The Cowboy's Summer Love (23 page)

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Tess should have called in sick. She thought heart sick should count. It was her day to work acute care, which meant she was treating patients in the hospital. If only today was home visits, she could have used the fresh air and solitude while driving from one appointment to the next to help clear her thoughts.

As it was, she had a pounding headache and couldn’t wait for the end of her work day to arrive.

After Rick took her home and assured her he would be fine last night, she went to bed and spent hours alternating between tears and prayers.

Her heart ached for Travis, for the suffering he was forcing himself to endure on his own, and for the shame he felt unnecessarily.

She was both afraid for him and a little afraid of him.

It was obvious something was bothering him last night and instead of reaching out to him, trying to help, Tess assumed he was acting like a jerk because Rick was there with her. So she teased and flirted, cozying up to Rick just to make Travis jealous.

What kind of friend was she, anyway? She was using Rick to get at Travis and that wasn’t fair to either one of them. Maybe she should move somewhere new and start over, but the thought of not seeing Travis again made her fight back a sob.

Sitting in the office trying to focus enough to finish some paperwork, Tess answered the phone after it rang three times.

“Tess Morgan,” she said, trying to sound professional, if not cheery.

“Tess, this is Sandy in ER. Two guys brought in an injured windsurfer and he’s not carrying any identification. He keeps asking for you, at least I think it’s you. He’s seems to be a little disoriented. Can you come down and see what you can do?”

Somehow Tess knew, right to the very core of her being, the injured man was going to be Travis.

“I’ll be right there,” Tess said, hanging up the phone and running to the nearest elevator. When it didn’t immediately arrive, she ran around the corner and down two flights of stairs to the emergency room. The entire time, she kept up a steady prayer of “please, let him be okay.”

Racing to the nurse’s station, they pointed her to a curtained area where she could hear a familiar voice saying, “Please, I want Tessa. Just get Tess, she’ll make it better.”

Her heart sank to the floor and she had to take a moment to steel herself for whatever she was going to find. Sucking in a deep gulp of air, she straightened her spine and walked around the curtain.

Expecting blood and gore, Tess was surprised that Travis looked fine, except for the pain that formed deep brackets around his mouth and eyes, and the sickly ashen gray tone of his skin. He was wearing a wet suit and didn’t even have on a pair of shoes. She couldn’t see any blood, any bruising anywhere. He was, however, holding both sides of the gurney in a death grip with his eyes squeezed shut.

“What happened, Sandy?” she asked quietly of the nurse who was attempting to get Travis to calm down enough they could get the wet suit off him and determine what was wrong.

“Apparently, he’s quite the hero,” the nurse said. “Some dummy put his son on a board and turned him loose on the water. Of course the board took off like a kite in the wind out there today. Our mystery man saw what happened and made a daring rescue before the boy got hurt. A couple of guys in a boat pulled him and the kid out of the water and they said this big guy tried to stand up then passed out in the boat. They carried him to their car and brought him in just a few minutes ago. He came around long enough to ask where he was and then he started asking for Tessa. Do you know him?”

Tess moved so she stood close to Travis’ head and ran her fingers along his forehead. With her other hand, she unclenched his fist and held his hand in hers.

“Yeah, I know him,” she said softly, tears filling her eyes.

At her touch, Travis instantly calmed down, sensing her presence. Sandy gave Tess a questioning look.

“I think you more than just know him,” Sandy said with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve been holding out on us Tess.”

“We grew up together,” Tess said, turning her attention back to Travis. Leaning down she put her lips close to his ear.

“Travis, it’s me, Tess. Fancy meeting you here at the hospital, you idiot. You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” she said, trying to keep her tone light and soothing. “We’re going to get you out of this wetsuit and see if we can help you, so just relax and enjoy having a bunch of women fawn over you for a while.”

A ghost of a smile touched his lips and Tess released a relieved sigh. He seemed to have been able to hear her.

“What can I do to help,” Tess said, still holding Travis’ hand as she looked to Sandy for direction.

“We need to cut this thing off,” Sandy said, studying the form-fitting suit.

“Get the scissors and I’ll help,” Tess said. Sandy disappeared and soon returned with two pairs of scissors in her hand. She started at one ankle and Tess at the other as they carefully cut the suit up both legs, across his stomach to his neckline and then cut open the arms.

“Oh. My. Gosh,” Sandy said when they peeled the suit away. Travis was wearing a pair of swimming trunks under the suit, but all that exposed, tanned, finely muscled man was a shock to any female system. Sandy looked at Tess with a wicked gleam in her eye. “Since you don’t seem in shock, I’m guessing you may have enjoyed this view once or twice before.”

“Just never mind,” Tess said, blushing. She told Travis to roll over so they could get the suit out from beneath him. With Tess pushing on his shoulders and Sandy on his hips, they rolled him to the side and pulled the wet suit away. Still not seeing what was causing his pain, Tess put a hand to his thigh as they started to roll him back and he yelped in pain.

Gently pulling up the leg of his swim trunks, she gasped to see the backs of Travis’ thighs were red and swollen. Reaching out to touch one, the heat radiating from it was intense.

“Sandy, what do you think happened?” Tess asked, pushing up the other leg of Travis’ trunks and seeing the other thigh was a matching mass of red, swollen flesh to the first.

