Heat consumed her, and sweat formed on her forehead. Her mouth began to water as nausea roiled in her stomach. “I’m going to be sick.” She threw her hand over her mouth and willed her stomach to calm.
“Here.” Reid handed her a large plastic cup he’d pulled out of the cup holder.
She barely had the lid off before she heaved. Her stomach felt better, but she was still on fire.
He took a hard left turn, jarring her and increasing the painful pressure in her head. She closed her eyes again, praying the pain and nausea would ease. The car stopped, and then, the driver’s side door opened and closed. She opened her eyes. He had pulled the car under an awning. Beside the car were sliding glass doors with the hospital emblem painted on them. Reid came jogging out, followed closely by two people in scrubs, one pushing a wheelchair.
He opened her door. “She lost consciousness for about a minute, and she just vomited,” he said to the nurse who bent down in front of her.
“I’m fine. Just dizzy and a pounding headache.” She looked at Reid. “We need to go to the police station.”
He shrugged. “You need medical attention. The police can come to us.” He opened the back door. “Come on, little buddy. Let’s take you in and get you checked out, too.”
Quinn’s heart melted a little. Reid was taking such good care of them.
“Do you have any neck or back pain?” the nurse asked.
She shook her head, making it spin again. She raised her hand and pressed it to her head. “Just an awful headache.”
“Don’t move your head.” The nurse started to put a cervical collar around her neck. “This is just precautionary. Okay. Can you get out and have a seat in the wheelchair?” The nurse reached across her and unbuckled the seat belt.
“Yes, ma’am.” Quinn turned and stood.
The nurse grabbed her hand and helped her sit. The other nurse was busy talking to JJ. He clung to Reid. She’d never seen him cling to anyone else so tightly.
The nurses escorted them to an empty room. The waiting room at the hospital wasn’t too busy. She would’ve felt bad if patients had been waiting and she’d been rushed to a room.
They spent the next couple of hours being checked. Detective Jacobs showed up and asked some of the same questions from earlier. Most of which neither she nor Reid could answer. Reid described the attack and gave the best description he could of their attacker. The detective had the car towed, and it would be used as evidence.
The doctor gave them the all-clear to leave. JJ was fine. No injuries—just scared witless. She, on the other hand, would be sore from the jarring and had suffered a slight concussion. She’d been given some pain pills and muscle relaxers, filled by the hospital pharmacy.
Reid walked beside her, carrying a sleeping JJ. She had wanted to carry him out, but Reid had insisted. He didn’t want her to have a dizzy spell and drop him.
“What about a car?” How were they going to go anywhere? The only car they had was now in police impound.
“I called a rental agency and had one delivered while you were gone for testing. I also requested they throw in a new booster seat.” He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and pushed a button, making a large SUV parked at the curb honk and flash its lights.
She turned and raised an eyebrow.
“If someone hits us again, I want us to be well protected, and you’re not supposed to use a booster seat after it’s been in a wreck.”
She saw the logic in that. He opened the front door for her, then positioned JJ in the back seat and helped him buckle up.
Pain shot across her back as she reached for her seat belt. She let out a small gasp. The amount of time in the emergency room had been enough for the adrenaline to wear off and her muscles to tighten. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for pain, and reached up, only to have a hand push hers back down.
“Let me help.” Reid grabbed the seat belt and leaned across her to click it. She caught a whiff of something tangy under the smoke smell from the fire earlier. She inhaled, trying to figure out what the wonderful smell was.
Reid pulled back quickly and stood, concern filling his eyes. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
Her cheeks grew hot. She’d been sniffing him, and he’d caught it. “No. You didn’t.”
He looked her in the eyes, his gaze steady and intense. It felt like he was staring into her soul.
“Let’s get you buckled, then.” He broke the connection and leaned across her. She was careful to keep her breathing normal, but she could still catch hints of something. Whatever it was, she’d like to know what cologne lingered beneath the smoke. She was addicted.
CHAPTER FIVE
While Reid waited for tests tobe done on Quinn, he’d plugged the address into the GPS and found the way to the cabin from the hospital. Now, he followed a series of roads that led to the outskirts of town. What he was sure would have normally been a twenty-minute drive turned into nearly forty-five minutes. He’d taken a series of turns, driven in circles, and crossed the town at least twice, making sure no one was following them.
