Quinn
I forced my heavy eyelids open and squinted against the bright lights of the room. Trying to swallow, I groaned at the pain I felt in my throat. Where the hell was I, and how did I end up here? Turning my head, I gasped as I saw a man asleep next to me. “Evan?” I croaked. The man’s head, which was turned away from me, suddenly moved and he sat up. Relief flooded my body as I realized it wasn’t Evan. The only resemblance to him was the dark hair that fell over his forehead. Our eyes met, and I found myself staring into the bluest eyes I had ever seen. It was only then I realized he was holding my hand. Tearing my eyes from his I looked at our joined hands.
“I’m sorry,” came a deep gravelly voice. “I didn’t know if I should hold your hand or not.” My eyes flew back up to his as he quickly dropped my hand. “I’m Brody, by the way.”
“Where am I?” My hand moved up to hold my dry, scratchy throat.
“Here, have some water.” Brody leaned over and reached for the jug at the end of the bed. I watched as he poured me a drink, and I gave him a small smile as he held out the cup for me to take. Hesitantly, I took it from him. He nodded encouragingly at me and I slowly sipped the water. While this wasn’t Evan, I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t someone Evan knew. I needed to be on my guard.
“Better?” he asked. I nodded and handed him back the empty cup. “I’m just going to let the nurse know you’re awake.” He placed the cup back on the small table and walked out of the room, returning a moment later. “The nurse will be in soon,” he said with a reassuring smile.
“Where am I?” I asked again, my voice sounding more like it usually did.
“The hospital in Marble Falls. There was a fire in the stables. I pulled you out.”
“A fire?” I repeated, noticing for the first time his blackened clothes and bandaged hand. I watched as he nodded his head and walked around the bed toward me. My eyes widened as he came closer and my heart pounded in my chest. He’d done nothing to make me wary of him, but right now I trusted no one.
Sensing my unease, he stopped and held up his hands. “Hey,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you.”
“I’m sorry…” I whispered, my eyes dropping to my hands.
“Don’t apologize,” he insisted.
Taking a deep breath, I attempted a smile. “I haven’t thanked you… for rescuing me.” My eyes met his, and he returned the smile. “How did you know I was in there?” My heart pounded knowing I would have to explain what I was doing sleeping in the stables.
“We didn’t. We were looking for my sister and found you instead.”
“Oh. Is your sister okay?”
He nodded. “Turned out she wasn’t in there, thank God. Her boyfriend got hurt though; he’s still unconscious.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“What were you doing in the stables?” he asked, sliding into the chair next to my bed.
“I came to see Claire Parker about the domestic assistant job. I saw it advertised in the grocery store in Marble Falls.”
“Claire’s my mom. My parents run the ranch. I didn’t know she was looking for staff,” he said with a frown. “How’d you end up in the stables?”
My heart sank at hearing there might not be a job at the ranch. Not that they’d give it to me now, knowing I’d snuck onto their property. “I had to walk from where the bus dropped me and I got soaked in the rain. I figured I’d dry off overnight before attempting to make a good impression. Thought I'd change my clothes and tidy myself up…” I trailed off as I looked around the room. Sitting up in the bed, I felt panic grip my chest. “My backpack. Where’s my backpack?” I exclaimed, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, groaning as pain tore through my side.
“Whoa, wait! Should you be getting up?” His hand curled around my arm. “Wait, I’ll fetch the nurse.”
I shook off his hand and pushed myself off the bed, my legs shaking. “I need my backpack. Where’s my backpack?” I asked in a panic, seeing the clothes I’d been wearing the night before folded up neatly on a chair across the room.
“Sorry, I didn’t see one. I just grabbed you and ran.” His voice tinged with annoyance, and I knew I’d pissed him off.
Turning around, I stared at his angry eyes before dropping my head. “I’m sorry. I sound like I’m not grateful you rescued me, but everything I had was in there.”
“All that stuff can be replaced.” His tone was softer, but I knew he wouldn’t understand. “What’s your name? I can help you.”
“Quinn,” I told him quietly. Standing up he walked around the bed, picking something up from the cabinet next to where I was sitting.
“The staff found this when you were brought in.” He held his hand out and I took the photograph from him. Looking down I felt tears well in my eyes as my mom’s smiling face looked back at me. It was taken on my seventeenth birthday. It was just under two years ago, but it felt like a lifetime since I was the happy, carefree girl in the photo. A single tear slipped down my cheek and a sob escaped my lips. I felt Brody reach for my hand, squeezing it gently. “Do you want to call your mom? You can use my phone.”
I shook my head. “She died,” I muttered as I continued to stare at the photograph.
“I’m sorry, Quinn,” he said sadly. “Do you want to speak to Evan?”
I felt my whole body tense as I raised my head to look at him. “Is he here? Has he found me?” I whispered, my eyes wide.
He shook his head. “No. No, he’s not here,” he assured me. “I just heard you say his name when you woke up. Who is he, Quinn? Did he…?” I watched as his eyes dropped to my split lip and bruised cheek.
“No!” I exclaimed, not wanting to tell this person I’d just met my life story. “Evan’s my brother,” I lied. I saw a frown form on his face and I knew he didn’t believe me. Thankfully at that moment the door to my room opened, and a nurse walked in, cutting our conversation short.
