After the stretcher was loaded, one of the medics stepped back and motioned Nathan inside. Nathan climbed up and slid along the bench until he was at Julie's head.
The paramedic got in behind him while the other shut the doors and went around to the cab.
"Do me a favor and hop into the jump seat," the paramedic said, motioning to the seat above Julie's stretcher. "I need to examine her on the way in so I can give the hospital a report."
When Nathan repositioned himself, Julie softly called his name.
"Right here, honey," he said, lowering his hand to lightly stroke the side of her head that wasn't injured.
He watched while the paramedic efficiently examined her for other injuries, checked her vitals, assessed her pupils and fitted a loose bandage to her head to stop the bleeding.
He listened with keen interest when the medic called in his report to the emergency room and breathed a sigh of relief when he reported nothing major in his findings.
A few minutes later they came to a halt outside the ambulance entrance to the ER and the doors opened. He and the medic piled out and he waited to the side while they removed Julie's stretcher and wheeled her inside.
No one shooed him from the exam room, so he stood back out of the way while they poked and prodded, hooked her up to monitors and ascertained her level of consciousness. She looked frightened and incredibly vulnerable. Her gaze skated frantically left and right. Was she looking for him? He told her he wouldn't leave her, but how was she to know that now if she couldn't see him?
He stepped forward just enough that he could get into her peripheral vision. When her gaze settled on him, her eyes flooded with relief. She seemed to relax under the straps holding her to the backboard.
One of the nurses turned to him, putting her hand on his arm. "We need to clear her spine before we remove the C-collar and take her off the backboard. We're also going to get a CT of her head. She's doing fine so far. Her vitals are stable. Blood pressure is good. She's reacting to normal stimuli. You can stay with her until we do the X-rays."
"Thanks."
As soon as she moved, Nathan beat a path to Julie's bed. Her gaze moved upward when he stood over her and their eyes locked.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"For what, honey?"
"I don't know where you came from, but I was so scared, and you made me feel safe. That was the single most terrifying moment of my life. I'm so glad you were there."
He lowered his head to brush a kiss over her forehead. "Glad I could help. You scared the life out of me when I saw that truck hit you."
A shudder quivered through her body, and he touched her cheek with his fingers, caressing lightly in an attempt to soothe her.
"You're going to be fine, Julie. Just a knock on the head it looks like, and hey, if a part of your body is going to get abused, it might as well be your hard head."
She grinned and then winced. He frowned when he saw a little tiny cut in the corner of her mouth. Had she bitten it? Before she could close her lips again, he leaned down and gently fused his mouth to the cut.
She went still, her quick intake of breath her only reaction.
"Better?" he murmured as he pulled away.
"Better," she whispered.
His mind was already doing swift calculations. He knew she lived alone and didn't have anyone to look in on her much less take care of her. Taking her home with him was probably out of the question, and she probably wouldn't appreciate his slobby ass bachelor den anyway. He seriously needed to clean it up because he didn't want her to run screaming the first time she came over. And she would be coming over.
But he could definitely go home with her and make sure she took her pain pills, ate right and didn't fall on her face on her way to the bathroom. She could end up lying there all night and nobody would ever know.
His scowl deepened as he imagined her cold, alone and in pain. No, he could stay with her. It was just as well the independent heifer learn to have him around, because he didn't plan to go anywhere, despite her repeated attempts to shake him.
She might be stubborn—beautiful, willful, a handful of luscious woman but stubborn nonetheless—but he hadn't grown up with four women just to turn out to be some namby-pamby pushover. He was skilled at getting what he wanted. Hell, he had to be in a houseful of hormonally deranged females.
Two male techs entered Julie's room.
"Hi, gorgeous. My name is Steven and my partner here is David. We're going to go take some pictures of you."
He glanced up at Nathan. "We won't be long if you'd like to wait in the waiting room. She won't be coming back to this room. This is sort of our triage holding area. We'll be moving her to a different exam room until it's determined if she'll be admitted or not."
"You'll get me when she comes back?" Nathan asked.
"Sure, I'll holler at you myself. What's your name?"
"Nathan Tucker, and thanks."
"No problem, man. We'll take good care of her, I promise."
Nathan leaned down and kissed her forehead again. "I'll see you soon, okay?"
She gave him a half smile. "Okay."
Nathan waited until she'd been wheeled out before he made his way to the waiting room. Connor was standing there, hands shoved into his pockets leaning against one of the windows. He straightened when Nathan came out.
"How's she doing?"
"Good, I think. They've taken her to X-ray to clear her spine, and they want to do a scan of her head to make sure there aren't any bleeds. She was still conscious. Shaky and scared out of her mind, but that's to be expected."
"You staying?" Connor asked.
Nathan nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay, if you want, Pop and I will run your truck over and park it in the garage. I'll find you to give you the keys."
"Thanks. I'd appreciate that. Not sure what's going on here. They won't know if they're keeping her until they get the X-rays back."
"Not a problem. I called Pop and let him know what was going on. You might want to call her friend Serena. No sense worrying Faith if Julie's going to be all right. She and Gray are flying in tomorrow morning. I don't want to ruin their last night in Vegas."
"Yeah, I agree. I'll give Serena a holler when I know more. I don't want to freak her out."
"Okay, see you in a bit."
"Thanks, man."
"You bet," Connor said as he walked toward the exit.
Chapter 24
Julie breathed a sigh of relief when they unfastened her C-collar and carefully pulled it away from her neck.
"There you go, Miss Stanford. Can you move your head a bit?"
Julie stared up at the nurse and moved slowly from side to side.
"Good. Does that hurt? Any tenderness?"
Julie frowned. "Just a little stiff."
"That's to be expected. You're definitely going to feel it tomorrow."
"What about my head?"
"The doctor is just now getting the report. He should be in to talk to you shortly." She frowned when Julie winced. "Are you in pain?"
"Head," Julie muttered. "And my shoulder."
"Ah, yes, you have quite a bruise forming on that shoulder. As soon as the doctor gives me the okay, I'll give you something for pain. In the meantime, want me to let your young man back in? He's been pacing a hole in our waiting room floor."
Nathan. He was still here. For a moment, anticipation and something that felt strangely like joy surged through her veins like a shot of adrenaline. Where had he come from? She was still confused by the entire episode. Maybe she'd never really remember it all. One minute she'd been driving down the freeway enjoying having the top down, the next she was staring up at Nathan while he held her hand.