“She needs a doctor,” he barks as a curtain slides open, and I’m gently placed on a hard mattress. Wrapping his hands around my foot, my eyes squeeze closed.

“The doctor will be right in,” the woman murmurs before leaving.

“Baby, look at me.” Opening one eye then the other, I focus on Dillon’s worried face above mine.

“Stop snarling at everyone,” I whisper, and his eyes slide closed while his forehead drops to my chest. Running my fingers through his hair, I pull back, forcing him to look at me. “I’m okay. It’s just a cut. I’ll be fine.”

“I know,” he agrees softly.

“Ashlyn.”

“Could this morning get any better,” I groan, knowing the person attached to that voice.

“What’s going on?” David, my ex, asks.

I look at him and then Dillon as he mutters, “Fuck me,” while resting his hand against my chest, keeping me down when I attempt to sit up.

“Are you the doctor on duty?” Dillon asks, and David looks between Dillon and me.

His brows snap together as his chest puffs out, making me roll my eyes. “I’m a doctor at this hospital,” he informs us, like we don’t know, when of course we do. Everyone in town knows he’s a doctor, because he brings it up any time he’s got a chance. But that’s not why I broke up with him. Nope, we broke up because he thought any woman lucky enough to snag him would praise Jesus for her good fortune. Not so much. He was rude, condescending, and a big, fat cheat.

“Get someone else.”

“Pardon?” He narrows his eyes.

“You heard me.”

“Dillon.” I try to sit up again, and his eyes snap to me.

“He’s not touching you.”

“Dillon,” I warn as Jax comes in, narrowing his eyes on David.

“Why the hell are you in here?”

“I’m a doctor,” he grumbles, tugging on the collar of his dress shirt.

“Find someone else to take over for you,” Jax says, and Dillon grunts in agreement.

“Christ.” I cover my face, letting out a breath of annoyance. “I’m going to fricking bleed to death in a damn hospital.”

“Just move and let me have a look at her,” David snaps as Dillon’s hand on my foot tightens.

“David, what are you doing in here?” A woman wearing a doctor’s coat frowns at him as she comes through the open curtain, followed by the nurse who left earlier. “You’re supposed to be off duty.”

“Yeah, David. You’re supposed to be off duty.” Dillon glares as I rub my hands down my face in frustration.

“We’ve got this covered. You can go,” the new doctor dismisses him, taking a step toward me. “I hear you’re going to need some stitches.” She smiles softly, putting on a pair of gloves as the nurse rolls over a cart with supplies and begins to set up things on the top.

“I don’t know, but there’s a lot of blood,” I tell her, and she nods then moves her eyes from the hands wrapped around my foot, up the arms attached to those hands, and blinks when her eyes meet Dillon’s.

“Lord, save me,” I mutter as her eyes widen, and she blushes.

“My wife needs a doctor. Are you a doctor?” Dillon grumbles, and she clears her throat.

“Ye… yes, of course,” she stutters out as her blush grows deeper, and her eyes drop to my foot. I can’t even blame her for her reaction, since I had the same one when I saw Dillon for the first time. “Foot injuries tend to bleed a lot. It may not be as bad as you think,” she continues after a moment, unwrapping the towels that are swaddling my foot, but she’s wrong, it is that bad. And it’s not until an hour and four stitches later that I’m finally sent home with an extremely annoying overbearing man, who also happens to be my husband.

Chapter 3

Ashlyn

“Mom, I’m fine. It’s just a few stitches. Dr. Woods assured me I’ll be up and about in just a few days.” I put my cell on speaker and set it next to me on the bed as Dillon grabs the pillow on the other side of me. Leo, who isn’t happy about having his sleep interrupted, stands and hisses, batting his paw in his direction. Placing the pillow carefully under my foot, he reaches over my legs and runs his hand down Leo’s hairless back.

We got home from the hospital a little less than an hour ago, and when we got back to my house, Dillon deposited me on the couch while he and Jax cleaned up. While they were cleaning, I could hear them talking but couldn’t make out much of anything, which was annoying, since I knew they were talking about me. Jax was still mad when he left, but there was nothing I could do about that.

“Maybe we should come home,” Mom says, cutting into my thoughts.

“No!” I shout then lower my tone. “That’s not necessary.” I lean back against the headboard, taking the remote from Dillon when he hands it to me. I don’t know if my karma is taking a turn for the better, but my parents’ trip to Florida couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Fine, I’ll send a message to Jax and let him know I expect him to look out for you while we’re away,” she says, and I pray that if she talks to him he keeps his mouth closed. I told him before he left, after helping Dillon clean up the mess in my room, that if he said one word to Mom or Dad about Dillon and I, I would never talk to him again and I meant that.

“I’m here with Ashlyn,” Dillon says, and I feel my eyes widen before narrowing on him as he shrugs, picking up his bag from the floor and setting it on the end of the bed.