Cries in the Night (37 page)

“What did you do, young man?” The receptionist who either was named Holly or she had borrowed Holly’s name tag asked Austin.

“I smashed my thumb with a hammer. It’s really throbbing.” Austin provided the basics through gritted teeth.

“That’s just your heart pumping blood through your thumb. Can you remove the towel for me?” Holly lifted her head so she could study him through her reading glasses that were perched on the end of her nose.

Austin carefully unwound the large beach towel from around his hand. “Crap that hurts … what do you think?”

“Hmm … it looks to me like you smashed your thumb.” She looked back at her computer screen. “But I’m only the receptionist.”

Austin glanced at Kelly in disbelief. “Great … I already knew that. Is there anyone who knows what they’re doing here? A doctor maybe? My whole career could be over.”

Holly looked at Kelly then stared at Austin for a long moment. “Well, I know two things … first, I control who goes in and who waits,” she said in a calm voice as she looked at the papers on her desk.

Austin and Kelly looked around and saw that they were the only people in the emergency room. He jerked his hand back and re-wrapped it, even though it seemed to have stopped bleeding. “It feels better with pressure on it,” he explained as if he wasn’t being very macho.

Kelly had never seen Austin this worried even though they had been in some really dangerous situations in the past month. They had nearly drowned, been shot at, been bound and gagged, nearly set on fire and almost thrown off a train. Austin had managed to make it through all that with just a cracked rib and a hurt shoulder. But Kelly could tell that this damage to his hand bothered him way more than those injuries. She turned her attention back to Holly.

“What’s the second thing?” Kelly asked, anxious to get past the registration desk.

“Well?” Austin prompted impatiently.

Holly smiled. “Second, and luckily for you, I’ve got you on my high school fantasy football team. It’s important to me that you get the best care possible.”

Austin’s blue eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “Really? All you care about is your fantasy football team?” He jumped to his feet, grimacing at the sudden movement. His grim expression slowly turned to a grin as what she had said sunk in. “I’m on a fantasy football team? That’s pretty cool.”

“Focus!” Kelly frowned at Austin, then turned back to the receptionist. “Holly, he really needs to see a doctor … now.”

“Relax, worst case, he’ll miss practice for a few weeks.” Holly shrugged and returned to the paperwork.

Austin breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m going to be okay?”

“I’m pretty sure … we’ll get an X-ray to be sure nothing is broken, then we’ll take care of that throbbing,” Holly promised.

“Drugs?” Austin asked.

“Maybe … but after the X-ray. Do you have your insurance card with you?”

“No … I don’t even have my wallet. I’m on my dad’s insurance so you can call him and get the insurance info.” Austin told her the phone number. “He’s at a conference in West Palm Beach, but I’m sure he has his cell phone with him.”

“No worries, I bought my Mustang at his dealership last year. I’ll call him while you’re in with the doctor. Miss?”

“Kelly Welch … I’m his friend … sort of next door neighbor. You see, a dog kind of followed me home and she needed a house. He was helping me build it … so, it’s kind of my fault.”

Holly looked at Austin. “I thought you were right handed. How did you hit your hammering hand’s thumb with a hammer?”

“I wanted to put an extra nail in the floor, but it was in the far right corner. It was at a weird angle, and I tried to pound the nail with my left hand because I was too lazy to take the roof off and work on it from the top.” Austin shook his head. “I don’t know who’ll be madder … my dad or my coach.”

Holly called out to a male nurse who was pushing a wheelchair. “Derek? Can you give Mr. Burke a ride to X-ray while this young lady helps me finish the paperwork?”

Austin hesitated, but Holly’s intimidating glare forced him into sitting in the wheelchair and allowing himself to be pushed through the doorway and into the examination area.

 

By 3 p.m., the emergency room was crowded with sunburned people of all ages, some with open wounds, others with red stripes around their arms or legs showing they’d swam too close to a Portuguese man o’ war and even one kid with a jelly bean stuck up his nose. Kelly had chosen a seat in front of the television that was tuned to the History Channel, but after four hours, she’d seen enough episodes of
Pawn Stars
,
American Pickers
and
Swamp People
to last for months. Every time she heard the big double doors leading to the examination area she looked up hopefully. For the last four hours, she had been repeatedly disappointed, but finally, the doors whooshed open and Austin, powered by Derek, wheeled out. A finger brace swaddled in gauze and tape covered his thumb. Most importantly, he was smiling.

“Miss, can you bring your car to the front door, and I’ll help make sure he gets loaded in safely? We can’t let South Beach High lose this guy … they could be undefeated this year, you know.”

Austin smiled. “Thanks dude.” He held his thumb up. “You should have seen the blood squirt out when they drilled through my nail. It hit the ceiling!”

Derek laughed and nodded toward Austin. “He’s got a strong pump in there.”

Kelly was glad she hadn’t witnessed that little operation. It sounded gruesome and she’d seen enough blood for today. She was incredibly relieved that it appeared to be a minor injury. “Okay … I’ll be back in a flash.” She fled out the front doors and almost skipped across the parking lot.

A couple minutes later, she pulled under the overhang and stopped in front of the hospital doors. Derek and Austin were waiting, and as soon as she stopped, Austin stood and walked to the vehicle. He still had a little trouble climbing into the tall truck and getting his seat belt fastened with one hand basically incapacitated. Kelly watched him fumble for a few seconds, trying to pull the belt out, but it was tricky using just his left hand. She leaned across him, pulled the belt across his chest and fastened it. His face was so close to hers that she could see the dark spikes in the irises of his eyes and feel his warm breath on her cheek. Her heart did a little somersault and her fingers fumbled with the buckle. Being this close to him always flustered her.

