Chapter 20 Donovan #2
“Girl in the pink, I need that sweatshirt on the chair,” she said, pointing to the back of the barstool.
The girl went to grab it as Audra manipulated and rolled this large human over onto his side with incredible ease, which was wild because he had to be double her weight.
She folded up the sweatshirt, put it under his head, and undid the top two buttons of his shirt expertly.
I felt like a dolt just standing there with my little timer going.
There was a crowd of people around us at this point.
And of course, some phones were pointed in our direction, recording. God, I hated people.
“What’s his name? Does he have a history of seizures?”
“His name is Colt. He has never done this before,” a girl said meekly.
“Has he ingested any substances besides alcohol tonight?” No one answered that question. They just kind of looked at her. Their pupils were blown wide, and they seemed twitchy. I’d been there before.
“Guys, you’re not in trouble. I have to know what I’m dealing with here. Did he take any drugs tonight?” Her voice was so steady and matter-of-fact, but she was still dealing with resistance.
“Help your friend, guys. She’s a nurse and wants to help,” I chimed in.
“Cocaine,” the meek girl finally said and then cried. “He just came in from doing some outside.”
Sirens were on us, and we could see the reflection of lights. The benefit of a small town. Quick ambulance, just like last time. Right then, our buddy Colt stopped seizing. You could see Audra’s shoulders relax just the slightest bit. “Donovan, what is the time?”
“Two minutes and fifty-three seconds.”
The paramedics came in and not only cleared a path, but shooed people away. Audra spoke with them and relayed all the info they needed. They took Colt and the meek girl with them while the rest of their group squared up their tab and took off.
Once again, I stood in complete awe of the woman in front of me before my brain caught up. I mean, I knew what she was capable of after the bike accident, and being a PICU nurse, I can imagine that she’s seen and dealt with some shit, but it was remarkable to watch her slip into that space again.
Holding out my hand to help her, she took it to get up.
When I let myself feel her fingers in mine, a feeling bubbled up inside me that I couldn’t explain.
Looking between our joined hands and her eyes, I lost track of myself.
I’d never had that kind of reaction to anyone, not even close.
She was looking at me with her head tilted, almost curious, and I wondered if she was feeling this too.
“You’re … you’re bleeding,” I finally stammered out but didn’t drop her hand.
“Ah, shoot, I must have nicked my ankle when I was on the ground. Gross.” She mockingly scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out.
The bartender had watched the scene unfold, so he thanked her, hand over fist, and asked what he could do to repay her for what she had just done.
“Maybe some Neosporin and a Band-Aid?” She requested.
Then she turned to me, and I realized I still hadn’t dropped her hand.
At that point, I let it go like it had burned me and looked at her.
She talked to me quietly and calmly. “I’m going to go wash my ankle with soap and water.
Can you grab that Band-Aid and ointment from the bartender when he comes back? ”
“I’ll do it.” Another voice entered the chat. We both turned, and it was that fucking guy from earlier that everyone iced out of conversations. The same one that had been leering at our table all night. I forgot his name.
“It’s fine, Theo. The bartender saw Donovan already. Don’t worry about it.”
“But I always worry about you,” he replied.
She gave him a funny look, shook her head slightly, and walked towards the bathroom. As I turned to glare at this fucker trying to infringe on … whatever was happening here, the bartender appeared again, giving me the first aid stuff.
“Hey, what can I do for your girl, man? Drinks are obviously on the house, but what can I grab her first? She was a pro out there. I knew she could play darts, but do this too? That’s a keeper right there,” he joked with me.
“Yeah, her name is Audra, and she’s a PICU nurse at Southshore. And she’s not my girl, so I’m not exactly sure what her favorite things are … yet.” This place didn’t have whatever cosmic lemonade she was sipping and raving about on Waterlily Lane the other night.
Once again, Theo had to open his damn mouth.
“Your pear mules are her favorite. Those or the espresso martinis that the blond bartender makes,” he said, pointing to the girl behind the bar, showing off how well he knew Audra.
This had to be an ex or something. The smugness in his voice had me roiling.
Looking at me again with a self-satisfied grin, I’m sure he thought he won some kind of pissing match.
I had no ground to stand on here, no reason to feel possessive or irritated that I didn’t know her favorite drinks, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to punch this guy’s face in because he was being a fucker.
The bartender looked between us, and I bet he was sizing up whether he was going to be stopping a bar fight on the heels of that cocaine seizure.
Before things got any worse, Audra returned and touched my arm.
The spark from the touch pulled my attention away from Theo to her.
I took a closer look at her face. She really was exceptionally stunning.
I wondered if she knew it. There was the slightest smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that I’d never noticed, not even the other night, but it was dark, and that led me to look at her eyes.
There was the slightest glassiness to them that seemed different from before.
An observation I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I weren’t so close.
Had she been crying? I held up the Band-Aids and Neosporin but quietly said, “Are you ok? Is it your ankle?”
She gave me a small smile and opened her mouth to speak, but before she got the words out, Theo spoke for her. “She was bleeding, of course, she’s not ok.”
My shoulders shrugged up, and I stretched my neck as I took a deep breath in.
Ages had passed since I last felt so on edge; where I felt the urge to feel the sensation of pounding someone.
After Tommy died, I spent some time in boxing gyms and underground fight nights getting well acquainted with physical contact.
There was something about it that quelled the beast. I hadn’t seen a boxing gym since landing here, but I was about to get back in the ring with this fucker. I had to take another grounding breath.
“Theo, I’m fine. Just go back with your crew. It’s just a minor cut.” She turned her back to him, effectively cutting him off, looked at me, and gestured her head in a let’s go motion. And for the second time that night, I followed this woman without question or hesitation.
“Holy shit, Audra, you really are superwoman,” Jules said when we sat down.
“Hardly,” she retorted. “I just happened to know what to do when someone goes down like that.”
“Just accept the compliment, Audra. You’re amazing.
” Her friend smiled at her. The slightest blush ran up her neck.
I was in ‘close enough to see freckle’ territory, so I’m not sure if anyone else saw the red creep up, and that made me feel oddly satisfied.
My eyes searched hers again, and I said low enough so only she could hear, “You sure you’re ok?
” She nodded her head, so I spoke in a regular volume again.
“I know you’re exponentially more qualified than I am, but do you want me to patch you up, nurse?
” I could feel a flirty half smirk on my lips, and I knew it made my dimples pop out.
Did I do it on purpose? Yup. Even after all this time, I still knew how to be charming.
I caught her glance at them and then beam. “I think I can handle it, thank you.”
“But what if I want to?” I retorted. She tilted her head again, and the edge of her bottom lip slipped slightly between her teeth.
“We can’t let the dart league bar champion turned emergency hero patch herself up.
Bad press and all. Besides, I think we make one hell of a first-response team.
I’ll handle all phone-related services like timing and calling, and you …
you can do literally everything else.” That brought that laugh back out of her.
It was the same radiant laugh she had when we were first talking.
“By all means, then, please patch away, Doctor Donovan.”