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He cursed as he pulled me across his lap and wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m ruining your suit,” I mumbled.
“You are,” he replied in a sharp tone.
I closed my eyes and let out a sob.
He rubbed my back soothingly. “Don’t cry, Nadia. I’m here.”
The car stopped at a familiar Park Avenue building. I placed my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist, feeling the cool air on my buttocks that Paul gripped.Oh, my God; Paul’s carrying me and holding my butt.
I giggled despite it all.
“Nothing about this is funny,” he grumbled, and I shut my mouth.
We walked into an office on the ground level. A doctor in a white coat and a nurse in scrubs stood waiting inside. They led us to an exam room, where Paul set me down on a table.
My pulse picked up, and I reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. “You’re leaving me here? Don’t leave me, please, Paul.”
“She’s delirious,” he said to the doctor and nurse.
I spared a glance at him that I hadn’t been able to do in the car. He was still devastatingly handsome. Instead of his usual polished appearance, his hair was tousled, and he had stubble onhis square jaw, which was clenched as he scowled at me. I flicked my eyes down at the stain on his creased suit.
The doctor came forward and gently touched my arm. “I’m Dr. Foster, the Cranes’ physician, and this is our head nurse, Felicia. We’re here to look after you. This exam is thorough, and I think it’s best, for your comfort, that we do this in private. If you want Mr. Crane to have information on your care, I’ll have you sign a release form. Otherwise, I promise as soon as it’s over, Paul will come back in, okay?” She sounded like she was talking to a child, and in some ways, I supposed I behaved like one tonight. But surely, they only needed to check my blood pressure, so her promise of privacy surprised me.
“I’m not going to leave you here. Stay with the doctor,” Paul said, using his authoritative tone.
I signed the privacy release agreement. Then I lay back and closed my eyes in compliance.
“Nadia, I want to run a few tests to see what you took and rule out anything nefarious. That okay?” Nurse Felicia asked.
“Yes,” I said quietly. I hadn’t been feeling well that morning, so I suspected I had a virus.
The nurse drew blood, and I winced at the sting of the needle. Never had been a fan of them.
“Have you been feeling dizzy today? Headaches? Any aching?”
“All of the above, actually. My roommate gave me some aspirin, but it didn’t really do much except make me feel nauseous. Oh, and I had a glass of white wine.”
“Hmmm,” Dr. Foster sighed. “I’m not certain it was aspirin, but the blood test will confirm that. I’m concerned you’re dehydrated, Nadia, so I’d like to put in an IV. It just has saline and glucose and electrolytes. I hope you’ll feel better once the bag is empty.”
“Okay. Thank you, Doctor.” She checked over my vitals before having the nurse put an IV in my arm.
“One more test. We’d like to check and verify you weren’t sexually assaulted. Do you give us permission to do that?”
“Um, I wasn’t assaulted, Felicia.”
She looked toward Dr. Foster, who grimaced.
“We’re not completely certain you’d know if you were, and for your protection, we’d like to double-check. You were found on the floor in a bathroom,” Dr. Foster said.
I wracked my brain, but all I could remember was being on the floor like she said. I mumbled a yes, then experienced my second very intimate physical examination.Thank God Paul hadn’t stayed in the room for that.
“I’m sorry, Nadia. I know that must have felt like such an intrusion. We just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” the nurse said. She had a friendly smile, and although I felt extremely uncomfortable, I actually felt…safe.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
A few minutes later, Paul returned to the room just like she promised.
