That earned Jill a frustrated look. “Why are you so bent on giving me grief, Jilly?”
Only one person had ever been allowed to call her by that name, and the loss of that special someone still hurt her to the core. She shook off the memories and faked a calm demeanor. “Why are you so determined to annoy me with that Jilly thing?”
He inclined his head and studied her. “It fits you better.”
“Well, I don’t like it and I suspect that’s why you do it.”
He had the gall to grin. “Would you feel better if I let you call me by a nickname?”
Jill grabbed for a little levity to defuse her frustration. “Overly confident?”
“Hmm...” He streaked his right hand over his stubbled jaw. “Overly Confident Calloway. Has a nice ring to it, but it’s too long. I was thinking more along the lines of Handsome.”
Shocker. “How about Crazy Calloway?”
“Been called that before. Charming?”
This exchange could go on all night if she didn’t put a halt to it now. With that in mind, Jill morphed back into medical mode and turned to retrieve a pair of disposable gloves, then approached the table to inspect the cut beneath the slit in his jeans. “You’re lucky. Your leg was protected from certain doom by denim. This is superficial and nothing a little antiseptic and a bandage won’t cure. Now let me see your wrist.”
He gingerly held the appendage out for her to examine. “Probably just a sprain,” he muttered.
She pressed the fleshy part of his palm next to his thumb and immediately heard a litany of oaths. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in my opinion you have a scaphoid fracture. You’ll need to confirm that with an X-ray.”
“I don’t have time for a fracture.”
She shrugged. “You’re going to have to make the time if my assessment is correct.”
He frowned. “How much time?”
She reached behind her, grabbed an antiseptic packet and tore it open. “That will be up to a doctor to decide.”
His jaw tightened when she began to dab at the cut. “Give me a hint,” he said.
After discarding the damp pad in the appropriate bin, Jill applied a plastic strip to the abrasion. “Best case scenario, three months. Worst case, six months.”
Surprise passed over his expression before turning to anger. “If I’m laid up for even three months, I might as well forget making it to the finals in December.”
Always chasing those championships, as were most of the cowboys who came to her for aid. “If you don’t comply with any treatment you might need, you could complicate matters.”
He released a rough sigh. “Can’t imagine this being any more complicated than it already is.”
Oh, if he only knew...and now he would. “If you go back to riding before the fracture heals, you could suffer a ruptured tendon.”
“It’s my left hand. All I have to do is hold it over my head to balance.”
“And if you lose your balance, you risk landing on it again. I assure you that would not be pleasant.”
He swiped his arm across his forehead. “None of this is pleasant.”
“No, it’s not, but it’s unfortunately a risk you take when you climb onto a raging animal. Do you have someone who can drive you to an emergency room?”
Houston looked even more defeated. “My brother took off in the rig to hook up with some old girlfriend.”
“Which one?”
He scowled. “Hell if I know who she is.”
Suppressing a smile, she stripped the gloves off and tossed them into the bin behind her. “I meant which brother.”
“Tyler.”
Jill had treated the bronc rider once or twice, only he had always been polite and accommodating, unlike his big brother. “I’m sure if you give him a call—”
“I did before my ride. He told me to find a way back to the motel and I’d see him in the morning.”
“You might try calling him again.”
“Did that, too. It went straight to voice mail, which means he’s tied up for the night. Literally.”
Clearly he’d run out of brother-based options. “Surely you can find one of your rodeo cronies to give you a ride.”
He slid off the table and groaned. “I was the last entry so everyone’s probably headed out. I should’ve done the same thing and would have if Henry hadn’t convinced me to come in here to see you. I could have just as easily waited to see my doctor at home.”
A new nickname for him came to mind—Foolish. “It’s a long way from Fort Worth to South Texas. It’s never wise to delay treatment.”
“I can have my private plane here in two hours. Problem solved.”
Not quite. “Sure. You could do that, and if you have any blood-flow issues, they can fit you for a prosthetic hand when you get there.”
He blew out a long breath. “Since you put it that way, guess I better call a cab and get this over with, although I figure it’s probably going to be a waste of time.”
Jill couldn’t trust he wouldn’t bypass medical care and opt for the plane trip, leading her to the last resort she’d been trying to avoid. “Look, there’s a satellite ER two blocks from here. You’ll be in and out much faster that way, and if it’s only a sprain, you can tell me ‘I told you so.’ I’ll take you there and drop you off at your hotel after you’re finished with the exam.”
He seemed seriously perplexed. “Why would you do that for me?”
Her answer would reflect her strong sense of responsibility, and possibly a serious lack of wisdom. “I can report my findings to the staff while I’m there and make sure you actually go inside.”
“No one waiting for you at home?”
The next response would indicate the sad state of her life. “No. Tonight I have nothing better to do aside from grabbing something to eat and settling in to my motel room. If you accept my offer, we can go as soon as I close up here.”
Houston mulled that over for a moment and smiled in earnest. “Tell you what. If you’ll do this for me, I’ll buy you breakfast since I’m sure we won’t be done before dawn.”
Heavens, she hoped that wouldn’t be the case. Spending all night in a waiting room as a favor for a cranky cowboy wasn’t her idea of a good time.
* * *
At 5:00 a.m., with his wrist and thumb bound in a cast, Houston followed the demanding athletic trainer through the double glass doors and into the warm September night. As he trailed behind her toward the sedan, he realized he’d never observed this side of her before. He’d never really considered that she was taller than most women. He’d never seen her shiny auburn hair out of a ponytail, never noticed the way it swayed against her back when she walked. He’d sure as hell never paid much mind to how well she filled out her jeans, but then again, she was usually facing him when she tended his wounds.
But he had witnessed the impatience in her green eyes on several occasions when he’d put up a good argument as to why he didn’t require her attention. He sure wouldn’t mind her attention now...
Whoa, Calloway.
He had no business lusting after a member of the rodeo medical staff, even