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He stroked her arm, her skin warm against his touch. “Quentyn and Jadyn aren’t just a responsibility to me. They’re part of me, and I love them all the more because they’re part of you, too. Those two little people are the best parts of us. And I’ll make sure, no matter what, that they grow up and make their mother proud.”
Heath had to stop then. A welling of emotion filled his chest, making it hard to take a deep breath. His words came out strained, as though they had to fight their way out of him, had to squeeze past the big lump in his throat.
Sylvie started to stir. Heath’s hand tightened on hers as her eyes fluttered open. He could tell that they didn’t quite focus on him, though. He imagined she was deep in the throes of the drugs that they were giving her to dull the pain.
“Is it over?” Sylvie croaked.
“No. Nothing’s over. Everything’s ahead of us. You’re right here with me. You’re safe.” He smoothed her hair away from her forehead.
Sylvie looked confused. “Water?” Heath immediately searched for the water cup. He found it and brought the straw to Sylvie’s lips. She sucked on the straw gratefully, and then she pulled away with a nod to him.
Too late, he feared maybe he shouldn't have given it to her. He jumped up and dashed to the door.
He flung it open and smiled at the gathered Joneses. “She’s awake! She’s talking!”
Everyone nodded and seemed pleased enough. He thought they weren’t as thrilled as they should be. Maybe … oh, he didn’t know and didn’t care.
“I gave her some water.” He looked at Eli, who was the only person there other than Elfleda who’d look Heath in the eye. “Was that okay? I didn’t think.”
Eli stepped in front of him and gave him a solid, manly squeeze on the shoulder. “It’s just fine, son. She can have water.”
Heath blew out a long breath of relief. “Okay, then. I’m going back in. You might want to tell the doctor she’s awake.”
“We will, son,” Eli said, the low voice a beacon of calm for Heath.
Heath quickly returned to Sylvie’s side.
“Everyone’s so happy you’ve come back to us,” he said to her, taking the water cup from her hands and setting it on the side table.
Her expression was confused again. “Come back? Oh yeah. What are you doing here, Heath?”
“I can’t believe you need to ask me that, sweetheart. Aunt Elfleda called me and told me about the accident. Don’t you worry about anything. You’re a fighter and you can overcome anything. I’m here to help you and I’ve got specialists on the way. Just stay here with us. Don’t leave.”
“What are you talking about? Accident? Did they drop me on the way to the operating room or something?”
Heath wondered if she had a concussion. Brain trauma could account for her memory loss. “It’s okay, baby. Don’t worry about it.”
Sylvie tried to sit up, but she groaned as she twisted and grabbed at her side.
Heath moved to help her just as a nurse bustled into the room.
She gave him a short nod and pulled the file from the end of Sylvie’s bed.
“Good, you’re awake, Ms. Jones. How are you feeling?”
Heath thought the nurse sounded a bit too chipper for his taste. Was this the way they acted around people who were dying? He was going to have to have a talk with the hospital’s administration.
“I think I’m okay. I tried to sit up, but it really hurt.” Sylvie pointed to her side.
“Not surprising. It burst before the doctor was able to get it out. You’re a lucky lady,” the nurse said.
Heath fixed the nurse with a questioning glance. “What injuries did she sustain in the accident?”
Sylvie and the nurse had puzzled expressions.
“What accident?” the nurse asked.
“That’s what I asked,” Sylvie said in a whisper. She looked like she was in pain.
The nurse moved immediately around to the other side and started switching out the IV bag.
“Give that a few minutes, dear, and you should start feeling better,” the nurse said in a soothing tone.
“The car accident,” Heath repeated the words, wondering if he was in some kind of alternate reality.
Sylvie shook her head at him. “I wasn’t in a car accident.” She looked at the nurse with raised brows.
“I don’t think you were in an accident. It doesn’t say anything about that on your chart.”
“That’s … bizarre,” Heath said.
“I started having bad side pain while I was at work,” Sylvie said. “I’d already had it before, and I guess I waited too long. The pain was so bad I couldn’t move. It was pretty scary it was so painful. Momma had the boys, so Meg took me to the hospital. Turns out the pain was from my appendix.”
“It required emergency surgery,” the nurse said. “If you would have waited any longer, and that burst at home, you would have been in really bad shape. You could have died.” She smiled at Sylvie, who looked aghast. “Like I said, you’re a lucky lady.”
Heath rocked back in his seat. She’d had her appendix out. There was no accident. He blew out a sigh of combined relief and restraint.
Great Aunt Elfleda.
Chapter Thirty Three
SYLVIE FELT THE EFFECTS OF the drugs starting to take hold, enjoying the loopy sensation. She thought she might also be a little loopy thanks to the tall, handsome man leaning over her trying to plump her pillows so she could sit up.
She couldn’t believe he was there. Maybe he wasn’t and this was an anesthesia-driven hallucination. She hoped not.
She inhaled deeply and savored the scent of his cologne as he reached across her to adjust another pillow on her other side.
She winced as she twisted to get a better angle, the stitches pulling at her side. Instantly, Heath was touching her forehead and stroking her arm asking her what he could do to make her feel better.
“I’m okay,” she said as she resettled in the bed. “Thanks.”
“Ask me for anything, and you’ll have it,” Heath said. He stared into her eyes, and she saw pain there. Pain that she had caused.
“I’m sorry for how things were left between us,” she said.
Heath held up his hand to quiet her. Then he leaned over and stopped any further words with a gentle kiss on her lips.
It felt better than the IV drug. If he was going to stop her from talking like that, she definitely wanted to talk some more.
She reached up and touched the scruff on his cheeks. Although he looked just as devastatingly handsome as she remembered, he looked exhausted. There were dark hollows under his eyes.
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” he said. “I was a complete jerk about everything. I should have tried to see things from your perspective, but I was too tied up in my own. I’m so sorry that I didn’t listen to you. I can be … stubborn when I get dug in. And that can make me unfair.”
“You’re a good man, Heath, and you’re not the only one who can be stubborn. I shouldn’t have compared you to my father. That was wrong. And I should have apologized when you asked me to. I should have been honest with you from the beginning. I was a coward, and I’m sorry.”
Heath gently stroked her cheek. When he looked at her like that, she felt like they were the only two people in the world.
“Once again, there’s nothing to be sorry for. And you’re not a coward. You’ve never had any problem standing up to me. And you took on raising two children on your own while running your own business without a complaint. You went toe-to-toe with Momma Jones at that dinner … and won handily, I might add.”
Sylvie smiled.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “You had a right to be afraid of what might happen, especially when it came to your children. I regret so much, Sylvie. I said so many things I didn’t mean. My only hope is that you can forgive me and we can try to work things out between us. I promise to be better, to listen to you and to cherish our differences as much as our similarities.”
Sylvie’s eyes drooped against her will. She felt so sleepy but wanted to hear more. “I want … to …”
Heath pulled up the covers and tucked them gently around her. “Shh, sleep now. You need your rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
She drifted off, the ache in her side relieved by the IV, the ache in her heart relieved by the man stroking her hair.
WHEN SYLVIE AWOKE, SHE LOOKED straightaway for Heath. There he was, leaning back in the uncomfortable-looking chair. His long legs stretched out in front of him. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. She thought he was asleep.
