Ed reached for his pants and somehow managed to get them on as he ran up the stairs.
Darcy was right behind him.
As they ran from the kitchen and into the living room, they saw the mess they had heard.
Christian sat on the floor, next to the overturned coffee table. His hand was on his forehead, and blood dripped from under it.
“Crap! What did you do?” Ed ran to his brother as Darcy ran to the kitchen for a towel.
“I guess I’m a little dizzy. I went to stand up and fell over.”
Darcy handed Ed the towel, and Christian grinned. “Nice top, Darcy.”
Ed turned and noticed it was still hanging open, but she was frantically buttoning it. He smacked Christian in the arm.
“What’s that for?”
“You’re a pig,” Ed said as he examined the cut over his brother’s brow. “You’re going to need stitches.”
“Damn it!”
“Don’t be such a baby.”
“You know if you were in my shoes, you’d be crying.”
Ed shook his head as he held the towel to his brother’s head. “I’m pretty sure I’ve always been stronger emotionally.”
The conversation stopped there.
Ed stood and motioned to Darcy to grab Christian’s crutches. Then he pulled him to his feet.
“C’mon. When was the last time you were in the clinic?”
“Seriously? You’re taking me there?”
“Curtis is working tonight. He’ll love stabbing you with a needle.”
Ed made sure Christian was stable and the bleeding had stopped enough before he turned to Darcy.
“I’ll be back.”
“Don’t you want me to go with you?”
Ed touched her face. “You get some rest. And tomorrow, we’ll go get that tattoo.”
She smiled, but she wasn’t happy about any of it. Those damn beautiful brown eyes sure could tell him a lot about this woman. And yet, deep down, they held some kind of secret he didn’t know about. He wasn’t sure she did either. Darcy McCary, the future Mrs. Eduardo Keller, was so familiar to him, which was the rush to make her all his. But those eyes…what were they hiding?
Chapter Eighteen
Ed wondered how it was that late on a Friday night a medical clinic could be so busy. He and Christian had been waiting almost an hour, and dropping the name Curtis Keller had done nothing to get them in any faster.
It was nearing ten o’clock when they were finally called back.
A nurse took Christian’s vitals and flashed a smile at him when he turned on his charm.
Ed shook his head. Where had this man come from? Christian had been such a shy kid, emotional, and, well, a total nerd. The minute he made his first varsity baseball team, a new man emerged and he had a healthy dose of smart ass to add to the mix that made Christian Keller.
Curtis pulled back the curtain and laughed. “I promised I’d be at dinner on Tuesday. You don’t have to keep showing up.”
“Funny,” Christian scoffed. “Just fix this please.”
Curtis took a look at the cut on his head. “You’re just an accident waiting to happen, aren’t you?”
“Waiting? Look at me. I’m messed up from head to toe.”
“You’re going to need about four stitches.”
“Really?” Christian’s shoulders dropped. “Women dig scars, right?”
“So they tell me.” Curtis poked at the wound with a gloved hand, and Christian winced.
Ed could feel his airport dinner churning in his stomach.
“Let me get the stuff I need to fix this up.”
Curtis left the curtained-off area.
“This isn’t how I wanted to spend my weekend,” Christian complained.
“You’re tough.” Ed looked at his watch. “Hey, is that tattoo parlor still open where we got our family tattoos?”
Christian shrugged. “I think so. Why? You getting Darcy’s name tattooed on your butt?”
Ed laughed. “It’s a thought. No. She’s going to get the family tattoo on her wrist, like Clara’s.”
Christian narrowed his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re this serious about her.”
“You think I’m wrong about her.”
“No. Oh, no,” he was quick to answer. “I like her. I like her a lot. In fact, had you not gotten to her first, well…”
Ed didn’t want to think about that more than he already had.
Christian adjusted on the bed. “I’ve just never seen you so…possessive over someone.”
“Possessive?”
“It’s like you were meant to take care of her. I don’t know.” He touched his head. “I’m still fuzzy.”
Curtis returned with a metal tray full of utensils and went about stitching up Christian’s head.
Ed sunk into his hard, plastic chair and diverted his eyes. He didn’t want to see what was going on in front of him.
But Christian’s words kept playing in his head. It’s like you were meant to take care of her.
He was right. That was exactly what it was like. She was a gift. She fell right into his life. God, he was a lucky man.
Curtis finished stitching up Christian’s head. “Keep it dry until tomorrow. I’ll go get you ointment to put on it to keep it sanitary.”
Curtis left again, and Christian sat up on the bed. “I was thinking, did Darcy ever find anything on her birth parents?”
“No.” He didn’t want to tell him about her searching the company records. It didn’t sound too good. “She gave up the search. She decided it wasn’t too important. Besides, when she went to see her dad, he told her that her birth mother had died.”
“That’s sad.”
“She’s fine.”
“But if her birth mother died then, really, there’s no harm in finding out who she was right?”
“Why?”
“To know.”
Ed shook his head. “I told her I’d help her find them if she wanted, but she said she’s fine. So that’s that.”
Christian nodded, but he was still thinking.
Curtis came back into the curtained area with a tube and handed it to Christian. “Here. Use this to keep it moist.”
Christian nodded, exchanged a glance with Ed, and then looked back at Curtis. “If someone was born in the hospital, could you look up their records?”