Page 6 of Blitzing Emily

“Not going to happen, sugar. Everyone is out with their valentine, or they’re staying in and not answering the phone.”

“I can do this.” She took the phone out of his hand and started scrolling through names. “I ... Stop calling me sugar.”

He laughed. It wasn’t that damn funny.

Two male nurses walked into the room. “Emily, we’re here to take you upstairs for some tests. I’m Kevin, and this is Jeff.” Kevin glanced at the phone in Emily’s hand. “You’ll need to put that away,” he scolded.

Emily didn’t remember much of the tests she had. She did remember, however, the stitches she received in the cut on her head. Cheryl the nurse produced two ibuprofens and a cup of cold water as a reward. Emily awoke once more in the dimness of the emergency room cubicle Brandon still sat in. The doctor was talking with him.

“I was at the Minutemen’s game last season,” he told Brandon. “That was quite a sack at the end of the third.”

“What’s a sack?” Emily murmured to Brandon.

His brows drew together, his lips twitched into a smile, but he didn’t answer her.

“I enjoyed it, that’s for sure.” Brandon told him. “I’d like to take my girl home, if that will work for you.”

He set a Styrofoam cup and the newspaper sports page he held on a low rolling table and waited expectantly.

“Shall I tell you the good news or the bad news first?” Dr. Su grinned with what he probably thought was quite a joke.

“Let’s go with the good news.” Brandon patted Emily’s hand as he spoke.

“Hospital cuisine has improved.” Everyone was a comedian. “However, Emily is going to have to stay overnight with us.”

Chapter Two

“DOCTOR,ICAN’Tdo that. Since the tests are fine, I’d like to go home.” Emily was having no part of the doctor’s orders. She looked like someone ran over her skateboard. She even managed to work up a couple of tears, which glistened in her amber-brown eyes. Brandon had spent less than two hours with this woman, and he already knew the doctor didn’t stand a chance. In the dictionary under the word “intractable” there was a photo of Emily.

“We’d rather you stayed here.” Dr. Su was still talking. Well, perhaps it should have been called “negotiating.” Maybe Emily was available for Brandon’s upcoming contract discussions. He’d love to see what would happen when she went up against the Sharks’ owners. Then again, it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Emily was as lovely as she was hard-headed.

“I live in Redmond. It’s ten miles away or so,” she said.

The doctor caved. “If you really want to go home, you can. But you’ll need to be watched by another adult for the next twelve to twenty-four hours. This is non-negotiable. You won’t be able to do anything but relax. No driving, no working, no nothing.”

“We could call your sister,” Brandon told Emily. “She’ll come over.”

“This is the busiest day of the year for her. Shecan’tcome over ...”

Emily was clutching her head again. Brandon knew she had to have one hell of a headache. If there was one thing all football players had in common it was the fact that every one of them, at one time or another, had suffered a concussion. She looked at him pleadingly. He could never resist a somewhat helpless female. Emily really couldn’t be called helpless, though. One minute she was tougher than Dallas’s defense; a minute later she was all sad golden eyes, fluttering lashes, and quivering lips. There wasn’t a man in the universe that could hope to withstand what she dished out.

“No problem,” Brandon interrupted. “I’ll just stay over.”

Emily’s eyes got huge, but she said nothing. She opened her mouth, quickly clamping it shut when he caught her eye and gave her a barely noticeable head shake.

He’d spend a couple of hours doing the gentlemanly thing. If he moved his ass, he could salvage his evening’s plans as well. It was a win-win. If it got him laid in the next twenty-four hours, even better.

Dr. Su shook Emily’s hand. “It was nice to meet you both. I’ll send the nurse in with discharge instructions. Take it easy. You’ll feel much better in a day or so.”

Emily waited until the doctor left the room before glancing up at Brandon. “If you’ll get me home, I can take care of the rest.”

She evidently wanted to get away from him as much as he wanted to leave, so at least they were even. Another commotion in the doorway revealed Cheryl, the nurse. The discharge instructions were given more to him than to Emily, verbally and in print. Lucky him.

“Emily can have ibuprofen for her headache every four to six hours,” she said. “She had some an hour ago. You’ll need to wake her up every couple of hours and talk with her. If she has double vision, if you can’t wake her up easily, or if she is not making sense when she speaks, she will need to come back to the hospital immediately.”

Brandon was nodding as if he actually planned on staying with her. Mostly, he wanted to leave. Hospitals reminded him of injuries, and injuries were something he didn’t want to be reminded of at all.

“Let’s get you ready to go,” Cheryl said to Emily.

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