I hadn’t been able to sit still. Being confined to one place only let the memories drag me under. So, I’d begun to walk. From the clinic’s door to the mouth of the hallway, back and forth. I counted my steps each time: thirteen there, thirteen back.
Then I’d heard Maddie’s cry of pain. My reaction had been pure instinct. The door to the exam room slammed into the wall.
“Nash!” Doc snapped at me.
I didn’t give a damn. I only had eyes for Maddie. I crossed to her in three long strides, my hands going to her face. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You screamed.”
She blew out a breath. “It wasn’t a scream. I just…I yelped. My ribs are tender, but the doctor needs to examine me to figure out what’s wrong.”
I sent Doc a scathing look. “I brought her here so you could help her, not hurt her.”
Doc sighed. “I needed to do an examination.”
I glared at her.
“Nash…” Maddie chastised.
Doc waved Maddie off. “It’s okay. I’m used to his bark. Let’s get you back for an X-ray. That will tell us if anything’s broken that we need to be concerned about.”
“Is that going to hurt her?” I pressed.
“Not at all.”
“Okay, then,” I agreed.
Maddie huffed out a breath. “I can answer for myself, you know. My ribs might be broken, but my mouth isn’t.”
A little of that fire coming back… Damn, I was glad to hear it in her voice. If the circumstances had been any different, I would’ve laughed.
I squeezed the back of her neck. “Just worried about you, Mads.”
She softened, melting into me. “I know. Let’s get this X-ray done so we can get out of here.”
“This way,” Doc instructed. “Nash can wait in the booth with me while I take the pictures since I know we’re not getting rid of him.”
Maddie laughed. “He’s been nosy and interfering since the day we met in kindergarten.”
“I believe it.”
“You know, I don’t think I like you two being friendly,” I huffed.
“Too bad,” Doc clipped. “I like her.”
Maddie laughed. It was the sweetest thing I could imagine hearing after the last few hours of worry. God, I’d missed that sound. I’d been without it for too long.
Maddie slid off the exam table, and I didn’t miss her wince. I moved to her side. “Want me to carry you?”
She looked up at me, the light in her eyes dancing. “I can walk.”
“You’re hurting.”
“You carrying me would probably hurt more. It’s not bad now. It’s just when I move in certain ways.”
I turned to Doc. “You’re gonna prescribe her painkillers, right?”
Doc let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, Nash. As soon as I’ve ruled out any serious injury. Come on.”
She motioned us down the hall to the room that held the X-ray machine. “You’ll be familiar with this place, Nash.”
Maddie shook her head. “He has always been accident-prone.”
“If I had some sort of rewards program, he definitely would’ve won the prize.”
“You two are rude,” I huffed.
Maddie patted my chest. “You can take it.”
Doc glanced at Maddie. “There’s no chance you might be pregnant?”
She paled. “No. No chance.”
Doc nodded and positioned her in front of the machine. “Get into the booth,” she told me.
I met Maddie’s gaze. “You’ll be all right?”
“I’ll be fine. Promise.”
I moved into the booth but didn’t take my eyes off Maddie.
A few seconds later, Doc joined me. “You’re quite protective of her.”
“She’s been my best friend since we were five, and someone just beat the hell out of her. How would you be?”
“Point taken.” Doc pressed the intercom button. “Hold your breath until I say.”
Maddie did as instructed. There was a click and a whir.
“You can breathe normally,” Doc said.
She repeated the same thing two more times with Maddie in different positions.
“All done. Why don’t you head back to the exam room? I’ll take a look at the images. They’ll have to go out to a radiologist for the official report, but I’ll be able to get a rough idea. You can go ahead and get dressed.”
“Thank you,” Maddie said.
I curved my arm around her shoulders and guided her down the hall, stopping outside the exam room. “Do you, uh, need help getting dressed?”
Maddie’s cheeks flushed. You could always tell exactly how she felt because her creamy complexion gave it away. “No, I’m good.”
“I’ll be out here. Just yell if you need me.”
She nodded and slipped inside, closing the door behind her.
The seconds felt like millennia. I paced in front of the door, needing to move. That feeling of wanting to crawl out of my skin dug in deep. Like some sort of creature lived inside me and was battling to break free.
“You can come in,” Maddie called.
I was through the door in under two seconds. “You okay? Did that hurt too badly?”
“I’m okay. I swear.”
But I didn’t miss the strain around her eyes. I brushed the hair away from her face. “I’m so sorry, Mads.” Sorry didn’t even begin to cut it. Rage pulsed deep. I wanted to gut that asshole.
“Okay,” Doc said, coming into the room. “I’ve had a look at the films.”
Maddie pulled away from me to look at the doctor, and I felt her distance instantly—the vital warmth that was her very being. Something I’d missed with every part of me.
“Good news or bad news?” Doc asked.
“Bad news,” Maddie answered.
“You’ve got three broken ribs.”
Three? That waste of space had kicked Maddie so hard he’d broken three of her ribs. Her face flashed in my mind, only this time it was contorted in pain, begging him to stop.
“And the good news?” Maddie pressed as if she could feel my darkening mood.
“They are simple fractures that should heal on their own. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do for broken ribs—rest and no strenuous activity. I’d like to see you again in a week to check your progress. I’m going to write you two prescriptions. One for an anti-inflammatory and another for a painkiller. That should help take the edge off.”
Doc grabbed a pad from her coat pocket and scrawled a few things on the sheet before tearing it off and handing it to Maddie. “The pharmacy is closed now, so I’m going to give you a dose here. Have you had dinner?”
She shook her head.
“I’ll give it to you to take with you. Eat something first, then take this.” Doc pulled a key out of her pocket. “Be right back.”
Maddie’s gaze swept over me. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?”
“You’ve got that I’m-going-to-break-some-shit look on your face.”
I struggled to keep my breathing even. “Do you blame me? The doctor just told us you have three broken ribs, and all I can think about is how you got them.”
Maddie moved into my space, her hands ghosting over my face. “Don’t think about that. It’s over, and I’m healing.”
“We need to file a report.”
Maddie jerked back. “No.”
I gaped at her. “You need an order of protection at least.”
“What good would that do other than to tell Adam exactly where I am? Right now, he has no clue. That keeps me a hell of a lot safer than a slip of paper. You should know that better than most people.”
My back teeth ground together because, in some ways, Maddie was right. I knew from my years in the Cedar Ridge Police Department that filing for an order of protection could sometimes escalate things. It also informed the perpetrator exactly where the victim was. It wasn’t always an ideal solution, but it was the best we had.
“It will give us recourse if he shows up here. And with Doc’s documentation, you could press charges.”
Shadows played in Maddie’s eyes. “I know what a trial does to a person. I don’t want to go there again.”
Pain ricocheted through my chest. She’d already been through so much. I sighed. “Okay.” It went against everything I believed in, but I couldn’t bring myself to push. “Will you think about the order of protection?”
“Sure, I’ll think about it.”
It was all I could ask for.
