Page 47 of Sudden Summer

The smallest smile tipped the edge of her lips. “Deal, Cowboy.”

I hated having to let her go, but I knew there was no way I’d be able to safely get the both of us up off the ground. So I slid her gently to the side, still touching her back as I stood up. My arms were back around her in an instant, and we were on our way out the door in the next breath.

“My wallet!” she protested as I walked past her backpack.

“Nope. I’m not stopping. I’m getting you out of this place and to a goddamn doctor. Colt can send me a picture of your insurance card or they can fucking bill me and I’ll take care of it.”

She was silent as I carried her out the door and over to my truck. I had to jostle her a bit, cursing as her breath hitched. “Beau.” She tried to take the seat belt from my hand, but I just shook my head at her and buckled her in.

“Just rest, baby. I’ve got you.”

Five minutes later, we were heading out beyond the city limits of Silver Springs. My stomach was eating itself with worry over the fact that we weren’t heading towards Bell Ridge. No. We were headed North, towards Mecham County like Birdie had asked. My fingers were numb with how tightly I was holding on to the steering wheel, but it was either that or sending my fist through the driver’s side window. I wouldn’t fucking do anything to scare her, even if it meant I held onto my rage by the skin of my teeth.

“Juniper? Is she⁠—”

“She’s fine. I promise. We need to get you taken care of now. Can you tell me what happened?” I ground out, my jaw muscles flexing.

She groaned in protest, her head rocking side to side.

“Hey.” My hand landed softly on her thigh, and I fucking prayed my touch wasn’t adding to her pain. “Don’t go to sleep.”

“I’m tired,” she whispered. “It was a long shift.”

“I know. But I want to make sure that beautiful head of yours is okay before you do.” My voice was soft, but I lowered it even further in case the volume was adding to her pain. “I need to know what happened. I need to call Colt to go to your house.”

“It’s just a lot,” Birdie groaned, her face tipping towards me.

“Someone has to go. Colt will be respectful of your place. He’ll make sure the other deputies are, too. But someone has to go. And I need to know what to tell him.”

Her eyes closed, and one single nod was all I got from her.

“He rushed in while I was closing the door. I tried to get away. He held me down. And then you were there.”

I nodded, working quickly to call Colt from the hands-free console on my steering wheel. He was clearly shaken up, even with what little I knew from everything Birdie had been through. But my brother promised to oversee everything at her place. And although she sat silent, her hand resting over mine as I held on to her thigh, I knew she would eventually be okay with me telling Colt.

When we finally made it to the hospital, I opened the passenger side door and Birdie slipped down off the seat before I could scoop her up into my arms. My hands caught her waist just as her feet touched the ground. A scream pierced the air as she fell against my chest.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” I nearly jumped out of my own skin as I scooped her up. Tears were pouring down her face as she cradled her right arm tight to her body.

“M-my ankle, my wrist…It’s…”

Fuck. I hadn’t even gotten that far down her body on my inspection of her injuries. And I’d fucking carried her to the truck. Of course she was in shock, and so much of her pain would have been being numbed by her brain.

“Okay, I’ve got you now. I’m not setting you down until there’s a hospital bed to put you on,” I tried to reassure her. “And even then, I might just have to keep you in my arms.”

The confession was soft, nothing more than a whisper, but Birdie seemed to settle further into my hold after hearing it. I kicked shut her door and turned, marching for the emergency room entrance.

Birdie

Everything blurred together from the minute Beau set me down on the bed in the small emergency room. I was in a private space that wasn’t actually all that private. Curtains did little to muffle the sounds of patients in pain. There was a woman who’d been in a fender bender, crying in the cubicle next to mine. And an elderly man who’d fallen on the other side of me. I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. So I bit my lip and held on to Beau’s hand so tightly I was afraid I might break his fingers as doctors poked at my injuries.

Ask anyone in the medical field—we absolutely made the worst patients. And as much as I was trying to be good, I wanted to go home. No. Not my house. To the ranch. The bed I was stuck in was hard and cold. I wanted the warmth of Beau’s bed. The both of us together with Juniper between us.

This was torture. I needed normalcy.

“Let’s…go home,” I whispered, trying not to let my voice wobble. But of course it did. Beau lifted my hand, kissing against the punishing grip I still held onto him with. “Juniper needs us.”

“I know you don’t want to be here. Hell, I want to get you home, too. But we need to make sure you’re not hurt worse than you think. I’m so sorry, Birdie. This is my⁠—”