Page 62 of Counted
He held her as she cried, murmuring that he was here now and everything would be okay.
She believed him.
She was still sniffing and shaking against his chest when the EMT who had checked her out earlier came back over. Jude gave the man a brief inquisition about her condition and asked if it was okay for him to drive her to the hospital instead of having to ride with them. The EMT wanted to check her out one more timebefore he approved the plan, but he eventually said it would be fine.
To Eve’s immense relief, Jude wrapped an arm around her and led her over to his expensive midsize SUV. As soon as he helped her in and closed the door, the world was finally quiet again.
Jude hurried around to the driver’s side and climbed in, turning on the car and then peering at her.
“I’m okay,” she told him, wiping away a few more stray tears. “I don’t know why I fell apart like that.”
“You were in a car accident.”
“I know. And I do feel all jarred and headachy, but it’s not that bad. I was just so upset because I needed my phone and no one would give it to me.”
“Why did you need your phone?”
She stared at him in surprise. “Because I needed to call you back. I was afraid you’d be worried.”
He gave a wry chuckle and reached over to brush some of her hair back from her face. “Worried doesn’t come close to how I was feeling. I knew something terrible had happened. As soon as I called back and couldn’t reach you, I ran downstairs and jumped in my car. It’s a good thing you mentioned where your friend lived, or I’d have been driving all around town, yelling your name out my window.”
She giggled helplessly. It ended with a few more tears. “I was okay.”
“I didn’t know that. And thank God it wasn’t serious, but you did get hurt.” He very gently stroked her cheek right beneath where it was raw.
“That’s from the airbag, I think,” she said. “I don’t think I even hit my head. The headache feels like it’s just from being jarred so hard.”
“That makes sense. But we’re going to the hospital anyway to make sure that’s all it is. I’m not taking any chances.”
Ironic. He was so insistent on getting her fixed up by a doctor when he refused to go himself.
It was a different situation, however. She didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she smiled up at him, still feeling kind of shaky. “Thank you for coming to find me.”
He smiled back, cupping her cheek before he finally withdrew his hand. “As if I’d do anything else.”
Several hours later, they were finally getting back to the Gregory mansion.
They’d gone to the emergency department of the nearest hospital and had done a lot of waiting around and a few tests and examinations before Eve was given a clean bill of health.
She still had a headache, and she was sore in unexpected places, but she was really glad to be home.
Jude had been by her side the whole time, asking intelligent questions and making sure she was taken care of. He’d made her drink a lot of water, and he’d gone to get her a Coke and a few crackers to settle her stomach when she started getting queasy. As they got home, he said she might feel better if she took a shower.
She didn’t feel like exerting the energy, but he’d asked her to do it, and she didn’t want to disappoint him. So she got in and let the hot water spray down on her for a long time and felt better when she got out.
Then finally she was allowed to climb into bed beside him. She sighed when he pulled her against him, holding her in a light embrace.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For being there for me tonight.”
He tilted his head to brush a kiss against her hair. “Where else would I be?”
She didn’t have an answer to that question.
When she didn’t say anything, Jude murmured thickly, “Does it really surprise you so much? That I might want to take care of you too?”