The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

“physician.” But the guard didn’t know she was a veterinarian, and she wasn’t about to enlighten him. All that mattered was her getting to Russ.
    The man looked uncertain. “Do you have some kind of identification?”
    “Sure, doesn’t every doctor carry their degree around with them?” Abby asked sarcastically. But she pulled her wallet from her purse and showed him her driver’s license and a credit card issued to Dr. Abigail Ashton. Fortunately, the company that had sent her the card had failed to include the initials DVM after her name. “Now, get out of my way or I swear you’ll be standing in the unemployment line Monday morning.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said, stepping aside.
    As they hurried on down the hall, Nina stared at her wide-eyed. “I didn’t know you’re a doctor.”
    “I’m not.” Abby shrugged. “At least, not a medical doctor. I’m a large-animal vet.”
    Nina grinned. “Whatever. It worked to get you in to see Russ.”
    “It was going to take a lot more than one middle-agedsecurity guard to keep me out,” Abby said, meaning it. When she saw J.B. standing outside of a door at the far end of the hall, she asked, “How is he?”
    “Out like a light. But don’t worry,” he hurried to add. “The doc said Russ should be coming around any time.”
    “Are there any internal injuries?”
    J.B. shook his head as he put his arm around Nina. “Russ was wearing his riding vest. It saved him from being hooked by the bull’s horns.”
    “Thanks for the update,” Abby said, breathing a sigh of relief as she entered the training room.
    A man wearing a black-and-white striped vest, designating him as one of the medical personnel, smiled when she walked up to the side of the gurney where Russ lay. “Are you with Gannon?”
    She nodded. “Has he regained consciousness yet?”
    “He’s in and out,” the man said, pulling a chair over beside the stretcher. At her questioning look, he shrugged. “You might want to sit a spell.”
    As she stood looking down at the man she loved more than life itself, her chest tightened. Russ had a bruise on his left cheek and a lump the size of a goose egg on the side of his head, but otherwise he didn’t look bad.
    Taking his hand in hers, she felt his fingers move slightly. “Russ, darling, wake up,” she said softly.
    He murmured her name, and his hand tightened around hers a moment before his eyelids slowly opened and he fixed his blue gaze on her. “A-Abby?”
    She brushed his dark blond hair away from his forehead as she looked for any other signs of injury. “I’m right here, Russ.”
    “You can’t be,” he said, sounding tired. He closed his eyes, and his jaw muscles clenched as if he were in pain. “You’re on your way back to Nebraska.”
    She placed her hand on his brow and leaned down to lightly kiss his firm lips. “No, darling. I’m right here with you. Where I belong.”
    His eyes snapped open, and this time she could tell he was fully conscious. “I’m not hallucinating?”
    Turning to the emergency medical technician, she asked, “Could you give us a moment alone?”
    Nodding, the man silently left the room.
    “No, Russ, you’re not hallucinating.”
    “But I—”
    “You can’t get rid of me that easily.” She released his hand and sat down in the chair. “You might be ready to give up on us, but I’m not.”
    “You’re not?”
    The look of relief crossing his handsome face was all the encouragement she needed to continue. “Not by a long shot, cowboy. I listened to you yesterday morning, now you’re going to hear what I have to say.”
    “I am?” He gave her a lopsided grin, and she wondered if he might not be too groggy to listen to her.
    But taking a deep breath, she met his amused gaze head-on. “I’m not willing to give you up without a fight.”
    He ran his index finger along her cheek. “I don’t think I’m in much shape for a fight, honey.”
    “Good.” His touch felt like heaven and she had to remind herself that she had something more she needed to say. “Before you hear what I drove over two hours to tell you, I have a question.”
    “What’s that?” His deep baritone sent a shiver of need straight to her core.
    Abby did her best to ignore the sensation and pressed on. “Where on God’s green earth did you get the idea that you weren’t good enough for me?”
    He frowned, then winced and reached up to rub the side of his head. Apparently, the facial movement had caused