Chapter Seven Damien #2
We turned around to head back toward the resort, and I hated the heaviness of the air between us. I wanted this walk to be an opportunity to bridge the gap between us, but I failed. It felt like I was doing that a lot lately.
Frustration rose inside me, but I tried to suppress it as we approached the others. Everyone was gathered around a volleyball net set up on the beach, and Jake had the white ball in his hands, tossing it up into the air while we split into teams.
I tried to stick close to Kelsie, but in the shuffle of people, I ended up on a team with Ryan, Leanne, Angela, and Ford.
Ryan’s cousin Gordon was also with us, and I was glad that he wouldn’t be near Kelsie—not that I truly had much to worry about.
He was too busy flirting with a random woman that made eye contact with him as she strolled by.
I was even more determined to make sure that he stayed away from Kelsie. She deserved better than some fickle asshole that let just any woman turn his head.
Kelsie stood with Jess and her husband Cody on the other side of the net.
The rest of her team consisted of Jake, Heather, and Ryan’s little sister, Zoey.
I hadn’t seen her around much the last couple of days, but I didn’t think much about it.
Then, just before we started playing, Ford suddenly ducked under the net and marched right up to Zoey.
“What are you doing? You’re not going to play volleyball,” he said in a bossy tone of voice that made no sense.
Everyone turned to stare, but Zoey didn’t seem to notice as she rolled her eyes at him. “You don’t get to decide that, Ford.”
Unlike Zoey, Ford seemed very aware that they had everyone’s attention. His eyes flicked around the group before he focused on Zoey again.
“You didn’t feel well last night, remember?” he said. He lowered his voice, but we could all still hear every word. “I think you should sit this one out.”
“You sick, Zo?” Ryan asked.
“No,” she said, her eyes still on Ford. “But even if I was, I’m a nurse. I can take care of myself.”
“And I’m a doctor,” Ford snapped. “So, go sit in the shade.”
Even from twenty feet away, I could practically feel the anger radiating off Zoey at that. “We’re not at the hospital. You’re not my boss here, Ford.”
I knew they worked together, but this felt intense, like I was missing something. Jake started to walk toward them with a deep frown on his face, but Ford suddenly grabbed Zoey by the elbow and guided her away from all of us. She didn’t fight him, but she didn’t look happy either.
“What was that about?” Ryan asked, watching the two of them head back toward the resort.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Jess said, grabbing the volleyball from Jake. “She just has a stomach bug or something. Now, come on. Let’s play.”
Ryan continued to watch his sister walking away with his friend for a moment, but the game started, and we all seemed to forget whatever was going on with Zoey. Or we pretended to.
Personally, I found it hard to focus on anything other than the way that Kelsie’s body moved as we played. She’d been on the volleyball team in high school, and even though that was ten years ago, she still had some skills.
I’d never seen her play since I only met her a couple of years ago, and I found myself staring at her so much that it had to be obvious to anyone paying attention.
Every graceful move was calculated to maneuver the ball where she wanted it to be.
Low crouches and gravity defying jumps and powerful strikes.
When she served, her swimsuit pulled even tighter over her breasts, and I felt a low simmer in my gut. I still wanted her. Bad idea or not, I couldn’t turn it off. I was so distracted that I didn’t even try to stop the ball from landing in the sand at my feet.
That was when Kelsie laughed, her face lit with joy that made my pulse quicken, and I was glad that she’d taken off her sunglasses because I could see the glint of happiness in her eyes.
I suddenly had the crazy urge to move to the other side of the net and pull her into a hug.
After the emotional and physical distance between us the last couple of days, I longed to feel like things were normal.
Kelsie and I had always shared casual physical contact.
But I knew that it would be different now. Just looking at her made my body react, my senses overwhelmed with everything that was Kelsie.
It was Ryan’s turn to serve next, and he sent the ball over the net.
Kelsie dove for it with her arms stretched out to bump it into the air while Jake moved at the same time.
I saw it happen in slow motion. His foot landed wrong in the shifting sand, and he started to fall forward.
Surprise and something like panic flickered across his face, and he tried to stop his fall, his arms pinwheeling in front of him, but it was too late. And Kelsie was right there.
