Page 4 of Dreaming of Us

“That was very brave of you.”

I shivered a little at the deep tone that felt like a caress down my spine. Before I could react to his words, another paramedicstrode in and headed straight to us. Colton stepped back as the woman walked up. With a no-nonsense manner, she took in my appearance. She asked to have a look at my injury, and I pulled the handkerchief away, shocked at how much blood had soaked into it. The sight made me feel suddenly very lightheaded. As Colton sucked in a breath and the paramedic declared that I was going to need stitches, I swayed on my feet. I had a fleeting thought of being glad I had worn my ballet flats instead of my high heels when the ground suddenly got much closer.

I heard a grunt and, “I’ve got her,” as I was suddenly lifted into very strong arms. I blinked, trying to clear my vision as we moved quickly through the crowd of people.

“I can walk,” I whispered as my cheeks grew red and all the eyes turned our way.

“You’re perfect right where you are,” Colton replied in my ear as he carried me out of the bank and into the warm sunshine of the day. I turned my face into his shoulder to avoid all the eyes from the onlookers, and as I was placed gently on the gurney behind the nearest ambulance, I was pissed that I didn’t have enough time to enjoy being in my obsession’s arms and sad, knowing that it was the one and only chance that I would ever have.

Chapter Four

BRAYLIN

The stitches weren’t painful, and I could barely even feel the tugging at my skin as the doctor stitched me up. It was the numbing shot that hurt like a bitch and had tears springing to my eyes.

My mom and dad had arrived at the hospital just minutes after I did. Mom had started crying as soon as she saw my face covered in blood, and my dad lectured me on not being a hero. I just let them do their thing because Mom had always been a crier, and Dad was gruff when he got upset. I knew later he would tell me I had done the right thing. At that moment, he was just scared to see me hurt.

I was all patched up and waiting for discharge forms when a knock came at the closed door. We each turned to look, expecting to see the nurse enter with the stacks of papers. Instead, it was Colton. Dad immediately straightened his back, stiffening his posture, while at the same time, Mom’s hand went to her hair and patted as a slight flush filled her cheeks. I rolled my eyes at her reaction and looked back at the incredibly handsome cop.

“Can’t this wait? My daughter was just attacked. Shouldn’t you be out looking for the men who did this to her?”

My face heated at the harsh words, and I wanted to crawl into the nearest crack on the tile floor.

Colton nodded as he stepped forward. “Sir, Ma’am,” he addressed my parents with a serious expression. He extended his hand to my dad. “You’re right; those men are being searched for as we speak. Getting a statement from your daughter will help us find them. The sooner we can talk to her, the better.”

Dad took the outstretched hand and shook it, looking slightly chagrined. “Right, I suppose that’s true.” He stepped back and put an arm around my mom’s shoulders. “Just be soft when you speak to her. She has a bad headache from the blow she took.”

Colton then turned to take me in. “Of course,” he murmured, seeming to forget about them as he walked to my bedside. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise at the endearment while, at the same time, my belly swooped and heated. He ignored my shock as he reached for my hand. “Your fingers are cold,” he said as he covered the top of my trembling hand with his other one, attempting to heat them with his own. It was working.

I cleared my throat twice as he continued to stare at me intently. “Colton,” I whispered, glancing at my parents, who stood there with curiosity fairly oozing off of them. “What are you doing here?”

He tilted his head. “You know who I am?” His expression was intrigued, and he looked almost delighted by the news.

“We, uh, we went to school together.”

His eyebrows drew together as he studied my face, likely trying to recall if he’d ever met me before.

“You were a senior, and I was a freshman. We never had any classes together, so you wouldn’t, ah, have known who I was,” I finished lamely, trailing off quietly.

“That’s a shame,” he said as he continued to take in my red face.

“So,” I cleared my throat yet again. “You came to get my statement?”

“I did,” he smiled, causing his dimples to show. He pulled his hands away from my now warm ones and reached into his breast pocket for a notepad. “I’m going to take your statement. I’ll need you to sign it after I get it typed up.”

“Today?” I asked, glancing toward the window that was already showing the darkening sky. It had been a long day and I was exhausted. As much as I wanted to stay in his company forever, I needed to take more pain medication and get some much needed rest.

“No, sweetheart. Tomorrow will be soon enough. I can bring it to you so you don’t have to make a trip to the station.”

Butterflies took off in my belly at hearing him call me sweetheart again, and I swallowed to keep back the whimper that was trying to crawl up my throat. I nodded. “Oh, okay. What do you need to know?”

“Let’s start from the beginning, okay? Tell me what was happening right before the bank robbers entered?”

I took a deep breath, thought back to the day, and began to recount what had happened. Colton was patient, not interrupting me. He asked a few questions when I was done, pulling more information from my memories that I hadn’t thought of until he’d asked. I explained how I tapped the panic button under my station before stepping away. I told him about Mrs. Arbuckle and the way the angry man glared at me when I begged for a chair for the older woman. Colton managed to get me to remember the color of his eyes, but we were both disappointed when I explained that every part of him was covered, so I couldn’t describe his features. But whenI remembered seeing a part of a tattoo on his wrist when he’d lifted the gun to hit me, we were both smiling.

“That’s really good, sweetheart.”

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