A Stepbrother for Christmas(7)

He glanced to me, a smile plastered in his face. There was a matching one on mine as we stopped pushing and simply let the hill take us. We glided over the snow, the whisper and whir of our skis the only competing sound with the wind.

We reached the part where the hill turned slightly to the right and joined the main run. He looked over at me, now neck and neck. He didn’t see the skier in red who’d eased into the run only a few feet ahead of him. I screamed, but it was too late. The impact sent the red skier onto his back and Niles went flying.





CHAPTER SIX



Niles





I didn’t pass out. I wished I had, but I didn’t. I slid down the snow on my back before friction finally made an appearance and slowed me down. My sunglasses were long gone and the sun was blinding me. Pain radiated from my left leg, along with less intense aches from other parts of my body.

“Niles!” Anna’s voice, or rather a scream.

I was still sliding, lazily now. Then I bumped into something. It blocked the sun. Big and blue, it was talking to me.

“—quite a spill. You okay? Ski patrol will be here in a minute.”

Anna appeared above me and she dropped to her knees at my side. She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and showed me her beautiful eyes. I smiled, but I think it came across as more of a wince.

“Oh my god, Niles. Are you okay? What hurts?”

“How’s the other guy?” I tried to sit up, but couldn’t quite make it.

Anna pressed a hand to my shoulder. “Lie still. I’m going to check you. What hurts the worst?” She was so close, the concern in her eyes lighting me up from the inside.

“The other guy?”

“He’s fine, Niles.” She blew a strand of hair out of her face in one sexy, exasperated move. “Just had the wind knocked out of him. Now, where?”

She peered into my eyes, one after the other.

“Left calf.”

She disappeared from my view and I cursed. Pressure at my knee and then lower, her small hands working deftly. The pain grew the further she went until I groaned.

“It’s broken.” She came back in my field of vision. I smiled.

“That’s not a good thing, Niles.” She frowned.

“I know. I just—”

“I see ski patrol further up the run. They’ll be here in a minute.” The big blue bear of a man was still standing off to the side, watching and directing traffic.

“Where else hurts?” She ran her hands along my chest and down to my abs. “Any of this bother you?”

“No, but keep going with the massage.”

She rolled her eyes but still gave me a small smile before feeling down my arms. I was achy, but nothing held a candle to the pain in my leg. The cold of the snow seeped into my back and I wanted to sit up, but I didn’t try it lest I make my nurse angry.

“There’s another spot, too.”

She paused and looked at me expectantly.

“Just south of my navel and north of my upper thighs.”

The big blue bear laughed. Anna smacked me on the arm and then held her hand to her mouth with horror.

She looked like a snow angel. “It’s okay, Anna. I had that hit coming.”

“He did,” agreed blue bear.

The purr of an engine approached, and it wasn’t long before I was loaded up and carted down the mountain. Anna rode along with me, worry painting her face and coloring her dark eyes.

At the ER and then before surgery, she held my hand and kept a watch. It was as if she’d already gone into doctor mode.

She was even waiting when I woke up from surgery, along with Dad and a worried Ellen.

Ellen hugged my neck with the strength of ten blue bears. When my eyes started to bulge, Dad pulled her away and I lay back against the stack of pillows in the hospital bed. Anna held my other hand.

“Well at least you’re getting along with your sister.” Dad smiled.

Anna cringed and let my hand go. I wanted to grab it back.

“I meant it as a compliment, Annalise.”

“Who cares?” Ellen asked. “I’m just glad we’re all in one piece. Well, we all are now thanks to the rod in your leg.”

Anna backed away from the bed and sat. She looked drained.

I glanced at the windows behind her. It was dark outside.

“What time is it?” The haze from the meds was still clouding things for me.

“A little after ten.” Dad patted me on the arm. “Glad you’re all right, son.”

“Thanks.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Anna. I wanted her to rest, to stop worrying, to give me her smile again.

“That late already?” Ellen asked and then swore under her breath. “Oh no, Howie hasn’t been out in ages!”

