Waiting On You (Blue Heron #3)(75)
“So that was kind of fun. You went down like a side of beef,” Connor said, because despite the fact that he was an adult, what was better than having your twin sister get hurt?
“Laugh it up,” Colleen said. “It will never top the time you sliced open your scrotum when we were six.” Connor, Lucas and Ned winced in unison. Good.
“Be right back,” Connor said. “I hear the ice cream truck.”
“Bring me a Mr. Nutty.”
And now Paulie was here, her face scrunched in concern. “Coll, I am so sorry! Really! You okay?”
“Oh, sure. Nice hit, by the way. Next time, I’ll try to catch it with my glove instead of my head.” She pried free of Lucas’s grip once more and patted Paulie’s muscular forearm. “No worries.”
“Hey, bud, can you hold this?” Ned asked, handing the ice pack to Lucas. “I see a girl I like. Sarah! Hey! How you doing?”
Lucas smiled down at her and put the ice pack back on her forehead, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “You look cute,” he said.
Her special places crooned. “You’re a pervert.”
“I could be.”
“You guys make the best couple,” Paulie sighed with gusto. “Totally romantic.”
“No, it’s not, Paulie.” Colleen closed her eyes.
It was. Lucas was the first person she saw when she woke up; granted, she’d been out all of five seconds, but his worried face was looking down at her, and she could’ve sworn he called her mía.
That nickname was dangerous.
So what if he was divorced now? He’d be leaving soon, and she’d be smart to remember it. No matter how good he was making her feel.
“Where’s my child?” Mom pushed through the crowd, the smell of Jean Naté foreshadowing doom and despair. “Baby! You poor thing!”
Colleen heaved a Catholic sigh. “Hi, Mom.”
“My precious girl! Oh, Lucas, hello, dear. How nice that you’re tending to Colleen. The new windows look fantastic, by the way.” And back to Colleen. “Are we going soon? I’ll ride with her,” Mom announced with great overtones of martyrdom. “I’m her mother, after all.”
Her twin was back, eating a Mr. Nutty ice cream cone. “Where’s mine?” she asked.
“Ran out of cash,” he said, taking a bite. “Hey, Ma.”
“I’m going to the hospital with your sister. Are you coming?”
“Connor, do not let her come with me,” Colleen hissed. “I will kill you in your sleep if you let her come with me.”
“Ma,” Connor said patiently. “She doesn’t want you to go. I’ll go.”
“Of course I’m going! You’re my daughter. You’re my first priority.” Mom was scanning for Dad, eager to win the Concerned Parent award, not that there was any competition. “Oh, and Stan had to leave. Ulcerative colitis, very messy.” Mom groped for her free hand, hitting her in the sore spot on her head.
“Ow!”
Lucas’s hand tightened on hers. Was he about to laugh?
She yanked both hands free from both irritating people. “Gerard,” she said to the big guy, “don’t I get to pick who comes with me?”
“It’s usually next of kin, usually. How much is nine times seven?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never known.”
“Her IQ is somewhere around room temperature,” Connor said.
“Just for that, you can’t ride in the ambulance, either,” she said. “Gerard! Can we please get going?”
As always, it seemed as if the ambulance corps had to work on their novels or something. Emergency services has been ruined by iPads...she could’ve sworn that Jessica was looking at dresses on ModCloth.com. Jeremy, who’d been great the first few minutes after she’d come to, was now manipulating Carol Robinson’s right arm, earning plenty of giggles and squeals of delight.
“What’s twelve times nine?” Gerard asked.
“Can we stop with the math?” she snapped. “I want to get this over with and go home. Oh, hey, Levi. Where’s Faith?”
“I’m right here,” Faith said. “You okay? Want me to come with you?”
“That’d be great. Thanks, pal.”
“Oh, hang on, I have to puke. Be right back.”
“Next,” Colleen said as Faith bolted, Levi on her heels.
Gerard patted her leg. “Ready to take a ride?”
“I’ve been ready for thirty minutes, Gerard.”
“Are you complaining? Because I can tell Ned to hit a lot of potholes on the way to the E.R.” He checked something on his iPad. “Hey, Yanks are up by five. So who’s going with you?”
“I am,” Mom and Connor said in unison.
Lucas looked at her. “I am,” he said.
“He is,” Colleen agreed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE CHAIRS IN the waiting room were ridiculously uncomfortable. That, and Connor O’Rourke glaring at him made for a long evening.
When they got to the emergency room, Colleen sent Lucas to wait, and the nurse glared at him until he obeyed. He didn’t like being away from her, and he didn’t like how quiet she’d gotten in the ambulance. She seemed fine, going through her shtick with Gerard, but there was something else going on, too.