All her life, men had assumed that because she was well-endowed, she was a tramp. She’d learned the hard way how far they’d go to sleep with her.

Flowers.

Jewelry.

Expensive dinners.

Flattery.

The list went on and on.

That was their idea of foreplay. Austin was a known playboy and his looks and money had gotten him just about any woman he’d ever wanted. She knew he only pursued her because she was most likely the first to tell him, no. Well, he’d just have to learn when no meant exactly that.

The aching in her body contradicted her self-pep-talk. She wanted him – without a doubt.

So what, she thought. She was strong. She wouldn’t cave. She’d done a lot of self-sacrifice in her life. She could certainly handle a few minutes in Austin’s presence without jumping him, or letting him ravish her.

“I like your scrubs. Are those little bears?” he asked as his finger ran down the side of her top, coming increasingly close to the edge of her breasts. Her air lodged in her lungs. She didn’t know whether she should pull away or lean into the touch.

Maybe it was time to accept one of the other dates she’d been offered lately. She shook off the shudder and stiffened her shoulders.

“What do you want, Austin?”

“You seemed upset. I thought I could help.”

“I’m fine.”

“Then what was the argument with the doctor about?”

Kinsey blew out her held breath and started silently counting. She needed to get away from him, from whatever game he was playing, but he wasn’t leaving until she gave him something.

“We had a difference of opinion. It’s no big deal,” she lied. In reality she knew she might very well be jobless in just a few hours.

“You seem pretty upset for it not to be that big of a deal,” he countered.

“I was trying to be polite. Let me put it another way. It’s none of your business,” she finally snapped.

Her words didn’t have the slightest impact on him. Instead of being offended, he gave her his most seductive smile that instantly made her throat close.

Screw it, just five minutes, she offered herself before sanity came back and she resisted reaching for him.

“Okay, be stubborn, but you know I’ll find out anyway,” he said.

Kinsey was happy to feel her temper rising. Anger, at least, pushed down her unwanted lust.

“Have fun with that,” Kinsey snapped as she finally wrenched her arm from his grasp. She turned and quickly walked down the hallway, refusing to allow herself to turn back and look at him.

She gritted her teeth when she heard his chuckle following her.

Arrogant, self-serving, pompous man!

Chapter Three

“Katherine Anderson?”

“Yes, I’m here.” Katherine rose from her seat with grace, though an obvious tremble was evident. A doctor approached, his eyes focused on the large family gathered around Katherine.

Austin stood back from the crowd, his emotions too volatile for him to speak with anyone. Fear and anger struggled for a stronghold inside him. The news had to be good. Their family couldn’t handle the tragedy of losing either his father or uncle.

“I’m Dr. Weston. I operated on your husband.” Total silence greeted his words. The family waited, afraid to even breathe.

“First, I want to let you know Joseph is alive,” he said. A single tear slipped down Katherine’s cheek. As if in slow motion, Austin focused on it as it held on for an endless moment, before dripping from her chin, slowly falling to the floor. The rest of the family members released a collective sigh of relief.

“He’s in critical condition and we’re monitoring him in the I.C.U. I don’t want to give you false hope. It doesn’t look good right now. If it weren’t for Nurse Shelton, I wouldn’t be delivering good news at the moment.” The doctor let his words settle in. Austin tensed, finally putting together what was going on with her and the angry doctor. She must’ve defied his orders. “Your husband had an Epidural Hematoma. In short form, there was swelling outside the brain tissue, and hemorrhages occurred within. Usually in these cases the patient has a lucid period, which Joseph had. Symptoms don’t always present themselves, making it hard for an admitting doctor to know there’s an emergency. In your husband’s case, had he went home before collapsing, the injury would have most likely been fatal. We were able to get inside his head before it caused severe damage to the brain. However, once we were in, we found another problem.”

Everyone waited, not wanting to interrupt. Dr. Weston paused before continuing. Austin knew the situation wasn’t good. He also knew he needed to thank Kinsey.

“Once we got inside, we found a small mass. Your husband was in the first stages of brain cancer. We were able to remove it, getting it all out. Luckily, it was small, and there didn’t seem to be any damage from surgery. Because of the severe trauma Joseph has suffered, though, he’s in a coma now. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything else at this point. The next seventy-two hours are critical. I do want to warn you that in cases like this, sometimes the patient never does wake.”

“Can I please see my husband?” Katherine asked. Her voice quiet, but Austin noted the strength underlying the pain she was feeling. He was once again impressed with his aunt.

“Yes, but only for a short visit. No more than two people can be in his room at a time.”

“I’ll take you, Mom,” Lucas said, his arm locked around her.

“We’ll be here waiting,” Amy said as she gave her mother-in-law a quick hug.

