Page 17 of Searching for Bristol
He chuckled and said under his breath, “Rocky’s a goner.”
Bristol opened her mouth to ask what he meant, exactly, but a woman marched into the room as if she had every right to be there, despite not being dressed like a typical nurse or doctor.
“Hi, my name’s Khloe. I wanted to make sure you were all right. Does your leg hurt? What can we do to make you feel better? Where’s Rocky? I think you need to get going; it’s already been too long since you were injured. The sooner you get to the hospital and get into surgery, the better it’ll heal. Raid, can you call Rocky and see how much longer he’s going to be?”
Bristol could only stare at the woman, confused. She seemed overly concerned about her, a perfect stranger, than was normal. She was petite, like Bristol, but she still had maybe half a foot over Bristol’s four-eleven height. Her and Raid’s heads were practically even, although he was sitting and she was standing. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and Bristol hadn’t missed the limp in her stride as she’d entered the room. She was pleasantly plump, filling out the jeans she was wearing as if they were painted on.
When Raid stared at the woman without moving, she said, “Fine,I’llcall him.” She pulled a phone from her back pocket.
Raid reached out and grabbed the phone from her hand. “He’s going to be back momentarily. No need to stress him out by calling.”
Khloe frowned and stepped toward the bed where Bristol was lying, turning her back on the tall man sitting next to her. “Are you all right? Are you in a lot of pain? Did Doc Snow give you some painkillers? I can go find him and tell him you need more if you’re hurting.”
“I’m okay. Thank you, though,” Bristol said. And she was. Her leg throbbed, as did her palms where the doctor had cleaned them again, but she was still feeling kind of floaty from the pills Rocky had given her.
But her words didn’t seem to have any effect on Khloe’s concern. “I know you can’t eat anything, but I can get you some more water if you need it.”
Wanting to calm the clearly concerned woman, Bristol reached out a hand and touched her arm. “I’m really okay.”
“Khloe?” Raiden asked behind her. Bristol could see a frown on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Bristol watched as the other woman took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, then turned. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m good. I…I just wanted to make sure Bristol was okay. Broken bones hurt, and you and Rocky are super soldiers who probably don’t feel pain, even when you break bones. So I just wanted to check on her. Now that I have, I’ll be going. Don’t worry, I finished up the inventory before I left, and I’ll work on labeling the books and getting them on the shelves tomorrow.”
She stepped toward the door, but Raid stood and grabbed her arm. He held her gently but firmly. “I don’t give a shit about the books. At the moment, I’m more worried aboutyou.”
“I’m fine,” Khloe said quickly. Maybe too quickly.
“Something’s up,” Raid countered quietly.
“Nothing’s up,” she insisted stubbornly. “I’m good. Bristol’s good. Rocky’s on his way back to take her to Roanoke, so I’ll be leaving.”
“I’ll take you home,” Raid said firmly.
The look of panic on Khloe’s face was obvious—and confusing. “No, you won’t. You can’t leave Bristol. Rocky would kick your ass if he got back and she was alone.” Then she turned to the bed. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Thanks for coming to check on me,” Bristol said, still thoroughly baffled.
Khloe nodded. “I’m sure Lilly and Elsie both would’ve been here if they were in town. They’re super nice like that.” Then she tugged on her arm, and while Raid continued to frown, he let go of her. She snatched her phone from his hand then strode with her uneven gait toward the door.
Raiden stood staring out the door for a long moment after she was gone, and Bristol wasn’t sure what to say or do, so she stayed quiet. It was more than obvious there was some kind of tension between Raiden and his pretty co-worker, though she wasn’t sure what kind. But it was none of her business, and she’d be leaving Fallport shortly anyway.
At that moment, Rocky returned. “Everything all right? I saw Khloe leaving,” he said.
“She came to make sure I was okay,” Bristol said after a moment, when Raid didn’t respond.
“That was nice of her.”
“It was,” Bristol agreed.
“Since you’re back, I’m going to head out. Left Duke in the library, and I need to make sure he’s all right.”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Rocky said. “You’ve left him there with the other librarians plenty of times.”
Raid shrugged. “Hope everything goes well in Roanoke,” he told Bristol, before giving Rocky a chin lift and walking out the door.
“What was that about?” Rocky asked in confusion.
But Bristol had already forgotten about everything but the man in front of her. She’d been up close and personal with him for most of the day, but seeing him in jeans, a fresh T-shirt, and even smelling his clean scent from where he was standing a few feet away had her tongue tied. It made her own condition all the more obvious. She’d kill for a shower right about now, but knew that was impossible. She hated feeling and looking so grubby next to Rocky.
