Securing His Destiny (Power Security #2)

Chapter 2

Chapter

Two

T abitha Newton’s head swam, and her stomach churned like the mixer she used to make muffins. The motion of the ambulance wasn’t a lot, but she swallowed to fight back the urge to throw up. “How much longer?” A paramedic sat beside her, monitoring her vitals.

“Not long. You feeling sick?” he asked.

“Mmhmm.” That was all she could manage.

“It’s okay if you want to throw up. I’ve seen worse,” he joked, but somehow managed to keep his voice soothing.

Not as soothing as Steve’s.

Tabitha wished it was him in the back of the ambulance, holding her hand.

Had she dreamed it all?

Him being there.

Him holding her hand.

Him brushing his fingers across her forehead so gently, as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

What she wouldn’t give for that touch now.

Heat suffused her body, and her mouth grew moist.

No, please no!

As much as she didn’t want it to, Tabitha had no control over her bodily functions. A bag appeared in front of her, and she grasped it and threw up.

God, she hated vomiting.

It was the worst thing in the world.

After her stomach stopped heaving, she sat back.

The paramedic gently wiped her mouth and gave her a bottle of water. “Just a couple of sips. You don’t want to give your stomach another reason to revolt.”

Yeah, she really didn’t want that.

Tabitha took it gratefully and obeyed. It didn’t quite get rid of the horrid taste in her mouth, but it made it a little better. “Sorry,” she muttered. Even though he’d said it was okay, she still didn’t think he would’ve enjoyed her throwing up.

He patted her hand. “All good, and part of the job. We’ll be pulling up to the ED in a couple of minutes. You’ll get looked at, then you’ll be able to get something for the pain and the nausea.”

God, she hoped she didn’t vomit again. That was the last thing she wanted. As it was, her stomach still churned and the ache in her head was becoming almost unbearable. “Okay,” she whispered.

Her eyes drifted shut. Maybe this was all a bad dream, and when Tabitha woke up, she’d be in her bed getting ready to face the day at the café.

A second later, someone tapped her lightly on the hand, and she cracked open an eye.

The paramedic was leaning close. “I know you want to sleep, but it’s better if you stay awake. I’m pretty sure you have a concussion.”

Her stomach dipped and not from her recent vomiting jag. How could she have forgotten the dangers of concussions and sleeping? A good friend from school had died after he’d suffered a knock to the head. No one had thought Paul had a concussion, but he had, and he’d gone to bed that night and not woken up again.

It’d been years since she’d thought about Paul. The rest of the school year had been hard. Paul had been popular with everyone, and he’d been missed by not only the students, but the teachers as well.

“Yes. Okay. I understand.”

The ambulance stopped, and the next few minutes were a flurry of activity with the doors opening and her being pulled out of the vehicle and wheeled inside.

The motion wasn’t helping her nausea, and Tabitha willed her stomach to behave. It was bad enough having thrown up in front of one person. She didn’t want to do it with a whole roomful of people watching.

The paramedics moved her into a bay and relayed her injuries to the nurse. With a pat on her leg, they disappeared behind the curtain.

“Hi, Tabitha. I’m Phillipa. I’ll be your nurse. How’re you doing?”

On a good day, the nurse’s peppy countenance wouldn’t bother her, but today, it grated on Tabitha’s every last nerve.

“Fine, I guess,” she grumbled.

Phillipa chuckled. “All good. Now the paramedics said you’d vomited on the trip. Do you still feel nauseous?”

“A little.”

“Okay.” The nurse pulled a plastic tub out of the small cabinet by the bed. “Keep this by your side. And I know it’s not the most pleasant thing in the world, but don’t be ashamed if you are sick.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Phillipa patted her hand. “I’ll see how long the doctor will be. You’ve got a head injury, so you’ll be seen soon.”

“It’s fine. I know how busy an emergency department can be. I’m happy to wait my turn if there are more injured people here than me.”

Phillipa smiled as a beeper went off, her face going somber. “Oh, I’ve got to attend to this. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The nurse whipped the curtain back and was off before Tabitha could say anything.

She said a silent prayer that the person Phillipa was about to go see was going to be okay.

Behind the curtain, the sounds of shouts and moans and beeps abounded, and the reality of the situation hit her.

She was at the hospital—and someone had attacked her.

Who would do that?

Why?

Tabitha had been in that location for years. She’d taken over the café from Bess, the previous owner. She’d made Café Tabby the success it was through hard work and determination.

She wasn’t making millions, but she was turning a nice profit and could afford to hire people that she trusted. Thank goodness, Lauren, her senior assistant, had already left for the day. If she’d been hurt, Tabitha would’ve never forgiven herself for putting her staff in danger.

“I’m sorry, sir, you can’t go in there.” A woman’s harried voice carried through the curtain, over the noise of the busy department.

“I most definitely am. I’m coming to see my fiancée. I’m not leaving her here alone.”

The voice was familiar, but she brushed it aside. No one was coming to see her.

Steve might’ve said he’d follow her, but she doubted he’d actually do it. He’d just said that to be polite.

Nonetheless, despite her head aching and her stomach still feeling like it was having its own argument, Tabitha smiled. It was romantic that someone was ready to flout the rules to be with their loved one.

A second later, her curtain was ripped aside, and Steve stood there, looking like an avenging angel. “Are you okay?” he demanded.

She blinked. Shock kept the words stuck in her throat.

Was Steve the man who’d demanded he was coming to see his fiancée?

They weren’t engaged. They were barely friends. Hadn’t shared more than a few passing conversations over her handing him his coffee and muffin.

He was simply her customer. Tabitha couldn’t deny she found him sexy and attractive. His broad shoulders and milk-chocolate eyes were her catnip. Many times, after he’d walked out, she wished she’d been confident enough to ask him if he’d like to meet her for a drink.

But…fiancée? Nope that describe their relationship at all, and she definitely wasn’t suffering from amnesia.

“Tabby? You good?”

As if his questions broke through the haze she’d fallen into, she found her voice. “Sore.”

God, is that all I can say? Sore?

A smiled tugged at the corner of Steve’s mouth. “I’m sure you are.”

Her own lips twitched in response.

“Sir, I really can’t let you stay here.” The nurse who’d followed persisted in trying to enforce the rules.

“I’ll leave when the doctor comes in and examines her. Until then, I’m not leaving her alone.” Steve’s eyes never left hers while he spoke to the nurse.

A burst of happiness swept through her.

This was the last thing she expected from a man who’d eyes would light up when he saw her, but his routine conversations suggested he wanted the bare minimum with her.

No, that was wrong.

They’d had some good conversations, but it was as if Steve kept himself in check. He couldn’t be too nice, and when he was, he’d shut down. His brown eyes would become cold, and his smile would disappear.

Maybe he did want to be with her. Did want to spend time with her but for some reason always pulled back.

Tabitha had let him know she didn’t have a significant other. Hadn’t for years. Her café had consumed her world, and at thirty-five, she’d begun to accept love had passed her by.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said when the silence had stretched between the three of them.

“Fine.” The nurse huffed out, as if she realized this was an argument she wasn’t going to win. “I’m going to note down that I tried to make you leave, but you refused.”

Steve turned to the nurse, and his smile widened a little. “I can assure you, I’ll make sure you’re not reprimanded, and I’ll let them know you tried your best to get met to leave.”

“If you feel that way, then why don’t you listen to me and leave?” she sassed back.

Tabitha hadn’t expected a show in the hospital, but she was getting one. The fact she was at the center of it all didn’t sit well with her.

However, she didn’t want Steve to leave. Now that he was standing a few feet away from her, she really didn’t want him to go. Didn’t want to be alone.

“Because while I know the rules, I also don’t want to leave Tabitha alone.”

“I give up,” the nurse muttered and stomped away.

Steve gently closed the curtain and made his way to her side. His movements were sure and precise. He didn’t say anything, just stood by the bed watching her.

Tabitha’s stomach tumbled over, and this time it wasn’t from nausea. It was from nerves that he wasn’t saying anything; he was just looking at her.

The throbbing in her head also kicked up a notch as her blood pumped through her system twice as fast as it had been before he’d caused the scene.

She darted her tongue out to moisten her suddenly dry lips, and she didn’t miss the way his eyes widened a little at the movement.

Did he want to kiss her?

No, there was no way he wanted to do that. That was her imagination getting away with her and wishing for things that would never happen.

“Do you need anything?” he asked finally.

“A new head,” Tabitha quipped back. How could she joke about what happened? Not to mention, she’d finally been able to speak, and this was what she’d said.

“Not sure I can arrange that. Besides, the one you’ve got is pretty irreplaceable.”

Was he saying he thought her attractive?

Or was she once again projecting what she wanted him to mean when he seemed to want the opposite?

Before she could say anything more, the curtain was whipped back, and a tired-looking doctor narrowed his gaze at Steve. “Who are you, and what are you doing here? No one other than patients should be here.”

Tabitha braced herself to see how Steve would react to the doctor’s brusque questions.

“I’m Steve Power, Tabitha’s fiancé. I wasn’t leaving her alone. Not after what she’s been through.”

Tabitha arched an eyebrow.

The easy, repeated lie of him saying he was her fiancé kept rolling off his tongue.

Did he lie all the time?

Was he a conman?

God, she hoped none of her indecision showed on her face or everyone would be able to tell Steve was lying. Getting him in trouble was the last thing she wanted.

“I know it’s against the rules, but I practically begged him to make sure he was by my side before the ambulance brought me here,” she said.

Looked like she could lie as well as Steve could, and Tabitha was very glad the paramedics who’d brought her there were nowhere in the vicinity of her hospital bed.

Behind the doctor, Phillipa watched the exchange with interest. Could she tell that both she and Steve were lying?

What did it matter if they were caught out fibbing? It wasn’t like it was a federal offense.

Or was it?

Tabitha closed her eyes because all this thinking was making her head hurt even more than before.

“I’m going to ask you to leave while I examine the patient,” the doctor said.

“Of course.” Steve leaned down and brushed his lips against her cheek. “I’ll be back as soon as they let me, honey.”

Tabitha flicked her eyes open and met his gaze. “I know. Thank you.”

He smiled. It wasn’t like the slight one from earlier, but a full, wide one that had her breath catching in her throat. Steve really was handsome, and when he smiled—he was lethal.

Once he left the bay, the doctor bustled around, asking her questions, like what day it was. What year. All the usual inquiries a doctor would ask a person with a head injury. He probed around her injury, and Tabitha winced more than once.

“Right,” the doctor announced after he’d finished examining her. “The cut on the back of your head needs stitches. You’ve got a serious concussion, and I’d like to keep you here overnight for monitoring. I’ll give you something for the pain and nausea.”

“Overnight? I can’t be in hospital overnight. I have a café to run,” she said, hoping that the doctor would understand. “Can’t you discharge me after I get stitched?”

The doctor sighed. “I’m sorry about your café, but my concern is your health. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I said go home and take two aspirin. You have a deep cut on the back of your head. I don’t take concussions lightly. You need to be admitted for the night. If by tomorrow you’re showing no signs of any lingering effects, you can go home. If not, you might be here a couple of days.”

Tabitha slumped back against the cushions. Unfortunately, the doctor was right. Even that small outburst from her had her head swimming. “Fine.”

“Good. Now, I’ll be back in a few minutes to stitch you up, and then we’ll get you upstairs.” He patted her hand. “I know this isn’t ideal, but you can’t take these sorts of injuries lightly.”

“I know,” she grumped.

Her health was a priority, and she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. She also had a business to run. A business that’d been violated.

Had it been a targeted attack or just a random person passing by and deciding they wanted to cause damage?

Tabitha recalled what’d been happening the last few weeks. She’d received a letter from a corporation with an offer to buy her business for a ridiculous amount. She hadn’t responded because she’d assumed it was a scam. Then Elton, a company representative, kept turning up, demanding she break the lease and take them up on their offer.

She hadn’t liked his tactics and had told him so. So many times, she’d told him she wasn’t selling and the corporation he represented could go shove their offer where the sun didn’t shine.

Had they changed their strategy and wanted to scare her out instead?

Tabitha mentally scoffed. The hit to her head was causing all sorts of far-fetched ideas to take root. Everything within her was hyper-sensitive, and after a couple of days, everything would return to normal.

However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe she was onto something, and her attack was only the start of things to come.