Page 36 of One Kind Hand

Austin arched an eyebrow. “See? Superhero.”

“I’m not a superhero. I’m just used to lending a hand in a rescue situation.” She arrowed her hand to the jagged-edged hole. “This was definitely a rescue situation.”

“A situation that someone is going to pay dearly for,” Cody growled.

“It was an accident, Cody,” Austin said.

“Yeah, one that could have killed you. When I get my hands on the imbeciles who constructed this set, I’m going to—” Cody stopped when Austin grabbed his shoulder.

“Dude. Breathe. Look at me.” He angled both of his hands at himself. “A few scrapes, but I’m fine.”

“Let’s hope so.” Cody nudged him into a walk again. “I want him checked out top to bottom at the hospital,” he said to the EMTs.

Austin looked at Charlie.

“What? Don’t look at me for help,” she said. “I agree with Cody.”

Austin reached out his left arm—the one not sore from being pinched between heavy debris. He wiggled his fingers. “Then you’re coming with me.”

Charlie stared at his hand and he could almost hear all the reasons she was flipping through for why she shouldn’t go with him. He had a few of those cycling through his head too, but fuck it. He’d nearly been ground to a powdered form and he wanted more of her. After an accident like today’s, shouldn’t he go after what he wanted?

When she still didn’t make a move toward him or say anything, he put his hands on his hips. “You’re telling me you’ll willingly jump into an underground tunnel that was obviously unstable, but you won’t get into an ambulance riding to the hospital?”

“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.” She pursed her lips.

“Good. Now c’mon.” He angled his head toward the ambulance, the back doors of it open and waiting.

“Are you sure you don’t want someone . . . else to go with you?”

Cody looked slightly peeved as he watched their exchange. Normally he would be the one Austin asked to escort him, but he felt the need for Charlie to come so strongly that he shook his head.

“Fine. Okay.” She glanced at Cody and the man forced a smile.

“Give me a call when you find out if he’s truly okay,” Cody said before turning around to bark at someone to give him the names of everyone who worked on building the street set.

“It was an accident!” Austin called, but Cody waved him off.

“I don’t think me coming with you improved his mood,” Charlie said as she climbed into the ambulance behind him.

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine as soon as he fires someone.” Austin let the EMT take a look at his right arm as the other EMT started the ambulance.

Charlie sat across from him and Austin liked having her there. Her shoulders were bunched up to her ears though.

“Hey. Relax. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“How are you so unfreaked? I mean, that street toppled onto you and you were stuck in there for a bit before we could lift away the debris.”

“I was freaked at first.” The memory of that night with his parents had done a number on his psyche. “But then two things made me not freak.”

“What two things?” Her gray-blue eyes focused on his face as the EMT moved his arm back and forth.

“The first was this lovely female voice calling my name.” He liked when her cheeks pinked and she hooked her hair behind her ear. “The second was a hand, keeping me connected to the outside. Both let me know I wasn’t alone down there.”

The EMT tended to some minor scrapes on his forearms as well as the gash on his head, the cuts stinging a little as they were cleaned.

“Thank you, Charlie.”

They rode in silence to the hospital. Austin was ushered into an exam room as soon as they arrived while Charlie headed for the waiting room. He didn’t want to be separated from her—something inside him needing her close—but he couldn’t see this exam taking long. A few X-rays would prove nothing was broken and then he could be back in the same space as Charlie.