Clay nodded in agreement, some of the rigidness left Paula’s shoulders.
Dr. Boren scribbled something on a chart. “I’ll send in a nurse to wrap your wrist and stitch you up, then we’ll get you into a room. I want you to get some rest, even though we’ll bug you every two hours to check your vital signs.”
“All right.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Clay said.
The doctor left, closing the door on her way out. Paula frowned at the bandage on her daughter’s temple. “Shelby Marie, what happened?”
“All I remember is I went across the street to check on a friend. There wasn’t a fire when I got there. At least I don’t think so. Somehow I fell.”
Clay decided not to mention the possibility that she could also have been pushed.
Paula frowned. “You don’t remember anything else?”
“No.”
“Do you have a concussion? Is that why the doctor wants to admit you?”
“It’s nothing to be overly concerned about. You know how hard my head is.”
“What about your memory? What does she say about that?”
Shelby glanced at Clay and he saw the strain of worry in her eyes. “Dr. Boren thinks the memory loss may last only twenty-four hours.”
Clay hoped that by tomorrow Shelby would be able to recall those lost minutes.
“I’ll stay with you tonight.” Paula smoothed a wing of Shelby’s short brown hair away from her face.
“You don’t have to.”
“You need someone.”
“She’s right, Shelby,” Clay put in.
Shelby nodded. “Okay.”
Clay didn’t want to leave her. Telling himself she’d be fine with Paula did nothing to unlock the muscles that had gone rigid when he had heard about Shelby. He needed to do something. “I’m going to call Jack. Be right back.”
He slipped out and leaned a shoulder against the wall. The three firefighters who’d been there had moved down the hall. Upon seeing Clay, they walked toward him.
Jay Monroe, wiry and ruddy-skinned, shook his hand, introducing the other two men. “The doc already told us we can’t see her tonight. How’s she doing? How bad is she hurt?”
“She’s hanging in there.” He recounted her injuries.
“Could’ve been worse,” one of the others murmured.
Which was why Clay couldn’t get his heart to stop hammering.
Jay nodded. “I left a message for Captain Oliver so he’d know what was going on. Tell her to keep her chin up and we’ll check back.”
Clay nodded, walking with them to the exit doors before calling Jack. He wanted to know if his buddy of ten years had a problem with Clay requesting to be assigned to the fire death case. Jack didn’t, even offering to speak to Lieutenant Hager when Clay did. He also told the other man about Shelby’s amnesia. Jack agreed Clay would have a better chance of getting answers from her by waiting until tomorrow to question her.
Clay hung up his cell and jammed it back in his jeans pocket. He went back inside, still rattled over what might have happened to Shelby tonight.
Just as he reached her room, he saw Vince Tyner stalking toward him. At the sight of the paramedic whom Shelby had dumped a month ago, Clay planted himself in front of her cubicle. Shelby had told him Vince still called her, even though she ignored him. The muscle-bound guy had dated Shelby only for a couple of months.
“I heard from dispatch that she’s hurt.” The other man halted, concern darkening his brown eyes. “How bad is it?”
Clay told him, thinking that Tyner looked genuinely alarmed.
“I want to see her.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Why not? I want her to know I’m here if she needs anything.”
She doesn’t need it from you. “The doctor doesn’t want anyone else in there tonight. She still has to get her arm wrapped and her head stitched up.”
“It can’t hurt for me to go in for a few minutes.” The man made to move past Clay.
Clay blocked his way. “No, Tyner.”
“She might say different.”
“She won’t.”
Anger flared in Tyner’s face and he visibly struggled to control it. “It can’t hurt anything for me to just stick my head in there.”
“Think about Shelby, why don’t you?”
A dull flush crawled up Tyner’s neck and his hands curled into fists. He took a step toward Clay. “Is there something going on with you two?”
If Shelby weren’t lying hurt in the next room, Clay would’ve laughed. “No.”
“Then who are you to tell me I can’t see her? You have no claim on her.”
“Neither do you.”
“I have as much right to see her as you do.”
“Not gonna happen.”
Something cold and sharp flashed in Tyner’s eyes, a volatility that had Clay’s cop sense on alert.
He had always believed this guy’s Prince Charming act was just that. “I know you’ve been calling her and she hasn’t returned your calls. What does that tell you?”
Tyner’s gaze went to Shelby’s curtained doorway, then sliced back to Clay. He didn’t budge. Silence stretched out, pulsing with tension. The other man looked ready to erupt.
“Fine. Have it your way,” he snapped. “It won’t be for long.”
Clay watched the guy stomp down the corridor toward the exit. Did Tyner really think there was something sexual going on between Clay and Shelby? Sex? That was the one thing they had never shared. She and Jason had helped him through Megan’s long fight with cancer and death. He and Shelby had been there for each other after Jason’s death. And everything since.
He would tell her about Tyner’s visit, but not tonight.
No way was Clay leaving now. He didn’t trust the paramedic to stay away, and he wasn’t letting anyone upset Shelby. That hard light of slyness in the other man’s eyes was enough for Clay to make a mental note to keep an eye on him.
The door opened behind him and he turned as Shelby’s mom stepped out.
“How
