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Reese explained what little she knew. She pointed out where it hurt the most.
“It looked like she took a blow to the back of her head, based on the blood in her hair,” Darren said from across the room. When the doctor didn’t respond, he looked up from his phone and said, “Stacie.”
Reese couldn’t help but wonder just how close Darren and Stacie were, even though it wasn’t any of her business. Tell that to her brain, because it wanted to know the exact nature of their relationship. It didn’t help when Darren joined them in the living room, choosing to sit next to Stacie so close that their thighs touched. While he didn’t seem to think twice about it, a flash of emotion crossed behind Stacie’s eyes.
There was a familiar air between the two of them, too. She didn’t get the girlfriend-and-boyfriend vibe. Although, it would serve Reese right if he flaunted a beautiful, successful woman under her nose to remind her of what she’d lost when she’d left town—him.
“I noticed the blood,” Stacie said dismissively as she flashed a small light she’d retrieved from her bag in Reese’s eyes. The exam and questions that followed seemed routine, like she could perform it in her sleep.
When everything was put away, Stacie closed the bag. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and clasped her hands together. “I cleaned up the wound on your head. There’s a pump knot with a little cut that should heal fine on its own without sutures. My biggest concern right now is your lapse in memory. It’s not uncommon in the case of trauma to block out the events leading up to the incident. Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix or guarantees. In some cases, the memories come back. In others, they’re gone for good. The brain goes to great lengths to protect us from memories that might cause us additional pain.”
“What about her headache?” Darren chimed in. “How long will that last?”
“I was getting to that,” Stacie said. “You can take OTC medication as directed to alleviate your headaches. If they get worse, give me a call. I can write a prescription for something stronger even though I’d prefer not to for the next couple of days.”
Reese wasn’t much on taking pills. “I’ll be fine with ibuprofen.”
Stacie nodded. “Avoid alcohol and driving for a few days until you’re feeling better again.”
The alcohol was no problem, but the driving meant she couldn’t get back to Dallas or her job any time soon unless she asked Darren for another favor or made a major request from her assistant who needed to be in the office.
“Okay,” Reese agreed. She needed to come up with a plan to get home, preferably in the next couple of hours. She was still holding on to the hope her purse and cell phones would be found by the law. She could ask Darren as soon as Stacie left. Her keys were inside her handbag as well. She was at a loss without it.
Reese cracked a small smile. Here she was thinking about car keys when she didn’t know where her vehicle was. It could be totaled or in a ditch somewhere at this point. Or both. Those details were still blank.
She might be putting too much stock in one option, but maybe the law could tell her where her vehicle was and in what condition.
“Other than that, rest,” Stacie said with an emphasis on the last word. Her gaze narrowed the next time she opened her mouth to speak. “For the record...” Her lips clamped shut almost as fast as they’d opened. Had she thought better of speaking her mind? “Suffice it to say I’ll be nearby if anything comes up.”
Darren immediately stood up, bringing Stacie up with a hand on her elbow. “I’ll walk you outside.”
Reese would like to be a fly buzzing around for that conversation.
“There’s no need,” Stacie said as she bent down to pick up her bag. She gave Reese another up-and-down stare with ice in her eyes. “I know where the door is. I can show myself out.”
Rather than tell the good doctor that she had nothing to worry about, Reese took the high road and thanked the woman. Stacie must feel threatened by Reese’s presence. She wanted to say, “Believe me, honey, you have nothing to worry about.” Darren would never move beyond the past and Reese had no right to ask him to despite her heartstrings being tugged by his presence.
Darren’s stubborn streak was a mile long and he would never forgive her.
DARRENWALKEDBEHINDStacie as she cut across the lawn toward her vehicle. Part of him felt the need to protect Reese from Stacie, and the other part—the one that had been burned—said Reese was a grown woman capable of handling her own affairs.
“Hey, what just happened?”
Stacie whirled around on him, index finger up and pointed like she was about to poke him in the chest. At least she wasn’t ready to smack him with her medical bag. “What?”
“Come one. Don’t play games,” he countered. “Not even a Texas summer could melt the ice back there.”
Stacie blew out a sharp breath that he was certain would freeze rain. “Is it wrong that I’m overprotective of my nieces?”
“It is when there’s no reason to be,” he said.
“Who is she then?” Stacie asked, moving her pointer finger toward the door.
“Someone I went to high school with a long time ago who ended up on my property, tied up in my equipment room,” he replied.
She sucked in a deep breath. “Why? Who would do that to her?”
“Those are good questions but all I know for certain is that she was being held against her will,” he confided.
