Page 67 of Stockman's Stormcloud

‘Fine.’ He pushed open the gate, leaving the oxygen trolley behind.

‘Dex?’ She pointed to the trolley.

He scowled at the oxygen tanks. ‘Don’t need it.’

‘Take it, in case you do.’

‘If you want it, you bring it.’ He pushed open the door, like a child ignoring his mother—and she was not his mother. She was his nurse, who was stupidly attracted to the jerk acting like a man child.

But she had to empathise with what he must be going through. Dex was a fit, strong, and dangerously sexy fighting man, who was being forced to sit on the sidelines, helpless to search his own property. It’d have to be frustrating.

‘Do you want me to bring out Battleship, so you can whip my arse?’

That made him pause in the open doorway, glancing back at her with a dark and hungry shine in his eyes.

It made her shiver as a wash of lust moved so fast insideher it made her mouth water.

Dex didn’t say anything, before heading inside. Yet it still left her blushing like a teen over this guy. It was embarrassing.

But, then again, what should it matter? He was just her patient, and the way he was behaving it wouldn’t be for long, she’d never have to return.

‘Come on, Mr Purrington.’ She tugged on the ginger cat’s lead. ‘Let’s hope the lady of the house likes cats or this is going to be a very quick visit.’

Then she was clocking off from this job for good.

Twenty-two

Through the stethoscope, Sophie listened to his chest as Dex’s lungs expanded and contracted. He was over using that dumb tank.

‘All done.’ Sophie stepped away, taking her warm and enticing scent with her.

Dex lowered his shirt, watching the back door, waiting for Bree to come inside, hoping she’d cooled down by now. ‘So, is it good?’

Sophie put the stethoscope away into her medical pack, nodding as she scribbled notes on the tablet.

He put his hand over hers holding the slim stylus pen. ‘Sophie, I don’t want just a nod.’

‘I was just going to show you the comparisons.’ She held up the tablet’s screen, using her stylus as a pointer. ‘This graph shows your breathing pattern when you first came into the hospital. Comparing to the now, you can see there’s been a tremendous improvement.’ It was a huge curve in the right direction.

Didn’t that make him breathe better.

‘But I still want you to use the oxygen tank, for at least one more day. Please.’

He may have struggled this morning, but as the day progressed, and the angrier he got, the more he was determined to ditch those tanks and go hunt for his missing cattle.

‘You haven’t been taking all your meds, have you?’ She shook the small pill bottles standing on the kitchen benchnear the fridge, while her cat lay on the couch watching them.

‘I don’t need the painkillers.’ He only took vitamins when he was training. Already feeling the jittery sensation in his muscles, as a good sign to start training again.

‘You need to finish this course of antibiotics and steroids. They’re to ensure you’ll have no complications with your lungs’ recovery. It’s really important that you follow the tapering dose for the steroids so that you don’t have any side effects.’

That made him stop rocking on his boot heels.

In all his years as a professional fighter, not once did he use any form of steroids. Even if his sport was illegal, many other fighters used plenty of performance enhancing drugs, but Dex had remained pure. ‘How many days do I have left on those pills?’ He wanted to be healthy again.

‘Five.’

And he’d be counting down those days, too. ‘What happens then?’

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