Page 28 of Pulse

“Vitals are stable,” he announced, receiving a nod from the physician.

“Abdominal ultrasound shows no signs of internal bleeding.” The physician moved up to Talia’s head. “I’m Dr. Ragusa,” he said with a gentle smile. “We’ll get this off your head and let you sit up as soon as we are sure you don’t have any spinal cord involvement or bleeding on your brain. Okay, ma’am?”

Her eyes widened, wary with fear. “Okay.”

The physician pulled off his gloves. “Radiology is here. Gabe will help get you on your way, and I’ll see you when you return from the CT scan. I’ll be the one to stitch up your head.”

“Thank you.”

Dr. Ragusa smiled his customary warm grin that helped set patients at ease. He could be a prick when stressed, but most of the time he was a great physician to work alongside. After patting Talia’s shoulder, he exited the room, leaving Pulse alone with her.

“I’m going to unclip the EKG leads but leave the sticky pads on. It’s standard procedure. If we need them again later, we don’t need to reapply them.”

“Makes sense,” she whispered.

He nodded as he unclipped the leads and then pulled a blanket up over her exposed chest. He didn’t bother to button her blouse up again—radiology would only undo it. If she were anyone else, he’d help remove it entirely and slip her into a hospital gown, but he’d already had an unprofessional reaction to her. Seeing her bare tits might put him over the edge. They could take care of her clothing situation upstairs in radiology, though he’d probably get an earful later for sending her up unprepared.

“Why are they calling you Gabe? I thought your name was Max?”

A sour taste filled his mouth. “Gabe is my middle name and what I prefer to go by.”

“Oh.” She frowned. The woman was too damn perceptive and would probably have questions about that later.

“All set,” he said when he’d finished his task. “It’ll just be a few more seconds.” He rested his arms on the bed’s side rail and then stared down at the woman who was terrified, bloody, and hurt yet still managed to look beautiful. “Wanna talk about whathappened?” he asked. “Sometimes talking helps you get over the shock of it all.”

“Um… yeah.” She tried to nod but could only tilt her chin. “I do need to tell you about it. Are we alone?”

He frowned. “Yeah… just us.” Why did that matter? Unless she was embarrassed to tell him she was giving her boyfriend roadhead when he crashed or something equally awkward.

Why did that idea make his skin feel too tight?

“Pulse, I-I was run off the road.”

He froze. “What?”

“I was followed from my office on my way home. I worked late tonight and didn’t leave until around ten. The exit I take off the highway to get home is fairly rural. A car followed me as I exited and rode my ass the entire time, then they hit me. More than once.”

What the fuck?

He swallowed what felt like a spiked ball. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. I kept going faster, and I even tried to pull over, but they followed every move I made. Then, they hit me multiple times until I lost control.”

He’d call Curly to relay this information as soon as he left this room. “Who… fuck, do you have any idea who it was? A pissed-off client, maybe? Someone who didn’t like the verdict in their trial? Has anything crazy happened at work?”

She bit her lower lip but didn’t respond. The longer the silence lasted, the more unsettled he became.

“Talia…”

“Hey, Gabe. This our patient waiting to head up to radiology?”

He jolted and then looked up at Ricco, a transport tech he met on his first day of hospital orientation. “Yeah. She’s all set, Ricco.” He looked back down at Talia, whose eyes were heavyfrom pain and medication. “We’ll talk about this more later,” he murmured. He couldn’t resist the urge to cup her cheek.

“Wait…” She grabbed his hand. “I had a visitor, Pulse. Before I left the office.”

The way she stared at him, straight in his eyes despite her obvious exhaustion and discomfort, told him all he needed to know.

And it made him angry enough to kill.

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