Page 50 of Forever Your Touch

“Fuck, yeah. He needs to raise hell about that. They shouldn’t leave you sitting there in pain.” He pulled the phone away, and she heard him telling his dad what was going on. “Thank God Mason stayed over last night.”

“Yeah, especially since your mom didn’t think it was her responsibility to come to the ER with me when Mase asked her to. He was going to follow in his truck. Instead, he ended up riding in the ambulance with me.”

“Mom knew and didn’t go with you?” The puzzlement behind his words was almost laughable. She kept telling him how much his mother didn’t like her, but he never quite believed her.

“Yeah, Mason made her help him stop the bleeding. I bled all over her towels.”

He was silent for the longest time. “She’s just not sociable, Jo. You know this.”

“Sociable?” Jo laughed into the phone, her pain making her harsher than she normally would have been. “She left your girlfriend in pain and severely injured. Had it been you, any of my family would have been there for you, and you know it.”

“What do you want me to say here, Jo?”

“I want you to take my side. For once in your life, take my side.”

He let out a long sigh. “I’m not going to fight over the phone about this. Call me back when the doctor comes, okay?”

“Fine. Are you heading back now?”

“Why would I head back? There’s nothing I can do right now that will help.”

“Seriously?” she all but screamed into the phone. “I’m lying in a hospital bed, in pain and scared, and you’re going to fish instead of being here with me? What is wrong with you?”

“Jo, calm down. You’re not by yourself. You just said so. Mason’s there.”

“Mason isn’t my fucking boyfriend. You are!”

“Call me when the doctor comes, okay?”

She counted to ten, but it didn’t help. “Do you love me?”

“You know I do.”

“Then why is fishing more important than me?”

“That’s not it, Jo. My dad and I always go fishing on his weekends off. He doesn’t get another for almost a month, and it might be too cold by then.”

“You know, Ray, maybe my family is right, and I’m an idiot. If you don’t get your ass here, then we are going to have a serious discussion about me moving the hell out and breaking up with you.”

“Jo…”

“No. Here are your choices. Stay at the lake with your dad and say goodbye to me, or get your ass here to the hospital where you should be because you love me!” She hung up before he could respond.

Asshole.

Why she was even surprised was beyond her. She’d known what he’d say when she called, but she hoped she would be wrong. Classic Ray.

Mason came in hot on the heels of who she hoped was the doctor.

“Ms. Maxwell.” The older man in the scrubs smiled kindly at her. “Seems like you had a pretty bad accident.”

“I’m the clumsiest person I know, so I’m not surprised.”

He clucked at her. “You’ve done some damage. You’ve torn ligaments and tendons, and it’s going to require surgery to fix. I’ve got you scheduled to go up immediately. Your surgeon will meet you there and answer any questions you have. The sooner we get it repaired, the better. You also lost a lot of blood, more than we realized. You’ll need a blood transfusion as well while you’re in surgery.”

“I need surgery?” Her hands shook. She’d never hurt herself like this. Before she freaked out, Mason was right there. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her to him, careful not to jostle her leg. His familiar scent helped to calm her, and when he wrapped his arms around her, she let him comfort her. She needed it.

“Yes, young lady, you do.” The doctor nodded. “I’ve ordered some pain meds for you. I’m sorry we couldn’t give them to you earlier. I had a suspicion you might need surgery, and I didn’t want to do anything that might interfere with the anesthesia. I’ve consulted the anesthesiologist, and he signed off on what you could take and still go under. The nurse will be in to give you the meds and take you upstairs to the surgical ward.”

---