Page 47 of Hometown Cowboy
Alan straightened. “I know we didn’t part on a good note, but you surprised me by coming by like that. I needed to know you were okay. I needed—”
Ryan tried to move in the bed and swore and his face paled with pain. “What are you talking about? I haven’t seen you since I was a kid. Actually, no. That’s a lie. I saw you once in a shop in Bialga when I was sixteen. That’s almost twenty years ago.”
Alan sent her a worried glance. “No, I saw you fourdaysago. You came to my house, you spoke to Genevieve. We had an argument and you took off in your ute.”
“You’re stark-raving mad. I don’t want you here. You need to leave.” He looked to Darby, the pain in his eyes not only physical. “Make him go.” His frown deepened. “And why on earth would I be ploughing my field in March?”
Darby sat up straight. “March?”
“I don’t plant winter crops. You know that.”
Tendrils of unease erupted into a flood of complete panic. “It’s not March, Ryan. It’s September. The twenty-ninth.”
A bark of what sounded like laughter left him and he grimaced. “Don’t be ridiculous. I think I would’ve remembered Gabe and Emma’s wedding. I am supposed to be best man, remember?” His eyes widened in shock. “Don’t tell me they eloped?”
Darby fought to get air into her lungs. Surely he was having them on?
She shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes, her strict control of the last few days unravelling faster than she could follow.
The door opening caught her attention and she turned in its direction. Julie’s delighted face beamed at them when she realised Ryan was awake. Then her gaze fell to Darby. Whatever words she was about to speak evaporated.
“Darby? What’s wrong?”
Darby looked back at Ryan, confusion deepening lines across his forehead. “Gabe and Emma got married last month,in August. You were there, you were best man. They’ve already been on their honeymoon. They’re here, in Brisbane, at the hotel we’re all staying at. We’ve been taking turns sitting with you, so that you’re never alone.”
Ryan flushed, anger obvious on his drawn face.
“I don’t appreciate being the butt of your joke, Darb. It’s not fun on this side.”
Julie took his hand on the opposite side of the hospital bed, her worried frown now matching Darby’s.
“She’s not teasing you, Ryan. It reallyisSeptember.”
Ryan’s expression shut down. Darby stared at the rest of them, at a loss how to prove it to him.
“Wait! Your phone.” She grabbed his phone from the bedside cabinet where it sat charging. She tapped the screen and the time, day and date showed up in bright glory. “See?”
She held it in front of him while Julie pressed the nurse call button that lay on the bed near his head.
Ryan grabbed the phone and squinted a little while his eyes adjusted and focused. Annoyance segued to confusion then anxiety as reality hit.
“I don’t understand,” he whispered.
The confusion in his eyes hit her deep in the belly. She had to force herself to hold the smile on her mouth and not give way to the fear building deep within.
“It’s okay.” Darby turned as the nurse entered the room. Intense relief flooded her. “See? Your nurse is here, she’ll be able to help.”
Darby took Ryan’s hand and stroked the top of it with her thumb while Julie spoke to the familiar nurse in low tones. Worry furrowed Amanda’s brow. She moved to the bedside and performed the normal observation checks and smiled brightly at Ryan.
“I’ll page the doctor on call and we’ll clear up any confusion you have.”
She hurried back out of the room. Darby worried at her bottom lip with her teeth.
This was normal after a head injury… surely? There wasn’t anything to be worried about, right?
She caught Ryan staring at her holding his hand. She disentangled her hand, suddenly self-conscious. She could understand why he’d be confused. They’d had a huge fight and she’d told him to leave. For her to be sitting there touching him so casually had to be confusing.
Gabe and Emma preceded the doctor and nurse back into the room. A heavy air of expectancy threatened to overwhelm them.