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He smiled, the color in his face looking better. “You’re welcome.”
The paramedic helped Isabel stand from the gurney, and she winced when she brought her full weight to her feet. Both medics watched her carefully as she walked toward me, but her balance seemed fine, even if her progress was slow. I snagged a chair from the patio table next to me and slid it closer to her.
She smiled gratefully, bracing her hand on the back. “I should probably get some coverage for class tomorrow, huh?”
I exhaled in a sharp burst. “I’d say so.”
“I’ll call Kelly,” she sighed. “She owes me. But I’ll be back on Monday.”
Tilting my head, I regarded her steadily. “If you’re making a call right now, it’s going to be someone in your family to see who can come back and stay with you.”
She swore. “I need to call Molly.”
“How long until she can be here?” I asked.
Isabel wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I’ll just … text her real quick.”
“How long until anyone can be here?” I amended.
She ignored me, pulling her phone out of her pocket and tapping out a text. After she hit send, I snagged it from her hand.
“Hey,” she protested.
“All good here. Sore wrist and a scratch on my forehead. No need to worry,” I read out loud. I pinned her with an incredulous look, and she set her jaw. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
The paramedics were still within earshot, and the guy approached us immediately. “Sir, she cannot be left alone tonight. Someone has to wake her up every three to four hours, and I’d strongly advise against leaving her alone.”
With a lift of my chin, I handed her the phone back. “You have one chance to call someone over here.”
Isabel swallowed visibly but tucked her phone in her pocket. “I am not forcing them home from their jobs, or their trips because I bumped my head. I am fine. I’ll ice my wrist and take some Tylenol and set an alarm.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “You’re going to wake yourself up if you’ve got a concussion?”
She shifted on her feet. “I can ask a neighbor.”
“To stay with you all night?”
Isabel rolled her lips between her teeth and stared past me. “Mmmhmm.”
The paramedic shook his head.
“It’s fine,” I told him. “I’ll handle it.”
Isabel’s eyes narrowed. The paramedic went back to the gurney to help his partner load up their equipment.
“You can do all those things if you want to. The ice, the Tylenol, the rest,” I said evenly. She eyed me suspiciously. I leaned in until less than an inch separated our faces. “But you will do it at my house, and if you argue with me right now, I’ll load you up and drop your stubborn ass off at the hospital myself, do you understand?”
Tense silence stretched like a rubber band, and she opened her mouth to argue. I saw the heat of it in her blue, blue eyes.
“I get it,” I said before she could disagree. “I hate it when people need to take care of me. Nothing makes me feel more powerless.”
Isabel huffed out an annoyed breath.
“This is not just about you, okay?” I gentled my tone. “I owe you, Isabel.”
At the sound of her name, her eyes softened.
I’d never said her first name out loud before, or not to her, at least.
