In His Sights Read online

  Finished, the doctor said his goodbyes and left, along with the nurse. That left Noah and Mason alone in the darkish room.

  “Hey, Noah.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t have to stay here anymore. I’m okay. Why don’t you head back to my place? Get a good night sleep.”

  As if. “Mas, I’m good. Kind of used to the lumps in the chair.”

  “I’m serious. Why don’t you head back? You could head home if you wanted. I’m going to be laid up the rest of my sus—vacation. Won’t be much fun for you.”

  “Mas. Shut up. I’m not going anywhere. Go back to sleep.”

  “‘Kay.”

  Within minutes, the sound of small puffs of air being exhaled evened out.

  * * * *

  Mason opened his eyes, and the pain would have knocked him on his ass if he wasn’t already lying in bed. He closed them again only to find the throbbing pain still there. Dammit. He slowly blinked them open and peered around the room. Everything was white, with the sun creeping through the blinds, offering the room its only light.

  He was in the hospital. He’d been in an accident, and he’d hit his head. He tried to run through everything he knew. Make sure his brain still worked.

  He peered around the empty room, his mind taking time to realize something was missing. Noah. Had he taken Mason’s advice and left? He wouldn’t have gone without telling Mason first. Right? Or…maybe he thought it better to let Mason sleep. Yeah. That seemed more logical.

  Someone walked into the room as Mason sulked. A young man, with brown hair, and medium build. Mason didn’t recognize him, or know why he was in the room.

  “What do you want?” Shit. The question had sounded friendlier in Mason’s head.

  “Hi, Mr. Carlyle. It’s nice to see you awake. Are you hungry? You slept through breakfast, but I could get you some.”

  “Who are you?” Again, the words had sounded less rude in Mason’s mind.

  “I’m sorry. I’m Brian. Your day nurse.”

  Like his scrubs didn’t give you a clue. Dammit. Snap out of this fog. “Oh. Okay. No, I’m not hungry. I do have a mother of a headache though.”

  “Let’s take a quick look.” The nurse glanced at Mason’s chart, then smiled. “You can have some more medication. Doctor left the orders.”

  “Great. But then, I probably should eat. Though I really don’t feel like it.” Great. Now he was whining. What happened during the accident—did I break my manhood? “Could you maybe snatch me some food, before I take the medicine?”

  “Sure. Not a problem. I’ll be right back.”

  Alone in the room again, Mason’s thoughts turned to Noah, and when he’d left. And more importantly, had he gone back to Mason’s, or back to Seattle? Mason hoped the answer was his house. And that he’d come back. Soon. That thought led to Mason’s next—when would he be cleared to leave? Again, soon was the answer he wished for. He had a lot to do. The first getting to his office and go over his notes so he could figure out his case.

  He still had trouble digesting the fact he’d been in an accident. His nerves must have been worse than he’d thought.

  Brian walked back into the room carrying a tray of food. The aromas, although good, had Mason’s gut tightening.

  “Thank you.” Mason gazed at the tray, trying to figure out which part of the unidentifiable mess would do the least harm. Playing it safe, he decided he’d go with the soup and crackers. While he ate, Brian pumped him full of some kickass drugs. Within minutes, all of Mason’s aches and pains subsided.

  With the throbbing dissipated, his brain’s new focus was again all he needed to do. And now, stuck in the hospital, the clock ticked in his head, counting down the time he didn’t have to waste.

  He grabbed the call button and pressed it. He needed Brian to spring him from this place. Now.

  The nurses’ station buzzed in asking what the problem was.

  “Can you send my nurse in as soon as possible? I have to use the restroom.” It was the best he could come up with on the fly. He knew if he bitched to them about leaving, they’d hang up on him. He knew he’d be able to work Brian to do his bidding.

  Brian arrived in less than a minute. A smile washed over Mason’s face.

  “Sorry. I was helping another patient. Do you feel up to getting out of bed? You’re not dizzy, are you?”

  “No. As a matter of fact, I feel great. Ready to leave.”

