you. I’m good.” She inhaled deeply, reluctant to leave the woodsy scent clinging to him and his strong arms surrounding her. It had been a long time since she’d had someone to lean on, someone to keep her safe.
She took a tentative step toward the corridor. Pain burned in her feet, but it was bearable. She cautiously shifted her weight to the other foot. She could do this.
His strong arms lifted her, cradled her against a solid wall of muscle.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
Dark, brooding eyes stared back at her. Dangerous eyes. “This is foolish. You’re going to hurt yourself worse.”
“Put me down.” She tore her gaze from his.
He dropped her back onto the gurney. “Wait here.”
“Why would I listen to you? I don’t even know you.”
“Look.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “Do you want to get out of here or what?”
An image of Mia flashed through her mind. “Yeah.”
“Then you’re going to have to trust me.”
She lifted an eyebrow, using the skeptical glare she usually reserved for her sister. “Why would I do that?”
His crooked smile sent her heart racing.
“How far do you think you’re going to get with your feet all cut up? Besides, you don’t want germs from whatever might be on this floor to get in those cuts, they’ll get infected.” He held his hands pressed to her leg, an intense scowl marring his perfect features.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
“What? Oh, nothing. Just checking how bad your injuries are.” He glanced over his shoulder, studied the busy corridor for a moment. “Wait here, okay? I promise I’ll come right back.” He hurried into the melee of the emergency room.
She swung her feet off the edge of the gurney. Would he come back? How long could she wait? Maybe she should let them tend to her feet before she left. She wouldn’t be any good to Mia if she couldn’t even walk.
“Look what I found.” The nurse’s singsong voice pulled her back from the brink of indecision.
“Mia.” Tears sprang into Ryleigh’s eyes. There was no way to contain them. A sob tore through her as the floodgates opened.
Mia pulled her hand from the nurse’s and ran to her sister. “Ryleigh.” She threw herself into Ryleigh’s arms. “Are you all right?”
Hugging Mia tight, Ryleigh helped her onto the gurney. The smell of smoke clung to the younger girl’s hair and clothes, burned Ryleigh’s eyes, but she only pulled her closer. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” She held Mia at arm’s length. Torn clothes, tear streaked soot covering her face, matted hair. No injuries she could see. Oh, thank God.
Mia collapsed back into her arms.
Ryleigh curled protectively around her.
“Come on, dear.” Tears filled the nurse’s eyes, but she wore a kind smile as she helped Mia move from Ryleigh’s grip. “Why don’t you sit right here next to your sister, while I clean up her feet?”
Mia clutched tightly to Ryleigh’s hand but inched up to sit beside her, allowing the nurse room to work.
“Where have you been?” Ryleigh brushed Mia’s hair behind her ear. “I was so scared.”
“They brought me in the ambulance with you but took you away as soon as we got here.” Mia choked back a sob, sniffed. “They wouldn’t let me see you.”
“It’s all right, baby.” She hugged Mia awkwardly. “You’re with me now. Everything is going to work out.” A sharp pain in her foot made her flinch.
“I’m sorry, dear. I’m going to give you something for the pain, so I can clean these wounds.”
Ryleigh nodded. “Thank you.”
The nurse prepared a syringe and injected it into Ryleigh’s foot, then went to work.
Ryleigh tried to keep her mind off the pain, occupying her attention by staring into the turmoil of the emergency room. An orderly pushed a stretcher past her cubicle. An elderly man, bleeding profusely from a head wound. Maybe he’d been caught in the earthquake. A woman stormed past, obviously angry. High heels clattered. Someone screamed. The odor of antiseptic clung to everything.
Her gaze traveled past the stranger, at first, but shot back to him almost instantly. She held her breath. He was big, his dark hair pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck. Sort of like her stranger, but different, older, his gaze harder, more intense. Dangerous, for sure, but so much more. His eyes held something…evil, something that made her skin crawl and the sweat creep down her back. She tried to turn away, but his gaze pinned hers, and she froze.
“Hi.” A woman dressed in a business suit entered the cubicle pushing a computer on a cart. She only blocked Ryleigh’s view for a second, but when she moved out of the way, the stranger was gone.
Maybe the pain made her imagination run wild.
“I have to ask you a few questions.”
Uh…oh. The words splashed over her like ice water. Ryleigh no longer had a legal guardian, nor did she have medical insurance. “Ouch,” she screeched and pulled her foot away from the nurse.
“You have to stay still.”
“It hurts, though.” Ryleigh squirmed, more from fear of answering questions than pain.
“I know, but the quicker I get it done the sooner you’ll feel better.” The nurse smiled at her.
A small niggle of guilt tugged at Ryleigh’s conscience. “Please.” She let the tears flow freely down her face as she addressed the woman with the computer. “I’m in so much pain. Can’t you come back and ask questions later?”
A look of sympathy crossed the woman’s face, and she squeezed Ryleigh’s hand. “Sure. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
Ryleigh finally took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
Just as the woman pushed the clattering cart into the hallway, Mia coughed.
Using the sounds as cover, Ryleigh buried her face in Mia’s hair. “Did you tell them anything?” Unsure if the soft whisper of sound had reached her sister, she held her breath and waited for an answer.
The quick, discreet shake of Mia’s head allowed her to relax. She dropped back against the stretcher. With Mia’s weight pressed firmly against her and the knowledge that they were safe for the moment, she allowed her eyes to drift closed.
The kind nurse kept up an incessant stream of chatter, the sound merging with the background noise of the emergency department and creating a steady buzz in Ryleigh’s already pounding head. She tried to block the racket, the pain, the fear.
Letting her mind
