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Dr. Matthews chuckled. “Considering the EMTs delivered her from the club, I expected nothing less.” He turned back to the bed, making sure both Littles were paying attention. “As for you two, I hope the next time we meet it won’t be under these circumstances. You both need to take better care of yourselves, understand?”
The two miscreants’ heads bobbed vigorously as they shared a look that had Jackson grinning. If they thought he was bothered by the doctor’s observation, he had news for them. He’d known since puberty that he was different than a lot of his friends. He never let anyone’s attempt to label him affect him in any way. He was secure in who he was and what he had to offer to those he’d chosen to partner with over the years. Right now, he was finding himself very much satisfied at the challenges that had literally appeared right before his eyes and fallen at his feet. He stood at the end of the bed, keeping watch as the nurse came in and the papers were signed. He reached out to accept the post-care instructions, scanned them and having no questions, folded the papers and slipped them into his jeans pocket.
“The bill?” he asked.
“It’ll be filed with her insurance company, though I let her know she could file with her employers as the accident happened in the work place,” the nurse said.
When Jackson turned his attention to Max who suddenly wouldn’t meet his eyes, he glanced at Sammy, not in the least bit surprised when the young man gave a single shake of his head.
“Now that that’s settled, we can go,” Sammy said.
Jackson remembered how important it had been for him to protect his bestie from embarrassment and understood he was either extending that protection to Logan or, more likely, hoping Logan didn’t even need to be informed of their escapades. He chose to remain silent. There would be a better time to have a much more in-depth discussion when he got them home.
“I think our patient would like to get dressed first,” the nurse said with a smile.
Jackson intercepted the bag of clothing the nurse lifted to pass to Maxine and thanked her. “We’ve got this.”
With a smile and a “good night,” the nurse left and the curtain closed for a final time.
“Um, I can do it,” Maxine said.
“I can help her,” Sammy jumped in to offer.
“Or you can both spend this time thinking about why you’ll be going to bed with hot bottoms,” Jackson suggested, opening the bag and laying out the lilac leggings, a t-shirt with brightly colored flowers all over it, and tennis shoes on the bed. Not seeing evidence of a purse, he looked over at her. “Where’s this ID the doctor was talking about?”
“Um, I’ve got it,” Max said, dropping her gaze.
Straightening to his full height, Jackson ran his eyes over her, pretty sure there was no purse hidden beneath the sheet she was clutching to her chin. Something was fishy. If he found out she had used a fake ID, one Little girl wasn’t going to sit without squirming for a good long while. Holding out his hand, he said, “Give it to me and your insurance card.”
“Why?”
“Oh, he doesn’t like a lot of questions,” Sammy supplied, throwing up his hands when Jackson shot him a look. “Sorry, just trying to help.”
“One, two—”
“No need to count,” Max said, her hand releasing the sheet only to disappear beneath the gown she was wearing. When it next appeared, she was holding a thin rectangle of plastic. “Geez, what, did you think I was lying?”
Ignoring her question, he took the item to discover it was an actual driver’s license with her face and her birthdate on it. The doctor was right, it appeared that Maxine Carolyn Wilks was indeed twenty-three though she could have passed for much younger. “And your proof of insurance?”
“I don’t have the card. I just gave them the account and phone numbers and they looked it up.”
“I see,” Jackson said, handing her license back. He watched as she turned it over in her hands a few times before sighing.
“I don’t like to carry purses when I’m working,” she said as if that clarified things.
It didn’t.
“She’s got a great memory. Once she sees something written down, she just remembers it,” Sammy offered.
Jackson cocked his brow, his eyes studying the young woman. Seemed like she was a woman of many talents. “I bet that came in handy when in school.”
“Oh, it did, she was always screwing the grading curve though,” Sammy again provided.
Another sigh and a blush accompanied Maxine’s hand disappearing again and though it took him another moment, he finally quirked his brow. “You keep your license in your bra?”
“Usually, I usually have pockets or tuck it in my tool belt, but”—she shrugged—“it’s convenient when I don’t.”
“She always has a twenty stuck in there too.” Sammy continued to be a font of information. “You know, in case we get separated or something.”
