Page 3 of The Sicilian Princess
"Quick, put her down on the table on her side," Doc Brown barked. He injected something into her arm and the shaking stopped. His face was covered in sweat.
"What just happened?" I looked over at him, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I think she just had a mild seizure. I'm not sure if that is a common thing for this one or not. I'm not even sure if she has any allergies. At this point, I know as much as you do. She needs stitches on that gash. I'm thinking she's dehydrated as well, so I'm going to put her on an IV drip until she wakes up and we get some answers."
I grunted in agreement. Every person in New Haven looked out for one another, so when strangers came, it threw off the balance. No matter how innocent a person looked, they were probably hiding something. I knew this from personal experience. Instead of heading back to the ranch like I would do any other morning, I hung around Doc Brown's clinic, waiting for this woman to wake up. It was slow and, if I was honest, pretty boring. All I did was sit in a chair and wait.
Doc Brown checked her vitals every twenty minutes, muttering to himself all the while. After the third IV bag change, her eye twitched. It was fascinating watching her come to. Her hand twitched lightly. Then there was movement underneath her lids, until those piercing baby blues connected with mine. She looked at me in surprise and then fear. Doc Brown chose that moment to come back and check on her. Right on time too because I was worried she might scream.
"Hey now, try to relax, you're in my clinic," Doc Brown's voice soothed as he checked her vitals again for the umpteenth time.
"Where am I?" she rasped. Her voice was hauntingly beautiful just like the rest of her, small and lilting. I could get used to the sound.
Doc Brown shot me a look of panic. "As I stated, you're at my clinic," he reiterated.
I was worried too. Maybe she had brain injury from her fall. Doc Brown was waving a penlight in her eyes, checking her pupil dilation. I'd picked up a lot over time from raising horses.
"No, I mean, what state?"
We looked at each other in surprise. How could she not know what state she was in?
"The lone star state, honey." Doc Brown checked her pulse.
Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Texas? How'd I get to Texas?" she blasted out. Then the mumbling began. All I caught was her saying, "This isn't where I was supposed to go. I needed a big city…"
Doc Brown sat back and pulled out his clipboard. He was filling in information while keeping an eye on the young lady in front of us.
"What's your name?" I finally found my voice.
"Rose." A hint of deception flashed across her face before she shut down. If I didn't trust her before, I certainly didn't now.
"I'm going to need your medical history," Doc Brown prodded. "Is there anything you are allergic to? Medical history that could answer why you had a mild seizure?"
"A seizure?" The girl, Rose, sat up and grabbed hold of her head. "When was it? How long did it last?" She started bombarding Doc Brown with questions, even though I could tell she was in a significant amount of pain.
Doc Brown was squirming under her glare. "You had two mild ones. The first was when you fell in the diner. It lasted about three minutes. The second was after you were settled on the bed and had the drip in you, and that only lasted for thirty seconds."
Rose gasped in horror. She started frantically pulling at her clothes. Before I could ask her what she was doing, tears filled her eyes. I was a sucker for women's tears. If any woman wanted to manipulate any man, tears would be the way to go about it.
"My bag, it has my pills in it. I need it. I need them," she was gasping around her words. Her eyes had taken on another glaze.
"You need to calm down," I barked at her, causing her to flinch. Ah, hell, of course, she was a sensitive filly. Just what I needed. Someone who was going to get her feelings hurt every time I opened my mouth. She shut her mouth, crossed her arms, and glared at me.
"What is the medication for, Rose?" Doc Brown brought her attention back to him.
"A seizure disorder I have. I have one pill that I take every day and then another for after seizures," she whispered. Her head hung in shame. I didn't understand why. There was nothing to be ashamed of. If she was sick, she was sick. No use crying over spilt milk.
"What the f-heck are you doing out here all by yourself with a seizure disorder?" I demanded she tell me the answer. Really, I should have left this to Doc Brown. He had a way with people. I'm sure he had a gentler approach to getting information out of this girl. I wasn't the doc and I wasn't going to ever be one. I knew how to force people to talk, how to cut them open until they bled out all their secrets along with their blood. I was achingly close to losing control. I hopped off the chair I was in and started pacing, trying to clear my head.
"I can't tell you that," Rose whispered again. Her voice was strained. I looked over at her and saw another flash of fear. Whatever she was hiding, she thought it was going to come back and hurt her. I wanted to gather her in my arms and tell her nothing was going to hurt her. I wanted to tell her Daddy was going to protect her.
As swiftly as I could, I rushed out of Doc Brown's clinic and into the street. I was panting and knew my eyes held a wild glint in them. There was no way I could go back in there feeling the way I was feeling. I needed to keep away from that little girl. Clearly, she was causing me to feel protective. As much as I wanted to protect her, I also wanted to punish her. I knew for a fact she was lying. Maybe not about the seizure disorder, but about everything else. I knew one way to get answers. I swiftly headed back to the diner and found the SUV that didn't belong to anyone in this town. To anyone else, it would look like every other car in Texas, but not to me. I always kept tabs on what people were driving and what they were up to. This vehicle had reinforced windows. Something anormalperson would have missed.
It was easy enough to get into. Little girl didn't lock the doors. If she were mine, I would be gearing up to spank her and plug her for all the misdeeds she'd done today. But she wasn't mine, and she was never going to be mine. A girl like that had problems. Trouble was going to follow her, and I couldn't be in the middle of it. Not with my past. Not with my background. I'm living a good life, and nothing was going to stop it. Not even a little waif with the biggest eyes I ever did see.
I went through the bag sitting on the passenger seat. Her ID said she was Rose Thornberry. I scoffed out loud. Fakest name I've ever heard. She was twenty-eight and an organ donor. Her medicine was in a side pouch, and the bag had all kinds of clothing in it, something for every season and two pairs of running shoes. She also had stacks of cash in her bag. Suspicious and on the run. I grabbed her bag and high-tailed it back to Doc Brown's clinic. There was no reason for her not to have her medication, but I did note she had a lot of it. Looked to me like she wasn't planning on going back to wherever she came from.
"Got your bag," I stated as soon as I was back in the room with her.
