I wanted to thank you for your continued interest in the journey of Rhi and her friends. There are a lot of emotions, a lot of secrets to be revealed and a lot of fun to come.

*Rhi: a little 'off', twisted sense of humor, hot temper, bewitching, stubborn, creative and fun.

*Alex: dreamy, loving, territorial and damn near perfect.

*Kate and Ana: aggressive, patient, loyal, protective, will do anything to protect family.

*Elliot and Rhi are two peas in a pod and shenanigans galore when these two are together.

*Luke: a good guy deep down, over-protective and brainless at times like a pit bull.

*Ryan and Reynolds: laid back, brotherly, protective and will definitely have their hands full.

*Taylor: is grumpy, hard to break and doesn't like the unknown.

*Christian and Rhi are more alike than they know. Imagine the fireworks…

I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it. You all are amazing and very appreciated.

Chapter 62

Foolish

Alex POV

"I'll get it. Just to be safe." I say, walking to the door. Looking through the peephole, to make sure it's not whoever caused this mess and see that it's not. FINALLY!

Opening the door, I greet Dr. Wilcox. "Hello Dr. W. How are you? Come in please." I shake his hand and step aside to allow him to enter.

"It's good to see you Alex. I'm doing well. Thank you for asking." He smiles and steps into the room.

I don't want to wait any longer so I take the initiative and introduce everyone. I try to keep my voice calm, "This is Ana and Kate. Kate, Ana, this is Dr. Wilcox. He's the doctor all the guys use when needed."

Dr. W nods a greeting and reaches out a hand in greeting. "Hello Kate. Hello Ana. It's a pleasure meeting you." He gives them a warm smile. "Please, call me Dr. W. It's easier." He chuckles.

"Hello." They say in unison. It would be quite comical if it wasn't so awkward.

I can't wait to have him look at Rhi and I'm almost giddy with anticipation. Glancing at Rhi I see she looks a little terrified. Walking over to her, I wrap my arm around her waist and kiss the top of her head. Leading her over to him I whisper, "Relax. It will be OK." I struggle to keep the relief and giddiness out of my voice when I introduce her to Dr. W. "Here, we have the patient, Rhi. Rhi, this is Dr. W."

"Hello" she says quietly.

I'm confused and I must admit that I'm a little concerned. I barely recognize this version of Rhi. She's the complete opposite of the girl she was a few minutes ago.

"Pleased to meet you." Dr. W responds giving her a friendly smile.

Clearing my throat, I ask, "How do you want to do this?" I want to get this started as soon as possible. If I know Rhi she's trying to come up with a plan to get out of this. Not on my watch, missy.

Dr. W looks around and replies, "How about we go over to the table near the window. Natural light will be better than the ones in here. Hopefully there's enough light, otherwise we may have to go to the clinic. Let's take a look at it first if that's OK?"

I notice Rhi tense up and close her eyes briefly before reluctantly nodding. I take her hand and give it a light squeeze to give her some support. I honestly don't know why she's acting so strange and like I said before I'm a bit concerned.

Dr. W walks over to the table and opens his bag. He pulls out some paperwork and I see Rhi blanche. "I'll need you to fill these out before I leave but I'd like to take a look at your hand first, shall we?" He looks at Rhi, expectantly.

Rhi is frozen, just staring at the paperwork. "Rhi? Come on, let's go over to the table and sit." I dip my head down a little so I can see her face and hold out my hand. When she looks up at me, I can see fear in her eyes. Slowly she places her hand in mine and I notice they're ice cold.

Bending down, I give her a gentle kiss and quietly say, "It will be OK. I promise. I'll be right there with you; unless you don't want me to?" I'm half expecting her to tell me to stay.

I'm pleasantly surprised when she doesn't. "No, please come with me." I nod and lead her by the hand and we sit opposite of Dr. W. Remembering the paperwork, I ask, "Dr. W? Would it be OK if Kate and Ana started filling out what they can of the paperwork? She's righthanded and won't be able to write."