If she was guessing correctly, she would say he had a set of pulled hamstrings.

“Travis, we’re going to roll you on your stomach, okay?” Tess said, as she moved to the other side of Travis and between she and Sandy, they managed to roll him over and keep him on the gurney.

“I’ll go get a doctor, but it looks like X-rays and an MRI for this guy,” Sandy said, hurrying out of the room.

Placing a hand on Travis’ shoulder, Tess rubbed gentle circles, trying to help him relax. His legs were now drawn up slightly and his face was pinched in pain. Travis still hadn’t opened his eyes, which she took as a sign of how intense the pain must be. Knowing his tendency to hold his breath until he passed out, she didn’t think that would be a bad thing right at the moment.

“What am I going to do with you?” Tess asked, fighting back tears. “Why can’t you be a computer geek or an accountant?”

“You’d be bored to tears,” Travis rasped, reaching a hand out to her. She sucked in a surprised breath when he spoke. Travis opened an eye and fixed his pain-laced gaze on Tess. “I’m your only source of excitement.”

Tess grasped his hand and held it between hers.

He knew Tess wasn’t aware of the tingling sensations her caress sent through him. As it was, all he could do was appreciate the comfort of her touch.

“You scared me to death, again,” she said, brushing at a tear she could no longer contain. “One of these days I’ll walk in here and find you beyond saving.”

“Aw, honeybee, I’ll be fine. Don’t cry,” Travis said, unsettled by the catch in her voice.  He shifted on the gurney and a fresh wave of pain washed over him with such force he would have thrown up if he hadn’t locked his jaw so tightly Tess thought he might strain a facial muscle.

“Travis, please don’t move. I think you pulled your hamstrings, but the doctor will be here soon. I know it hurts really bad, but please try to lie still.” Tess leaned down and kissed his cheek and her fragrance soothed Travis as much as her touch.

“Don’t leave me, Tessa. Stay with me, please?” Travis whispered.

“I’ll stay right here as long as you need me to,” Tess said, knowing she couldn’t leave if she wanted to. She wouldn’t be able to rest anyway, until she knew what was wrong with Travis.

Sandy returned with a young doctor, who looked fresh out of medical school. Tess had seen him around the hospital the last few weeks, but assumed he was interning.

“I’m Dr. Leib,” he said stepping up to Travis and looking at his legs. “We’re going to get some X-rays, Mr…” the doctor looked around for a chart or something with Travis’ personal information.

“Thompson, Travis Thompson,” Tess supplied. “I can help fill out his paperwork.”

“Okay, Travis, we are going to get some X-rays. Before we do that, I want to examine your legs and it might hurt.”

Travis grunted in response. Tess moved up by his head and held both of his hands in hers while Sandy pushed up his swimming trunks and the doctor began examining both legs. He asked Travis to flex and extend each leg and Tess watched sweat break out on Travis’ forehead and felt his hands get clammy.

The doctor’s probing fingers made Travis pass out, which was probably a blessing. Finishing the exam, the doctor asked Sandy to get Travis out of his swim trunks and down to have X-rays. He also ordered an MRI. While the X-ray would show if anything was broken, using the magnetic resonance imaging worked much better for showing the details of a muscle injury.

Once the doctor left, Sandy looked at Tess and shook her head. Stepping out of the room, she nabbed another nurse to help get Travis out of his trunks. They both stared at the angry scars running across his upper thigh, right below his left cheek.

Tess, who averted her eyes during the exposing of Travis’ backside, was surprised when she heard Sandy ask, “What on earth happened to him, Tess?”

Tess raised her gaze and saw the scars, shocked by their wicked appearance. With wide eyes, she shook her head.

“I don’t know. He didn’t mention having those,” Tess said, trying to swallow down the pain that filled her heart. What had Travis endured and not shared with those who loved him most? “He served two tours of duty in Iraq. I’m guessing he may have got that there. He’s only been home since Christmas.”

Sandy snatched a sheet and quickly covered Travis, feeling a new level of respect for the man. She already admired him for saving a stranger’s child and it was hard not to get a little carried away by his raw physical appeal. Add in war veteran, and he was approaching hero status.

Looking at Tess, she smiled. “I promise we’ll take very good care of him.”

“I know you will, but I promised him I’d stay,” Tess said, walking with Sandy as she wheeled Travis down to get X-rays. “While he’s having his picture taken, I can fill out his paperwork. I better call his family while I’m at it.”

“Family? Is he married?” Sandy asked, disturbed by the idea of Travis having a wife. It was obvious Tess had feelings for the ruggedly handsome man.

“No, he’s not married. His mom lives here in town and he has two brothers who will want to know he’s here.”

“You go ahead and make the calls. I’ll get him set up and then you can start on the paperwork,” Sandy said, disappearing down the hall with Travis.

 Tess quickly called Denni and left a message for her both at the store and at home. She then called the Triple T, offering Cady what few details she knew. Her next call was to Brice, who said he’d come sit with her as soon as he got off work. Looking at her watch, Tess knew that would be in a few minutes. Not sure why she felt compelled to do it, she called Rick and told him what happened. Being the nice guy that he was, he said he’d leave right away to come to the hospital. Tess should have told him no, but she didn’t. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she wanted Rick there.