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He didn’t want to talk about it. “You need to get some sleep.”
“Are you leaving?” Her body trembled.
“No.” To prove it, he held her closer. “I’m not leaving. Not yet.” He hated that he couldn’t drop everything and stay with her indefinitely.
Someone knocked on the door, then pushed it open.
Viper nearly went for his gun hidden at his back, but relaxed when he saw a nurse.
Her eyes landed on them, Lyric in his lap. “Oh, sorry. I, uh, need to check her vitals.”
Viper stood with Lyric in his arms, turned, laid her back in bed, and pulled the blanket up over her bruised legs, but not before he pulled the gown up and checked out the horrible bruise blooming on her hip and thigh. “Can we get some ice for this?”
“I didn’t want to do it while she was trying to sleep, but since she’s awake, it would be best to ice it again.” The nurse checked Lyric’s heart rate and blood pressure and asked her a bunch of questions to make sure she was oriented. Satisfied all was well, the nurse left to get the ice pack.
Lyric stared up at him. “I’ve never been in a helicopter. Was it fun?”
“It can be. The view is usually spectacular. But tonight, all I could think about was you and how long it was taking to get here.”
“Does your cousin fly for a living?”
“Hawk is ex-military. He doesn’t like to talk about his time overseas. Now he flies for fun and part-time doing search and rescue.”
“Why were you in a helicopter the other times?”
“Uh... for work.”
The nurse came back in, thankfully, giving him an out for having to tell Lyric he couldn’t elaborate on that. At least, not right now. But he bet she was wondering why a guy who did construction would need to ride in a helicopter.
The nurse pulled the blanket back and gently placed the ice on the worst of the injury and used a rolled-upblanket to help keep the pack in place. “If you can take it, leave this on for about twenty minutes.”
Lyric nodded, though she looked really uncomfortable and in pain.
The nurse left them alone again.
He sat next to her on the bed. “What can I do?”
She took his hand. “Tell me something real.”
That was easy. “I’m seriously worried about you.”
She squeezed his hand. “Tell me about you and Nick when you were little.”
He loved that she was always trying to get to know him better. “He always thought he was the boss of me back then. He still thinks it now, though, technically, he is actually my boss.”
“Really?”
He ignored that land mine and went on. “Nick is smart. Like, brilliant. He always did well in school without even trying. Me, I had to work at it, mostly because I was bored in school. I liked being in the action, so I played a lot of sports.”
“What was your favorite?”
“Oddly enough, volleyball. Not on a team, but one-on-one.”
“You like to win.” She grinned.
“I like to strategize and beat my opponent. That’s not to say I didn’t do well on team sports.”
She grinned, checking him out. “I bet you did better than well.”
