Got A Hold On You (Ringside Romance) by Pat White Read Free Book Online Page A

the
curtain aside and her breath caught in her throat.
    The overbearing giant who’d scared the wits out of her
at first sight lay motionless on the bed. One arm was folded across his
stomach, an IV needle embedded in his hand. He was so still, so helpless. The
goose egg on his forehead had swollen to the size of a grapefruit, nearly
closing his left eye. A little lower and she could have blinded the man.
    Her legs wobbled, and she collapsed into a padded gray
chair reserved for loved ones. Nibbling her thumbnail, she sat there and
watched him breathe. In and out. Slow and steady. She still couldn’t believe
such a powerful creature could look so vulnerable, so broken.
    Long strands of dark hair feathered across the
institutional white pillow. His lips moved slightly as if he were dreaming.
    A nightmare more like it. Probably hallucinating about
Tiger Lady.
    She didn’t realize she’d gotten so close until she was
standing over him brushing a strand of hair off his cheek. Confusion knotted her
insides as she ran her fingertips across a deep scar on his forehead. She
wondered how it got there.
    She shouldn’t care. He was a commodity, nothing more,
a commodity that would help save Uncle Joe’s company.
    “Sir, you can’t go in there!” a woman’s voice ordered.
    The curtain scraped open on metal rings and Frankie
jerked her hand away. Uncle Joe stepped into the examining area with Billings
right beside him.
    “Sir!” a young nurse protested. “One visitor at a
time. And his wife is with him now.”
    “His wife?” Uncle Joe quirked an eyebrow at Frankie.
    “Don’t give me that look.”
    A doctor side-stepped Uncle Joe and approached Jack.
“Everyone needs to leave.”
    She touched the starched sleeve of the doctor’s lab
coat. “He’ll be okay, won’t he?”
    The doctor glanced at the nurse.
    “Wife,” she said.
    Uncle Joe spit out a hysterical giggle. Oh, he was
pleased with himself tonight.
    The doctor ignored them and went to work, checking
Jack’s vitals.
    It was coming. She could feel it. She’d caused a brain
hemorrhage, a blood clot, permanent damage that would prevent Black Jack from
stepping into the ring ever again. Uncle Joe could kiss WHAK goodbye. She’d
ruined two lives in one night. Make that three. Bradley would be disappointed
that their five-year engagement plan would have to be scrapped since Frankie
would probably get eight and a third to twenty for attempted manslaughter.
    “Doctor?” she urged.
    “Looks like a concussion. Won’t know how serious until
we take some x-rays.”
    “Is it normal for him to be unconscious like this?”
    “That’s not from the head injury. He passed out when
the paramedic administered the IV. Needle phobic.”
    “Oh,” she said, surprised that a man like Jack Hudson
could be daunted by something as small as a needle.
    The patient moaned and brought his right hand to his
face, as if shielding his eyes. “What the hell?”
    She backed up into Uncle Joe, afraid of Jack’s
reaction when he spotted her. Then she remembered: He’d only recognize her as
Tatianna the Terrible. She stood a little straighter.
    “Sir? I’m Dr. Carson. Do you know your name?”
    “Jack. Jack Hudson.”
    “Do you know what happened to you, Mr. Hudson?”
    “I got clobbered by a seven-hundred-pound gorilla.”
    The doctor pulled out a pen-sized flashlight and
shined it in Jack’s right eye.
    “Enough already,” Jack protested, batting the doctor’s
hand away. “I was clubbed by a crazy woman.”
    “How about these people? Do you recognize them?”
    He squinted and stared at Frankie. Guilt flashed in
bold neon letters across her forehead. His gaze drifted to her right and landed
on Uncle Joe. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
    “Jesus, Sully. You’re like a vulture circling a
carcass.”
    “Just wanted to check up on my biggest star.”
    Jack grunted.
    “Doctor?” a nurse interrupted. “We need you in room
two.”
    “I’ll be right there. Mr.