  Brian laughed nervously. “Huh?”

  “I’m ready to go home. How do I get released? Who do I need to talk to?”

  Brian bit his lip and hesitated. “Um. Your doctor would have to do that. But, um. When he came by earlier, he never said anything about you going home today.”

  “Well, just tell him there’s been a change of plans.”

  “Um. Okay. I guess I can do that.” Brian didn’t sound too sure of himself. “I just have to go and uh…call him.”

  “How long have you been working here?”

  “Huh? Oh, this is my third week.” Brian’s face turned red.

  Mason figured as much. The guy acted too timid to have put up with cranky patients for much longer. “Go ahead and make that call, please. I’d like to head out as soon as possible. Within the hour.”

  Brian let out another nervous laugh as he quickly walked out of the room.

  * * * *

  Noah hung up the phone with the garage that had towed Mason’s truck. They’d send someone to pick him up in about an hour with a loaner car. He was glad he called. He hadn’t given any thought to how he’d get Mason home from the hospital now that the truck was out of commission. Riding on a bike right after leaving the hospital, wasn’t the best of ideas. It had SNAFU written all over it.

  That taken care of, Noah had one more call he had to make. He’d left a message for his boss earlier, telling him Noah had to pass on the upcoming assignment, but he wanted to talk to the man. Explain about the accident, and that Noah was the only one around who could help Mason out. He’d leave out the fact that the thought of leaving Mason like this caused a tightness in Noah’s chest—similar to what he’d experienced when he’d first found Mason after the accident.

  Noah dialed the number and the call went over to voicemail again. There wasn’t much for him to say in another message, so he hung up with plans to wait another hour and try back.

  Noah put his phone in his pocket and headed back inside the hospital. The smell of antiseptic caused his breath to catch. He breathed through his mouth, trying to avoid the odor as much as he could.

  The same attendant as earlier sat guarding the elevators. Noah smiled, and the gentleman let Noah by without any hassle. The elevator was crowded, filled with others visiting patients. Some carried flowers with ‘It’s a Boy’ balloons, while others wore forlorn expressions, telltale signs of why they were there. Noah tried to avoid dwelling on the reason he was along for the same trip as them. Mason had gotten hit in the head, but he’d be okay. His doctor wanted to keep an eye on him overnight because Mason had been unconscious and had lost his memory, but they weren’t expecting anything worse. If all continued to go well, Noah would take him home tomorrow.

  Noah exited the elevator last, and as he did, the sound of yelling accosted him. That alone didn’t concern him, but when he realized the voice was Mason’s, he quickened his pace heading straight for Mason’s room. Noah, focused on getting there, had trouble hearing the exact conversation. He could tell however, Mason was worked up.

  Chapter 28

  Noah walked into the room to find Mason sitting up in bed, his complexion red, Brian hovering over in the corner, and one of the other nurses standing in front of Mason, her hands moving as she told him he couldn’t leave.

  “I don’t care the doctor’s not coming back today to sign me out. I’ll sign myself out.”

  That caught the nurse. Her mouth floundered opened, then closed. Her complexion was almost as red as Mason’s. “The doctor will be calling in later, after surger
y, and we can talk to him then.”

  “You need his approval for me to sign myself out?” The tone of Mason’s voice made it easy to tell he lost his patience.

  “No. But—”

  “Then that’s what I want to do. I’m signing myself out. Please get the paperwork ready.”

  Noah moved further into the room. “Mas, why don’t you just wait for the doctor?”

  Mason turned to Noah. Mason’s eyes squinted, his mouth pinched in a thin line and his hands fisted. That was enough to give Noah his answer—Mason wasn’t waiting.

  The nurse held her ground, glaring at Mason, she appeared about to say something.

  Noah needed to defuse the situation quick. “I’ll be around to take him home and keep an eye on him. If anything changes, I’ll bring him right back.”

  The nurse’s gaze traveled between Mason and Noah, then she let out a harrumph. “Brian, come with me. We’ll prepare your paperwork, but the doctor on call will still need to sign off on it.”

