Big Shot by Joanna Wayne Read Free Book Online Page A

here.”
    “Just as you requested,” a smiling nurse added.
    She looked at the window. No light crept through the blinds. “Is it morning?”
    “It’s three o’clock.”
    “You’re Durk,” she said as the images and her thoughts slowly came into focus.
    “Yes, I am, and this is Dr. Levy and Angela.”
    She studied both of them. Only the nurse looked familiar.
    “I hear you have lot of questions for me,” Dr. Levy said. “But maybe I can clear up some of what’s happened before you have to ask. Would you like for Angela to help you go to the bathroom before we get started?”
    Now that he mentioned it, she did need to go. The prospect of getting her arms and legs coordinated made the task seem daunting even with Angela’s help.
    “It’s only a few steps away,” Dr. Levy said, as if reading her mind. “I’ll tell you what, Durk and I will chat in the hallway and give you some privacy. Angela will let us know when you’re back in bed.”
    “I need the answer to one question first,” she said. “Do I have brain damage?”
    “No, you have a significant concussion that’s left you temporarily confused, a condition called retrograde amnesia. But your vital signs are good, as are your neuro signs other than the mental confusion. There’s absolutely no indication of any permanent damage.”
    She took a deep breath and let the relief flood through her body. “That’s what I needed to hear,” she said. “But I do still have a few questions.”
    “That’s a good sign,” Dr. Levy said.
    Durk took her hand and squeezed it gently before he left the room with the doctor. She could learn to like that man—if she ever figured out who he was.
    Angela took it slowly with her, having her sit up and then dangle her legs over the side of the bed for a good minute before progressing to standing. She was a bit shaky, but wasn’t nearly as unsteady as she’d feared.
    Once she was erect, her thoughts seemed to clear a bit, though she still couldn’t get her mind around exactly why she was in this hospital.
    “Just lean on me,” Angela encouraged her, “and we’ll take it slowly. Are you dizzy?”
    “Not really dizzy,” she said, trying to be accurate. “I’m just a little unsteady.”
    “You’re doing fine.” Angela led her to the bathroom.
    Meghan stopped at the mirror and stared at the image looking back at her. The right side of her face was swollen and bruised. Her hair looked as if it had been sucked into a cement mixer. The knot she’d felt behind her left ear made her head look lopsided.
    Her insides churned. “Now I’m dizzy,” she said. “And mortified. I look like a sun-baked alien.”
    “The assailant did a number on you,” Angela said. “But give it a little time and the bruising and swelling will fade and you’ll be the Meghan of old.”
    The Meghan of old. The Meghan she couldn’t remember. Even if they were friends, it was amazing the handsome cowboy hadn’t taken one look at her last night and run away screaming.
    “Once your hair grows out, you won’t even be able to see where the staples were.”
    “When my hair grows out?”
    “They had to shave the area that required surgical staples to close the cuts.”
    So now she’d have bald spots in the middle of the back of her head. How much worse could this get?
    Holding on to the basin with one hand, she turned on the water with the other and slid her hand beneath the cool flow. She splashed some on her face and then dabbed a bit onto her bangs. She smoothed the worst of the wild mass as best she could.
    “I’ll help you get cleaned up later,” Angela offered. “Though you can’t shampoo the hair yet. But right now we should let you talk to Dr. Levy.”
    Meghan murmured her agreement and gratefully looked away from the mirror. She pushed thoughts of her looks aside as she finished up in the bathroom and with Angela’s help climbed back in the bed.
    She had bigger concerns to deal with. Like where her memory had gone and