Page 5 of Blitzing Emily

“Isn’t that Brandon McKenna of the Sharks?”

“I picked him up in the parking lot,” Emily sighed.

It was increasingly evident that Emily needed a ride home. After hearing a little of Brandon’s conversation, he wasn’t going to be around. There were signs all over the hospital stating that the use of cell phones was not allowed. The TV remote control fastened to the side of the bed didn’t have texting capability, either.

“I’d like to call a friend. Is there a telephone I can use?”

Cheryl must have misheard her. “We don’t allow non-family members in here, unfortunately. Your valentine is on his way to the waiting room.”

Family member,Emily thought. “Valentine” wasn’t exactly a family member, but she needed to get Brandon back in here. If she could find someone to pick her up, he’d be able to leave.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“You know,” Emily said, “You’re right. It’s a special day, and I really want to spend some time with him. Is there any possible way he could sit with me while I’m waiting?”

Cheryl winked at her. “For today, I’ll make an exception. To the rest of the hospital, he’s your fiancé. You just relax. He’ll be here in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

Cheryl sped out of the room. Emily craned her neck to glimpse Brandon standing at the nurse’s station in the midst of a crowd of people, signing autographs.

Moments later Brandon walked into the room. To Emily’s relief, he was grinning like everything and everyone existed solely to amuse him. He sat down on the rolling examination chair the doctor had vacated.

“Well. Aren’t you the shameless hussy. We haven’t even had dinner yet, and you told the nurse we were engaged.” He raised an eyebrow. “What do you do on the second date? File for divorce?”

“I should have told her you were my baby daddy ...”

“And here I thought I was so irresistible.” He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “Mmm. Red.”

Speaking hurt, but Emily had to make him understand. “I really appreciate your driving me over here, but let’s get real. You obviously have other plans tonight, and I need to call someone to come and get me. You’ve been looking at the clock since we got here.”

Brandon looked a bit uncomfortable and shifted on the chair. “You’ve got me. I have plans. I could cancel them, but I left my phone in my locker.”

Emily produced her iPhone from her purse and handed it to him. “If you make a call for me, you can go. Here, just a minute.” She took the phone out of his hand and scrolled through her contacts list. “My sister is busy, but one of my friends might be available. If you’ll call Sarah—I work with her—she doesn’t live far away, and she might be able to pick me up and drop me off at home.” She nodded at the sign. “You’ll need to go outside.”

“Got it.” He fiddled with the phone for a few seconds, and handed it back to her. “I have a BlackBerry. How do you use this thing again?”

It was a good thing he was handsome, because he evidently wasn’t that smart. Emily hit the keys on the display again. “If you push this, the phone will dial. Ask Sarah to come and get me.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “That whole joking about being engaged thing is not going to be a problem for you, is it?”

He shrugged. “Only on a slow news day. Plus, if anything weird happens, I can deal with it.”

Emily tried to shake her head and winced. Obviously she was a public person, too. There’d be a little interest in Emily’s engagement, but Brandon was evidently some kind of big deal. This was a hospital, though. That stuff was confidential.

“I’m betting you have one hell of a headache. Rest.” He reached out to pull the blanket up beneath her chin. “I’ll get you some water.”

“I’m so sleepy,” she told him. “I don’t understand why you’re still here.”

“You fell down. It’s my fault. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“I’ll be fine. You can go,” she insisted. “Isn’t that what you want?”

Emily wanted to go home and soak in a hot bath. That bath was assuming mythical proportions by this point.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Brandon rose from the chair, stroked her cheek, tossed a “See ya” over his shoulder, and loped out of the room.

Brandon reappeared less than five minutes later.

“Sarah’s busy. Her boyfriend answered the phone. I believe the message was ‘She’d have to get out of my bed for that, and it’s not happening tonight.’ So, I cancelled my plans, and I will chauffeur you home.”

“Let me see if I can find someone else.”

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