Hers to Protect by Catherine Lanigan

Author:Catherine Lanigan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Forever Romance
Published: 2019-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE CROWD GATHERED outside the medical center was deep, but Austin saw Josh’s manager, Harry Wilcox, on the other side of the paned glass window. Harry waved back.

Violet was just about to pull out her police badge from her purse, thinking they’d gain a quicker entrance, when Austin said, “Let’s go. Harry’ll get us in.”

Austin stood aside, holding out his arm to keep the onlookers at bay so that Violet and Katia could enter the care center.

Harry rushed up to them. “Austin. Good to see you again. And Katia.” Harry kissed her cheek. “Josh will be glad to see you.”

“Harry,” Austin began, “this is Violet Hawks. Josh’s other guest.”

Surprise scribbled across Harry’s face as he smiled slowly and then held out his hand. “Officer Hawks. Nice to meet you. I didn’t expect...er...”

“It was last minute,” Violet said.

“I meant, I didn’t expect you to be so pretty,” he continued, holding her hand. “He’s down in bay 4. This way.”

Violet observed there were numerous gurney-beds. Each of the bays was separated by curtains on ceiling tracks, and every bay was sufficiently equipped to handle emergency patients. It was her guess that during the race, which was always held on the Sunday before Memorial Day when temperatures as a norm were over eighty degrees, there would be heat-related cases.

“Is he all right?” Violet asked as they approached bay 4.

Harry stopped just before pulling the curtain back. “He’s gonna be okay. He has too many responsibilities not to be.”

Violet clamped her mouth shut and swallowed her gasp before she blurted something inappropriate. Harry was his manager of many years. She’d assumed they were closer than friends. But in this moment, she realized that Josh was primarily a meal ticket for Harry.

Empathy shot through her. If she’d been in a terrible accident, all her family and friends would have descended on the hospital with everything from hugs and kisses, to flowers and offers to pick up her laundry.

Harry pulled back the drape.

Josh sat on the gurney, bare chested, as a doctor in a white lab coat wrapped gauze around Josh’s six-pack abs.

Surrounding Josh were people wearing matching jumpsuits with Josh’s name embroidered on the backs and sleeves—members of his pit crew. Two astonishingly beautiful women stood in the far left corner. Violet wondered if they were his girlfriends, until she saw one of them hold a portable microphone to her mouth with her news station’s call letters on a square disk attached to the mike. The other woman handed her a page of notes.

The one thing that most captured her attention was the smile Josh gave her as she walked up.

“Violet! You’re here.” He held out his right hand. “I was hoping...”

She glanced back at Austin and Katia, who both smiled at her. Austin torqued his head toward Josh giving her the signal to go to the man.

She glanced from Josh to the doctor. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“He will be,” the doctor said.

“Violet, this is Dr. Herman. He takes good care of all of us.

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