Page 114 of To Believe In You
Only as she hung up did the wordsall clearmaterialize in her mind again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Matt stood in the doorway. His brow furrowed as he moved closer, his step soft against the carpet. “Why didn’t you run?”
Her pulse notched higher. “I didn’t think he’d hurt me.”
He blinked with shock. “That was stupid.”
She nodded and clamped her palm to her stinging goose egg.
He lifted a hand toward her but came up short of touching her arm. Still, she felt the gravitational pull to fall against him increase.
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” Low with concern, his voice wasn’t helping her stand on her own two feet.
“I think I hit my head.”
“Here.” With careful fingers, he nudged her hand aside and felt the lump. His eyebrows twitched closer, and he parted her hair to see the injury. Her scalp tingled as he settled her curls back into place. “Let’s call 911.”
She stiffened. Was she more injured than she knew? But there hadn’t been blood. Only a lump. And he’d spoken matter-of-factly, not with urgency. She eyed his hand, now at his side, and wished she could grab it. “Police should already be on the way.”
“They’ll come quicker when they know.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed. “With a heads up, they’ll have a better chance of catching Shane, and a lump that size needs attention.”
“I’m sure you’ve hurt yourself far worse without seeing a doctor.”
Given the running blood the day she’d gone to Visser Landscaping to hire him, he might’ve needed stitches. And what would he have said if she’d tried to deliver him to a doctor after his fight with Shane at the wedding? For all they knew, his nose had been broken.
“I’m your role model now?”
No. He was nothing to her now and better for it, right? Well, he was a coworker. Nothing more.
“You didn’t run either.” In fact, he’d done the opposite. When he’d confronted Shane, he might not have known about the gun, but once he saw it, he hadn’t sought cover. “Why?”
His lips parted, but instead of replying, he shook his head.
“What were you doing out here?”
“Besides saving your skin?” A hint of a smirk in his expression reassured her like little else had. If he felt secure enough to tease her, maybe the worst was behind them.
In moments, he’d connected with an operator. As he talked, he made his way through the house, and she followed him to the front window. He was still on the line with the emergency operator when a black SUV pulled up and the guard she’d met earlier stepped onto the driveway.
“I’d better go meet him.” She unlocked the door.
Matt waved for her to wait, then held the phone away from his mouth. “Stay in.”
Oh. Shane hadn’t been caught. She looked through the decorative glass at the blurry yard. Remaining in the house should’ve been a given. She didn’t know a thing about keeping herself safe.
Pressure built in her throat and eyes. She willed herself to stay strong as she opened the door. By the time she finished relating what had happened, distant sirens whined. Minutes later, police and paramedics descended on the house.
Emergency personnel encircled her. She ended up in the back of an ambulance. The paramedic seemed concerned about her account of losing her vision when she’d hit her head.
“Did you lose consciousness?” The man was fifteen or twenty years older than herself, and the lines in his round face spoke of kindness and experience.
“Maybe? But not for long.” She couldn’t have missed more than a second of what happened in the garage.
The lines beside the paramedic’s mouth deepened. “In these cases, we recommend a trip to the hospital.”
“In the ambulance?” The gray walls surrounding her were full of compartments and equipment, but he’d only used the most basic of it on her when checking her vitals. “Is that really necessary? I can drive. Or a friend could.”
“Complications might arise on the way, and if that happens, you’ll want the best care possible.”