  “As long as I don’t have to wait for him to finish in surgery, that’s fine.” Mason leaned back on the bed, a cocky smile on his face.

  Noah turned to Mason. “What the fuck?”

  “What?” Mason snipped.

  “I left for thirty minutes, forty tops, and all hell breaks loose?”

  “I thought you left.” Mason’s kept his voice low, a total opposite from how he’d spoken to the nurse, and his gaze lost contact with Noah’s, his focus now on his hands.

  What? “I wouldn’t leave. And if something important came up and I had to, I wouldn’t have gone without telling you.”

  Mason’s hurt appearance stunned Noah. He wanted to remove the expression from Mason’s face as fast as he could, and only one idea of how to do that popped in Noah’s head.

  He moved up alongside Mason’s bed, put his hand on Mason’s chin, forcing him to look at Noah, then leaned down and took Mason’s mouth hostage. Noah made the kiss quick, but hoped it relayed all he felt. And in case it didn’t, he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Mason smiled and said, “Well, I am. I need to get the hell out of here.”

  “Relax. They’ll release you as soon as they can. No need to take it out on the poor nurse.”

  “Hey, she started with me.” Mason pouted.

  Noah laughed. “I’m sure she did. Why don’t you take a nap while you wait? The time will pass faster.”

  “Nah. I’m not tired. I have too much on my mind.”

  “Want to share?”

  “No.” The one word came out harsh. Mason’s cheeks reddened.

  Trying to change the subject, Noah asked, “Want to talk about the accident?” He was curious if Mason could remember anything new.

  “I guess.” Mason took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. “I remember we planned to go shooting. You were going to meet me at the range when I finished at work. I headed into the office but never made it.”

  Fuck. “Do you remember anything from the actual accident? Something you think may have happened, but you’re not sure?”

  “Nothing.”

  They both remained quiet for a second, Mason deep in thought. “How bad is my truck?”

  “The front’s pretty messed up. Side quarter panel, too. Probably going to need a new paint job, but it’s definitely fixable.”

  “Thank God.”

  “That reminds me. Someone from the garage is bringing over a loaner car, so we can take you home.”

  Mason bolted up in the bed. “Is something wrong with the bike? What happened to my bike?”

  “Nothing. Calm down. Just didn’t think it’d be the best idea for you to ride it right after a head wound.”

  Mason leaned back down against the bed. “Shit. You just scared the hell out of me.”

  “Sorry. I wanted to let you know, once the kid gets here with the car, he’ll follow me back to your house so I can drive the bike, then I’ll have to drive the kid back to the garage.”

  “Maybe I’ll be able to head out with you.”

  “Yeah, I doubt that, but okay.” Noah shook his head. Mason was going to be a handful. The nurse lady really should make Mason’s release a high priority if she knew what was best for the hospital.

  Mason yawned as he sat back against the bed. Noah decided to sit down and be quiet. Maybe Mason would fall asleep. That’d be best for everyone.

  Less than twenty seconds passed. “Noah?”

  “Yeah?” Noah closed his eyes.

  “What ya doing?”

  “Nothing. Trying to relax. Didn’t sleep much last night.”

  “Sorry”

  “‘S all right.” Noah yawned.

  “I’ll let you rest.”

  “Thanks.”

  After a minute passed, Mason’s breathing evened out. Relief relaxed Noah’s muscles for all of about thirty seconds. The nurse came barreling into the room, not taking any steps to be quiet.

  “Mr. Carlyle. I got as far as I could with your paperwork. You’re just going to have to wait now until—”

  “Shhh. He’s asleep,” Noah whispered.

  “Harrumph.” The nurse glared at Mason. She moved closer to the bed, and raised her hand as if ready to wake him.

  What the fuck? Noah jumped out of the chair and caught her hand when it was about to touch Mason. “Don’t do that.”

  “Excuse me?” The nurse pulled her hand out of Noah’s grip.

  “Sorry, but I don’t want you waking him up.”

