Page 20 of Stealing His Human

Thank god.

With the size of the four men and the chair, there wasn’t room for Karissa to walk beside him. Tabatha had urged her to walk behind the group instead.

“Don’t worry, Brett, honey,” Karissa called, trying to peer between Nedrick and Michel, who were holding the rear of the poles. “I’ll take ever so good care of you after the doctor sees you.”

Brett could just make out Karissa’s strident expression as she looked over Nedrick’s shoulder.

“It’s just a broken wrist,” Brett countered, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine. I don’t need help.”

As Karissa frowned, Nedrick arched a brow in silent challenge. When Karissa pouted and her face disappeared, the guy smirked and winked. Sighing, Brett did his best to relax and just enjoy the ride.

At first, Brett had tried to insist that he could walk. Of course, that had only worked for about five minutes before he started getting light-headed. It’d been damn embarrassing, so he’d agreed to the ride.

When they reached the bottom and the trail widened, Karissa again tried to push near. Fortunately, a pair of park rangers, as well as the doctor, were there waiting for him. A big blond park ranger with a shaved head told Karissa to stay back. The second one, a just as large black guy, approached with a slender blond man.

The blond sported short, spiky hair and greeted him with a warm smile. “Hi, Brett.” He regarded him kindly, his blue eyes holding a wealth of understanding. “I’m Doctor Lark Trystan, but please, just call me Lark.” His gaze swept over Brett assessingly. “Looks like you had a bit of trouble today. Don’t worry. We’ll take you to my clinic, and I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” Pointing at a large black SUV, Lark ordered, “Nedrick, take him and help him into the middle seat.”

Nedrick nodded.

As the four guys stopped beside the SUV, Brett heard the other ranger claim, “I’m Ranger Dixon Holsteen. I’m gonna need to speak with you all and get your statements before you can go anywhere.” The rest of the group gathered around him, while Jerry hung back and gave Leo a big hug and kiss, since Leo had been the one to go and call for help.

“But I want to go with Brett,” Karissa demanded, resting her hand on her hip. “He’s my boyfriend. He may need me.”

“I’m sure Brett will call you if he needs anything,” Dixon countered. “Now, can you tell me what happened?”

Brett didn’t bother listening as several people started talking at once.

“Come on, Brett,” Nedrick urged. Sliding his arm around his waist, he helped him from the chair. “Let’s get you in and sitting.”

Pausing at the door, Brett reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out his keys. “Uh, myEnvoy?”

“I’ll make sure someone drives it back to the campground,” Michel claimed, taking the keys. To Brett’s surprise, Nedrick handed the big man hisJeep’s keys, too, and Michel told him, “And I’ll give these to Dixon to take to Declan’s.”

“Thanks, man,” Nedrick replied.

Before Brett could wonder about that, Nedrick urged him into the middle captain’s chair on the right side. To his surprise, Nedrick slipped into the back, settling on the third-row seating. Lark climbed into the second chair to his left. He lifted the armrest and turned to face him, a reassuring smile on his face.

“Don’t worry, Brett,” Lark told him again. “We’ll take good care of you.” Pointing at the black park ranger who was sliding behind the wheel, he explained, “That’s Ranger Declan McIntire, my partner, and we’re headed to the clinic I run out of our home. We’ll be able to get you all cleaned up, take X-rays, and see what we’re dealing with.”

As the SUV pulled out of the parking lot, Lark began asking Brett about his medical history.

*

Nearly two hours later, Brett reclined on an examination bed in a nice-sized upstairs space in Lark’s clinic above his and Declan’s massive lodge-style home. His left arm was now in a cast from his palm to just below his elbow. Lark had shown him the X-ray, pointing out where his ulna had a break about two inches from his wrist. The doctor had told him he was lucky it was a clean break and that it could take anywhere from four to six weeks to heal.

Brett couldn’t believe how exhausted he felt, but even as his eyelids drooped, he wanted a shower even more. He felt grimy from not only the hike and fall but also from the pain-sweats he’d endured. Those were the worst, always leaving him feeling slimy and stinking to high heaven.

Lark entered the room again with a small white paper bag. There was paperwork stapled to it. “This is your pain meds, antibiotics, and instructions,” he told him, handing it off to Nedrick, who’d followed the doc into the room. “You can take something for the pain every four hours or as needed. The antibiotics need to be taken morning and evening with food for the next four days until they’re gone.” Then Lark glanced between them before focusing on Nedrick. “You’ll make sure that happens, I presume?” A small smile toyed around Lark’s lips, and his blue eyes twinkled as if he knew some big secret.

What the hell? And why is he entrusting me to Ned’s care? We barely know each other. Why would the doc expect him to care for me?

While Brett had zero desire to deal with Karissa, he would’ve thought Tyler would have been the logical choice to help him, but other than receiving a text from his buddy saying he would see him at the campground, Brett hadn’t heard from the man.

What the hell is going on around here?

“Of course, doc,” Nedrick immediately replied. He pinned Brett with a look that he didn’t understand as he stated, “I’ll take good care of Brett.”

Lark grinned, glancing between them. “Wonderful.” Then he reached out and touched Nedrick’s forearm, drawing his attention. “And congratulations.”

---