Page 15 of The Only Time

My hands tremble on the steering wheel as I drive. I don’t think I’m good in emergency situations. I can feel my leg shake on the pedals, making my driving feel erratic.

I drop him off at the emergency entrance and promise to come in and find him after I park.

Why the hell aren’t there like valets or something at the emergency room? I don’t need someone to park my car ten feet away for me when I’m going to a restaurant. What I do need is someone to park it so I don’t have to leave a man who’s bleeding and in pain alone.

I sprint inside directly to the front desk. “Hi,” I smile at the blonde woman behind the desk. “My friend just came in here. His arm is cut, I think pretty badly, and I was hoping to make sure he’s in a room and doing okay. I want him to know I can be there if he needs me.”

She returns my smile calmly. “The gentleman with the arm injury is sitting over there. We will call him back shortly.”

I turn around to see Eric sitting next to some patient blowing his nose. His face is pale and there’s blood all over his white t-shirt. An odd sense of rage bubbles out of me as he looks at me.

I cannot believe they didn’t take him back immediately.

“Excuse me,” I turn back to the woman. “I’m sorry, but my friend is badly injured. He needs to be taken back immediately.”

Her eyebrows turn up at me, which for some reason pisses me off.

“Your friend has been evaluated by our staff. He will be brought back by priority,” she says sternly.

I don’t accept that. He is bleeding and obviously in an immense amount of pain. What kind of hospital doesn’t see that as a priority? “He clearly should be top priority. I was there when it happened. There was a lot of blood. Just look at him.” I turn back to him and see a slight smirk on his lips which is not helping my argument right now, but I’m invested. “His face is pale, and his shirt is soaked with blood. Tell me how that doesn’t take top priority?”

Just then a nurse comes up to the desk and looks at her colleague. “I’m sorry, is there a problem?”

“Yes,” I interject. “My friend sliced his arm open, has lost a lot of blood, and currently looks like he could lose consciousness at any second. He needs to be seen now.”

The nurse turns towards Eric and her eyes open widely. “I see. We can take him back now. Sir, would you follow me?”

I turn to the blonde and give her a smug look. I knew I was right. I walk quickly over to Eric and give him my arm. We follow the nurse back to a room where she immediately lies him down on the bed. After she asks a couple of questions, she tells us the doctor will be in shortly.

The room falls silent as we wait.

“That was quite the outburst you had out there,” he says, breaking the silence.

I look over at him. There’s no hint of a smirk now. He’s just stating a fact, and I can’t tell if he’s judging me or not.

“First of all, you’re welcome. You could’ve been waiting there for God knows how long. Second of all, I’m Italian and we’re known to be loud and opinionated. I’m proud of that, and you aren’t going to make me feel like shit because I care enough to fix a wrong.”

His eyes bore into mine with such intensity that I find myself needing to look away.

“I never said it was a bad thing. I was just stating my observation. Thank you for doing that. My arm hurts like a motherfucker. I was thinking the same thing.”

“Why didn’t you speak up?” I ask him.

He shrugs his shoulders. “Didn’t seem worth it to me I guess.”

“Mr. Williams.” An older doctor with grey hair walks in holding a clipboard. “It looks like you had quite the accident. How much pain are you in?”

Eric rolls his eyes and it’s my turn to smirk. “A lot. My arm was sliced into while being hit by large falling objects.”

“Let’s take a look.” The doctor walks over and unties my silky tank top, then holds it up. “Interesting choice.”

I slide down my chair, completely mortified. My cheeks feel like they just got scorched with boiling water.

“Yeah, it offered a nice distraction from the pain,” he says as he looks at me.

My legs squeeze together from the intensity of his burning eyes. I still can’t tell if he’s complimenting me or insulting me. He’s such a mix of emotions. I can’t get a read on him. But all I know is my body has never felt this aroused from a simple look before.

I don’t know why I’m reacting like this to him.

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