Lance kept his eyes on Jade for the entire thirty minute ride to the hospital. Originally located in North Heron County, it had since moved slightly north to Accawmacke County. Zac worked efficiently on her, keeping her smiling with some of his corny jokes, but he still caught the pain in her eyes.

Pulling up to the emergency room, Lance hopped out, assisting as her gurney was taken from the ambulance, before stepping back to let the hospital personnel complete their tasks. He and Zac stayed outside the ER bay as a nurse assisted her into a hospital gown.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the efficient nurse said as she left the room, “only family is allowed back with her.”

“I’m her…” he hesitated a second, about to identify himself as her brother, when Zac interrupted.

“It’s okay,” he said with a grin. “He’s her fiancé.”

Both Jade and his eyes widened at the lie, but the nurse nodded and allowed him access behind the curtain.

Zac leaned over and kissed her forehead, saying, “I’ll check on you later, sweetheart, but I gotta get back to Baytown now.” Turning to leave, he slapped Lance on the back and, with a wink, said, “You can thank me later, fiancé.”

After a chin lift thrown Zac’s way, his gaze immediately shot back to Jade as the hospital personnel began their procedures. When they reached the part of her information concerning emergency contacts, she hesitated.

“Um…I guess you can put my mom down…but only in an emergency.” She rattled off the name and phone number, along with a Virginia address.

As the nurse finished, a fresh-faced doctor entered the room and Lance looked over at him with suspicion, wondering if the kid was old enough to have completed medical school. The doctor smiled widely at Jade, introducing himself.

Knowing he should step out of the room to give them privacy, he nonetheless stayed standing nearby, fighting the desire to punch the overly friendly doctor.

The doctor took stock of all of her injuries, from her swollen wrist, injured foot, and glass cuts on her cheek, to the dark bruising on her shoulder, collarbone and chest.

“I want to send you to x-ray. We want to check out your wrist and foot, and also your neck, spine, and ribs. We’ll check for a concussion as well. I’ll be back once we have those and then we can see to your injuries.”

With a parting smile, the doctor was out the door, unaware of Lance’s glare on his back. Immediately, he swung his gaze back to Jade. Pulling up a plastic chair, he sat next to her bed, reaching out to hold her hand.

“How are you feeling?”

Blowing out a huge sigh, she admitted, “Like I was hit by a truck.”

Chuckling, despite his concern, he shook his head. “That is so not funny, Jade.”

She offered a small smile and quipped, “Well, fiancé, you’re supposed to love me in sickness and in health.”

Now a full laugh escaped from him, as he rubbed circles on her palm.

“I know why Zac did that, but I was going to say I was your brother. Of course,” he said hesitantly, “I like what he chose instead.”

Before she had a chance to respond, hospital personnel came to whisk her off to x-ray, leaving him sitting in her room, wondering what was coming over him.

Why did I admit that I liked being called her fiancé? Way to scare someone off! Deciding that when she came back, he would move into professional mode to make sure she was comfortable with his presence, he sucked in a deep breath, knowing she was so much more to him than a victim in need of comfort.

Down the hall, Jade moved onto the x-ray table, pain lancing through her back, shoulders, foot, arm…damn, is there anywhere that doesn’t hurt? Trying to stay positive, she focused on Lance’s words. He liked that Zac declared him as my fiancé. Knowing her feelings for him were growing, it was nice to hear that he felt the same.

“Okay, Ms. Lyons, we’re all finished. We’ll take you back to your ER bay and the attending physician will be in to talk to you as soon as he’s had a chance to look at all the radiographs. We’ll confirm with him and then start you on some pain meds that we can put in your IV as well.”

Within a few minutes, she was ensconced back in her ER bay, Lance hopping up from his chair to observe her as they hooked her back to the various machines.

She smiled, her eyes searching his, and greeted, “Hey. I’m so glad you’re here with me.” A curt nod was his only response, and she wondered why he was not reaching out to hold her hand anymore. “Are you okay?”

“Absolutely,” he replied, his voice no longer warm. “I was wondering what else you could tell me about the accident,” he said, taking out a pad of paper from his back pocket, along with a pen.

Sucking in her lips, she stared at him, uncertain of the change that had come over him while she had been in x-ray. She left with him saying he was glad Zac referred to him as her fiancé and now he was acting like a cop on patrol. Sighing heavily, she replied, “I left school as usual and was actually driving out to your house. I didn’t know if you were home, but I…well…I just wanted to see you, that’s all. I’ve had a crappy day—”

“Why crappy?” he asked, his voice now laced with concern.

“Lance, what’s going on? I’m going to get whiplash from your mood changes and, honestly, the way I feel right now, I don’t need that!”

Lance opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, uncertain how to respond.

