Part 20 (1/2)

Marshall had to look away. It made him sick to watch the doctor do that. It angered him to see them treat her as if she wasn't even human. He wanted to tell them that she was their lover, but he couldn't say anything. He had no idea how Drew would stand on the subject of their relations.h.i.+p to the outside world.

”Yep, she's first. Prep her for surgery. I'll take the shoulder second.” The doctor turned to Marshall.

”Are you next of kin? Is she allergic to anything?”

”She's my girlfriend. She doesn't have any next of kin, and I don't know if she's allergic to anything or not.” He might have just stuck his foot in a fresh pile of manure by calling her his girlfriend, but he wasn't about to let them kick him out.

”Well, she's got a bleeder we've got to sew up in surgery. She's lost a good bit of blood by the looks of her vital signs and the blood on the bandages. I'm going to have some lab tests done and depending on what those tell me, we might have to give her blood.”

”Is she going to be okay?”

”Barring any unforeseen circ.u.mstances, she should be fine after surgery.” The doctor turned to go, but Marshall stopped him.

”What about Jeb? The shoulder wound? He's my best friend and her other boyfriend.”

The doctor stared at him for a few seconds then shook his head once. ”The other patient is doing fine and will have to have surgery to remove the bullet. I don't see anything major with his recovery, either. However, if he doesn't calm down and watch his mouth, the nurses are going to take exception and treat him like the a.s.s he's being.”

Marshall smiled at that. He could well believe Jeb was being a total a.s.s.

”I'll talk to him as soon as I see to Drew.”

The doctor huffed out a breath and walked out of the room. The nurses shooed Marshall out so they could prepare her for surgery. Outside the room, Kenny and Robert stood waiting with anxious expressions on their faces.

”What did the doctor say?” Kenny demanded.

Marshall repeated everything to them. Kenny ran a hand through his hair. Both men were holding their hats. Marshall realized he didn't even know where his hat was. Somewhere out on the ranch, he supposed.

”Look, watch her door, and don't let anyone in there that isn't a nurse. I'm going to go calm Jeb down before one of his nurses does something drastic to him.” Marshall hurried off to the other treatment room.

He found Jeb fussing with one of the nurses about letting him go check on his girlfriend. The nurse had her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

”Jeb, I'll tell you about Drew, man. You need to calm down or they might knock you out. I can't watch both of you.”

”You're supposed to be with Drew right now. I told you not to take your f-”

Marshall interrupted him. ”Calm down! They kicked me out to get her ready for surgery. Kenny and Robert are watching the door and won't let anyone but a nurse in. I figured you needed to know what is going on.”

”Is she all right?” Jeb's voice shook.

”She has a nicked vein they think. They're taking her to surgery before they do you. The doctor says she'll be fine.”

Jeb seemed to relax all over at that. His friend had lines on his face that hadn't been there before. Neither one of them was handling Drew's injuries very well.

”Have you heard back from the sheriff yet?” Jeb asked.

”No, but it's only been an hour. We should know something by the time you get out of surgery.”

”Sir? I need to ask you to leave now. We need to get him ready for surgery.”

”Jeb, cooperate with them so they don't tie you down or gag you.”

”Just watch after Drew, and I'll be fine.”

Chapter Nineteen.

Drew fought her way through the dense fog, trying to wake up. She had never been this sleepy before. She'd always been able to wake up in an instant if she needed to. She needed to now. She wanted to know how Jeb was. She needed to know that he was all right.

”She's trying to wake up,” someone above her said.

”You said she woke up in recovery. Why isn't she still awake?”

”They gave her something for nausea, and it knocked her back out. Don't worry. She'll wake up soon.”

Drew recognized Marshall's voice. Why wasn't he looking after Jeb? Fear lanced through her chest. What if something was seriously wrong with him? She finally managed to open her eyes to mere slits.

”Marshall?”

”Hey, baby. You're awake. Are you hurting? Do you need something for pain?”

”Jeb?”

”He's doing fine. He's still in recovery, though. They operated on you first.” Marshall squeezed her hand.

”Operated? Why did I need surgery?”

”That bullet wound you had in your thigh hit a vein, and you were bleeding pretty badly. They didn't have to give you blood, but it was iffy there for a while.”

”And Jeb's okay?”

”He's fine. If the nurses leave him alone. He was acting a complete moron earlier.” Marshall grinned down at her and took her hand. ”I'm so glad you're okay. I was scared to death we were going to lose you.”

”Naw, I'm tougher than that.” She closed her eyes and sighed. ”I think I'll take a nap now. Why don't you climb up here with me? I like sleeping between you and Jeb.”

There was a loud bang and then a ”sorry” that jarred her eyes back open in time to see a nurse hurry out of the room.

”Darling, I think you just scandalized that poor nurse,” Marshall said with a chuckle.

”What did I do?”

”Nothing, baby. You were just being you. Take a nap. I'll be right here when you wake up.”

”Okay. When Jeb wakes up, tell him I love him. I love you, too, Marshall.”

”I love you, Drew.”

She drifted back and forth between sleep and consciousness for several hours before she woke up to find Kenny and Robert talking to Marshall beside her bed.