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17
Atickling sensationroused me from my deep sleep. The gentle prickles tracing across the back of my hand felt as if a spider was stepping across my skin. I forced my eyes open, hissing when the bright lights above me seared through my brain.
“Sophie?”
I moved my spider free hand and covered my eyes before opening them again. Moving my head to my right, I saw Brady sat at my side. He had my hand against his mouth, his spikey stubble dancing across my soft skin.
I looked past him, seeing the clinical white room, and realised I was in hospital. Sighing, I said, “I thought I told you no hospitals?”
He grinned and kissed the back of my hand before rushing out of the room. I didn’t move, I didn’t have the energy to. My stomach muscles were already tight and telling me of their agony. A dull pounding in my head echoed throughout my whole body and the back of my throat felt as if I’d swallowed acid.
Footsteps came back in the room—more than one set. Groaning, I realised he’d fetched a doctor or nurse.
“Good afternoon, Miss Woods.”
The well-spoken English accent snapped a hold of my attention immediately. I glanced to my left to see a tall, thin gentleman in his fifties smiling back at me.
“Am I back home?”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “No, you are in Tucson Medical Centre. I’m Doctor Tate. How are you feeling?”
I licked my dry lips and smiled. “Like I’ve been hit by a bus.”
“Well,” he said, looking through the clipboard of notes he held in front of him. “Luckily for you, your CT scan revealed no major injuries, but you have suffered a severe concussion. Have you ever had concussion before?”
“Does a coma count?”
Raising a salt and pepper eyebrow, he seemed to lose all sense of any comical edge. “When was this?”
“Um...about three months ago. I had a bad car crash.”
“I see. This was back home? In England?”
I nodded.
“And what were your injuries exactly?”
“Broken leg, broken arm, three broken ribs, and a fractured skull. I was in a coma for six days.”
“Right, well, unfortunately, that means you’re going to be staying in for the night. Once a head injury has been sustained, future injuries are always a cause for concern. The fact you’ve experienced a coma does not fill me with enough confidence to sign you out of my care.”
“But I’m fine, honestly.”
His grey eyes flickered over to Brady and his thin lips pulled up into a quirky smirk. “I was told you said exactly the same thing before you wound up in my care.”
I frowned, pursing my lips. “Please. I really don’t like hospitals.”
“Have you got any family back home you want me to contact for you?”
My heart lurched in my chest. I couldn’t be doing with causing such a fuss. It was a simple fall from a horse, but knowing my parents, they would insist on coming all the way out here even though I was fine.
“No, thank you.”
“Not even your parents?”
I took a second to gather my thoughts. “I’ll stay for the night without a fuss if you drop the whole calling my family thing?”
He chuckled and tucked his clipboard under his arm. “I can do that. I’ll be sending the nurses in every hour to check your vitals so don’t expect a peaceful sleep. Also, you’re nil by mouth until I’m satisfied otherwise.”
