The Billionaire Next Door (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) Read Online Free Page A

emergency
department, there was not a minute to spare.
    When she walked in three pairs of eyes swung
toward her.  The doctor gave her a curt nod.  “Nurse Felix.  Bed twelve,
concussion.  Check all vital signs and administer Percocet.  Intravenous. 
Medication in one liter of solution.  Go.”  Not sparing her more than a glance
the doctor dropped her eyes again to the patient lying on the stretcher, an
oxygen mask covering the lower half of his face.
    “Yes, doctor.”  She was heading for bed
twelve before the doctor had even finished barking out her instructions.  She’d
worked in E.R. before and she knew that rapid action was critical.  She headed
down the passageway to bed twelve, threw back the pale blue curtain and stepped
forward.
    What she saw made Solie freeze in her tracks.  Dios!   She knew the man lying in the bed.  Eyes closed, his breathing
shallow, there was a real vulnerability to him but there was no mistaking the
rugged jaw, the wide forehead and the furrowed brow of her neighbor. 
    In that instant Solie’s heart pitched forward
and slammed into her ribs.  The shock made her suck in her breath, her palms
suddenly growing moist.  When she hurried to his side and stared down at his
pale face all she could think was, Oh God, make him be all right.  For some reason,
seeing him like this made her feel faint.  Why she was having this reaction,
only heaven knew, but there was no time to think about that now.
    She grabbed his chart and skimmed it
quickly.  Ransom Kent.  Head injury on the job.  Construction site.  Hit on the
head by a wrench?  What the hell?  He could have been killed.  Involuntarily
Solie’s eyes flew to him again and that was when she saw that he was wide awake
and staring right at her.
    For a split second he seemed confused, his
brows knitting as his dark eyes focused on her, then a spark of recognition
appeared and he blinked.  “What are you doing here?”  His voice was hoarse and
gravelly, little more than a whisper.  He didn’t wait for an answer.  His frown
deepening, he turned his head to glance around.  “Where am I?”
    “Stay still.”  Quickly, Solie reached out to
lay a firm hand on his arm.  “You’ve suffered a concussion.  You need to lie
absolutely still right now.”
    “Concussion?”  He frowned and raised a hand
to his forehead then he was looking around again, at his curtained-off
temporary hospital room, the medical equipment and then the machines to which
he’d been hooked up, totally ignoring her instruction to stay still.  “How…”  He
frowned again, as if trying hard to remember.
    “Please, just relax,” she said gently, and
as she was talking she pulled the blood pressure machine close and began strapping
the thick blue band around his upper arm.  “You were rushed in from a
construction site,” she explained quickly.  “Head injury.  You were hit on the
head by a …wrench.”  She could hardly get the last word out. 
    Her patient groaned.  “Oh, yeah.  I remember
now.  Something fell out of the chute and brained me.”  He gave a soft chuckle
then sank back into the pillows.  “A wrench, was it?”
    Why was he even laughing?  “My God, you
could have been killed.”  The words flew out before she could stop them.  She
hadn’t meant to be unprofessional but she couldn’t help it.  Didn’t he realize
how close he’d come?
    His soft laughter died away.  “I guess I
should be grateful for my hard hat.”
    “It saved your life,” she said softly.  She
had no doubt that it had.
    The fact that he was still alive told her
that he hadn’t taken a direct hit.   The wrench must have glanced off the side
of his hard hat.  Maybe he’d seen it coming and shifted just in time, she
didn’t know.  The only thing she knew was that he was here, he was conscious
and he was talking.  Thank the stars for that.
    But this was no time to reflect on what had
almost happened.  It hadn’t, and that was