AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I swung my legs out of bed. "It's been sixty-five minutes. Bring the Jeep around front--"
He grabbed my legs and pushed them back under the covers. "I was being sarcastic."
"Too bad, I'm holding you to it. Now let go--"
"If you can't make me, then you're clearly not ready."
"It's always easy to find you two," a voice said from the door. "Just follow the sounds of bickering."
A red-haired woman in her late forties walked in, garnering a double take from a passing orderly half her age. If I pointed it out, she'd say it was only because he recognized her from her TV spots, but the truth is that Jaime Vegas is gorgeous. Even in a casual blouse and slacks, she exudes glamour.
She sailed over to my bedside, giving me a hug. She'd called Adam when he was still in the ambulance, and between them--and with Jesse's help--they'd pieced together the story. She'd been checking in every few hours since, undoubtedly relaying the updates to my mom. I didn't ask if Mom was with her now. There are rules about that sort of thing, and we were careful not to bend them too often or the Fates would ensure my mother couldn't make contact with me.
"So Leah's back in her hell dimension?" I asked as Jaime settled on the edge of my bed.
"Nope. She got an upgrade to a worse one."
"And Mom?"
Jaime's grin faltered. "She's ... not in the best place right now. Kicking herself silly. You know Eve. She can pull the whole 'I don't give a shit' routine, but when she makes a mistake, she beats herself up worse than anyone else could."
"Sounds familiar," Adam said, giving me a look I ignored.
"We'd argued about telling you that Leah was out," