Only You (Stevens Book 12)

Chapter 14

It happened so quickly no one could stop it. Mave was out and about with Henry and Fiona. Sam had to work, so they decided to spend a day in Savannah, taking in the sites and shopping. It was going well, and they had just finished eating lunch at a restaurant on the river when they decided to call it a morning and started to return to the car.

To get from River Street, which was below the bluff where the downtown area of Savannah sat, one had to climb steep stairs that were over two hundred years old. They were risky at best, but Mave and Fiona had climbed them many times and knew them well. So, without a thought, Fiona and Henry started up the steps with Mave following.

She was laughing at a joke Henry had just told when someone came up quickly behind her and then turned and pushed into her with their shoulder, causing her to lose her balance. Mave couldn't be sure because it all happened so fast, but she thought she heard 'he's mine' while catching a glimpse of a grey hoodie and a wisp of black hair before Mave was off balance and clutching blindly for a handhold.

Thankfully, Henry had quick reflexes and caught her before she hit the ground completely. She only lost her balance momentarily and skidded down a few steps, landing on her rear end. Henry didn't stop to see about her injuries, though, as she asked Fiona to help her and was off to chase down the offender.

"Are you all right?" Fiona asked as she sat on the step next to Mave.

"I think so," Mave responded in a shaky voice, her entire body trembling at the shock of it. She was holding her wrist, which was throbbing. She had tried to catch herself with her hand when she landed, but it had missed the step and bent funny.

"Here, let's try to stand you up and get you to a bench at the top of the stairs." Fiona ignored the crowd that had started to form as she and Mave started to climb the stairs. "Does everything else feel all right?"

Mave nodded, but when they went to sit on the bench, it caused her some discomfort. She must have landed harder than she thought on her rear end.

It was about half an hour later when Henry joined them.

"Did you catch them?" Fiona asked. "Do you think it was an accident?"

"It wasn't an accident." Mave shook her head as she clenched her wrist to her chest.

"No, whoever it was ducked into the back door of a restaurant and did a quick change because I couldn't find anyone similar to the person who pushed Mave." Henry reached for Mave's hand to examine it.

"What about Lincoln? Did he see it happen?"

"He did, but he lost whoever it was as well." Heny shook his head. "I should have been climbing behind you." It was apparent that he was feeling very guilty.

"Henry, it's not your fault, and you caught me in time." Mave attempted to reassure him.

"What makes you think it wasn't an accident?" Fiona asked as a look passed between Henry and Mave.

"The way she turned was intentional, and I saw a wisp of black hair. It's also suspicious that she wore a hoody to shield her face on such a warm day," Mave explained. It was October, but Octobers in Savannah were warm.

"You think it was a woman?" Henry asked.

"I know it was a woman, and I know it was her. I swore she said, 'he's mine' before she knocked into me."

"Did you recognize the voice?" Henry asked.

"No." Mave shook her head. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and her wrist was really starting to throb. "Do you have something I can take?"

"No, I think you need to go to the hospital and have it x-rayed. It might only be a bad sprain, but I can't be sure." Henry helped her up, and the three of them returned to the car.

Henry called Sam on the way, and when they arrived at the hospital, a nurse was there to meet them and took Mave back to be examined.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm getting to meet Mave Stevens!" the nurse gushed. She was a petite brunette that was full of energy.

Mave caught her trying to look at the scar on her face a few times, and Mave realized it was starting to phase her less every time it happened.

"I'm Carey, by the way." Carey helped her onto a bed and started to take her vitals, pausing as she pushed up her sleeve and saw the scars that crisscrossed her arm.

"Nice to meet you, Carey," Mave said with her best movie star smile. Maybe the staring still bother her after all because she wanted to do nothing more than pull down her sleeve and cover her scars.

The curtain that Carey had pulled closed behind them was thrown open, and Sam stood in front of her wearing scrubs, a scrub hat, and a mask around his neck. He looked so official and commanding, and until that moment, she hadn't realized how scared she was about what had happened.

"What the hell did you do, Mave?" Sam demanded, reaching for her hand and examining it carefully, his touch belying his harsh words. The worry evident in the frown on his face. She wanted to smooth away the lines.

"Henry said you fell down some steps?" Sam watched her face for signals of pain as he rotated the joint, and between the pain and his harsh words, Mave was getting angry, suddenly not feeling so kind toward him. The stress of the event was making her emotions see-saw again, unless Sam was trying to make her mad on purpose.

Mave's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I was pushed. I didn't fall, and you're hurting me. Why are you here? Aren't you all about fixing hearts, not wrists?" Mave hissed again as he twisted it another way.

"Roark's on his way if that makes you feel better," Sam assured her.

"I don't need a trauma surgeon either! I need an x-ray!" Mave pulled her wrist back to her chest.

"Why wasn't Henry with you?" Sam asked as he pulled out a pin light and looked at her eyes.

"I didn't hit my head either. He was in front of me and behind Fiona." Mave swatted the hand that was holding her chin.

"At least he was guarding one of you," Sam was being nasty, which wasn't like him.

"It wasn't his fault, Sam! Why are you so angry?"

They had both forgotten Carey, who was watching the scene intently, and when another nurse joined them, Sam's mouth snapped shut on whatever he was about to say as he realized it wasn't the time or place.

"I'm here to take Ms. Stevens for her X-ray?" The other nurse, who had just joined them, softly interjected.

"Fine, I have a surgery." Sam all but growled as he gave Mave a penetrating look before he grabbed her chin and landed a hard kiss on her lips. "You're going to be the death of me, woman!" Then stomped off.

Mave understood that he was worried and felt helpless that he couldn't be with her every minute. He hadn't wanted to go to work that morning. It took all Mave had to convince him to go.

The nurse who wheeled her down for an X-ray didn't say a word, but when she left her in the room to take the X-ray, she could hear whispering behind the door.

When Mave was done, and they took her out of the room, Roark was waiting for her.

"I'll take her back, thank you," he said. It was unusual for a doctor, especially a surgeon, to wheel a patient anywhere, and the nurses looked at each other in uncomfortable silence. "I can push a wheelchair!" Roark growled before he wheeled her away.

"They're talking about my scars," Mave said sadly. The nurse had looked at her arm with shock when she had pushed up her sleeve.

"No, they are talking about the fact that Dr. Sam Evers, everybody's favorite single doctor, kissed you. It was very unprofessional if you ask me." Roark wheeled her into the elevator and pushed the button, missing Mave's slow smile at the thought that the nurses might be jealous of her instead of pitying her.

Dr. Sam Evers had indeed kissed her right before he rushed off to perform a life-saving surgery. How lucky was she! It was a better thought than the one that Angel was back and had just tried to kill her.

She shivered. Nope, she would daydream about Sam while they sorted out her wrist. That was a much better idea.