Page 25 of Echoes of You

“Nash…” Maddie chastised.

Doc waved Maddie off. “It’s okay. I’m used to his bark. Let’s get you back for an X-ray. That will tell us if anything’s broken that we need to be concerned about.”

“Is that going to hurt her?” I pressed.

“Not at all.”

“Okay, then,” I agreed.

Maddie huffed out a breath. “I can answer for myself, you know. My ribs might be broken, but my mouth isn’t.”

A little of that fire coming back… Damn, I was glad to hear it in her voice. If the circumstances had been any different, I would’ve laughed.

I squeezed the back of her neck. “Just worried about you, Mads.”

She softened, melting into me. “I know. Let’s get this X-ray done so we can get out of here.”

“This way,” Doc instructed. “Nash can wait in the booth with me while I take the pictures since I know we’re not getting rid of him.”

Maddie laughed. “He’s been nosy and interfering since the day we met in kindergarten.”

“I believe it.”

“You know, I don’t think I like you two being friendly,” I huffed.

“Too bad,” Doc clipped. “I like her.”

Maddie laughed. It was the sweetest thing I could imagine hearing after the last few hours of worry. God, I’d missed that sound. I’d been without it for too long.

Maddie slid off the exam table, and I didn’t miss her wince. I moved to her side. “Want me to carry you?”

She looked up at me, the light in her eyes dancing. “I can walk.”

“You’re hurting.”

“You carrying me would probably hurt more. It’s not bad now. It’s just when I move in certain ways.”

I turned to Doc. “You’re gonna prescribe her painkillers, right?”

Doc let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, Nash. As soon as I’ve ruled out any serious injury. Come on.”

She motioned us down the hall to the room that held the X-ray machine. “You’ll be familiar with this place, Nash.”

Maddie shook her head. “He has always been accident-prone.”

“If I had some sort of rewards program, he definitely would’ve won the prize.”

“You two are rude,” I huffed.

Maddie patted my chest. “You can take it.”

Doc glanced at Maddie. “There’s no chance you might be pregnant?”

She paled. “No. No chance.”

Doc nodded and positioned her in front of the machine. “Get into the booth,” she told me.

I met Maddie’s gaze. “You’ll be all right?”

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