Rattled (2 page)

She heard more words, something about an accident, but didn’t try to make sense of them. Her head pounded.

A hand grabbed her wrist. “Don’t move.” Had she? She must have, her arm was in the air, her fingers brushing her head, although it felt strange, wrong, swollen and stiff and distant. Oh, right—she was wearing her bike helmet. She always wore her helmet. You never knew when you might have an accident.

The strange hand gently guided her arm down until it lay alongside her again. Erin whimpered. Rough fingertips brushed her cheek. “You’ll be all right,” the voice said. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Oh, good, Erin thought. That was all right then.

“Look at me. Stay with me.”

Erin blinked against the brightness until the blur above her resolved into those blue eyes. She could get lost in those eyes. She wanted to get lost and let everything else slip away.

The pain in her head started to shriek. No, it was something outside. A siren, wailing ever louder as it drew closer. Lights flashed in the corner of her vision. She moaned and closed her eyes against the pain.

The voice whispered over her, husky and gentle. “You’re all right now. You’ll be all right.”

Erin sat in her hospital bed, propped up by a couple of pillows. Her head still ached, her hands, elbow, and knees burned, and the side of her face stung. Her right middle finger, which she hadn’t even noticed while in the ditch, throbbed inside the metal brace that held it in a slight curve. But painkillers beat back the worst of it, and after resting for hours, her head felt fairly clear.

“You gave me a scare, you know,” Camie said.

Erin smiled. “Sorry. I’ll try not to do it again.”

Camie leaned back in the plastic visitor’s chair and shook her head so her blond curls bounced on her shoulders. “Just don’t ever tell me again you don’t want to go caving because it’s too dangerous.
I’ve
never been in the hospital.”

“That’s because you refuse to go even when you should. Remember your broken ankle?”

Camie grinned. “A minor detail. Anyway, it was still broken in the morning when I went to the doctor, so what’s the difference?”

Erin gazed at her hand, the splinted finger, the thick bandage over the heel where she’d torn up the skin. “It really isn’t fair. I’m the cautious one, the one who plays it safe, and look what happens.”

Camie shrugged. “Accidents happen everywhere. After I broke my ankle, people acted like, ‘Oh, you broke it rock climbing. Serves you right.’ And then they’d tell me about how they broke their ankle slipping in the shower or tripping over a curb or playing tag with the kids.” She rolled her eyes. “You never know what’s going to happen, or how much time you have left, so make the most of what you have, I say.”

“I have been trying new things,” Erin said.

Camie got up and perched on the edge of Erin’s bed. “You have, and I’m proud of you. Western riding, even rock climbing. You’re turning into quite the adventurer.”

“Thanks to you.”

Camie grinned. “I just love being a bad influence.”

Erin looked at her hand again. “I guess I won’t be doing anything too exciting for a while.” She wasn’t sure whether she felt disappointed or relieved.

“You’ll be giving people the finger everywhere you go,” Camie said. “And you’ll have a perfectly good excuse.”

“You mean like this?” Erin held her splinted finger toward Camie.

Camie touched Erin’s knee through the hospital blanket. “Seriously, you had a bad scare. Is it going to change what you’re willing to do?”

Erin hesitated, frowning. “I’m not sure yet. I’d like to say that I’m brave enough for it to make no difference.” The memories had blurred into one big jumble of confusion and pain. Even the thought of trying to sort them out left her feeling queasy. “But it was awful, and it’s still so mixed up in my mind. It might be hard for me to get on a bicycle for a while. And I don’t know how I’ll feel going past that place in the ditch.” She shuddered.

“It’s bad timing,” Camie murmured. “What with the treasure hunt.”

“I know.” Erin leaned back and closed her eyes. “I can’t think about that right now. I always loved exploration and discovery—in books. Real life is more complicated.” She opened her eyes and looked at Camie. “Don’t worry, I’m not giving up. It’s too important for that. I just... maybe I need a little time.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Camie rose and turned away. She took one step and stopped.

Erin followed the direction of her gaze and saw a man standing in the doorway. A handsome man, tall and lean in a black T-shirt and faded jeans. She didn’t know him, and yet he seemed somehow oddly familiar.

“Can we help you?” Camie asked.

The man’s gaze shifted to Erin. “Erin Hale?”

Erin nodded, suddenly aware of how she must look with her tangled hair and scraped face. At least Camie had brought her a clean shirt and shorts, so she wasn’t wearing one of those awful hospital gowns.

Camie took another step forward, positioning herself between Erin and the man. “Do you work here?”

“No.” He stepped into the room and moved to the end of the bed so he was in line with Erin again. “I, uh….” He looked from Erin to Camie and back. “I found you. In the ditch.”

“You’re the one who called the ambulance!” Camie exclaimed. She broke into a huge smile that had the man staring. “I could just kiss you for that.” To prove her point, Camie grabbed the man’s arms and planted a kiss on his cheek.

He edged back. “Uh, yeah, it was nothing.” He looked at Erin. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing. I didn’t come here for gratitude or anything.” He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I just got interested, you know. I know we’ve never met officially, but I couldn’t help wondering if you were okay.”

Erin could feel the warmth rising in her cheeks under his gaze. She tried to tell herself that no one expected her to look gorgeous in a hospital bed. And he’d already seen her in bad shape. But she wished she’d had a shower and a hairbrush, while at the same time wishing he would come closer, so she could get another look at those eyes.

As if in answer, he crossed the room and stood looking down at her, frowning, while his gaze traveled over her as if tallying up the damage.

Erin cleared her throat and tried to think of something to say. “I’m very grateful. I don’t know if I could have gotten out of that ditch on my own.” Her heart sped and she swallowed the acid taste that rose in her throat. It didn’t matter now. She was safe. She took a breath and forced herself to smile. “Maybe it sounds cliché to say that I owe you my life, but if you hadn’t come along, who knows when someone would have found me?”