“You stay here. I’ll go and let him out.” Dad picked up his coat from the sofa near the door.

“No.” I shook my head. “Everyone go home and get some sleep. I’ll be fine.”

Ellen put her hands on her hips, a classic stonewall move of hers. “Someone should stay, Niles, what if—”

“I’ll stay.” Anna leaned back in her chair, apparently unwilling to budge.

“Are you sure?” Ellen glanced from me to Anna, trepidation in her eyes.

“It’s fine Mom, really. I need to get used to all this if I’m going to go to med school, right?”

“Well …”

Dad looked from me to Anna and smiled the slightest bit. “I think they’ll be all right. Come on, let’s go. We’ll have the house to ourselves. Maybe we can get up to some funny business.”

Ellen blushed. “Brent! At a time like this when your son is—hang on—what are you…”

Ellen kept scolding even as she allowed dad to help her with her coat and led her to the door.

“See you in the morning.” Dad gave a knowing look from Anna and back to me again before escorting a tittering Ellen from the room.

“That still grosses me out.” Anna propped her head on her hand.

“What, our parents getting it on?”

Anna groaned. “Yes, that.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms.

“Come on.” I shifted over, ignoring the pain radiating from the cast on my leg. It was a dull ache, whatever pain medicine they’d given me doing its job.

She shook her head. “I’ll just sleep on the couch over there.” But then she met my eyes, and I could see she was tempted.

I scooted further and groaned. She was up in an instant, leaning over me. “What, what happened? Do you need more pillows?”

My plan worked. She was close enough so I could grab her and drag her over the rail. She squeaked with surprise as I settled her into the bed next to me.

“Gotcha.” I lay back, somehow drained from that small exertion.

“I can’t sleep in your bed—”

“You can and you will.” I inhaled her scent – some sort of fruity lotion and her shampoo. “I need to be attended to and you’re just the pre-med student to do it.”

She tried to sit up and away from me, but I clamped my hand on her like a vise.

She sighed. “Fine. I’ll stay, Niles. I’ll stay. Just let me take my jacket off. And my shoes.”

“That’s more like it.” I relaxed and watched her strip off her outer layer. Her breasts were perfectly round against her fleecy top, begging to be touched. “Get under the covers.”

“No.” She stripped her shoes off and tossed them next to the bed.

I gripped the sheet and ripped it from under her like a magician with a tablecloth. “Yes. Get under here with me.”

“What if the nurse comes i—”

The door swung open, and a nurse came in, right on cue. Dark skin and eyes, she had a friendly smile and a clipboard. She grinned when she saw Anna and me snuggling in the bed. Anna stiffened and moved away. Not a chance. I pulled her into my side.

“Nothing better than a little company when you’re trying to recover.” The nurse shuffled up to me and checked the machine hooked up to my IV. “You’re still getting pain meds – the good stuff – for the next couple of hours. Enjoy it while you can.” She fiddled with some buttons and the machine beeped.

“All right. You’re all set. You two need anything, just hit the call button and I’ll be in here in two shakes. Try and get some rest.” She marked a few things off her clipboard. Then she winked at me and squeaked her rubber soles away from us before hitting the lights and pulling the door closed.

“Alone at last.” I relaxed and hit the button to lay the bed all the way back. “Get comfy, Anna. I want you here when I wake up. If you’re not, this cast won’t stop me from punishing you and enjoying every second of it.”

A sound caught in her throat at the threat and my cock twitched. But the swirl of morphine or whatever it was coursed through my blood made my eyes close. She settled in next to me, snuggling into my side but careful not to touch my cast. I pulled her tighter, forcing her to put her head on my chest. The tendrils of her hair tickled my nose as I drifted off to sleep.

***

The nurse was back. “Didn’t mean to wake you sugar,” she whispered.

Anna slept soundly on my chest. I blinked hard a few times and the dull ache in my leg went up a few notches.

I must have grimaced because the nurse said, “We’ve cut out the hard stuff, but I just pushed something different in your IV. Not as strong, but it should kick in shortly.”