Pretend You're Mine(11)
Sometimes life just sucked.
What if she had rolled into town in a cute sundress and her damn wallet? She could have bought him a drink, instead of requiring saving and charity. If this wasn’t a wake up call about how it was time to start behaving like an adult, she didn’t know what was.
Dunnigan led them to a small, windowless room and had her lie down on the table. She adjusted the position of the camera over Harper’s ribs and draped a heavy lead cover over her.
“Just hold still right there and this will be over in a minute.” The doctor had Luke step back with her behind the protective curtain and Harper heard the whir of the camera.
Dr. Dunnigan rearranged her and took a few more shots of the ribs and one of her arm before letting her sit up again.
She brought a laptop over to Harper. “Okay. Let’s check these out.”
Luke joined them, leaning against the table. His arm rested against Harper’s.
Dunnigan zoomed in on an image. “Hmm.”
“What does ‘hmm’ mean?” Luke demanded.
“This spot right here,” she tapped the screen, “is a healed fracture. So either you have super human healing powers or you broke your ribs before.”
“I think I had a fracture there years ago,” Harper said, crossing her arms over her chest. It was embarrassing reliving her medical history with two virtual strangers.
Dr. Dunnigan looked at Harper over her reading glasses and waited. “Hmm.”
Harper ignored her. She could feel Luke’s gaze weigh heavily on her. She squinted at the screen. “No new fractures?” she asked cheerfully.
Dunnigan flipped through the series of images. “It looks like you’re in the clear. This time.”
“Told you,” Harper smirked at Luke.
“You’re awfully cocky for someone covered head to toe in bruises,” he reminded her.
“Same story with your arm,” Dr. Dunnigan said tapping the screen. “Old break. This one looks like it healed better than your rib.” She looked pointedly at Harper.
Harper shrugged and didn’t respond. Time had healed those physical hurts a long time ago, and with them the mental ones as well.
“Any new ones?”
“Nope,” the doctor swiveled in on her stool and put the laptop back on the counter. “A little swollen, a lot of bruising. But overall not nearly as bad as it could have been. I’ll write you a script for some pain meds to help you sleep and I’m telling you that rest is the best medicine.”
CHAPTER FIVE
They rode in silence after leaving Dr. Dunnigan’s. Each lost in thought. Harper was finally the one to break the silence.
“So do your tattoos mean anything?”
He kept his eyes on the road. “Why?”
“Do you not want to tell me what they mean?”
“What makes you say that?”
“You’re answering questions with questions. It’s like a therapist trick.”
“Is it?”
She sighed loudly. “I feel like I’m playing Jeopardy when I talk to you.”
Luke grinned and said nothing.
Harper let it drop. She watched the road signs flash by, heading back to the city she had called home for the past two years. She had called a lot of places home, but it was for the lack of a better word. She had never really felt at home anywhere. Not since she was a little kid, in a postage stamp-sized house with a mom and a dad who now were more ghosts than memories.
“So what’s your plan once you get your stuff?”
Harper pursed her lips and sighed. “Gas up my car and head to Hannah’s.”
“You’re putting a lot of hope on a friend’s generosity.”
She sensed judgment in his tone. “It’s only temporary. I already checked out some jobs and apartments on Craigslist. I’ll be off of her couch in no time.”
“What kind of jobs?”
“There’s a couple of waitress/manager openings, an inventory clerk position, and, worst case scenario, one of those people who sit on stools in the middle of the mall and try to sell you a new bathtub.”
“Dream job?”
“Any job that pays the bills is a dream job these days.”
He changed the subject. “So do you want to talk about why you ran out of your place with nothing yesterday?”
“Not particularly,” Harper said, looking out the window. She sighed. “Just a mistake on my part. Poor judgment followed by a nasty surprise when I came home early.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Ex, as of yesterday.”
“Cheating?”
“A bike messenger girl. She had great legs from what I could see.”
“My God, Harper, you’re a mess.”
She puffed out a breath. “It would appear so.”