your specialist, but I am guessing with healing time for your pelvis and femoral artery, you’ll need to wait four weeks before engaging in sexual activity. Tomorrow morning a therapist will be in here to do some exercises and get you up and walking with some crutches. You’ll need physical therapy at home for eight weeks or so, with a full recovery set for eight to twelve weeks from now.”
“This is a whole new nightmare,” Carter groaned.
“When can we return home?” Reagan asked as Carter began to really look around again. Where was Aniyah? She’d usually shot him at this point in the dream.
“Two days. I’d like to keep him here and monitor the bullet wound and to make sure the femoral artery is in good shape before sending him home. The drive could be strenuous on him.”
“Our friend has offered his helicopter to fly Carter home,” his mother said, finally looking at him. Oh no.
“Mr. Ashton?” the doctor asked as he hurried forward to check Carter’s pulse as machines started beeping. “Are you feeling pain? I can increase your morphine—”
“No,” Carter said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He opened them again and saw worried faces all around him and none of them were of Aniyah waving a gun. Carter grimaced at he looked at his father-in-law and back to the doctor. “I’m fine. If I could just have a moment with my wife.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Remember what I said about sexual activity. Your husband needs rest,” the doctor said to Reagan who nodded.