The door opened and Lila walked in. “I’ve got good news and bad news. You do have a concussion, but it’s minor and my brother says the rest of your brain looks great. So you’ll be fine, but I either need to send you to the hospital for observation for the day or someone needs to stay with you.”
“I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t about to go to the hospital. No way. “Just give me some instructions and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll be completely in my hair because, like I said, I need to know someone is watching you for the next twelve hours,” Lila explained. “I can do that by driving you an hour and a half to the hospital, checking you in, and then having someone pick you up late in the evening. Or you can have a friend stay with you today. I would tell you to hang out here at the clinic, but we’re closed this morning. I’m going to Noelle’s science fair. If we can ever trick another NP to come down here, well, we’ll still be closed sometimes.”
It was weird since hospitals didn’t close in New York, but this clinic was the nearest thing they had to a hospital in Papillon. Lila would definitely insist on driving her since she wasn’t even letting her lie on the couch by herself. There was no way Lila would let her get behind the wheel.
“I swear I’ll be cool,” she promised. “I’ll sign one of those forms and everything will be okay. I don’t mind signing it.”
“You want to sign an AMA?” Lila’s eyes had widened slightly but not in a surprised way. Nope. Roxie knew that look. It was the “dumbass said what” look.
“You’re not leaving against medical advice,” Armie declared with a frown.
She didn’t have anyone to call. She quickly went through the short list of people she knew well enough to ask for a favor. She pretty much only knew the guys she worked with. She worked and then went home. She got the occasional beer, and sometimes she hung out with Lila. That was the sum of who she might be able to ask.
Major was working. He would have been called in to take over the rest of her shift and his own. Armie would be at his daughter’s school event. Vince would be working with Major, and the fourth deputy, Chris, had recently hired on and was moving today.
The door opened and Zep walked in, Daisy on a leash, though she obviously wasn’t trained. She squirmed and strained against the leash the minute she got in the room.
“Sorry, I wanted to make sure you were all right before I head into Houma,” he said. “Also wanted to give you the chance to say good-bye to Daisy.”
If she didn’t find someone to “watch” over her, Armie would likely do it himself. Or they would have to spend their whole day driving back and forth to the hospital. He would miss his daughter’s science fair, and it wasn’t some elementary event where they showed off homemade volcanoes. Noelle was in her senior year of high school and competing for scholarships.
Also, she might save the puppy from having to go to some horrible shelter.
She looked at Zep. She knew what she was about to say was a mistake, but she didn’t see that she had any other choice. She was desperate. “I need someone to make sure I can wake up every couple of hours.”
Zep stopped and looked around as though trying to make sure she was talking to him. “You want me to call my sister or something?”
His sister and her husband, Harrison Jefferys, owned a B and B, the nicest one in town. That could be the solution. She could check in for the day and sleep on the couch in the great room. She’d heard their family dog was almost like a nanny to their little boy. Maybe he could be a nurse, too. “Does she have any rooms open?”
Armie huffed and Lila started shaking her head as though they both knew she planned to ask a dog to help her out before she’d ask the human male in the room.
Zep nodded as though that was what he’d expected. “Sorry. I was talking to Sera and Harry last night and they’re completely booked. They’ve got a big family coming down for the week. From somewhere back East.”
Then she didn’t have a choice. She closed her eyes and wished the ground would swallow her up. It would be easier than doing what she had to do now. She sighed and opened her eyes because the ground was still firm beneath her. “Would you do it?”
The slowest, sexiest smile crossed his face. “I can definitely wake you up, darlin’. Though I’m more used to putting pretty ladies to sleep. Wait. That came out wrong. Never mind. I can do it.”
She already regretted the choice.
(covers link to Goodreads)
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