Page 36 of Only Her (K2 Team)
“I’m not leaving this room,officer.”
Definitely Cody. Someone took her hand, and she knew it was Cody because she immediately felt safe. “Head hurts.”
“Christ, darlin’, you scared the life out of me.”
She tried to smile but the effort hurt too much, so she settled for forcing her eyes open. “Why?”
“We’ll talk about that later. Right now you need to rest.”
“Why?” Nothing made sense.
“Riley, can you tell me what happened? Who hurt you?”
Someone hurt her?
“Leave her be, Kilpatrick. Better yet, come back tomorrow. She should be able to answer your questions by then.”
She still didn’t understand why both Mike and Cody were in her bedroom, but she was too tired to care. With Cody’s hand still protectively covering hers, she drifted off.
Riley opened her eyes and surveyed the room. This wasn’t her bedroom and she didn’t think it was Cody’s. Not that she’d ever seen his, so maybe he went for sterile white. She turned her head to the left, wincing when a bolt of pain shot from the back of her skull down her neck.
Dark brown hair was the first thing she saw. She squinted, recognizing that military haircut. Why was Cody sitting in a chair with his face pressed to the bed? As she listened, she recognized the steady breathing of a man asleep. Next to his face, he held her hand in his. Her gaze searched the room. Why was she in a hospital bed?
The door opened, and a nurse padded in on rubber-soled, silent shoes. “Ah, good, you’re awake.”
Cody’s head shot up, and he scrubbed at his face. He yawned, and then turned an intense stare at her. “How do you feel?”
Stubble covered his cheeks and chin, and she reached up and trailed her palm over the bristly hairs. He leaned into her hand the way Arthur did when he needed a pet.
“How about you wait outside for a few minutes, Mr.Roberts, while I check on Miss Austin.”
“Dr.Austin,” Cody said.
“Actually, Riley works for me.” She waved her hand. “Go on.”
“I’ll be right outside.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before leaving.
“Good-looking man,” the nurse said.
“He sure is. Why am I in the hospital?”
“You don’t know?”
“If I did I wouldn’t be asking, would I?” Riley sighed. “I’m sorry. My head’s killing me. It feels like someone took a baseball bat to it. What happened to me?” Was it an aneurysm, or dear God, a brain tumor?
“The doctor’s on his way and he’ll talk to you about your head. After that, there’s a police officer waiting to ask you some questions.”
“Why?” Had she done something wrong? She tried to remember when the headache had started, but her last memory was of locking her clinic doors, wanting to hurry home so she could get ready to see Cody.
“Mr.Roberts said you’re a doctor, but I’ve never seen you around,” the nurse said, not answering Riley’s question.
“I’m a veterinarian. I want someone to tell me what happened.”
“You have a nasty bump on your head,” a man wearing crisp, blue scrubs said, walking up to the bed. “Dr.Austin, I’m Dr.Garrett. Let’s take a look. Turn your head to the side, please.”
Riley did as requested. Although she was an animal doctor, she was still a doctor, and that was no mere bump on her head. At least it wasn’t a brain tumor. “It hurts.”
“I’m sure it does. You have a concussion and five stitches. We had to cut your hair around the wound, but you can easily hide the bald spot until it grows back out. We’re going to keep you under observation at least one more night. Depending on how you are tomorrow, we’ll talk about whether you can go home or not.”