He smiles, "Oh yes, that would be fine. If that's ok with you Ms.…?"

Rhi smiles and laughs. "Walker, but you can call me Rhi. Yes, it's fine, they are like family and know everything." Smiling, she looks at them, "Don't shortchange me on my height, but feel free to edit my weight." She winks and they laugh. Turning back to Dr. W, she says, "Just kidding." Kate and Ana start filling out the paperwork and they look like they're taking a test.

Taking out a notepad and pen, he sets them on the table. Which, I presume, is for taking notes. After a minute, he gently takes Rhi's hand in his and gasps. "Oh my. That looks pretty ugly. It's pretty bruised and swollen. How long has it been like this?"

Rhi is silent and quietly says, "It happened just after noon yesterday. I didn't really notice it bruising or swelling until it was pointed out to me about 45 minutes to an hour later by Kate and Ana." Swallowing hard, she continues. "The bruising and swelling got worse as the day progressed."

While Rhi is answering, Dr. Wilcox is looking her hand over. Palpating gently and flexing and extending her fingers and wrist and I see her flinch and scrunch her face up. It must be hurting pretty bad when he does that; though he's pretty much been the only one to manipulate it. I feel bad for her, because of the pain, but I'm happy she's letting him do it.

"Can you tell me how it happened?" Rhi looks up at me, then to Kate and Ana, a worried look on her face.

Kate and Ana nod, "It's ok. Just tell the truth."

Gently, I rub the back of her hand and give it a squeeze.

Taking a deep breath she answers, "I hit someone." Glancing my way I can see sadness in her eyes.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that she hit someone; a guy no less. Had I been there I would've beat him myself. Though if I was there it wouldn't have happened.

Dr. W stops what he's doing and looks up at her, his attention being taken off what he's doing. "Did I hear you correctly? You HIT someone?"

She looks at him sheepishly and smirks. "Yes, that's what I said. It was self-defense."

He seems thrown off for a moment but recovers quickly. "Well, I'd hate to see what the other person looks like."

Rhi tells him, "Um, it was actually a really big guy. I'm pretty sure I broke his nose. At least I HOPE I did, considering this is what my hand looks like."

I hear Dr. Wilcox chuckle. "Well, I can't say much, nor can I guarantee it's the same person, but I did have a gentleman come in yesterday with a broken nose, a black eye and a concussion. But, like I said, I can't give any other information about it, nor can I guarantee it's the same person." He looks at her, winks, and smiles.

After a few more minutes of looking at her hand, he clears his throat. "Well, Rhi, it's definitely broken. However, we need to do x-rays to determine the extent of the damage. I understand you are here on vacation. When are you leaving to go back home?" He looks up, waiting for her response.

"Um…" she starts, "In two days."

Dr. W is silent for a moment and he's making notes on his notepad. After a few more notes he looks up at Rhi, "OK. So here's my plan. I'd like to get you treated as soon as possible. I'll know more once we get x-rays done, but based on what I'm seeing right now you've done significant damage and will need surgery to repair it correctly." He maintains eye contact with her, making sure she's understanding how dire the situation is.

There's an urgency in his tone that I don't miss and I'm pretty sure Kate and Ana don't either. I can tell by the way he's talking that he wants to get her in for surgery right now. Unfortunately, I can also tell by the way Rhi is reacting that she won't do it. My suspicions are correct with her next words.

She doesn't even hesitate before answering. "I'm on vacation. I don't want to spend the last days of my vacation in the hospital. I can get it repaired when I get home. It's only a couple of days."

His demeanor doesn't change. His gaze doesn't waver. He's never been one to assert authority and make someone do something they don't want to do, which is exactly why I wanted her to see him. While HE may have maintained his professional control, Kate and Ana don't. They audibly exhale harshly in disbelief, though I highly doubt they were expecting this to be a walk in the park.

The silence fills the room to capacity before Dr. W says to Rhi, "OK. We've got some other options. Do you have a medical professional you plan on seeing when you return home?"

She nods, "Yes. My regular surgeon will be able to do it as soon as I return. Well, maybe a day or two after. It depends on their availability. In an emergency I've never had to wait that long."

Regular surgeon? What the fuck does that mean? Now I'm even more confused.

Before I can even think about it further, Dr. W comments, "OK, well like I said, we do have some other options. Keep in mind that the sooner we do something the better the outcome." He gives her a warm smile again before continuing, "I really would like to get x-rays done so we can get a better picture of the damage. Once we identify that, we can set your hand and cast it to aid in the healing process. It will be a temporary fix until you can get home and have the surgeon repair it properly. What do you think? Are you OK with that?" He asks.

Well, it's not ideal but it's better than nothing.

I'm really hoping she says yes because if she waits too long it won't heal properly. I can see the wheels turning and she surprises the hell out of me when she looks at Kate and Ana and asks, "What do you guys think?"

WHAT THE FUCK? She did NOT just ask that question. Please tell me I didn't just hear that. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE!

Kate and Ana look at her like she's lost her fucking mind and I'm pretty sure I have the same expression. Kate sounds dumbfounded when she responds, "Um… do you REALLY need us to answer that? Of course we think you should get the x-rays done AND a cast put on properly until we go home. Three days without being set right is a long time. You don't want to start healing improperly and have it get worse. Jeeze Rhi, how could you even ASK that?" She rolls her eyes and I swear she looks like she wants to smack Rhi for her stupidity.

Mentally, I pump my fist in the air, punching the sky, and silently, I scream, YES! WAY TO GO KATE!

Glancing at me, Rhi sighs and smiles. Turning to Dr. W she gives him the answer we're all waiting for, "You win. OK, Dr. W. Let's get the x-rays done and you can patch me up as best you can." While we're all thrilled with her answer, her tone is the complete opposite. She sounds… broken.

Dr. W smiles, "I'm glad to hear you say that. Someone as young and as pretty as you should have pretty hands even when she's ninety. Besides, something tells me that if you didn't get treated now you have a few friends who wouldn't be too happy with you." He winks at her.

He picks up his pen and starts making notes again, "Now, what have you been doing for the pain and swelling? I'm sure it hurts pretty bad, considering the way it looks on the outside."

Rhi's eyes get wide, and I can tell she feels kind of foolish because her answer sounds pretty dumb. "Um… nothing. Alcohol to dull the pain and cold water to keep the swelling down."

Dr. W's head snaps up and he looks shocked. "WHAT? You haven't done anything for the pain OR swelling? The swelling is the most important thing that should be taken care of." He shakes his head in disbelief. "You must have a high tolerance for pain to have taken nothing, other than drinking. Not that I'm condoning that, but if it helps then I'm all for it. However, with the swelling, we need to get you in immediately to get this process started."

He looks at Ana and Kate and asks, "How are you coming with the paperwork?"

Ana and Kate share a look before responding, "We've pretty much finished. We just need Rhi to look things over." I swear, these two are like twins because they both look at Rhi in sync with the same expression.

Rhi smiles, "Thank you guys. You're a great help. I appreciate it." Her words are appreciative but her smile appears fake and her tone seems robotic.

Whether or not Dr. W notices or not he replies, "Great. I'm assuming you all are going to be joining her at the clinic? You ladies can bring the paperwork with you." Looking at me, he says, "Alex, you know where to go. I'll meet you there. Unless you want to ride with me? We can all fit in my car." He pauses. "Just a suggestion.

Ana, Kate and I look at each other and before Rhi can argue, we all say in unison, "I think it would be best if we went with you." I'll be damned if I'm going to let her procrastinate when we've got the doctor right here.

Rhi gives us a dirty look, sighs and reluctantly agrees. "Let me get my shoes on." She lets go of my hand, gets up and walks into the bedroom.

I look at Ana and Kate. Ana sighs, concern evident on her face, "Uh Oh. Let me go help her."