Page 10 of Stockman's Stormcloud

Never in his life had it hurt to breathe. You breathed in, you breathed out. No brainer, right. You only thought about your breathing when training at the gym or running laps.

‘So, it’s not a broken rib?’ Bree asked. The woman was freakishly reading his muddled mind.

‘Dex does have a hairline fracture in the same area where the swelling is pressing against his lungs.’

‘I won the bet.’ Dex raised his hand. ‘Ow!’ Well, didn’t that bring him back to earth with a thudding jolt of pain. ‘Painkillers wore off. Can I get more?’

The doctor nodded at the cute nurse, the one with a cat. The catty nurse? The kitty-cat nurse? Nah, she wasNurse Kitty. His grin grew. Maybe the painkillers hadn’t worn off.

Bree squeezed his hand again. Well, look at that, Batman, Bree was holding his hand. He’d never in a million-gazillion-trillion years thought this was possible.

Wait, was it that bad for Bree to hold his hand?

Dex rubbed his eyes, desperate to focus on the conversation. ‘So how soon can I get out?’

‘That depends on how you go tonight,’ replied the doctor.

‘You’ll need a lot of drugs to keep Dex here if that’s your plan.’ Bree knew him so well.

‘I’m okay.’ Dex tried to move, but Bree pressed on his shoulder.

‘No. You’re not.’

He didn’t have the strength to fight her. Him, a prize-fighting champion, couldn’t win this bout, and collapsed back onto the bed. ‘You can be so bossy, Bree.’

‘Because she cares, mate. We both do.’ Charlie looked like he was talking to the dead.

Dex was not dead!

‘It’s just a bruised rib. So what? I’ve had one before and it healed itself.’ Dex wanted out. This wasn’t his funeral.

But Bree was on one side and now Nurse Kitty had come and joined the party.

Nurse Kitty was so pretty. Her delicate facial features were so fine that he wanted to reach out and follow her dainty jawline to her chin. Her fair hair was tucked into a simple ponytail, and she wore no make-up, just those jolly jelly-green medical scrubs with the wordNursebranded across the back.

Would he get into trouble if he asked to hold Nurse Kitty’s hand instead of Bree’s?

But Nurse Kitty’s lips were perfect. And really pretty. He licked his lips with a sudden urge to lean over and kiss Nurse Kitty, just to taste those lips.

But that was bad. And those drugs that Nurse Kitty had put into his IV line were not quite what he’d expected, feeling an icy rush feed into his vein.

But Nurse Kitty wore a fresh fragrance—it reminded him of Bree and Charlie’s flower garden—leaving a soft and inviting trail wherever she went as she worked around his bed.

His. Bed.

‘Hold up, I’m not staying.’

‘At this stage I’m keeping you in for the night,’ said the doctor.

‘Bree?’ He couldn’t believe he was looking to his partner in crime for help. ‘Don’t dump me here like you did with Charlie.’

‘That was for a good reason.’

‘The kid’s right,’ said Charlie. ‘Bree made me stay until she’d finished burying the dogs. Bad time, mate.’

This time Dex squeezed Bree’s hand. The woman had been through more than any bloke he knew. No wonder she was tough and kept on punching, just like he did. ‘I want to go home, Bree.’

‘You need to stay for observations.’ Bree was being nice to him, like really nice.

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