Kelly sat back a lot more abruptly than necessary, shifted into
Drive
and carefully maneuvered the big truck around the ambulance and other cars in the drive-through area in front of the ER. When she was in the clear, she asked, “What did your dad say?”

“He talked to the doctor, but luckily, I didn’t talk with him. I’m hoping he’ll have time to chill before he gets home tomorrow.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“Not really … the instant the pressure was relieved, it stopped. But she said I’d probably lose the nail.”

“Oh … female doctor huh…?”

“Yeah … Dr. Gonzalez … University of Miami. She tried to recruit me. She goes to all their home games and apparently keeps up with high school ball, too.”

“Sounds like she’s not the only one. Is anything broken? I mean, will you be okay by the start of the season?”

“Nothing broken or cracked, but I got seven stitches. She told me to keep it iced today, take Tylenol for the pain, and I can start throwing after the stitches come out in a week. I should be okay in a couple weeks. Two-a-days don’t start until August, so I have time to heal.”

Kelly focused on the main roads as they drove back across the bridge to FMB. At that time in the afternoon, the traffic wasn’t too bad. Most of the people leaving the beach were heading in the opposite direction. Within fifteen minutes they were parked in Austin’s driveway. Kelly’s eyes were filled with tears as she
turned to him. “I’m really sorry about all this. It could have ruined your football career. I shouldn’t have asked you to help me … I’m pretty good with tools, you know.” She wiped her eyes, hoping Austin hadn’t noticed. “Listen, I’ll talk to your dad … maybe if I tell him that you were doing me a huge favor, he won’t blow up at you. Right?”

“You haven’t seen my dad in action, have you?” Austin gave her a wry smile. “But you’ve got to get over feeling guilty about this. It was completely my fault. I shouldn’t have been stupid. I knew better than to try to hammer with my left hand.” He unfastened his seat belt and ducked out of the way as it recoiled. “”Why don’t we go finish Josie’s house?”

“Are you sure? Don’t you need to rest or something?”

He snorted. “Rest? I’d rather keep busy so I won’t think about it.”

She stared at Austin for a moment. “Okay, but I’m doing all the work. You can supervise, but I’m not letting you near the tools.”

“What about your aunt? Is she going to go ballistic when she finds out you drove me to the hospital?”

“Probably, but not until tomorrow. She had to go to West Palm Beach to meet with a witness and won’t be home until tomorrow.”

“Where’s she staying?”

“Some golf resort. Apparently, the guy is a golf pro there.”

“Is it the PGA National?”

“Maybe. That sounds right.”

“Hey, that’s where my dad’s conference is. Maybe they’ll bump into each other.”

Kelly laughed. “That would never happen. My aunt is so focused on her work that she could be in the same room as George Clooney and not notice him. She’ll be all caught up in the case.”

“So, you’ll have an extra day, too. It’s always better to maximize the time between the act and the chat … know what I mean?”

“I get that now after confessing that I drowned my cell phone and got three days of lockdown.” She nodded and smiled as she repeated, “Maximize the time between the act and the chat … got it.”

Kelly started to open the door when Austin spoke up. “Kelly?”

“Yeah?” She sat back and looked at him.

“I’m really glad you moved here. I mean I’m not glad your parents passed … but you’re not like the other girls at school. You don’t care that I’m the quarterback or that my dad owns a car dealership or anything. You’re really cool.”

Kelly ducked her head and let her long, dark brown hair fall forward to cover her flushed cheeks.
He thought she was cool.
That declaration caused her heart to flutter in her chest. Her lower lip quivered nervously and she bit it to make it stop. “I’m glad I met you, too, especially before school starts. And of course Scott and Zoey, too,” she added quickly.

“Yeah, it seems odd not having them around. I know Scott’s family will be home from their vacation this weekend. When is Zoey coming back?”

“Next Thursday, I think,” Kelly answered. “Her dad bought a house in Boulder for her brother to live in while he’s at the University of Colorado. They were there to get it furnished and set up for him, so they weren’t sure exactly how long that would take. I think it’ll be good for her to have a distraction right now.”

“She’s still missing Jesse?”

Kelly nodded. During their time travel trip to 1927 where they joined a circus to help save a young man’s life, Zoey had fallen head over heels for him. Unfortunately, he had to stay and she had to come back … which made her uncharacteristically sad and moody. “I think she’ll always miss him. First loves are special.” As she looked at Austin’s handsome face, she knew that was true. She’d never felt this way about any boy before. Even if he never actually kissed her or they didn’t ever go on a real date, her feelings for him would be special.

“It’s been almost two weeks since we got back from our little trip to Texas. I’m getting antsy to listen to the
Spirit Radio
again.”

“So am I,” Kelly agreed. “But we promised to wait until everyone was back. Besides, it’s locked up in Scott’s workshop.”

They left the truck in Austin’s driveway and walked across Scott’s lawn to get to Kelly’s house. “Since this is your first Fourth of July on FMB, do you want to go with me to the parade and to see the fireworks?” Austin asked.

She hesitated. On the inside, she was jumping up and down and cheering. On the outside, she had to be cool. That was what he had said he liked about her.