“Thank you, dear,” Katherine replied before following a nurse through the double doors leading to the intensive care unit.

“Do you have any information on my father, George Anderson?” Austin asked as soon as Katherine was out of the room. He didn’t want to add to her stress, but he hadn’t heard anything yet.

“Your father should be out of surgery soon and his doctor will be out to speak with you. I knew you’d have questions, but I didn’t want to interrupt the procedure. He was still holding on and from what the doctor’s assistant said, his vitals were good. Once again, I don’t want to give false hope or speak out of turn, but he was still alive when I came out,” Dr. Weston answered.

Austin nearly sagged with relief. Bree’s tears flowed as she heard the first news of her father since learning of the accident. Chad lifted her in his arms and carried her back to one of the chairs, sitting down to comfort her. Austin was grateful she wasn’t alone. Chad would be a rock for her to lean on through all of this.

“Thank you,” Trenton spoke up. They stood there silently for a moment, no one seeming to know what to do.

“I’ll go for coffee,” Cassie volunteered.

“I’ll help. I can’t keep sitting here, feeling helpless,” Jessica said. The two women walked from the room.

Austin waited for what seemed like hours before the doors opened again and another doctor looked around the room. When he spotted them, he made his way over.

“Trenton Anderson?”

“Yes,” Trenton quickly stepped forward.

“Your father, George, is out of surgery. He hit his head on the side of the door, causing minor swelling in the brain. It doesn’t appear to be threatening at this time, but we always carefully monitor head injuries. He also sustained a broken leg, two broken ribs, and his lung was punctured. We’ve been able to operate successfully, but we’ve had to place him in a medically induced coma because the pain would be excruciating if he were awake. We’ve been extra cautious, too, because of his recent heart attack. I understand that both your father and uncle are in here, and I wish I could give you more information, but the only thing I can tell you at this time is that he’s stable. Of course the next twenty-four hours are critical. We’ll monitor him closely to make sure he doesn’t have any negative reactions from the surgery, or any further symptoms from the collision. As of now, his chances are better than fifty percent at this time.”

“Can we see him?” Bree asked.

“Yes, but he’s in the I.C.U for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, so only two at a time. Please be quiet in the room, and only stay for fifteen minutes at a time. He needs to rest right now. That’s the best medicine for him.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Austin said as he stepped forward and shook the man’s hand.

“I’ll take Bree back first, then you and Max can go,” Trenton said to Austin.

Austin and Max paced, neither of them saying a word as they waited their turn to see their father. The seconds ticked by, each one dragging. Finally, the door opened and a sniffling Bree ran into the arms of Chad. Trenton looked like he wasn’t holding himself together well, either, but Austin gave him space, knowing his brother needed a few minutes to compose his expression.

He and Max quickly walked through the doors together. They didn’t know what to expect, but when they entered their father’s room and saw George lying in the bed with wires running from his body to different machines, Austin had to swallow the bile in his throat.

Austin knew accidents happened every day. He knew tragedy struck families, but losing his mother had been the hardest event of his life, and he just didn’t know how they’d get through the loss of another parent.

The two men made their way to the bed and Austin slumped in a chair and gently took his father’s hand. He rested his forehead on their joined hands, and for the first time he could remember, offered a silent prayer.

“He’s strong, brother. He’ll make it through. So will Uncle Joseph,” Max uttered in a whisper. That was what Austin needed to hear – what he had to believe.

“You have to wake up, Dad. We need you,” Austin pled, feeling like a teenager again, needing his father’s reassurance that everything would be okay.

They sat silently for the rest of their allotted time. When the nurse came to let them know their time was up, they slowly made their way back to the lobby.

Upon returning, Katherine was back, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. The next few days would be a test of their endurance, that was for sure.

“Mom, let’s get you something to eat,” Lucas said, but she only shook her head.

“He will recover and when he does, he’s going to need us to be strong. They both will. It won’t do dad or Uncle George any good for us to mourn them as if they aren’t coming back. Please, let’s have breakfast, then I’m sure we can find out more information,” Mark said.

Emily sat next to Katherine, offering a shoulder, doing her best to appear positive.

“Okay,” Katherine finally agreed. They made their way slowly down the maze of halls until they reached the cafeteria. Most of the food went untouched, but they were doing the best they could.

The day stretched without any changes on Joseph and George. All of them tried to agree that was a good thing, but still, the waiting… it was excruciating.

“You saved Joseph Anderson’s life. This hospital is very grateful that you refused to back down, even though most people would have. I want to reassure you that the matter has been investigated and you weren’t in the wrong. Normally, you never go over one of the doctors’ heads, but this was an extreme case. Had you not had the Neuro Surgeon called, Joseph most likely wouldn’t have made it through the night, let alone the past four,” Kinsey’s supervisor said as they sat in her office.