“I can’t believe anyone would hit you and then just drive off!” Camie said. She paced the small room. “I’d like to wring his neck.”

The man opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.

“You know me,” Erin said, “and that’s my friend Camie.”

The man took the hint. “Drew Morgan.”

“I’d offer to shake but—” Erin held up her hand with the splinted finger.

For the first time, the man smiled. It was a good smile, one that started with a slow curve of the lips, then worked its way up into those eyes, blue as a desert sky on a summer day. He had a rugged face and tousled dark hair. Erin’s heart beat a little harder, though she doubted he was the type of man who would notice her under normal circumstances.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in town,” Camie said. “You new?”

Drew nodded. “I’ve been here a couple of weeks. It’s just temporary.”

“Doing what?” Camie asked. Not for the first time, Erin was glad her outspoken friend would take the lead.

“You know the ghost town the college bought, Silver Valley?”

“Sure, big news,” Camie said. “The college owning a whole town. Erin and I both work at the school.”

Erin remembered the local news stories from a few months before. The college, which specialized in the sciences, had an associated research group that did explosives testing. They were developing a program to train military, police, and search and rescue teams from around the world in antiterrorist training. Buying an entire ghost town a hundred miles away would give them a base for the training programs, complete with empty buildings for exercises.

“I fly helicopters,” Drew said. “I’ll be shuttling some of the brass from the college, local politicians, and so forth down there for tours.”

“Well isn’t that interesting!” Camie was all sunshine and warmth, the side of her that made most men stumble over their own tongues while they gaped at her golden girl-next-door beauty. Some might have thought Camie was flirting, but Erin caught the mischievous gleam in her friend’s eye.

“Why don’t you have a seat and tell us all about it?” Camie said, pushing the empty chair closer to Erin’s bedside. “Erin could use something to take her mind off the pain.”

Drew sat and gazed at Erin. “How bad is it?”

She shrugged, awkward under his steady gaze but unable to look away. “Right now, everything hurts, so nothing hurts worse than anything else. But the only broken bone is this one chip in my finger. Six weeks in this splint.” She made a face at it, wondering how she’d manage to type. “The only reason I’m still here is because I hit my head, and they wanted to keep me for observation.”

“It’s a good thing you had your helmet on,” Drew said.

“I always wear one.” Erin gave a wry smile, remembering all the times she’d scolded her students for riding without. “I like my brains inside my skull.”

Camie stood behind Drew, pointed at him, and mouthed the word “Hot!”

Erin struggled to keep a straight face and tried not to look at her friend. “So, uh, how do you like the town? Are you finding anything to do?”

Drew shrugged. “I play pool sometimes at the Black Dog. I’m learning to appreciate green chile.”

Erin nodded. “That pretty much covers your options. It’s not much of a town.”

“I’m used to that. I do a lot of my work in remote areas. Transporting equipment for mining or timber, dropping off hunters or fishermen. I worked tourism for a while in Alaska, based in a small town. I don’t mind.”

“That’s good.” Erin tried to think of something else to say.

Drew frowned and glanced around the hospital room. “Look, this accident. How much do you remember?”

“I don’t know.” Erin tried to think back. Her mind filled with the memory of black metal bearing down on her, the feel of flying through the air. She trembled and clenched her fists. Her broken finger screamed at the movement and brought her focus back to the present.

Drew was leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “I don’t mean to bring back bad memories. It’s just—” He hesitated and glanced up at Camie as she came to stand by Erin’s side. “Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this right now. But maybe you need to know.”

Erin stared at him as a feeling of cold lodged in her stomach. Camie’s hand squeezed her shoulder.

“I was jogging along that road,” Drew said. “I turned a corner and noticed a black SUV in the distance, pulled off to the side of the road—the wrong side. A man was coming out of the ditch. I wondered about it, you know? What he’d been doing. He drove away. When I got up to where he’d been, I started looking in the ditch. And I found you.”

Erin’s breath felt stuck in her lungs. She had a sudden memory of hands pulling at her waist, of thinking she had help, and then being alone. She stared into Drew’s blue eyes, but she no longer felt the warmth of a summer sky.

Drew frowned. “Are you sure this was an accident?”

Erin opened her mouth to protest but could think of nothing to say. She felt cold and tugged the hospital blanket higher.

“Erin!” Mitchell Broadwell strode into the room, looking as sharp as a lawyer in his expensive business suit. He pushed past Drew’s chair and bent to kiss Erin. “Hello, darling. I came as soon as I heard.” He straightened and glared down at Drew with his hand still on Erin’s shoulder. She had to crane her neck to see him. “Who are you?”

“Drew Morgan.” He didn’t offer his hand.

“He found me,” Erin said.

“I’ll thank you for that,” Mitchell said. “But you have no right coming here and spouting some conspiracy theory. Erin needs to rest.”

Drew leaned back in his chair and stretched out his long legs. “I’d say she needs to know the truth.”

Mitchell scowled. “The truth is she was the victim of a terrible accident. If someone hit her and drove off, it’s because he was scared. Probably drunk. It’s terrible, but there’s no need to turn it into something else.”

The men stared at each other, like two dogs ready for a fight. Erin struggled to catch up with the situation. She knew she should be pondering what Drew had said, but she was too busy blushing about Mitchell’s behavior. She had gone on a few dates with him, but she wished he hadn’t acted so possessive. Maybe she should have been flattered, but she still wished he hadn’t... not in front of Drew. It was foolish to think that the handsome stranger would ever have any more interest in her than what he’d said—curiosity about the fate of the poor creature he’d rescued from a ditch. But Erin had been enjoying his attention.