Page 33 of Crossroads of Betrayal
Grace winced. “I don’t need to go to the hospital. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be fine.”
“You were hit by a truck. Don’t be stubborn,” Chet said.
“Oh my God! What happened!” Brooke ran down the hill until she joined them and kneeled beside Grace. She tucked a strand of hair behind Grace’s ear.
“The tuck flew down the hill. I tried to get out of the way, but I wasn’t in time.”
“What hurts?” Zeke asked. “Where did you get hit?”
“My hip.” She attempted to move then let out a long hiss of pain. “My ribs are burning. But I don’t think anything’s broken.”
Brooke clasped onto her hand, and spikes of jealously assaulted Zeke. He’d held her hand, was by her side to offer comfort, until yet again she’d pulled away from him. And why? Because he’d actually been honest about who he was to her?
“You’re not a doctor,” Brooke said. “And we’re not risking moving you in order to try and find out the extent of your injuries.”
“Ambulance should be here any second,” Zoe said. “But we need to talk to Lincoln or Cruz. They’ll need to file a police report and find out what happened with that truck.” She dipped her chin toward the vehicle swimming in the lake.
“Was there anyone behind the wheel?” Zeke asked. “Did you see anyone near the truck? What exactly happened?”
A dark shadow fell over Grace’s face, and she swallowed hard. “You’d left to walk Ruby and I stayed for a couple of minutes. Then I made my way to the back of the lodge, hoping to sneak in. I noticed the truck parked in a weird spot then something moving quickly behind it. It started rolling toward me and I froze—just for a second. When I snapped out of it, I dove away.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t killed.” He fisted his hands and rested them on his knees. He wouldn’t touch her. Not now. But damnit, he’d almost lost her again. “Someone sent that truck down the hill for a reason. And it wasn’t just to scare you.”
Zoe frowned. “What do you mean? Maybe it was a horrible accident.”
“You haven’t been brought up to speed about everything around here,” Brooke said. “I planned to do that at the meeting. Something’s going on, and we need to get to the bottom of it before someone else is hurt. Because next time, whoever did this might not miss.”
Zeke watched the lines of Grace’s face shift from pain to fear and she connected her gaze with his. No matter what was happening between them, he wouldn’t stand back and let her be attacked—be hurt. He’d stay by her side until whoever caused all this chaos was caught.
And after that, he’d figure out the rest of his feelings. Because right now, his emotions were the last thing he needed to focus on. His main priority was Grace and how to keep her alive.
* * *
Grace grittedher teeth as the nurse helped her get situated back in the hospital bed. The medics transporting her to the ambulance, then down the mountain to the county hospital, had made her uncomfortable enough. She’d hoped once she arrived in the ER, she could just lay still and accept a giant pain pill, but the doctor had other ideas.
“The x-ray results shouldn’t take too long,” Dr. White, a middle-aged woman with a kind smile and intelligent eyes said. “Once I know for sure there aren’t any fractures, we can discuss next steps.”
“Hopefully that means letting me go home.” Grace wedged a pillow under her leg to prop it up like the nurse had done earlier.
“I’m sure you won’t be here much longer. I’ll be back in to see you when I have your results.”
Cliff, the nurse who looked like he should be on the cover of a romance novel with his hair tied up in a man bun and beefy biceps, handed her a little paper cup with two white pills. “Take these for now. Keep your leg elevated. I’ll see what I can do about snagging you some red jello from the cafeteria.” He shot her a wink that would make a lesser woman swoon.
Hell, it would have made her swoon if her insides weren’t a tangled mess, and she wasn’t still fuming that Zeke had told her colleagues they’d been married.
“Is it all right to tell your friends they can come back? I think they’re still in the waiting room. Or I can make them all leave and whisk you away after my shift.”
She chuckled at his attempted flirtation and pain throbbed around the deepening bruise on her hip. “I don’t think being whisked anywhere by anyone would be a good idea right now, but you can send them back. They can see I’m all right then leave. They have better things to do than sit in a cramped hospital room and wait for test results.”
“Okay then. Prepare yourself for the questions and concern.” He smiled, dipped his chin, then hurried out the door.
She groaned. He had no idea the kinds of questions she was about to be bombarded with, and most of them wouldn’t have anything to do with being plowed down by a runaway truck. They’d have to do with Zeke blurting out that he was her husband.
Resting her head against the hard pillow she closed her eyes. How had everything gotten so messed up? And who the hell had sent that vehicle toward her? She wasn’t a threat to anyone. Taking her out of any picture wouldn’t help anyone, would it?
Soft footsteps padded into the room, and she opened her eyes. Brooke, Zoe, and Chet surrounded her while Zeke stood in the doorway.
“How are you feeling?” Brooke asked.
