Enchanter (4 page)

Brandon ignored my comment and helped me to a sitting
position.

“You’re bleeding,” he said as he sat next to me and took my
face in between his huge palms.

“How bad is it?” Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight
of the blood pouring down my face and I began to freak. “Brandon, the blood…” I
gasped, lifting my hands up to my forehead to scoop up some of the liquid.

“Don’t freak out on me, Leah,” he said. “Head wounds usually
bleed a lot, but that doesn’t mean it’s serious. Let me take a look and see how
bad it is.”

His big, calloused hands pushed my hair back as he leaned in
closer to me. His full lips were only inches away from mine and for a second I
held my breath. This was the closest I had ever been to Brandon, and his
nearness was making me extremely uncomfortable. I tried not to squirm as his
warm fingertips danced over my right temple.

After a few seconds of squinting, he reached for his
backpack, opened it, and searched for something inside. He completely surprised
me by taking a small, blue, disposable tissue packet, which he opened to remove
a couple from within. He immediately set out to clean the blood that was
dripping down my face and I could not help but stare in astonishment.

Just a few moments ago he was practically trying to fry me
with his gaze and now he appeared openly concerned over the results of my brush
with inattentiveness.

“I think you’re going to need stitches on that cut,” he
murmured as he assessed my injuries. He took out a couple of tissues and placed
them over my cut. “Hold on to this and press down to apply some pressure to
it.” He took my left hand and directed it to the stack of tissue paper now
absorbing the blood.

“That’s all I need, a trip to the freaking hospital,” I
muttered. “You know, someone should really sand down these steps.”

He appeared confused. “What?”

“I cut my forehead on that.” I pointed toward the step
responsible for my cut. Years of having people going up and down it had
weathered it enough so that it had a sharpened edge.

Brandon nodded and turned his attention back to me.

“That looks like it needs medical attention too.” He pointed
to my knee, which was slightly swollen and already looking like it was about to
do a wonderful color display. Out of all the days I decided to wear shorts,
this had to be one of them. “Does anything else hurt?”

“Yeah, right here.” I pointed to my abdominal area and he
nodded.

“Come on, I’ll take you to the ER.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Even as those words
slipped out of my mouth, my vision blurred again and a quick wave of dizziness
assailed me. Fortunately for me, Brandon was holding onto me, so I did not end
up face plastered against the floor, again. “On the other hand, I might need a
set of x-rays,” I said after the world around me stopped spinning.

“Come on.” Brandon grabbed a hold of my arm and ever so
gently helped me up to a standing position. He picked up my purse from its
resting place and handed it to me. With one hand still keeping my wobbly body
steady, he reached out for his backpack, placed one of the straps under his
chin and pinned it there while his fingers shut the zipper. Once that task was
done, he slipped the strap over his shoulder and paused to look at me.

“I’m so embarrassed,” I said, unable to take any more of his
scrutinizing gaze.

“You think that’s embarrassing, just wait until you get to
the ER and you have to explain how this happened.”

I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut.

“How
did
you fall anyway?”

“I… slipped,” I whispered.

“Figures.” The way he said that aggravated me.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head as if my bark bothered him and
for a second there, I thought he actually rolled his eyes at me.

“Well… this is all
your
fault.”

He arched both eyebrows. “
My
fault?”

“Yes!”

“Do explain this because I’m dying to know how is it that
your
clumsiness is my fault.”

“If you hadn’t made me so mad I wouldn’t have—”

“Slipped?”

The absurdity of my words failed to register right away and
so I just glared at him.

“That’s typical of your kind.”

“My kind?”

“Yes, you stuck-up princesses that think the world revolves
around you and only you. When something goes wrong it’s always someone else’s
fault. You never stop to think that maybe it was your own bad decision making or,
in this case, your own clumsiness that causes whatever mess you happen to be in
at the time.”

For what seemed like a long time I stood there and engaged
in a silent battle with Brandon, but when my head started to pound like a
beating drum, I winced and turned my gaze from him.

“Thanks for offering but I can find someone else to take me to
the hospital.”

“I’m taking you to the ER even if I have to drag you to my
car, tie you to the seat, and drive while you shriek at the top of your lungs
the entire way.” His tone left no room for an argument, so I gave him none.

“Well, if you insist.”

With that, he took a hold of my upper arm and slowly led the
way down the few steps I traveled before falling, through the hallway, out the
side doors of the building, and to his navy blue Honda Civic in the parking lot
at the back of campus.

The drive to the local hospital was a relatively quiet one
and I was grateful for that. As Brandon drove, I took to making myself
comfortable in the front passenger seat. Although the navy blue Honda was an
older model, it was in pristine condition. There was not a speck of dust
inside, nor was it stained, broken, chipped, dented, scratched, or missing any
visible parts that I could see.

If he took this much care of his car, what did his home look
like? I could not help but wonder about that as we arrived at the hospital and
he parked.

“Ready?” he asked once he turned the ignition off.

“Sure.” I was anything but enthusiastic and by this point my
raging headache was causing my already sour mood to worsen. To add to my
already bad day, my arm was numb from holding on to the tissue paper to keep
the blood from staining the immaculate interior.
Some day this turned out to
be.

Brandon kept surprising me when he got out and walked around
to the passenger side, opened the door for me and held out one of his big
hands. I took it and allowed him to help me out while keeping at a comfortable
distance. He strolled quietly next to me without us touching, which I was
relieved by.

Once we were inside, the receptionist at the front desk of
the ER lobby took one good look at me and frowned.

“What can I do for you, honey?”

“I think I might need stitches.” I chanced a glance at
Brandon and caught him staring at me again. With my frustration building up, I
looked away and turned my attention to the older woman behind the wooden frame.

