Page 14 of False Assumptions

“Yeah, she hurt her ankle pretty bad. Can you take her inside? I’ll come in once I park.”

Evan helped her into the wheelchair, and she looked back and forth between him and the man behind her. The man gave her a reassuring smile. “Let’s get you checked in.”

“I’ll see you in there.”

Layla felt like she should say something, but Evan was back in his car before she could, and the man whooshed her through the doors to check in. Evan must’ve found parking near the doors, because he was back inside before she’d finished filling out the paperwork, and he wheeled her over to the triage station. The nurses made him wait in the waiting area while they took her vitals and asked questions about her health history and how she injured her ankle, then wheeled her out to sit with him when she was done.

He glanced up from his phone when the nurse stopped next to his chair, set the brakes, and left, but he didn’t say anything before turning back to whatever he was doing. Glancing around, she tried to figure out what to do to pass the time. She had an old flip phone, smart phones and their data plans too expensive for her college student budget. Her parents helped with rent and paid for her health insurance still, but otherwise she was on her own. And that meant she didn’t get the latest and greatest gadgets. Since she’d been out hiking, she didn’t have a book with her. She’d left it in her car, and since Evan hadn’t even let her get inside her own vehicle, it got left behind. And she couldn’t reach the magazines from where she sat. Not that any of them looked very appealing anyway.

Checking her phone for the millionth time, she was disappointed that Alyssa still hadn’t gotten back to her. How was she going to get home? She couldn’t expect Evan to wait with her for however long this took. He probably had plans or something. Friends. A party. A hundred things more fun to do than hang out with her in the ER.

“Evan?”

He looked up. “Yeah?”

“Um, so, my friend should call me back any time, and she can come get me whenever I’m done here. And I’m sure you have better things to do. You don’t need to stay.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll stay till she gets here.”

“But—“

“Layla.” His eyes met hers. “I’m not going to abandon you in the hospital. If your friend comes, then great. I’ll let her take you home. But until someone else is here to help you, you’re stuck with me. Got it?”

She examined his face, noticing the firm set of his jaw, and nodded. It didn’t take a genius to recognize a stubborn man intent on getting his way. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him right now.

Closing her eyes and leaning her head against her hand, she tried to focus on her breathing instead of the pain in her ankle or her dread of what might happen in the ER. They shouldn’t need to give her a shot, right? She’d twisted her ankle, so no need to take blood or anything involving needles. Breathing deep, she pushed away her panicky thoughts before they could take over. They’d probably just look at her ankle, take some X-rays, and maybe give her some kind of brace or something. The nurse came and called her name soon after that, wheeling her back through the automatic doors with Evan walking along behind her while the nurse introduced herself and chatted away about the weather.

The nurse parked her in a room and helped her settle onto the bed, folding up some blankets to prop up her ankle and taking her vitals again. After she left, an awkward silence descended, with Evan sitting in a chair against the wall opposite her bed and looking all around. She flipped through the channels on the TV, but there was nothing on, so she turned it off.

It was strange to see him so awkward. Usually he seemed at ease and confident no matter the situation. Maybe doctors and hospitals made him nervous too? If she weren’t so in need of something to distract her, she would relish his discomfort a little more. But since Alyssa still hadn’t gotten in touch, he was all she had to help her get through this. She should try to break the awkward tension that filled the room.

She cleared her throat, hoping he would glance her way. He didn’t. His focus remained on his hands, where he turned his phone over and ran his fingers down the side again and again, one ankle propped on the opposite knee, his foot bouncing nonstop.

So much for that. “Hospitals make you nervous?”

His foot stopped, and his head snapped up. “What?”

“You seem nervous. Is it the hospital? Doctors? Because they make me nervous as hell. Needles scare the shit out of me.”

He grinned. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you curse.”

“I got in trouble for using bad language growing up, so I mostly do it in my head. But my ankle hurts like hell, and I’m in a hospital, and I don’t know if they’re going to want to poke me with needles for some reason. In my experience, hospitals and needles go together a lot.”

Shaking his head, Evan let out a low chuckle. “Unless they need to numb you up to set it if it’s broken, I doubt you’ll meet any needles today.”

Swallowing her sudden nausea, she nodded. “Do you think it’s broken?”

His eyes zeroed in on her. “You said you didn’t think it was.”

She shrugged. “I was trying to get you to leave me alone. Not that it worked.” She skewered him with her gaze. He gave her an unapologetic grin. “But you seemed to think it might be broken.”

“I was trying to convince you to get it checked out.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really know. You can move it, so that’s a good sign, but hairline fractures don’t always impede movement. Let’s just wait and see what the doctor says. Sound good?”

She nodded. “You never answered my question, though.”

“What question?”

“Do hospitals make you nervous?”

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