Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“I’ll go get your boy. Those nurses don’t want to mess with me,” Mom told me.
“No—” I started to say before changing it to, “Thanks.” The truth was, I wanted to see Linc, and I knew that even though he’d play it off like it was nothing, he would be worried.
“I’ll go,” Jude said, and disappeared.
Mom fretted about me for a few minutes before Jude came in with a pink-cheeked Lincoln behind him. I knew they only let two people back, but I was assuming Jude had insisted.
“Hey, baby,” I teased, and his eyes shot blue daggers at me. Oh, this was going to be fun.
“You know how uncomfortable terms of endearment make me.” The flush on his pale skin darkened. He was so damn cute when he blushed.
“Oh, come on. I just had a dirt bike crash. You’re not going to let me call you baby?” I was fully aware he was going to kill me, but this moment was too fun to pass up.
As if I’d turned a switch on inside him, I saw his look change from frustration to concern. “Are you okay? What did the doctor say?”
I tried to shrug, but pain shot through my shoulder. “Fuck, that hurts. Nothing. They haven’t told me anything yet.”
“Your collarbone, likely…” Linc softly brushed his fingers against the bone. “Did they give you anything for pain? Do you have any allergies?”
I smiled. “Settle down, Nurse Lincoln. I’ll be okay.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were a nurse!” Mom added.
“Um…yeah. I work at Fever Falls General Hospital. What X-rays did they take, Rush?”
I didn’t have the chance to reply before an older man slipped into the room.
“You’re popular. I’m Doctor Harris. How are you feeling?”
“Like I crashed my dirt bike.”
I knew what he was going to say before he said it. Still, I waited.
“You broke your collarbone, but the real damage is your separated AC. The surgeon is on their way to consult. We’ll know more then. You don’t show signs of concussion, but you did black out, so we’d like to evaluate you some more.”
Fuck! I had the goddamn red plate, and I’d just ruined my fucking season. I didn’t give a shit about anything other than, “How long?”
He didn’t need to ask me what I meant. “As I said, we’ll know more when the surgeon gets here, but if I had to guess, I’d say six to eight weeks.”
I closed my eyes…held my breath. It wasn’t until I felt Linc’s hand cup my cheek that I breathed again…opened my eyes. Okay, I could do this. It wasn’t over yet. “But I might not need surgery? And if not, I can go back sooner?”
Linc gasped. “Rush!”
“This is what I do, Red. I’ll be fine.” Linc jerked his hand away and looked at the doctor.
“Well, yes. I’m sure you could go back sooner if you don’t have surgery, but let’s not get our hopes up just yet. We need to see how the surgeon feels before we make any plans. How is your pain level?”
My shoulder wasn’t fucking anything on that ache in my chest. This was my fucking year, my season, and it was about to blow up around me. “I’m good.”
“Rush…” Linc sighed. “He needs a number from one to ten.”
“Seven,” I grumbled.
“I’ll get the nurse in with something for pain. We’re working on the admit papers, so we should be able to get you up to a room soon.” He swept from the room as if he hadn’t just dealt me a blow to ruin my whole season, my best fucking season.
“Oh, Rush. I’m so sorry,” Mom told me. “You’ll be fine, my sweet boy. You’ll still be able to race outdoors this summer.”
“Thank you.” I turned to Lincoln. “I’m fine,” I told him, but Linc frowned at me as if he saw more than I was willing to show. So…I did the smart thing and ignored him. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t ignoring shit between us. “At least I have my boyfriend here.”
He froze. “Rush…let’s not give them the wrong idea. We’re new and not serious.”
“Whatever you say, dear,” I teased.
The nurse came in and gave me a pill for the pain, and though I didn’t admit it, I was thankful as fuck.
When she was gone again, Mom said, “I can stay here with you tonight if you want.”
“What? You don’t have to do that. Are you guys staying for a few days, though?”
“We were hoping to. I just… I missed my boy,” Mom said, making my gut twist. Something was seriously fucking wrong.
“Mom…what’s wrong?”
“It’s fine. Now isn’t the time. You’re—”
“Mom,” I cut her off. “Tell me.”
Linc pulled away. “I’ll go. You guys have family stuff to talk about.”
“No. You can stay,” Mom and I said at the same time. “But this isn’t the best time to do this,” she added.