Page 74 of Embers in the Outfield

I look down and notice his right leg in a splint.

“Did you break it?” I move my hand down his leg, careful not to put pressure on it.

“Nothing a few kisses won’t fix.” He winks with his good eye.

“I see.” I smirk yet squint my gaze in his direction.

Working a little faster, the nurse finishes patching him up and stands, grabbing all the supplies she was using on her tray.

“Okay, Mr. Nichols, you’re all stitched up. We’ll be right back to do an X-ray of that leg to make sure nothing is indeed broken. No falling asleep. Remember, you’re on concussion protocol,” she explains, not once making eye contact with me.

I stand a little closer to River and drop a kiss on his head. I still see the dust from the debris that fell on him, and I close my eyes and throw a quick thank you to my angels above for watching over him.

“So, what do you think, wife? You ready to take care of me for a few days?” River says while Clay snorts in the corner.

“Yeah, right. That’ll be the day,” his brother says, and I look over and cut him a look that shuts him right up.

My gaze returns to River. “Sweetie, you can call me Skipper, girlfriend, or baby, but there’s no wife here today. You’re going to have to put a ring on it for that dream to become a reality.”

“I’m injured, baby. You’ve gotta cut me some slack.” He gives me his big, hazel eyes, pleading with me.

“Not today.” I shake my head. “You may be hurt, but it’s going to take a proper proposal to get me to marry you,” I say.

River mocks hurt by placing his hand on his chest. “Wow, for someone who loves proposals, you’re sort of cold.”

“You never proposed, Riv!” I whisper-yell his way.

“Fine, then I will cross out ‘near-death experience’ as a means to ask you to marry me,” he says, and I start to laugh until I realize he’s seriously talking about marrying me like it’s really in his plans.

He must read the confusion on my features and adds, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got something planned. You’ll just have to wait now, Skip.” He’s taunting me, asking for me to bite, but I let this conversation die down and pull a seat next to his gurney.

“Okay, buddy.” I chuckle and lift my head to look at Clay. “How hard did you say he hit his head?”

“You think I’m kidding, Kennedy? I’m serious. I’m going to propose to you so hard, you’re not even going to see it coming,” River teases.

Before I can answer, a tech comes to get him x-rayed. River is wheeled out to radiology while we stay behind and wait for his return. We had moved to the hall to see River out but stayed for a few extra moments, no rush to sit back in the room.

While staring toward the door River just left through, I hear whispers in the nurses’ station. “See, that’s her. He’s taken ladies. They’re always taken.”

I just smile to myself, and I look over to see Clay suppressing a laugh. The chatter continues, and it’s proving to be quite entertaining.

“He’s got a photocopy right there. Just ask him out,” another voice chimes in, and now it’s getting hard to hold in the laughter.

Clay moves closer to me to whisper, “It’s always so reassuring to hear you’re second-best.”

I smack him on the chest and let out a laugh. To add to the entertainment, someone taps Clay on the shoulder. The moment we both turn around, I’m instantly greeted by the nurse who was stitching River’s gash.

“Hey. I’m Jamie. I, uh, am your brother’s nurse. I wanted to see if you wanted to grab a coffee sometime.” I can hear the nervousness in her voice, and I let my eyes dart from her to Clay, waiting to see how he tackles this one.

“Sure, why not?” He extends his hand. “I’m Clay, by the way,” he says to her, and her smile beams his way. She puts a paper in his hand with what I assume is her number.

“Great. Give me a call.” She saunters off, giggling as she joins the rest of her nursing friends.

“Wow, I guess second-best isn’t too bad after all,” I tell him, and he pockets the number.

“I guess not,” he says, turning to face River’s room again.

“She’s cute. I bet it would be fun,” I say, taking a quick look back at the nursing station again.

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