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“I’m not. I’m pointing out the obvious.”
I sighed and began protesting further.
Like a bolt of lightning, an excruciating cramp exploded in my leg. A piercing scream left me. I grabbed my leg, but it was no use. I crumpled to the floor in an agonised heap. Streams of tears flowed down my face, but I had no idea if they were for my leg, Brady, or a combination of everything that had gone on in my sorry life lately.
It was several seconds before I registered strong, familiar arms wrapped around me. “I’m taking you to the hospital.” Lifting me into his truck, he laid me across the back seat. “Just hold on, Sophie. I’ve got you.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and jumped back in the driver’s seat.
Blood sprang from my bottom lip as I bit back howls of pain. Hot pulses stabbed through my leg like it was stuck in a sewing machine. I shouted at myself in my head for not taking better care of myself. What was wrong with me?
Squeezing my eyes shut, I concentrated on calming my ragged breathing. It seemed like hours before the truck skidded to a halt. I was so hot that when Brady threw open the door, the desert heat seemed like a breath of fresh air. He curled his arms around me once more and carried me inside.
It was just my luck that Dr Tate was on duty. He ushered us straight inside an examination room, asking questions I had no energy to answer. Brady spoke for me as he ripped my jeans off.
The white dressing was smeared with crimson patches. It looked like I’d been trying to create a paint horse on it. Carefully picking away the surgical tape, Dr Tate removed the bandage and murmured a heart stopping, ‘Ah’.
“What’s wrong?” Brady asked, grasping hold of my hand.
“It’s infected,” the doctor replied. “She needs to stay in on an IV drip of antibiotics.”
“No,” I said. “Please. I don’t want to stay in again.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But you’ve left yourself no choice. If you’d followed the instructions I gave you then you wouldn’t be back here.” He glanced up at Brady. “I thought I’d left her in your capable hands?”
Anguish streaked across his tanned features. “I’m sorry. I’ve been busy dealing with other things. I didn’t realise she wasn’t taking her medication.”
The doctor shook his head. “Never mind. Life gets in the way for all of us. At least she’s here now.”
“Can’t I just have some tablets or something?” I asked, not wanting to spend another minute inside one of these damn places.
“They won’t work fast enough, I’m afraid. We need something in your system now before septicaemia starts to take hold.”
“I’m guessing there’s no chance of me flying home any time soon then?”
He smiled, his blue eyes shining with sympathy. “I could have let you fly home next week, but after this, I’m afraid you’re grounded until you’ve made a full recovery. If anything happens to you in the air, it’s on my head.”
I sighed and nodded. “I understand.”
He disappeared to fetch some nurses and set me up a bed. With the click of the door closing behind him, a crackling silence fell in the room.
Running his thumb over my knuckles, Brady said, “I’ll stay with you.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine.”
“I want to do it. I shouldn’t have left you in the first place.”
I glanced at him. His big brown eyes glistened with a film of water. Was he nearly crying? Why?
“I...I’m sorry, Sophie,” he said, letting out a deep breath. “I’m so sorry for everything. I can’t believe I nearly lost someone else because of her.”
I frowned. My heart hammered against my ribs. What did he mean by that? I kept silent, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought. He lifted his head and gazed out of the window behind me.
“That’s how I lost my sister,” he said. His throat bobbed up and down twice before he continued with the killer sentence. “I was too busy arguing with Anna...when Kelsa rode out on her own...and was killed by a mountain lion.”
