off her shoes. After putting them into a plastic bag, the nurse placed it beneath the bed, then pulled the blanket up over the young woman.
“Need anything else?” she asked him. “Other than privacy?”
Sometimes, Georges thought, his reputation kept people from taking him seriously. Usually, it didn’t bother him, but he wanted to make sure that the nurse understood this was on the level. “Jill, the woman’s been in an accident.”
Jill raised her hands to stop him before he could go on. “I know, I know, I saw her grandfather being wheeled out of here to X-ray. Orderly almost popped a wheelie moving by me so fast.” Sympathy crinkled along her all-but-unlined face as she looked down at Vienna. And then the next second, she regained her flippant facade. “Well, you know where all the doctor tools are.” She patted his back. “Call if you need me.” As she began to walk out of the stall, Vienna moaned. Jill paused to wink knowingly at him. “Sounds to me like she’s got the sounds down right. You don’t want people talking. I’d leave the curtain open if I were you.”
Jill left to see about her patient.
Moaning again, Vienna stirred and then opened her eyes. The second after she did, she realized that she was in a horizontal position. She would have bolted upright much too fast, but firm hands on her shoulders pushed her back down onto the mattress.
She blinked and looked up at Georges. Breathing a sigh of relief, she shaded her eyes. “Oh God, what happened?”
“You almost had a close encounter with the hospital floor.” Her eyes widened. He found it incredibly appealing. Innocent and vulnerable and somehow sensuous all at the same time. “I caught you just in time.”
Well, at least she hadn’t made a complete fool of herself, Vienna thought. “That’s twice you’ve come to my rescue.”
He did his best to look serious as he nodded. “Third time and you have to grant me a wish.” Again her eyes widened, but this time, he thought he saw a wariness in them. Was she afraid of him? he suddenly wondered. Or had his teasing words triggered a memory she didn’t welcome? “I’m kidding,” he told her.
“I know that.” Digging her knuckles into the mattress on either side of her, Vienna tried to get up for a second time. With the same outcome. He pushed her gently back on the bed. This time, it required a little more force than before.
She was a stubborn one, he thought. “You’re not going anywhere until I check you over,” he told her.
She began to shake her head, then stopped when tiny little devils with pointy hammers popped up to begin wreaking havoc. Pressing her lips together, willing the pain to go away, she looked up at him. “I’m all right,” she insisted.
His eyes swept over her. Georges couldn’t help smiling in appreciation. Now there’s an understatement.
“Be that as it may, I’d like to make sure for myself.” Reaching for an instrument to check her pupils, he turned on the light and aimed the pinprick directly at her right eye. “Look up, please.”
She resisted, drawing back her head. “This really isn’t necessary.”
He pointed up to a spot on the ceiling and tried again. “Humor me.”
Vienna sighed and stared up at the imaginary spot where he pointed. When he switched eyes and pointed to another area, she complied again.
Georges withdrew the instrument, shutting off the light. “Well?” she asked impatiently.
He returned the instrument to its place. “You don’t appear to have a concussion.”
“That’s because I don’t.”
“But you did faint,” he reminded her. And that could be a symptom of a lot of things—or mean nothing at all. He liked erring on the side of caution when it came to patients. “I could order a set of scans done—”
Vienna cut him off at the pass. “Not on me you can’t.” She said the words with a smile, but her tone was firm. She knew her own body and there was nothing wrong. Besides, if she was in the hospital as a patient, she might not be able to be with her grandfather and he was all that mattered. “I just got a little frazzled, that’s all.” Throwing off the covers from her legs, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. As she slid off the bed, she looked down on the floor and her bare feet. There were no shoes in sight. “Now if you could just tell me where my shoes are, I’ll be all set.”
For a moment, he thought of pleading ignorance, but he had a feeling that being barefoot would not be enough to keep her here. Bending down, he retrieved the plastic bag from beneath the bed and handed it to her.
“It wouldn’t hurt for you to stay overnight for observation, either.”
Vienna took out her high heels and, placing them on the floor, stepped into the shoes. It struck Georges that he’d seldom seen anyone move so gracefully.
“Maybe not,” she allowed, “but it would be a waste of time and money. I didn’t even hit my head.”
The hell she didn’t. “Then what’s this?” Georges asked as he moved back wispy blond bangs from her forehead. A nice-sized bump had begun to form above her right eye. He ran his thumb ever so lightly across it.
Vienna tried not to wince in response, but he saw the slight movement that indicated pain.
She feathered her fingers just on the outer edges of the area and shrugged. “Okay, maybe I did hit my head, but not so that I saw stars,” she insisted. “It was my grandfather who got the brunt of the impact.” Even as she said it, she could see the events moving in slow motion in her mind’s eye. It was a struggle not to shiver. Her expression turned somber. When she spoke, her voice was hushed. Fearful. “How is he?”
“You haven’t been out that long,” he told her. “Your grandfather’s not back from X-ray yet.” Pausing, he studied her for a second.
She shifted slightly, trying to stand as straight as she could. She did not want to argue about getting more tests again. “What?”
“Just before you took your unofficial ‘nap,” ’ he said tactfully, “you were about to go to the registration desk to give the administrative assistant your grandfather’s insurance information.”
Now she remembered, Vienna thought. Edging over to the front of the stall, she inadvertently brushed up against the doctor and instantly felt her body tightening.
Reflexes alive and well, she congratulated herself.
Taking a deep breath, she announced, “Okay, let’s go.”
But he didn’t seem all that ready to take her where she needed to go. Instead, he regarded her for another long moment, as if he expected her to faint again. “You’re sure you’re up to it?”
In response, she left the curtained enclosure. He quickly fell into step beside her, indicating that she needed to turn right at the end of the hallway. Vienna noticed several nurses watching them as they passed.
“Do you take such good care of all your patients?” she asked.
He appeared to consider her question,
