Page 64 of Troublemaker
“What’s funny?”
“Earlier, I thought you might be a bear attacking them. Guess I picked the bear.”
He pressed his lips to my hair.
“Guess you did.”
And then I was out like a light.
When I opened my eyes,it was to bright, glaring lights that hurt my head, loud beeps, and serious-sounding murmurs. Even though I wasn’t on my own two feet, I was moving, and I still wanted to puke.
I glanced up at the wall of chest holding me. I could smell peat and honey, and the familiar scent immediately put me at ease. Blake. It was Blake holding me, Blake carrying me.
“Blake, what’s going on? Where are we?”
He chuffed. “I brought you to the nearest hospital so they could take a look at your wrist…and make sure you don’t die from alcohol poisoning. Seriously, Lucy, how much did you have to drink?”
I tried to count, and failed.
“A lot?” I guessed.
He snorted. “Well, that’s helpful.”
I relaxed into his arms. I was tall, curvy, and had never been carried around by a man before. It felt good, being held this way, like I was delicate and needed attention and care.
What had Blake called me that day?
“The most important thing,” he hummed, like he’d heard my thoughts. “And I’ve done a bad job looking after you so far. I’ll do better.”
It sounded like a promise, the kind that made my chest warm and my feet tingle. It was agoodpromise, even though he hadn’t followed through on many of his promises so far. That thought sobered me up enough that when we reached the triage nurse’s desk, I didn’t seem as drunk as I actually was…hopefully.
The nurse looked up at us, and up, and up. She took my sorry appearance in, and I’m sure all the magnificence that was Blake, and sat up in her chair.
“What are you here for?”
“Some asshole twisted her wrist. Maybe broke it. And she’s been drinking and I want a toxicology report to make sure she doesn’t need her stomach pumped or to be observed overnight.”
Her brows shot up, and she looked immediately suspicious. “And are you the asshole who twisted her wrist?”
“No!” I said, shaking my head and hitting Blake’s chest with my hair. I stared down at the nurse. “I got into trouble with some gross dudes at a bar and they hurt me when I tried to escape. Blake rescued me.”
She didn’t look convinced, but she nodded at a clipboard with papers on it. “Fill that out, and make sure you give back the pen. Hospital’s short on funds, and even the pen budget could get slashed next year.”
With that, she dismissed us. Blake carried me over to a set of plastic chairs in the waiting area, carefully setting me down in one before sitting in the other.
I looked at my left wrist, completely out of commission.
“If I give you my information, can you write it down for me?” I asked pitifully. “I don’t know my insurance information off the top of my head?—”
“I know it,” he interrupted as he started filling out the form.
“—but it should be in my purse…wait, you know it?”
Blake glanced at me, and his hard face softened. “Sweetheart, I have it memorized. I always worried you might end up in an emergency situation, and I wanted to be prepared. I know your full name, date of birth, address, insurance information…the only thing I don’t know is your social security number and the date of your last period.” He laughed. “And sometimes I feel like I’m crazy, because I want to know those things, too. Like if I know everything there is to know about you, I’ll be able to keep you safe. Unlike tonight. I’m so sorry, Lucy.”
That same warmth encompassed my chest, my toes kept tingling. He may not be holding me, but I could feel him around me. This was attention. This was care. Maybe he got too stuck in trying to be the right guy for me, but it was clear—I mattered to him. In a way I often worried I’d never mattered to anyone.
“You did keep me safe. If you hadn’t shown up…”
