Page 20 of Somewhere We Belong

nova

“Excuse me?!”I yelled, flinching at the pain that pierced my skull.

“You lost consciousness for at least fifteen minutes, and you’ve thrown up twice,” Dr. Gordon said, handing me a piece of paper that I just stared at because if I didn’t take it maybe I could forget this entire mess had happened. “You could have brain bleeding or swelling. Those can end up killing you.”

“Dr. Gordon.” My lip trembled. “I don’t have money for this.”

“Do you want Sol to grow up without a mom? I know being a single mom is hard, but so is being a parentless child,” he said, pulling out the big guns. “You have a laceration on your head, your shoulder was dislocated and you have a concussion. You need a CT scan.”

This asshole knew right where to hit me.

“We can call an ambulance to take you to Monroe?—”

“No!” I shouted again, making me flinch. “I can drive myself.”

“Nova, I can’t let you leave with a head injury to the hospital,” he scowled at me.

“I drove myself to the hospital when I was in labor,” I said, taking the damn paper from his hands. “This will probably be a piece of cake.”

I got off the table, my vision blurred as my stomach threatened to make me throw up again.

“Hey, I got you.” A strong arm held me up as a soft scent of citrus and something woodsy hit me.

The scent was comforting, the strong arms were a bonus, and I was just so fucking tired of life. I shamelessly pushed myself close to whoever was holding me, my eyes getting heavy. Fuck, a nap sounded wonderful. I needed to take a nap for a year and then I would be fine. I've been tired since I got pregnant with Sol and one tiny nap wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Hey, Nova.” The strong arms spoke to me as I felt movement.

“Yes,” I said, feeling cold for a moment before I was enveloped in a blanket.

“You have to stay awake for me and squeeze my hand if you need me to pull over so you can throw up.”

My eyes opened immediately. I was in a car, leaning against a pillow, covered by a blanket that smelled like strong arms. I glanced to my left to see Atlas driving, holding my hand. He looked more handsome since the last time I had seen him. His boyish features had turned into a man.

“You, ok? We can stop if you're getting too dizzy or if you're getting motion sickness,” he said, glancing over at me, his brows furrowed in concern.

I looked out the window as I tried to gather my bearings.

“We are on the way to Monroe’s hospital for a CT scan,” he said, squeezing my hand. “We've called ahead and I’m hoping we can get you in and out before Sol gets out of camp.”

“I need to call the camp and let them know?—”

“Doc did that for you and called the salon too,” he said, glancing at me. “The camp director said she would call you later on to check on you.”

Glancing at the clock I noticed it was almost ten am.

“We need to be back?—”

“By three-thirty,” he finished my sentence. “I have Colt on standby to pick her up if needed. Doc also said he could pick her up too.”

“Ok.” I closed my eyes, feeling exhausted.

“Rest,” he said softly. “I got you. We’ve got you.”

When I opened my eyes again, we were parking. The emergency room was quiet as Atlas checked in and in a matter of minutes I was getting rolled into one of the rooms. He helped me onto the bed as a nurse watched.

“Hey, how is it going? My name is Jane.” She smiled, looking at what I assumed was my chart. “How are you feeling, Nova?”

“Like garbage,” I murmured.

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