Page 34 of Broken Dreams

He stopped at the foot of the stairs leading to the wide wrap around porch. “Goodnight, Amber.” He hadn't taken her hand, although she wished he had.

“Good night.” When he turned as if to walk away, she leaned up to kiss him. This time he didn't duck fast enough. Her intention had been to keep things light, but in a heartbeat his mouth fused with hers.

He pulled her close. She reveled in the warmth of his embrace.

Then he broke off the kiss, breathing heavily. “The taste of you goes straight to my head.”

It was the nicest thing any man had ever said to her. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and took another step back. “I better go, before one of your brothers shows up.”

Irritation flashed, darkened lethal. “They don’t run my life, no matter what they think. I’m moving out of here as soon as possible.”

“Easy.” He held up a hand. “I was only teasing. I think it’s sweet the way they look out for you.”

“It’s not sweet. It’s annoying.” Her buoyant mood had been shattered by her family’s interference once again. With a sigh she rubbed her forehead. “Never mind. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Sure. I’ll call you.” He flashed a warm smile, then turned and headed back down the street the way they’d come.

She stayed where she was, not quite ready to go inside. Thankfully the house was quiet, her parents were sleeping peacefully, despite Alec’s attempt to make her feel guilty. She couldn’t believe Nick hadn’t been angry at her brother’s irrational behavior. The nerve of him, barging into Nick’s motel room to find her, playing on her mother’s concern. Which was totally ridiculous. Other than needing a little help moving around, her mother was doing fine.

In fact, her mom was doing so well, there was no reason to wait until the middle of August to leave.

Maybe she should put in her notice first thing Monday morning. Waiting the entire weekend would be hard, but at least she could spend some time with Nick.

Remembering his sizzling kiss, made it difficult to fall asleep.

Nick walked to the physical therapy gym first thing the next morning. The manager of The Cozy Inn had been more than happy for Nick to extend his visit a few more days, especially after the bad press related to the drug bust. At least Alec hadn't been lying about that. He considered relocating to a different motel, but the manager had given him a discount to stay.

As much as he'd wanted to leave, to get far away from the temptation of spending time with Amber, he couldn't go without uncovering the truth about Roland.

Was she right about him? Did Roland have a drinking problem? He sincerely hoped not. Although he hated to admit, it would explain the guy’s behavior. Especially the way he’d assaulted Amber.

Once he finished his physical therapy session, he planned to wander up to the rehab unit. He wasn’t required to see patients on the weekends, unless on call. Which he wasn’t, at least not this weekend. But since he’d never gotten in touch with Johnson about his intent to leave, he had every right to be up on the unit.

While working in the gym, Nick had strained his muscles to the limit on the weight machines, even though he suspected his efforts were in vain. Pumping all the iron in the world wasn't going to replace the damaged nerves in his hand to the point he could go back to being a surgeon.

Walking without the help of a cane was still a good motivator, though, so he concentrated on working his legs, lifting weights until his muscles screamed and trembled with agony. He pushed himself as hard as he dared, before stopping.

After a long, hot shower, he put on his lab coat over his casual clothes and headed up to the second floor rehab unit. When he walked on the floor, the first thing he saw was a brand new patient lying in the hallway, waiting for the cleaning crew to finish in the room.

The kid was young, couldn't have been more than twenty-two or twenty-three years old. Nick found himself wondering what had happened to bring the kid to the hospital when he noticed the lack of a bump under the covers where his right leg should have been.

His heart took a nosedive. The young soldier had lost his leg.

He found himself massaging his own injured thigh, and quickly dropped his hand. He stepped forward and nodded at the patient. “I'm Dr. Tanner. How are you?”

“Fine.” The kids monotone voice and the way he stared at the ceiling over his head convinced Nick he was anything but fine. He hesitated for a moment, torn by indecision, then continued on his way to the nurse’s station.

“What's the name of our new patient?” He asked.

“Hmm. You must mean Billy Anderson.” The nurses name tag red Margaret, and she gestured toward the computer screen in front of her. “I’m getting him admitted into the system right now. He came from the ortho unit.”

“Thanks.” Moving to another vacant computer desk, he took a moment to log in and check Billy Anderson’s medical record. The kid’s diagnosis jumped out at him. Right leg amputation as the result of an IED explosion. He clenched his jaw, imagining what the kid had suffered.

Amber was wrong, working rehab wasn't his expertise at all. The last thing he wanted was to talk to Billy Anderson, who had every right to be angry at the world.

He knew just how the kid felt.

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