COWBOY ROMANCE: Justin (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 1) (180 page)

Chapter 13

Elise looked at herself in the full-length mirror. One of her favorite dresses was ruined by Moya’s blood, and she imagined that it had gone through to her petticoats. Poor Moya. He hadn’t woken up again before she left to change her clothes and have something to eat.

She needed to do both, although she wasn’t really hungry. As Dr. Frey had pointed out, she couldn’t keep going without nutrition and rest.

As she changed into another dress, Elise considered her conversation with Dr. Frey while they waited together for Moya to awaken. The doctor had examined the wound and come to a conclusion that the injury had been no accident. Dr. Frey had found no bits of bark or wood from a tree limb. And the contusion around the cut had edges that were far too smooth to have been made by a branch. He theorized that this had been an attack with a different object, possibly a board. No limb had hit his head.

Who would want to hurt him? Everyone she’d spoken to since she arrived who knew Moya had said that he was one of the best people they’d ever met. They all liked his easy-going attitude and his consistent willingness to help others.

None of those people would want to do anything to him. They would have come to his aid if they had found him, just like Lars had. Whoever did this had to have extreme anger against Moya for some reason.

A knock at her bedroom door brought her from her thoughts.

“Who is it?” she asked as she slid into a clean petticoat.

“Stina.”

“Come in.” Elise picked up her soiled dress and petticoats.

The door opened and Stina entered the room, closing the door behind her.

“I heard about Moya, Elise,” Stina said as she sat on the edge of the bed. “How is he?”

“Dr. Frey says that he’s in a coma. He doesn’t know if Moya will make it or not.”

“Oh, Elise, I’m so sorry. I know you like him a lot.”

“Because he’s a nice man. Everybody likes him.”

“You like him like a beau, though.”

Elise’s heart quickened, and she turned away from Stina to put her dirty clothes into a basket. Now Stina was telling her how she felt about Moya. More people seemed to know what she was feeling than she did.

The dress disappeared from her hands, and Elise shot her startled gaze to Stina, who was studying the blood stain on the skirt.

“It looks like he bled a lot,” Stina said, “but I think I can get this out. Do you want me to try?”

As glad as she was that Stina had offered, Elise felt guilty because Stina did laundry all day long most days. “Thank you, Stina, but I don’t want you to have to do my laundry when that’s all you ever do.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I had minded. And anything else that has blood on it, I’ll wash that, too. So many men get cuts and scrapes out logging that I’ve found a way to take care of their clothes.”

Elise collapsed onto the other side of the bed. Today had been exhausting, and it wasn’t over. After she ate and took a nap—if she
could
nap—she needed to go back to Dr. Frey’s office and sit with Moya until about two in the morning.

“May I ask you a question, Stina?”

“Of course.”

“Do you know of anybody who hates Moya so much that he would deliberately hurt him?”

“I thought he was hurt by a falling tree limb. At least, that’s what I was told.”

“That’s what everybody was told out at the logging site,” Elise said, “but Dr. Frey said he thinks it was deliberate.”

“Everybody I know thinks Moya is a wonderful person. I don’t know anybody would do such a thing to him.”

“Neither do I, which is why I’m so confused. Don’t tell anybody what Dr. Frey said, because I don’t know if he wants it to be general knowledge. All I know is what he told me, and what he told me is so unbelievable.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m not hungry,” Elise announced. “I’m just going to lie down and get some rest. Would you wake me in about two hours? I need to go back later so Dr. Frey can get some sleep.”

***

As exhausted as she was, Elise hadn’t been able to sleep earlier. Now she sat at Moya’s bedside, gently rubbing his hand, quietly talking to him in Swedish. The doctor had said that he might be able to hear her, so she wanted to constantly say something, anything, in an attempt to coax him awake.

For hours, she talked, watching his eyes, which didn’t even flutter. At one point, she laid her head on his pillow but continued speaking to him, all the while silently praying that he would wake up and talk to her.

Then his voice shocked her into sitting up again. “Don’t you ever stop talking?”

“Moya!” she exclaimed.

“Sh-h,” he said with a wink and a smile. “I have a headache.”

She chuckled, glad that his sense of humor was intact. “I imagine you do. I’ll be right back. I need to get Dr. Frey.”

“
Vait
. I need to tell you
dat
I love you.”

“I know. You told me out at the logging site. If it helps you feel better, I think I love you, too.”

“Don’t say it
yust
because it
vill
make me feel better.”

“That’s not why I’m saying it. I’m saying it because I mean it. And if I had any idea of what love is, I might be saying that I
do
love you. Unfortunately, my mother never had the chance to guide me in this. Now I’m going to get the doctor because he told me to wake him if you came to.”

When Elise and the physician returned, Dr. Frey examined Moya then sat down on a chair with a pen, ink bottle, paper, and a board to write on.

“Do you have any recollection of what happened to you, Mr. Sten?” Dr. Frey asked as he dipped his pen into the ink bottle, which also sat on the board.

“Recollection?” Moya repeated.

Elise could tell that he didn’t understand the word, so she translated for him. “
Minne,
Moya.”

“Ah. No, sir. I
vish
I knew, but I don’t.”

“What do you remember from before the incident?” the doctor asked.

Taking Elise’s hand in his and gazing up at her fondly, he replied, “I remember our picnic.”

“How long ago was that?”

