Page 121 of Protected By West
WEST
He didn't leave her side from the time they left the credit union. When they arrived at Sagebrush Hospital, he stuck to her side like glue. While Tracy was handling things like a boss, he was barely managing to put one foot in front of the other.
It was one thing to know that he was in danger when he put the badge on, she was... a normal person.
She was one of the people he was supposed to protect.
And she was the person he loved.
Standing there beside the bed in the emergency room watching as a doctor examined her for injuries and a nurse cleaned the cuts and the drying blood from her legs, Weston felt sick to his stomach.
"Sir?"
Weston startled when someone touched his arm, and he looked down to see Tracy smiling up at him. "Weston? The doctor's asking you a question."
Oh?
He reached his free arm across his body and covered her hand with his own.
He didn't miss the way her smile brightened. He didn't miss how pale she was either.
Weston sat down on the edge of the bed and while he kept her hand in his, he moved his arm between them, wrapping it around behind her. "Go ahead, baby, lean on my shoulder for a little, 'kay?"
When she leaned against him, he enjoyed the feel of her warmth against him. She relaxed and he was grateful not just that she trusted him enough to lean against him, she let him hold her up. He never wanted something like this to happen to her again, he wasn't sure that he could take it if he had to see her in harm's way again.
"Weston?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"The doctor wants to know if they need to do any evidentiary work on me."
He squeezed her hand gently and looked up to meet the doctor's slightly amused gaze. He'd worked with Doctor Carter a few times and Weston had a feeling that the good doctor was going to use this moment to tease him later.
"We don't need any blood evidence. My team looked at the security cameras in the credit union. They have excellent images and sound recording."
He felt Tracy shake a little and then he heard a soft chuckle.
"Are you laughing at me, babe?"
She sighed and leaned against him even more. "I'm just glad you noticed. I've always seen those horrible cam videos on YouTube and wonder what kind of cameras they have in banks and other credit unions. RING camera footage is better. So one of the things I lobbied for with the board was top notch security cameras so when we had an incident we wouldn't be left squinting at the footage trying to guess what was what and who was who."
"You are amazing, Trace. You know that, right?"
"Awww," she gave his hand a squeeze. "You're good for my ego."
"Okay, you two." The doctor gave them a smile. "I'm going to head out. As soon as your cuts are cleaned and bandaged, the nurses will give you instructions on wound care."
Tracy looked down at the long scrape she had on her forearm. She hadn’t really noticed it until they were in the ER and she touched it with a wipe to clean it. Then it hurt like a son of a …
"But her head-"
"You might have missed me asking about that, but I think you were too deep in thought to hear that whole conversation." The doctor nodded at him and folded his arms, tucking his clipboard against his chest. "She knows to let us know if she has any signs of a concussion, but right now, I'm recommending some bed rest and pain pills when necessary," he gave Tracy a slow nod. "Be good to yourself, you've earned it."
The doctor left a moment later and the nurse finished cleaning and bandaging the cuts on Tracy's legs. Weston felt like he was about ready to crawl out of his skin. He was ready to pick her up in his arms and carry her out of the hospital and back to his house.
He jumped and looked down, his forehead creased with confusion and pain. Tracy slowly lifted her fingers from where she'd just pinched him.
Then she turned her head to look up at him. "There you are."