Huffing, Jade leaned back on the uncomfortable bed, “Fine. Professional it is. I had a bad day because my students knew about the body on the beach and the local story was picked up by a TV station in Virginia Beach this weekend, which my mom so graciously continues to remind me of. By the time I left school, I simply thought I would spend some time with you. Obviously, a dumb idea, but there it is. A black pickup truck, with a big grill on the front, came very close to me. I couldn’t see the driver clearly. A ball cap covered his hair and he wore sunglasses. I saw no one in the passenger side. They swung to the other lane and I thought they were going to pass. As they pulled alongside me, I glanced over, but the passenger window was tinted so I could see nothing. He jerked his truck into the side of me. I ran off the road and into a copse of trees. I looked up as the airbag deflated, and I might have been disoriented and terrified, but I still saw him driving down the road, leaving me wrecked against the trees.” Letting out a sigh, then wincing when the movement hurt her bruised chest, she clamped her mouth shut. Tired, grumpy, and in pain.

He looked down at his feet for a moment, the silence in the room deafening. Shaking his head, he admitted, “I’m sorry, Jade. I didn’t mean…I just don’t know…oh, fuck.”

Her eyes lifted to him, leaning against the wall, and her heart melted again. “Look, Lance. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but even if it’s all pretend, I really need someone to just hold my hand.” The last word was said on a sob, causing another grimace to cross her face.

Dropping into the chair, he grabbed her uninjured hand, squeezing it tight. “I’m so sorry, really I am.” He gazed into her eyes, quickly developing dark circles around them, and saw fatigue and pain. Interrupted by another nurse, he watched as she gave Jade a painkiller through her IV.

“Now, this’ll make you sleepy,” the nurse warned, “so, if you have to get out of bed, make sure your handsome fiancé helps.”

With a smile, the nurse left, and he observed Jade’s face relax as the medicine took effect.

She rolled her head to the side, and said, “What were you saying?”

“I was admitting that I suck at letting people in, and sometimes completely forget how to be a friend, much less anything else.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice whisper soft.

“Too many reasons to burden you with right now, but I promise, I’m getting help. I really want to be able to be a better man…like the man I used to be, but it’ll take some time.”

She grinned a wobbly smile, her eyes brighter now that the pain had receded. “I can wait,” she confessed. Her smile slid off her face as her eyes began to close, “I liked it when you said you liked what Zac said. That was nice,” her voice slurred. Her brow furrowed as she continued, “Not all, Mr. Big Bad Cop.”

He grinned as her eyes closed completely, knowing she was not in pain and, if he was honest, happy that she admitted she felt the same as he did. Breathing a sigh of relief, he watched her rest, still holding her hand.

A few minutes later, his phone vibrated and, seeing it was Mitch, he slipped out of the room and into the hall. “Yeah?”

“How’s she doing?”

“Doc’s been in, checked her out, then they took her to x-ray. Got her on pain meds now, so she’s sleeping. Doc’s supposed to come back in when he looks at everything.”

“She tell you any more?”

“Not really. She was definitely run off the road—”

“Yeah, Jason has looked at her car and has corroborated that the truck that hit her was painted black.”

“Anything on the license plate?”

“Grant’s running it now.”

“I want the bastard, Mitch.”

“I know you do and I know you’ll do everything by the book, no matter how badly you want to go after him.” After a moment of silence, he asked, “You bringing her home?”

“As soon as they release her.”

“Lance, I gotta warn you, the women are gearing up to swoop in and take care of her. I know you like privacy, but you may have to kiss that goodbye.”

Still holding the phone to his ear, he dropped his head to stare at his shoes. Waiting for the tell-tale signs of panic, instead his chest was filled with warmth. “It’s all good, Mitch. But tell them to give her a day or so. She’s banged up.”

He chuckled, “You got it. See you when you get back.” With that, he disconnected.

Observing the doctor walk back into Jade’s room, he hustled in as well. A droopy smile crossed her face again and the doctor laughed.

“I see the pain medicine has made you more comfortable. Good, good,” the doctor declared before turning toward Lance, speaking more to him than her. “She’s suffered a hairline fracture of her wrist and has a severely bruised collarbone and chest from the seat belt. We’ll splint her wrist and give her a sling to keep her arm from moving too much as it heals. Her ankle is not broken, but has severe contusions, so we’ll have it in a boot, just to help with the swelling. She should stay off her left foot for several days to give it a chance to heal. She can’t use crutches with her injured wrist, but with the boot, she can walk on it as soon as it is strong enough. As far as her lacerations, the nurse removed the pieces of glass that were embedded, and an antiseptic cream applied twice a day should take care of the small cuts.”

His mind reeled as he listened to the doctor’s list of injuries, but he was thankful her seatbelt and airbag kept her as safe as it did.

“So, we’ll also prescribe a pain medication that she can take if necessary, but if over-the-counter pain medicine works, she can just use those. Any questions?”

Jade’s nose scrunched as she said, “He talks a lot. Too many words.”

Grinning, Lance nodded toward the doctor, saying, “I’ve got it.”

As the doctor left, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “And I’ve got you too, sweetheart,” he said, the endearment falling easily from his lips.