His elbow collided with her head, and she let out a muffled cry of pain as she landed face first on the ground.
“Kelsie,” I shouted, kicking up sand behind me as I ran to her. She turned over onto her back by the time I got to her, shoving Jake out of my way as I came down on my knees beside her body. She had a hand pressed to the side of her head where Jake had hit her. “Shit, Kels. Are you okay?”
The world around us faded into the background as I hyper focused on her. She was grimacing in pain, and I could already see a bruise forming at her temple. A cold wave of dread rushed through my veins. This was a head injury. It could be serious.
Without a second thought, I scooped her up into my arms, drawing a surprised yelp from her lips. She tensed, but I tightened my hold on her.
“I didn’t mean to-” Jake started, but the words died in his throat as I shot him a glare.
A part of me knew I was being unreasonable, that it was just an accident, but the fear and anger roaring in my mind drowned that truth out, leaving behind the urge to place blame somewhere.
So, I let myself be mad at Jake as I marched past, leaving him and the others behind while I took Kelsie back to the resort.
“Damien, what are you doing?” she asked, squirming in my arms.
“Stop,” I said, my hands curling around her ribs and thigh as I kept her against me. Her skin was slightly overheated from being out in the sun and there was sand all over her.
I never wanted to put her down.
“I can walk,” she said, stubborn as ever.
“But you’re not going to. You were hit in the head, Kels. What if you get dizzy and fall?”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “I didn’t have an anvil dropped my head. I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t know that. We’re going to have a doctor look at you.”
“Ford?”
I shook my head. I had no idea where he and Zoey had run off to, and I wasn’t going to waste time trying to track him down. “There’s a med room at the resort.”
“Just put me down, and I’ll walk there.”
I hated that she was so desperate to get out of my arms. I carried her like this once before, about a year ago when she sprained her ankle on a hike. She didn’t object then.
How could I get us back to that?
“No,” I said, my voice coming out gruffer than I intended as something that felt a lot like regret burned in my chest.
Kelsie stopped squirming and arguing, but I did hear her mutter something under her breath and sounded a lot like, “Bossy jackass.”
I chose to ignore it.
I had to stop at the front desk to ask where the med room was, but we got lucky when we arrived and there were no other patients there. The doctor was a short woman with dark skin and wildly curly hair, and she took my concerns seriously, even as Kelsie tried to tell her that she felt fine.
She shined a light in Kelsie’s eyes and had her walk in a straight line to check her balance. Then, she asked a bunch of questions, first about how Kelsie was feeling and then about her life—to check her memory.
Everything appeared to be fine, except for the headache that Kelsie mentioned as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Isn’t that a symptom of a concussion?” I asked the doctor, worried.
“Or stress. Or dehydration. Or a perfectly normal reaction to a collision with Jake’s elbow,” Kelsie said, but even the small, exasperated smile on her face didn’t make me feel better.
She could find my concern ridiculous all she wanted, but she didn’t go to medical school. She couldn’t be certain that there was nothing wrong.
“Should we take her to a hospital?” I asked.
The doctor looked at me like I was being hysterical. “There’s no hospital on the island, Mr. Hawkins. You’d have to go to the mainland to go to a hospital.”
I was considering it when Kelsie slapped my arm. “I’m not going to the mainland for this. I’m fine.”
I glanced at her bruised temple again, but I recognized the look she gave me. She wasn’t going to give in on this. I sighed.
“Fine.” I turned back to the doctor. “You’re sure it’s not a concussion?”
She hesitated, as if she didn’t want to answer. That didn’t make me feel better. “I’m not sure. But I think it’s unlikely. Technically, symptoms might not show up immediately due to adrenaline, but…”
“So, what symptoms should we look out for?”
If Kelsie wasn’t going to the hospital to confirm that she was fine, I’d just have to make sure of it myself.
So, I listened closely to every symptom the doctor said to look out for over the next twenty-four hours.
Moodiness, clumsiness, vomiting, confusion…
the list went on. But I knew I’d remember all of it. This was too important to forget.
“And if she unexpectedly loses consciousness at all, even briefly, bring her back here right away,” the doctor finished.
