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I have to go.
Now.
They’d patched me up. I was no longer on death’s door. The sooner I could run, the sooner I could get away from that door. A door I had no intention of knocking on.
“I’m fine. I-I don’t need any more treatment.” Yanking at the IV in my arm, I muttered, “I want to go.”
“Go?” The nurse raised his eyebrows. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re staying at least the night. You’re on concussion watch and—”
“I don’t have a concussion.” Memories of that stupid test the nurse made me do when I was sixteen came to mind. “Give me that test you guys have. I’ll prove it to you.” I could remember it even now about a dumb dog, the mouse, and twenty-nine dandelions.
“Doesn’t work that way, I’m afraid. The doctor will want to assess your symptoms. If you do have a hairline hip fracture then treatment is the same as your cracked ribs. You’ll need to rest, ice, and take anti-inflammatories as and when you require, but—”
“I’m fine.” I shifted higher in the starched sheets. “I need to find Nerida.”
“Ah, yes. Nerida Taylor. Your wife. Like I said, I’ve put a note on your file, so if she’s in the hospital, someone will alert us. For now, though...” The nurse pulled out a pen from the sleeve of his e-tablet and hovered it over the screen. “How about we answer those questions, hey? What’s your name?”
Ah fuck.
Common sense came slamming back.
Self-preservation had kept my secrets intact, but I’d made a colossal mistake.
A life-changing, marriage-ending mistake.
Kafami sikeyim!
What the hell was I thinking?
How could I be so stupid?!
I’d given them Neri’s name. Her full name.
Groaning, I raked both hands through my hair, ignoring the IV needle, bandages, and road rash. My headache worsened, threatening to drag me down into fog and fuzz.
If something happened to me, I’d implicated her.
Fucking hell!
Get it together!
Think.
You’ve already fucked up.
Now what?
“Sir...are you okay?” the nurse asked, touching my shoulder gently. “If you’re in pain, just let me know your Medicare number and any allergies you may have, and I can administer some stronger pain relief.”
My heart fisted as I dropped my hands and sat frozen on the bed. Every part of me bellowed, scrambling all my ability to think.
I’d been too slow.
Far, far too stupid.
Perhaps I was concussed because there was no excuse for how badly I’d slipped.
Had Neri been as idiotic as me and mentioned my name?
