His expression turns uncomprehending. ‘I’m a paramedic, I know that the risk of a cerebral haemorrhage with this kind of injury is virtually nonexistent.’
Probabilities. So that’s what it’s all about for him. ‘Unfortunately, life doesn’t always stick to probabilities.’ Melancholy fills my voice, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
He looks at me imploringly out of his green eyes. ‘Just stitch up the wound. I have to get back to work.’
I try to read in his expression what’s going on inside him. Why is he resisting the examination so much? It’s necessary; his life could depend on it, and he knows that.
He must be a very special specimen of a one-percent person. What did Ray call him? A superhero?
Earlier I thought that was a joke, now I’m not so sure. And I don’t understand it. Day after day, he sees in his job how quickly a life can change. That it can be only fractions of a second, a few breaths, sometimes not even a single blink of an eye—and nothing is the way it was.
He knows that. He knows that none of us is safe. How can he be so reckless?
I lean over him until there are only a few centimeters between our faces. His woody scent envelops me, I hear his breathing, feel the warmth radiating from him.
‘I want to examine you thoroughly. It’s only for your own good.’ I fix him with an emphatic look. ‘Please.’
He briefly furrows his brows, then tries to get up again. But I’m faster and take his chin in my hand. That’s when I see the surprise in his eyes.
It doesn’t seem to happen very often that he doesn’t get what he wants.
Out of nowhere, a knowing smile plays around his lips. ‘You know, I really think it’s sweet how much you worry about me, and I get that you can’t keep your hands off me, but this is going a little too fast for me.’ Now he moves toward me, the distance between us so small that the tips of our noses almost touch. ‘Do you always come on this strong when you like someone?’
All at once I feel hot, even though there’s no reason for it. Still, I don’t let it rattle me. No matter what he tries, he is not leaving this room without an examination.
‘Didn’t you just promise your daddy you’d be good?’ I hold his gaze. ‘You want the lollipop, don’t you?’
A cheeky sparkle appears in his eyes. ‘He doesn’t have to know. It could be our little dirty secret.’
Needlessly, my pulse speeds up.
Now he looks me over, and he looks way too hot doing it—unfortunately. ‘Come on, you want it too.’
Absolutely not. ‘Um …’
His lips curl into a pleased little smirk. I stare at them—probably, I don’t really know, but I think I do.
Why am I doing that?
I quickly straighten up to interrupt whatever this is and get back to the reason we’re both here: a thorough examination that might just save his life.
With a deliberately serious expression and, unfortunately, a heart that’s still pounding, I raise my index finger. ‘Follow my finger only with your eyes.’
Chapter Four
JADEN
Wow, this Nyla really seems to be a tough nut to crack. Just a moment ago I was sure I’d cracked her. How quickly her cheeks flushed red when I suggested that dirty little secret to her… cute.
Now, however, she’s looking at me with the expression of a governess reading me the riot act because I snuck some dessert before dinner. The ravishing little smile she had a moment ago has vanished from her elfin face, and her cheeks are gradually losing their color as well.
‘Please,’ she says, making an effort to sound calm. ‘You want to get back to work, don’t you?’
Oh yes, I do, but getting her to come out of her shell was just way too much fun a moment ago to stop now. ‘Actually, it’s pretty nice here,’ I reply experimentally.
To my disappointment, her expression stays serious. ‘Good, then we still have time for a cranial CT to definitively rule out a fracture or a bleed.’
She’s joking.