Moya frowned, and Elise realized that he had lost all concept of time.

“
De
day before yesterday?” Moya responded.

Dr. Frey looked over at Elise. “Is that correct?”

Shaking her head, she said, “It was four days ago.”

“Four days?” Moya asked. “Are you sure?”

As bad as Elise felt for him, she knew it was best to be honest in her answers. “I’m positive.”

“
Den
I can’t remember two days.” He squeezed her hand, but his grasp was weak. “
Vat
happened in
dose
days?”

“You don’t need to fret about that right now,” Dr. Frey said. “I just need to know how bad your head injury is. These questions will help me determine if your memory is improving.”

While Dr. Frey continued with his questions and Moya answered to the best of his ability, Elise sat on the bed beside Moya. His memory loss obviously troubled him, but Elise didn’t care that he didn’t remember. All she cared about was that he remembered their picnic and what happened there.

Chapter 14

Elise spent the better part of five days with Moya as he recuperated in the doctor’s office bed. Thanks to the laudanum that Dr. Frey gave him, Moya’s headaches weren’t as severe as they had been. Since he was feeling better, Moya asked to go home, but Dr. Frey told him that he still had a brain injury and was only feeling better because of the drug.

On the sixth day when Elise came by again, Moya demanded that he go home.

“If you live by yourself,” Dr. Frey said, “you can’t go home. You still need nearly constant supervision. How many times have you tried to get up and couldn’t walk but a few steps without getting weak and dizzy? If you fall and hit your head again, it could kill you. Is that what you want?”

“
Vat
I
vant
is to go home. I live in one of the dorms, so
dere vill
be people around who can help me.”

“Excuse me, doctor,” Elise interrupted, “do you think we could make a compromise?”

“What is it?” Dr. Frey asked.

“What if I take Moya in? I’ve been helping you care for him since we brought him here. I know what to do. I know how often to give him medicine so his headaches won’t come back. When I’m not there, either Stina or Karin are. I can give them instructions on his care.”

Moya’s face lit at the prospect of staying with Elise, and he spoke excitedly to Dr. Frey. “
Ja
!
Dat vould
be a good idea.”

“I suppose that would work,” Dr. Frey agreed, “
if
you follow all of her instructions and don’t move around a lot without help or someone in the house.

“I promise.”

***

With a half an hour, Moya was comfortably situated in Elise’s bed. The dose of laudanum the doctor had given him at the office had made his transport easier since he wasn’t in much pain. Dr. Frey warned him, however, that if he didn’t continue taking his laudanum at regular intervals, he would find that his headaches would increase in intensity. Elise assured the doctor that she would make sure Moya continued his medicine as recommended.

Confident that Elise would take care of everything from giving Moya his medicine to cleaning and dressing his wound daily, Dr. Frey left.

As soon as Elise returned from seeing Dr. Frey out, Moya patted the bed and spoke in a heated tone. “Come sit by your patient.”

“I don’t think I should, Moya,” she replied. “That look in your eyes tells me that it might make you want to do something you shouldn’t.”

“I feel fine now,” he said with a grin.

She sank onto the edge of the bed and turned to look down at him. “You know what Dr. Frey said. You’re not supposed to move around a lot.”

“We could have a little fun
vitout
my moving too much.”

“No fun. You need rest.”

“I
vould
rest better after. I promise.”

“Maurtiz Sten, are you suggesting a repeat of what we did at the river that day?”

“You had fun,
ja
?”

“I did, but …”

“Let’s do it again.”

“You moved too much. You can’t be doing that right now. One of us has to be rational here,” she said in her most motherly tone, “and it obviously isn’t going to be you.”

“Lie down beside me
den
, and
ve
can cuddle.
De
bed is made for two people. I
vould
love to fall asleep
vit
you in my arms.”

Elise thought of the nights since their picnic and her thoughts she had of sleeping with Moya again. She’d dreamed of their tryst, of his kisses, of every part of that day. Although she would love to lie down and take a nap, she couldn’t. She needed to take care of Moya, and sharing a bed with him wasn’t doing that.

There was no doubt in her mind that she would love to be in his arms, would adore being his lover, but she needed to keep her distance until he recovered. If anything bad happened to him because she relented, she would carry that guilt with her for the rest of her life.

“Elise?” he asked, bringing her from her introspection. “Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry, Moya. I was just thinking.”

“Aren’t you tired after all the time you’ve been taking care of me?”

“I’m exhausted.”

“
Den
lie down.
Ve vill
sleep for a
vile
.”

With Moya lying under the covers in his nightshirt, Elise thought it best to lie atop the blanket. If nothing else, that would dissuade him for making any move toward sex. She laid her head on his left shoulder, and he wrapped that arm around her. His hand felt around on the back of her head until he found the large, ivory hairpin her father had given her. He pulled it out and released her locks from their bun.

“Isn’t it better to sleep
vitout
dat
?”

Stifling a yawn, she said, “Yes, it’s much better.”

For several minutes they simply lay in that position, with Elise on her right side and Moya toying with her hair. Then he rolled onto his left side and scooted down in the bed a little bit so their faces were right beside each other. He kissed her lightly on the lips.

Even that peck felt good. In her dreams, though, it had been more passionate. Oh, how she wished they could join as they had at the river! She longed to show him how much she appreciated him and wanted him to know beyond a doubt that she loved him—at least, she thought it was love.