“How did you get that nasty-looking cut?”

“She decided to test whether or not slamming against the
concrete hurts as much as people say it does,” Brandon chipped in, much to the
amusement of the nurse standing in front of me.

“Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“How was it?” she asked, forcing a sigh out of me.

“Not worth a trip to the ER on a busy school day.”

She laughed softly. “Don’t you worry about that. We’ll take
good care of you and hopefully you’ll be well on your way to classes soon
enough.” She called out to a nurse, who hurried toward us. “Can you take this
patient back and have her settled in a room?”

“Already?” I asked, knowing from experience that a trip to
the emergency room usually took a few hours, and considering the fact that I
was having a lousy day, I did not expect anything less.

“We’re not that busy right now.”

The nurse smiled as she took a few papers and a clipboard from
the desk and gestured for us to follow her.

“Thanks,” I said to the receptionist.

“No problem. You have a good day now.”

“You too.”

She nodded and hurried back to her post.

Brandon and I followed the nurse through a pair of doors and
a long and brightly illuminated hallway. At the end of the corridor she took a
right turn, walked a few feet, and took a left turn before pausing before a
huge door. After placing her ID in front of a scanner at one side of the door,
it opened and we continued on to room number four.

The nurse gestured to the bed and I obeyed, eying Brandon carefully
as he took the seat next to the entrance. I was brought out of another gaping
session when the nurse removed the tissue paper I’d been holding onto up until that
point, tossed it in the trashcan, and donned on a pair of surgical gloves.
Moments later, she prodded my right temple with glove-clad fingers. I winced
and groaned when she took alcohol pads and dabbed around the cut.

“It’s definitely going to need stitches,” she murmured.

“Great.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll only need a pair at the most.”

“A pair is what got me in this mess in the first place.” I
said, referring to the bad news I had gotten that morning.

“I don’t get what you mean.” She eyed me, then Brandon as if
expecting clarification.

The nurse might not have understood the meaning behind my
words, but Brandon did and his glare served to prove it.

“She slipped on a step and fell,” Brandon explained. “The
pair she refers to is clumsiness and a bad temper.”

The nurse laughed and I scowled at him.

“How long have you two been dating?” the nurse asked as she
took out a couple of alcohol pads from a drawer next to the gurney and began to
clean the area around the cut.

Talk about an awkward moment.

The nurse tossed the blood soaked pads in the trash bin and
then turned to open another drawer next to the one she’d taken the pads out of.
Removing a large gauze pad from inside, she quickly tore open the packet and
placed the gauze over my cut. “It’s no longer bleeding as much but this should
keep the blood from getting on your hair and clothing. Hold on to it until the
doctor gets here.”

“Dating?” I nearly shrieked. “We’re not dating. In fact,
we’re not even friends. He just offered me a ride to the hospital,”

“I’m sorry.” The nurse’s tone was anything but sorry. She
was amused by our reaction to her question. “The way you two look at each other
reminds me of a married couple I know. They exchange the same looks you two do
when they’re angry with each other.”

Seriously? How could I be stuck in this completely
awkward moment like this? Is this life’s way of saying I’m never to enjoy a
birthday? I finally decide that perhaps I’ve mourned my father’s death for long
enough and make it a point to start celebrating the anniversary of my birth and
look what happens.
And dammit, I still wanted to pin Brandon with the
responsibility of my accident no matter what he said earlier.

The nurse took my vitals.

“She’s just mad because she wants to blame me for what
happened and I’m not willing to share in the guilt for that.”

I blanched when he spoke because I seriously thought he had
just read my mind.

When Brandon caught my expression he actually smiled and I
have to say the action took me completely off guard, it was such an appealing
sight that I could not help but stare.

The nurse laughed softly then shook her head.

“Ah, and now you’re stuck here together?” The nurse smiled
again. She obviously thought our situation was very amusing, being stuck
together when it was clear that we did not get along.

“Serves him right.” I glared at Brandon. “It’s his fault
anyway.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself that will get you
through the day, Parker.” Brandon muttered.

“Did you experience any dizziness or blurred vision after
falling?” The nurse opted for changing the subject before I leaped out of the
bed and strangled the dangerous-looking male a few feet away, and I was thankful
for the distraction.

“Both.”

“Can you detail the entire incident for me?”

Exasperated, I provided her with the information she needed.
After she took note of my explanation, she asked, “How are you feeling now?”

“My head and my ribs hurt a little, but other than that I’m
fine.”

“No dizzy spells or blurry vision?”

“Not right now.”

“Good.” She smiled. “That must’ve been quite a fall.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think I would hit so hard, but
apparently I did.” I shrugged. “I didn’t even have time to use my hands to
soften the blow.”

The nurse grabbed a pile of white papers and handed them to me
along with a black pen. “Fill out these papers for me.”

I nodded and reached out for them.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Oh, and the doctor should be in shortly.”

Once we were alone, I took to filling out the paperwork so I
did not have to look at Brandon. It was safe to say that I never expected to be
hauled to the hospital early in the morning and I was absolutely livid because
of it.

“Getting all worked up about this isn’t going to make it go
away.” Brandon was so close to me that I yelped in surprise at his voice right
next to my ear. I turned to look over my shoulder and found his face just
inches away from mine.

His pale blue eyes stared back at me with obvious interest.
Trying to read what I saw behind them, however, was close to impossible.
Brandon seldom, if ever, allowed his emotions to show and right now I was
having trouble deciphering his mood.

“Neither does having you so damn close!” That was the only
coherent thing that could come out of my mouth so I let it slip.

Brandon started to say something, but the doctor chose that
moment to make an appearance.