“Hey, you’re awake,” the pretty nurse said as she made her way over to my bed. “How are you feeling?” She picked up my chart and started writing inside it.
“I’m okay. My throat's a little sore, and my side hurts, but other than that…” I trailed off not knowing what else to tell her.
She nodded as she began to take my blood pressure and pulse. “I’ve paged the doctor, he’ll be here soon.” After taking my vitals, she wrote more details in my chart, before placing it back at the end of my bed. “We haven’t been able to call any relatives as you weren’t carrying any ID. What’s your name?” she asked kindly.
“Quinn. Quinn Montgomery. There’s no one to call though, it’s just me.” My eyes flitted to Brody, and I subtly shook my head, hoping he wouldn’t mention Evan. Thankfully he seemed to take the hint and just raised his eyebrows in question. Ignoring him, I turned back to the nurse. “When can I leave?”
“Let’s get you checked over by the doctor first,” she replied with a smile before leaving the room.
“Where are you going to go?” Brody asked gently.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ll be fine.”
“How? If everything you had was in your backpack, all that’s left is those clothes over there.” He gestured with his head to the folded pile of clothes on the chair across the room.
My eyes looked over to where he was pointing, and I sighed. “I’ll figure it out,” I muttered, not having a clue what I was going to do with no clothes and no money.
Standing up, he walked to the end of the bed and rested his hands on the bed frame. “Let me help you.” I sat up and opened my mouth to speak, but he held his hand out to stop me. “I’m not blind, Quinn. I can see the bruises. So, I know something is going on with you. I don’t expect you to share what’s happened, you barely know me. But I can help you.” His eyes found mine, and I held his gaze. He may have said he didn’t expect me to tell him what had happened, but his stare told a different story. Sighing, he came back to sit next to my bed. “Let me find you a job on the ranch. There are some of the old cabins not in use as well. You could live in one of those. Just until you can sort yourself out.”
“Why?” I asked him, my voice showing my surprise. “Why do you want to help me?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I pulled you out of that burning stable, I don’t want it to be for nothing. You need help, and I can help you.” His eyes bored into mine and I found myself unable to look away. My apprehension from earlier was ebbing away, and I found myself thinking maybe I could trust him. My gut was telling me he was one of the good guys. Whatever connection we had was broken when the door to my room swung open and a doctor and a nurse came in. “Think about it, Quinn.” Standing up he made his way to the door, his hand resting on the handle. “I’ll wait outside while the doctor checks you over.”
Brody
Walking out of Quinn’s room, I closed the door behind me and dragged in a deep breath. “Shit!” I mumbled. Why I’d just offered her a job and a place to stay, I had no idea. I just knew I had to help her. I’d felt this overwhelming need to protect her from the minute I pulled her from the stables. I couldn’t explain it, but it was a feeling that left me uncomfortable. Sighing, I dropped my head back against the door and let out a groan. I couldn’t watch her walk away knowing she had nothing. She was scared, I just wish I knew who and what she was running from. As I walked down the corridor, I saw Beth approaching me.
“He’s awake, Brody,” she cried, throwing her arms around me. I picked her up and swung her around.
“And he’s okay?” I dropped her feet to the ground and took a step back, watching as she nodded.
“Yes, he’s going to be fine,” she assured me with a grin.
“Thank God!” Relief flooded my body at knowing he was going to be okay. “Can I see him yet?”
“Of course. Come on.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me along the corridor, coming to a stop outside a door identical to Quinn’s. “I’ll leave you to it.” She paused and bit down on her bottom lip. “Call me, Brody, we were good together.” I nodded and brushed my lips across her cheek. I’d call her. I wasn’t one to turn down what she was obviously offering. There were no feelings involved with Beth and that was just the way I liked it.
As she walked away, I turned to open the door to Josh’s room, only to come face-to-face with my parents who were on their way out.
“Brody,” my mom said, throwing her arms around me. “Are you okay?” She frowned as she reached down for my bandaged hand.
“I’m fine, Mom. Sorry, I’ve been with Quinn.” I smiled sheepishly at her. I knew I should have spent more than five minutes with her after I got released from triage. I knew she would worry.
“Who's Quinn? Is that the girl you pulled from the stables?” I nodded as I quickly filled them in on what little I knew about her, and why she was in there. “She’s got no family? No friends?” I shook my head, choosing not to tell her about Quinn’s “brother,” Evan. I was sure whoever he was, it wasn’t her brother.
“I don’t think so. Her mom died, and she hasn’t mentioned her dad. She lost everything in the fire.”
“Poor girl. We should help her,” my mom said, looking over at my dad who was nodding in agreement.
“About that. I kind of offered her a job and a place to stay,” I told her with a wince. “She’s running from something, she just won’t tell me what. I want to help her.” I watched as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
She nodded and put her hand on my arm. “I’m sure we can sort something out. What room is she in?”
“Just down there on the left.” I gestured down the corridor in the direction of Quinn’s room.
“I’ll go speak to her. Go see Josh and your sister. They’ll want to see you.” She pulled me in for another hug, holding me for a little longer than she normally would.
I gave her a grateful smile and watched as they walked toward Quinn's room. I was torn between wanting to go with them and needing to see Josh and Savannah. Not understanding why I was feeling the need to help and protect this girl I’d only just met, I sighed and pushed open the door to Josh’s room.