Page 12 of Summer Heat
“Who said I’m not?” Derek asked, just as Lexie returned with a bag full of ice, her timing impeccable.
Her presence very needed. As much as the reminder of the past had Kade wanting to close out the world and shut down, he couldn’t deny he’d much rather turn to Lexie for comfort. And much more.
Chapter Four
Lexie rushed downstairs and retrieved ice in a bag from a restaurant nearby, then headed back to Kade’s office in record time. Derek and Luke must have left, so she walked up to Kade, who stood staring out the window, as if he hadn’t heard her come in.
“Can I see your hand?” she asked softly.
He turned around, and the raw pain in his face stole her breath. Without speaking, he held out his hand. His knuckles were swollen and bruised, already a deep purple. She lightly rested the bottom of his palm in hers and gently put the ice over the top.
“I’ll call for a car, and we can head over to the hospital,” she said without pushing for answers as to why he’d gotten so angry the plaster on the wall behind him was cracked. She hoped he’d confide in her eventually because he seemed like he had a lot to get off his chest.
“You don’t have to go along. I’m capable of taking myself.”
“I’m sure you are.” She sensed this man was an island. He thought he liked it that way. He just didn’t know any other way.
“But I want to help.” She glanced down at his ice-covered hand, rotating the bag so as not to overdo any one spot. “Put your free hand here and I’ll arrange for a car.”
She’d found a helpful list of various things, left behind by one of the former assistants. Car service had been on it.
He placed his hand over the ice, brushing her skin as they switched positions. Electricity—inappropriate and so wrongly timed—rushed over her, causing the hair on her arms to stand on end.
They made the trip to the closest hospital in silence, Kade’s clenched jaw an indication of his pain. And because this was a typical emergency room and since a bruised hand wasn’t triaged as urgent, they waited for hours, surrounded by sick people who used the ER as a doctor’s office.
Hacking coughs, lots of noses being blown loudly, a knife-wound victim with blood trailing behind the injured man, and the topper, the child vomiting in the corner.
Squicked out, Lexie inched closer to Kade, afraid of catching anything. But she was determined to stick it out and get him that X-ray. She wasn’t a doctor, but those knuckles looked bad. She held her tongue and tempered her frustration at how long they had to wait.
Not Kade. He complained. Bitched. And finally tried to bully and ultimately bribe the triage nurse to let him pass before she threatened to call security and have him thrown out on his ass.
Lexie got in his face with a wagging finger. “Look, you might be used to preferential treatment most of the time, but here you’re less important than someone having a heart attack. Deal with it,” she ordered, feeling every inch the shrew as she lectured him. He deserved it.
“You’re bossy,” he muttered.
“But I get the job done.” She folded her arms across her chest and, with a glare, dared him to comment.
He didn’t. Instead he focused on the fresh ice the nurse had given him.
His compliance lasted another hour before he rose to leave. “That’s it. I’m done. The pain’s not that bad anymore.”
“Liar.” She scowled at him, then physically grabbed his arm on the uninjured side and pulled him back to his seat. “Quit making a scene, and I’ll go ask if they have any idea how much longer it might be.”
Before she could do as she promised, a male nurse stepped through the double doors. “Barnes? Kaden Barnes.”
“Thank God,” Lexie muttered, remaining seated when Kade stood.
“This way,” the nurse gestured.
Kade glanced at her. “Well? Let’s go.”
She shook her head. “They’re not going to let me go into X-ray with you. I’ll be here when you get out.”
“They’re just going to take me into a room and make me wait some more. You’re coming.”
She shrugged and rose to follow, surprised and secretly delighted that he wanted her with him. The nurse didn’t argue, so she soon found herself in a curtained cubicle as Kade had predicted. After the expected wait, a doctor finally came in to examine him.
Lexie winced along with Kade as the doctor lifted the hand and attempted to move fingers and thoroughly looked at the in