When I looked toward Kelsie again, she at least seemed to be taking it seriously now.
The doctor handed over a bottle of Tylenol to Kelsie.
“Take this for headache pain and get plenty of rest.”
Kelsie went to stand, the paper on the examination table crinkling beneath her, and I rushed forward to lift her into my arms again. Her raised hands and the stern look on her face stopped me.
“I’ll walk,” she said firmly.
I didn’t think it was in my best interest to argue with her, so I just stayed close as we left the med room. When we reached the lobby, Leanne came rushing up to us.
“There you are!” Kelsie winced at the loudness of Leanne’s voice, and I bit back the urge to chastise her. She meant well. “I wanted to come after you sooner, but Damien took off so quickly, and I wasn’t sure where you went.”
“We just left the med room,” Kelsie said. “The doctor says I’m fine.”
“She says she thinks you’re fine. You could still have a concussion.”
Kelsie shot me an impatient look while Leanne seemed to be struggling not to smile.
“Well, I brought your stuff from the beach.” Leanne held out a canvas bag, and I took it before Kelsie could. Peeking inside, I saw my phone and clothing along with Kelsie’s dress and the seashells she’d collected on the beach. “I take it that you won’t be joining us for dinner tonight?”
“No,” I said, not sure if Kelsie planned to go or not. The doctor said she needed to rest, and I was going to make sure it happened. “We’re going to order room service and watch a movie.”
Kelsie arched a single eyebrow. “Is that what we’re doing?”
“Yep.”
Just the two of us this time.
We parted ways with Leanne, heading to the floor where we were both staying. Kelsie was quieter than usual, but I didn’t push for her to talk, worried about her headache. She took two Tylenol in the med room, but it might not have kicked in yet.
I wanted to stick with her, but we were both covered in sand and needed to get cleaned up. So, I went to my room first, taking a fast shower and ordering room service to Kelsie’s room. When I knocked on her door, she answered with damp hair and dewy skin from her own shower.
She was wearing a tank top with a cartoon cat on the front and a pair of fleece pajama pants. Her feet were bare, and her red painted toes curled into the carpet when I glanced down.
She was adorable.
“Food’s on the way,” I said, and she stepped back to let me in. The way her breasts moved beneath her shirt told me that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and a tingle ran down my spine at the thought of being alone with her like that. God, it would be so easy to slip a hand under her shirt and touch…
“Thanks,” she said, seeming more relaxed than before. I hoped that meant her headache medicine had kicked in. “I probably could’ve gone to dinner, but it’s been a busy couple of days, and I’m kind of looking forward to just relaxing in the hotel room.”
“You need rest,” I said, gesturing to the couch.
Kelsie smiled as she took a seat. “You know, you worry too much.”
“Only about you.”
The words slipped out before I could think them through, and Kelsie’s expression shuttered. The air between us felt thick with things unsaid and regrets we couldn’t take back.
I hated it.
Sitting beside her, I picked up the remote and started looking for a movie to watch. Kelsie stared at the screen impassively, giving no opinion. In the end, I chose an old comedy that we’d both seen more than once before, hoping that something familiar would help ease the tension.
When the food arrived, it was a relief. We had something to do, a distraction from the tension that kept cropping up between us, making it hard to breathe the same air.
The movie played and we got comfortable. It didn’t feel quite like before, but it was a small step in the right direction. Time passed, and when I glanced over at Kelsie, I saw she’d fallen asleep leaning against the armrest of the couch.
Turning off the TV, I scooped her up into my arms for the second time today.
This time, I carried her to bed, carefully pulling back the covers before I placed her on the mattress.
When I covered her with the blanket, she let out a small, sleepy sound that struck me in the chest. For one wild moment, I thought about joining her in the bed, wanting to relive the faint memory of sleeping with her in my arms a couple of nights ago.
She fit against me just right, and I could imagine her curling up against me, her warm breath tickling my skin.
But that was wrong. She wouldn’t want me to sleep in her bed.
That wasn’t what friends did, anyway.
I wasn’t going to leave her alone when she could have a concussion, so I decided to take the couch. Not the most comfortable place I’d ever slept, but there was nowhere else I’d rather be.