Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 11

Over where he was leaning against the wall, Ryker tensed up, his eyes widening. "What?"

Jo drummed the fingers of her right hand across the slick white paper on the table. "He can leave."

Ryker crossed his arms over his chest and squared his shoulders, standing solidly and scowling ferociously. "I can't."

Dr. Monroe rolled his eyes and glanced toward the door meaningfully. "Patient confidentiality. She has the right to kick you out if she wants to." He crossed his arms the exact same way that Ryker did. "And if you try to stay, I guess we're just stuck here. Doing nothing."

"Stalemate," Jo said, shrugging her shoulders. "I could always just go home--"

She made as if she was going to get off the table, and Ryker took a heavy step forward. "Don't. Move." He put a hand down on the table next to her. "I think I should stay."

"Well, I don't," Jo said. She leaned her weight back on her palm, realizing that he was very close, bending toward her. "Ryker, honestly. I'm not going anywhere, but here's the deal. I hardly know you, and it's sort of weird for you to be back here with me when we're almost strangers."

It was so subtle, but she did notice the way he flinched. "We're not strangers."

"But we sort of are," Jo said. He jerked up and stormed out of the door, giving his brother a look that could've held lightning. Dr. Monroe looked nonplussed as he closed the door behind him. Jo was surprised that a tiny part of her felt bad for kicking Ryker out, but that was silly. There was really no reason for him to be in there, and it wasn't like she wanted him there.

The grin Dr. Monroe gave Jo was mischievous and kind. "Don't mind him," he said, stepping over to her, "He's a little used to getting his way."

"I noticed," Jo said, relaxing. It was sort of nice to not have Ryker hovering over her like her ankle might need to be amputated. "I don't know why he's so insistent. Is he like this with everyone?"

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Not really." He gave her a long studying look that suddenly reminded her of his brother, though Dr. Monroe's eyes weren't nearly as intense. More curious, less piercing. "It's probably because you're new to town."

"Yeah," she said, shifting. "And you're his brother...?"

"Oh, he told you?" His eyebrows arched, and he laughed. "It's not like it's a secret or anything. You might as well call me Brett, though, if you already know about that."

"Whichever you prefer," she said.

"Brett's fine," he said, waving a hand through the air.

Now that Ryker wasn't taking up part of her attention, she was starting to notice the weight of her shoe on her foot and how her ankle was throbbing. Shifting uncomfortably, she looked up at him. "I really don't think it's a big deal. I just tripped over a root."

Brett nodded but didn't look entirely convinced. "Here, let me help you get your shoe and sock off and then we can see what we've got going on here."

She complied with his directions, allowing him to carefully untie and then pull off her shoe before she pulled off her sock--it may seem silly, but she didn't really want anyone touching a stinky sock she'd been walking around all day in.

Brett then touched various places on her ankle, sometimes shifting her foot slightly and repeatedly asking what she felt, how bad it was, things like that. He looked at a few places closely, nodding to himself, then finally sat back.

"Well, looks like you were right Jo, it doesn't look too bad, nothing a little RICE shouldn't be able to take care of."

"Rice?" Jo echoed. She'd heard of it, but she wasn't sure she could remember what every letter of the acronym stood for.

"Rest, ice, compression, elevation," Brett recited. "Means you should keep weight off the foot and elevated. Ice too, and ibuprofen for the inflammation." He jotted some notes while Jo put her sock back on. "Do you need a pair of crutches?"

"Probably," Jo said. "I don't think I can force Ryker to continue to carry me for weeks," she said, grinning a bit. Jo certainly hadn't thought to pack any crutches when moving to the mountains. And her last injury had been so long ago, she'd probably outgrown whatever kid-sized crutches they'd given her.

'We can do that," Brett said, writing something else down. He smirked a little, "though Ryker might be disappointed. Jo chuckled, deciding he must mean that as a joke.

"So I don't need a brace or anything?"

"Not unless you find yourself needing one. And if things don't feel better in a few weeks, definitely stop back in."

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him. He helped her put her shoe on, then left her to tie them loosely while he went to go get crutches.

"Ready?" Brett asked, stepping back in. She nodded and stood up, careful to only put weight on her good foot, then accepted, the crutches from him. He held the door open for her, then followed her partway to the lobby. "I'm going to grab that paperwork I need you to fill out if you just want to wait in the lobby," he said.

"Got it," Jo said, moving toward the door. Somehow Ryker must have heard her, because he already had the door open for her by the time she got there. He looked at her, obviously waiting for the news, but she decided to pointedly ignore him for at least a few more moments. She supposed it made sense that he cared a little bit, since he was the one who found her and brought her here, but still, boundaries were important!

Okay, fine, she would tell him, but not after messing with him at least a little bit first.

"It's gonna have to come off," she said with a dramatic sigh, letting her lip tremble a bit. "They said I have to go to a bigger hospital to get it amputated."

Ryker stared at her for a moment, and Jo was almost disappointed that he hadn't risen to the bait at all. But no, apparently Ryker was just stuck on a processing delay.

"What!?" Ryker looked practically ferocious, already swinging back toward the lobby door. "He gives you that kind of news and he doesn't even bother to..."

Jo was forced to grab at his sleeve to stop him leaving. Oops. She'd forgotten who she was messing with. She certainly still didn't know him well, as she'd just reminded him earlier, but one thing she had figured out was that Ryker overreacted to things. WAY overreacted.

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" she said, trying to calm him down before he charged off to murder his brother. She pulled at his arm with her other hand, trying to keep a hold of the crutches. "Ryker, it's fine!" she added. Amazingly, he stilled, taking a few deep calming breaths, not looking at her yet.

So much for her attempt at a little humor. "Didn't know I was waking the beast," she muttered under her breath.

"That wasn't funny," Ryker said, making a face. She could've sworn there was a bit of a blush on his cheeks, but he lifted his chin and turned away from her.

"Yeah, I don't have a death wish, thanks," Brett's voice drifted from the little reception area. Behind the glass, Etta was covertly watching them from around the edge of the computer monitor. She looked away when she spotted Jo looking at her.

"You shouldn't take everything so seriously."

Ryker glanced down at her and then looked meaningfully at her fingers, which were still on his sleeve and his arm. She quickly let go of him, and he took a step away from her. "You shouldn't joke about injuries."

"Again, too serious..." But she nodded. "I didn't know you'd freak out."

He rubbed the back of his neck and then looked over at the reception area. "Is she really okay?"

"I'm fine! I told you I was," Jo said, "It's a sprain, that's it."

"You should listen to her," Brett said, "It really was just a minor sprain. And Jo just needs to fill this out..." Brett opened the glass window and held out a clipboard. "You can hand it back to Etta once you're finished and then head out." He smiled at Jo. "It was nice meeting you, Jo."

You too," Jo said, smiling back automatically. There was something about Brett that was sort of calming. She limped over using the crutches to one of the waiting area chairs, aware of Ryker following her. Sitting down, she looked up at him, sighed, and then patted the chair beside her.