  “But I need to talk to him.” Her face was tight, her lips in a scowl.

  “To what? Tell him he can’t leave yet. Think letting him sleep is the best way to handle that.”

  Her eyebrows drew together, her eyes mere slits, and her lips turned down. She was not happy with Noah—that was fine with him, he wasn’t feeling much love for her either.

  She turned and left the room, seeming to make as much noise as she possibly could. Noah kept his cool and moved back to his chair.

  He rested his head back and closed his eyes. About thirty minutes later, the sound of footsteps caused his body to tense. What the fuck did she want now? Noah opened his eyes ready for a fight. He slammed his mouth shut when he saw Brian.

  “Sorry. I didn’t realize everyone was asleep.”

  Noah covered his yawn. “I was resting my eyes. What’s up?”

  “I just want to make sure everything is all right and to apologize.”

  “For what?” Noah must have missed something.

  “Nurse Jergens. My supervisor. She saw me putting some paperwork together for Mason, and she kind of went ballistic. I think it had more to do with me than your friend.”

  “Whatever the reason, it’s not on you. You have no reason to be sorry. The attitude was all hers.”

  “Okay. Well. Okay. I’ll be back in a little while in case you need anything.”

  “Thanks. And really, Brian, it wasn’t your fault.” Noah hated how crushed the kid appeared. It wasn’t his fault Nurse Jergens had come riding in on her broom.

  Maybe Noah could find a suggestion box. Leave a note telling Nurse Jergens to leave her attitude at home in the future.

  Noah peered over at the sleeping Mason, and his chest warmed. He continued to stare until Mason fussed, causing Noah to realize what he was doing. Not wanting to get caught, Noah moved around to re-situate himself in the chair. He let his head fall back and closed his eyes again. Maybe this time he’d get more than a few minutes’ nap.

  As his body settled his phone rang. The kid from the garage arrived. Noah felt apprehensive about leaving Mason alone, but he really didn’t have a choice. He’d come back as soon as he could.

  Less than an hour had passed when Noah walked back into Mason’s room. He barely stepped through the door when Brian came up to him and said, “I got Mason’s paper work.”

  Noah startled. “That was quick.”

  “Yeah. One of the really nice doctors was here visiting with a patient, and I explained about Mason. He got in
touch with Mason’s doctor and worked everything out.”

  “How did Nurse Jergens take you doing that?”

  “She was upset.” Brian’s smile lit up the room.

  “Good job, Brian. Mason is going to be happy with the news.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Hey,” Mason asked, “what are you guys over there whispering about?”

  Brian apologized at the same time Noah said, “Good news. You’re cleared to go.”

  Mason bounced up, looking ready to climb out of the bed.

  “Hey, slow down there. Brian needs to take your IV out before you go. Unless you’re planning to do it yourself. And good thing the garage sent the kid over when they did, otherwise we would have had to wait around for your ride. I didn’t know you’d get out so quick.”

  “What time is it?” Mason turned to check the clock. “Thought I’d be gone a lot sooner than this.”

  “Stop complaining. Brian cut a few deals for you. You should be thankful.”

  Brian complexion turned red.

  Mason’s gaze met Brian’s. “I am. Thank you, Brian.”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  “Oh, and Mas. You want to leave—you’re riding in a wheelchair to the car when it’s time.”

  Mason opened his mouth to say something, but Noah’s stare shut him right down.

  “Fine.”

  The car turned out to be more of a boat. Noah hadn’t thought they made them this big anymore. Although maybe they didn’t. This car wasn’t the newest, but it was better than what they had to get Mason home in: nothing.

  Mason stared out the window, quieter than Noah had expected. He could tell Mason was deep in thought, and Noah wanted to know what about.

  Did it have to do with his lost memories? Were some coming back? Confusing him? Was he focused on the pain he was in? About to ask, Mason cut Noah off.

  “I’m going to drop you off, then I have to run out for a bit.”

  Noah shook his head and glanced at Mason. “What?”

  “I have to head to the office for a bit.” Mason kept his focus on the road in front of them.