A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(46)

“Lump, I want to go with William! I will fight you if I have to. Surely that will make me worse, right? Fix me and get me to William, damn it!”

She sighed and just about screamed for Adam again when he arrived.

“Jessica you moron! What the fu--- Oh no, Jess. What have you done?” Adam’s voice sounded like I slit my wrists.

“She’s looking fine, Adam. This is nothing,” Lump said with steel in her voice.

So I was pretty messed up. I could feel a lot worse, though. This was way better than the mental pain I was still working through. Physical crap was nothing to that.

“Okay,” Lump began. “there is nothing I can do for the ribs. At least one is broken. Nothing is poking through, though, so that is fixable. She would be in worse pain if there was anything internal going on, so I think she is lucky where that horn got her.” Lump sighed, which was a good sign. “That shoulder has to be put to rights, though. Adam, I need you to get behind her and ever so gently lift her up. I need to pop it back into place. Jessic--”

“Betz, wait for the professionals to do this!” Adam said crossly.

“Adam, don’t argue with me. Do as I say or I will get someone else. William needs looking at more.”

“He does?” I asked in a faraway voice. “Is he okay?”

I was ignored. Instead of a dog head I had a big Adam head blocking the stars.

Before I could ask again, Lump said, “Jessica, if anything, and I mean anything, hurts besides your shoulder when he raises you up, you say it, okay? Anything at all. Adam, go slowly. If she cries out, stop right where you are. Don’t lower, just stop.”

I couldn’t see what Adam was doing, but I felt his cold, course hands on my shoulders.

“Nice choice of bra, Jess,” Lump was saying to me, taking my mind off Adam getting into position.

“Why? Which one is it?”

“The black lacy one.”

“Oh yeah. William’s favorite. At least I look hot for the occasion. I think that bull liked me at first. Then it must have changed its mind.”

I was lifted slowly. “Uh, my chests hurts,” I said in a wheeze. I stopped moving immediately.

“Yeah, that’s the ribs.” Lump gently touched me. “There?” she asked.

I jumped, a stab of pain exploding my chest. I nodded. She looked at Adam to continue.

Everything else was just overall pain, nothing else hurt too badly besides the shoulder and the ribs.

Or, nothing else hurt worse, anyway.

Lump got to the other side of me, bodily pushing someone out of the way. “Okie dokie, Jess. I’ve done this so many times it isn’t funny. Usually with bigger, more muscled men. Nothing to it.”

Adam was holding me firmly as I felt Lump’s hands near my shoulder. It felt like she stabbed me with ten hot knives. I whimpered, followed by Adam saying, “Betz--”

“Jessica, did you hear that Adam proposed to me?” Lump said in a conversational tone.

“What? When--”

CRACK!

I screamed as white hot pain seared through my shoulder and echoed through my body. When I stopped screaming, the pain, surprisingly, wasn’t all that bad. Well, not compared to before, at least.

I felt Adam’s arms around me.

“Adam, c’mon, that’s not going to help. You aren’t a wizard,” Lump said impatiently.

Adam loosened up and together they helped me up. I was freezing, and half naked. Before I could ask, though, a shirt was draped over me.

I only put one arm through, since the other still hurt, and thanked Adam because it was obviously his—he still hadn’t picked a deodorant that worked worth a damn.

“Ma’am, we need to have a look at you,” one of the paramedics said.

“I am good enough to get to the hospital. I need to find William. I am going with him.”

“Jess, no!” Lump said. “That isn’t going to help. You can’t do anything. Let’s get you looked at.”

Without slowing down I shoved off a parametric with my good hand, and yelled at Lump at the same time, “Lump, you might be under the impression that I jump into bull rinks with raging bulls every day, but I usually only reserve that behavior when the man I love is in trouble. I am going to see him now. If everyone would GET OUT OF MY WAY it would make life a LOT EASIER!”

As I neared the throng of people Ty looked up and rushed to me. “No, Jess, probably not--”

One look silenced him.

Without having to say anything or move anyone, I was let into the throng and allowed to go to the back of the ambulance where they were loading William.

“Whoa ma’am, family only.”

“I am family, you thick ape. I am the fiancé. Please get out of my way.” There was a savage no-nonsense in my voice that surprised the man. He stepped back.

William’s eyes were closed with a breathing tube in his nose. He was strapped down with a neck brace on.

“What’s wrong with him?”

The paramedic with me was trying to get me to remove my shirt. When I wouldn’t comply he began cutting it off.

“He looks to have a few broken ribs, one that pierced a lung. It collapsed, we think, but we will need an x-ray to be sure. He seems to have use of the other one, which is a good sign. He has some broken bones, but hopefully there is no internal bleeding. His body is pretty battered up. Dangerous sport. I’m surprised you ride, also.”