Do You Love Me?

What Else Can Go Wrong?

As I waited for Owen to answer the door, I realized that this was the first time I had ever been to his house. Not surprising, since he kept so much about himself private, at least where I was concerned.

Something wasn't right between us but I was clueless about what it was. Owen had this amazing plan for all of us to fall in love and we did. At least nine of us did. I'm not sure where I stand with him at all.

Some days, he puts a big wall between us. And the way that he will sometimes say "Miss Sorenson" makes me feel like I've done something wrong even when I've only just walked into the room.

At other times, I can almost make myself believe that he really does love me.

What's taking him so long, I wondered. I raised my fist to knock again when I heard loud thumps and bumps on the other side of the door, followed by a sound that was a cross between a roar and a scream.

"Aaaarrrggghhh!"

That did not sound good at all. I reached into my small shoulder bag and quickly retrieved the ring that held the keys to the guys' houses. My hand shook as I found the key to Owen's door and inserted it into the lock. I almost kicked the door open in my haste to get in there and find the source of that awful sound.

Owen was on his back at the foot of the stairs, his left leg bent at an abnormal angle. He must have been getting dressed because his pale gray shirt was unbuttoned, giving me a mouth watering view of his incredibly sexy chest. He was still wearing his gray and red plaid pajama bottoms. His face was twisted in pain.

I rushed to his side, my hand in my shoulder bag, digging for my cell phone.

"Hang on, Owen. I'm calling an ambulance." My first thought was to call Sean but aside from Owen's leg looking like it could be broken, I was also afraid that he may have hit his head pretty hard. He had obviously fallen down the stairs and it was a long way down. An ambulance was the way to go.

I gave the dispatcher Owen's address and then called Sean, who was already on duty at the hospital. He promised to be waiting at the emergency room entrance.

I knelt down beside Owen and put one hand lightly on his chest, my fingers itching to play with the downy soft hairs.

I had to be some kind of a sick puppy. He was hurt, and all I could think about was wanting to tweak one of his nipples.

He groaned.

"My leg," he gasped. "Hurts."

"I know, love," I said, gently stroking his chest." That was allowed, right? All I was doing was trying to comfort him. "We'll be at the hospital very soon. Sean is waiting for us. Probably Dr. Roberts, too."

He grunted and closed his eyes. I removed my hand from his chest and stepped outside to make sure that the ambulance came to the right house. I also needed some air.

What in the world was wrong with me, I wondered. He's our team lead and one of my boyfriends. I don't think he likes me very much and it's probably my fault that he's hurt. If I hadn't barged over here, well I'm not sure what he would have been doing, but he probably wouldn't have been rushing down the stairs to answer the door.

And still, all I wanted to do was kiss him senseless. Because no matter what he felt about me, I loved him madly.

The ambulance arrived a minute later, got us to the hospital where Owen was examined and several hours later we were back at his house.

Miraculously, he hadn't broken anything. His ankle was sprained and his knee badly twisted but the x-rays didn't show any damage. He had managed to protect his head as he fell so there was no concussion.

Sean left the hospital long enough to get us back to Owen's house and help him get settled. His ankle and knee had been firmly wrapped and he had crutches, but he still needed assistance. Sean helped him get up the stairs and I went in the kitchen to start a pot of soup for later on.

Sean had asked me if I could stay until one of the boys could come and spend the night. Between the diner and Academy assignments, none of them were available until later in the evening.

I prepared a big pot of vegetable soup  to simmer on the stove, and then went up to Owen's room where there appeared to be an argument.

"I said no," Owen said firmly.

" I'm a doctor, I'm wearing the white coat and I say yes," Sean retorted with equal firmness.

"What's going on," I asked.

"He needs a shot for pain," replied Sean. "That stuff they gave him at the hospital is going to wear off and he will be howling in about a half an hour."

Owen was standing by the bed, leaning on his crutches and scowling in Sean's direction.  I made it a point not to stand too close to Sean because I certainly did not want to be included in that scowl.

I noticed the needle in Sean's hand. It looked pretty big.

"Is he afraid of shots?" I asked.

"Yes, he is," Sean replied with a grin. "But not for the reason you think."

Before I could ask what he meant, Sean moved over to the bed in one quick move. He yanked  the left side of Owen's pajama bottoms down far enough to expose his hip and jabbed him with the needle before Owen had a chance to blink.

" I'm going to sue you for malpractice!" Owen growled.

"Go ahead," said Sean, cheerfully. "I'll pay you from the proceeds I make from selling the video."

"What video?" I asked curiously.

"Stick around, Pookie. That shot I gave him packs a punch. Trust me when I say that soon, he will be feeling no pain. But we should get a good show out of him before it kicks in all the way and puts him to sleep."

I shook my head in confusion. I had no idea what he was talking about. But it wasn't too long before I found out.