24. Lawson

TWENTY-FOUR

"Damn it, Trey, I'm going to kick your ass. You think Juniper needs to be worrying over something as simple as this?" Dad pulled up at the right time, loaded Renegade up, and then helped get me in the truck, too. Though, he wasn't moving me to the ranch, which is where he should have taken me. At least then Juniper wouldn't have had to worry herself sick while loading all her medical equipment up, and I'm sure she was a ball of nerves the whole way over here. A lot of which could have been avoided. Fucking Trey.

"Suit yourself. You think I want Juniper coming after my ass? It's clear you haven't seen her with the tools of her trade. What are they called, scalpels, forceps, and a speculum?" He's dead-ass serious. There"s not even so much as a smile. Meanwhile, I'm having a hard time holding back my laughter.

"Dumbass, a speculum is for women when they have pap smears," Juni says as she walks through the crowd, Tully and Birdie hot on her trail. Jesus, Amos is going to lose his shit with people coming in and out. He prefers to be left alone. Grumpy fucker.

"Hey, baby." My hand touches hers. I'm currently sitting at the kitchen table, my elbow holding the towel in place to stop the bleeding.

"Don't you baby me, Lawson Dwayne Johnson. Your ass should be at the hospital right now." She is spitting mad. That's okay. When we get home, I'll apologize the way she likes, and then all will be well.

"Juni, he didn't lose consciousness for more than thirty seconds. I'm pretty sure nothing could hit him that hard on the head to knock some sense into him." Trey isn't helping matters. I wish he'd shut the hell up.

"Trey, the more you talk, the longer she's going to take," Sienna states from the other side of the room. Amos is between them, and he's looking back and forth between the pair. Damn, I almost hope my brother keeps talking, if only to see how this plays out.

"You must be Sienna. I'm Juniper. This shouldn't take too long. I'd much rather he went to the hospital since he did fall." Those grey eyes of hers leave me and turn lethal toward Trey. "Regardless of how stubborn this man might be, you still should have called an ambulance. I'm a nurse, not a doctor, and don't even think about looking at Tallulah. I'll borrow her castration tools just for you."

Tully snickers. No way would I let my woman anywhere near my brother's dick, joking or not.

"Come on, Trey, leave them alone. We'll grab a beer. Russell, you want one?" Amos offers. Maybe he thinks the alcohol will keep Trey from digging his grave deeper. Highly doubtful. Juniper's heart can't handle seeing someone she loves hurt or upset. This is eating her up inside, and she's having a hard time keeping it together.

"Sure, that's not a bad idea," Dad agrees. He looks at me, silently asking how I'm doing. I give him a slight nod, telling him in not so many words I'm good and to keep Mom away. I'm pretty sure she'd give Juniper a run for her money, or she'd jump in and join the fun on how to make me pay for not going to the hospital. He heads toward Amos, who"s heading for the back porch where he has an outdoor fridge stocked to the brim with his favorite beer. Thankfully, Trey follows his path, but not before giving Sienna a long look. I watch as she blushes before looking away. Dear god, Trey is going to be on the other end of a shotgun if he's not careful.

"Juni, we're going to head back to the ranch and calm down the others before the news spreads like wildfire. Unless you need us?" Tully says.

Juniper sets her bag on the table, slowly looking at me with her hands on her hips. "No, I should be good. Depending on what I see when I check his pupils, he may still need to go into town and be checked out. If not at the hospital, at least a walk-in clinic."

"Juniper—" My words are cut off.

"No, damn it, I'm not a doctor. I don't have an MRI. You know this. You tell the others all the time for them to fuck off and find someone else. Well, this time, it's you, and I'm not taking any chances." Tallulah and Birdie read the room, realizing I'm going to have to talk Juniper down. Juni doesn't even notice they're leaving.

"I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. Do your thing. I'll go to the hospital if"—I enunciate the if and then repeat it— "if you see something that needs to be looked at, alright?"

"Fine, hold still. Eyes first, then I'll look at your wound." Since I've got one arm busy holding my side, my other goes to her stomach, holding her now showing belly. She adjusts the ophthalmoscope, making sure the light is on before holding it out in front of her palm. I've become quite used to her tools of the trade. We even talked about her continuing her education, maybe becoming a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or going on to become a doctor herself. She said absolutely not to all three. Juniper is happy with where she's at. There's no other higher education she'd like to pursue, especially now that a baby is coming into the picture.

"A bit more obsessed today, are we?" She lifts an eyebrow up in question. At least she's no longer on the verge of tears.

"Always. Got a little scared myself today. I didn't think Renegade would be an asshole. Then again, I know better. I was worried about my brother, when he was worried about Sienna," I admit. She goes through the motions, telling me to look up, then down, then to each side. She hums a little bit, her tongue peeks out to touch her lip, and it's making my cock stand up and take notice.

"I noticed them. There's a story involving Trey and Sienna." She places her tool back in the bag before pulling out a box of gloves, sterilized gauze, a package of sutures, and some kind of antiseptic. "Headache or nausea?"

"Nope, not at all. There's probably a decent-sized knot at the back of my head, though." She lets out a growl, tips my head forward, and steps closer.

"Lawson, why didn't you say something?" I'm being admonished like a kid in school, except I'm not one bit upset about it. Juniper can do just about anything she wants and I'm still going to take her exactly the way she is.

"You didn't ask." Not a lick of remorse is in my tone.

"Well, now I am. Where at?" I dip my head. Her fingers go to work combing through my hair. While she is looking at the back of my head, her tits are right in front of me, so I bury myself between them, wishing like hell we were in her clinic. Then I'd have her do this naked. "Lawson, you're ridiculous." I lose her body as quickly as I had her.

"Well, what's the consensus?" I ask, my hand still at her hip.

"I don't think you have a concussion. There're no signs. You don't have a bump that I can tell, and your vitals look good. Now, about that gash on your side." She shakes her head.

"Get the stitches ready. I'm going to need them." I've already taken my shirt off, and this is the second towel. The other one is in the trash. There was no way on God's green earth Juniper was going to walk inside and see that mess.

"Damn it, Lawson. I should kick your ass." There's not much else to say. She's busy lifting my arm up, gently prying the towel away from the wound, then a hiss leaves her breath. "You really did it. No glue for you, and you're looking at twenty stitches at least. The good news is it's not too deep but enough that with too much movement, it'll take a long time to heal, or you'll twist the wrong way and the glue won't hold." I may be over exaggerating on the amount he'll need, blame it on me trying to get him to go to the hospital or at least give him fair warning.

I watch as she cleans the area, methodical and in her element. When Juniper is in the zone, nothing can tear her out of it, but I'm sure going to try. "Do what you gotta do, babe, but do it with your tits in my face."

"Lawson!" She tries not to laugh at my antics, but it escapes her anyways. I watch as she throws the used gauze to the side and goes for the syringe and vial.

"No, baby, I don't need that."

"Damn stubborn old man, no complaining. Alright, let me get everything ready, and then we'll start." My hands go to her hips, pulling her toward me again.

"Getting my kiss before you do." Juni gets with the program, dipping her head, and the second her mouth lands on mine, I take over. There's only one person who can get me through any amount of pain, and that's Juniper.