Page 46 of Stranger to Love

“Fuck no.” I took the blue roll off Holly and pressed it to the side of my head; I could feel the lump forming. There was no question I’d got a concussion, but I wasn't off to the fucking hospital. Mia shone her phone light right in my eyes, and I let her pretend she was a fucking paramedic until she stopped badgering me about going to A&E.

I groaned. “Holly, can you nip to the bar and ask Ben to make me up an ice pack.”

“Yeah, yeah of course,” she said quickly, squeezing my hand before leaving.

I looked to Mia, who was already shaking her head. “You can’t stay, Lex. You need to go home, and if you start to feel sick, you have to go to the hospital! I swear I’ll fucking drag you back from the dead if you die on me because you're being an idiot.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not going to die.” My head was pounding, but anyone’s would be if they got thrown into a fucking metal light. I chewed on my cheek. I didn’t want to call my Dad. He'd be knackered; checking my watch, it was only 11 p.m., but he’d be snoring after working his arse off that day, and Mum would only panic. “I’ll just stay in here until end of the shift.” I was sure Dr. Carter would be picking me up eventually; I didn’t want her to see me like that either, but it was better than stressing my parents out.

Mia sighed, her voice gentle. “Lex, I can’t let you stay here. I’ll be stressed all night that you’ve passed out. What if…” she hesitated. "What if you call Dr. Carter instead?”

I closed my eyes briefly; my head was pounding. Fuck, maybe I should just go home. I looked to Mia. "I don’t have her number.”

Mia sighed and sat more comfortably on the floor. I didn’t have her number, but there was an emergency one on the student portal. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, instantly turning the brightness down as the screen glared at me, and logged into the student portal. Finding her contact way too quickly, I glanced at Mia. “She has this emergency number the uni provides. I could text it? See if she even has the phone on her, it's probably a work one.”

Mia nodded eagerly. “I think you should.”

I rolled my eyes. "You are enjoying my head bleeding way too much.” I clicked on the number and opened up messages, hesitating for a second before sending the text.

Alex: Dr. Carter? It's Alex.

I held the phone out to Mia, showing the sent message. She scoffed at me. “What the fuck is that? You couldn’t think of something better to say?”

I pulled the blue roll away from the side of my head; the bleeding had started to stop. I glared at her. "You try to think of something clever to say when your head is fucking bleeding.”

She smirked. “Fair enough.”

My phone vibrated and, fuck me, my body fluttered. My fingers moved nearly of their own accord, flicking open the message.

Dr. Carter: Alex? What's wrong?

Fuck, I had almost hoped she wouldn’t reply. I took a deep breath, not in the mood to play games.

Alex: Are you able to pick me up early?

Alex: Please?

She answered within seconds.

Dr. Carter: I’ll be there in twenty minutes.

I sighed and showed Mia the phone. She nodded, looking at me sadly. "Fuck, you really don't feel good, do you?”

I shrugged. “No, I fucking don’t.” I put my phone away, the screen light making me feel sick. The headache had started to take over, making my head feel heavy. My eyes burned, but thankfully were not blurred anymore. Fuck, this sucked.

Holly came bustling back in with a tied towel packed with ice. She tentatively passed it over, and I swapped the blue roll for it, the bite of the cold bringing instant relief. Thank fuck for that. I sighed, letting my shoulders drop as Holly settled next to me. She hesitantly rested her head against my shoulder, arms wrapping tightly around my waist.

“I’m sorry you keep having to save me,” she whispered.

She was so fucking sweet, completely oblivious to how gorgeous she was. A woman who looked too precious for this world was always going to attract the pricks in places like that. I shifted slightly, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

“Are your friends still inside, sweetheart?”

She gave a small nod. “Yeah, but I want to stay here with you.”

“I need to head home,” I murmured, catching Mia’s eye. “Mia will keep watch over you, okay?”

Mia offered a resolute nod that practically screamed, Obviously, I’m not letting her out of my fucking sight.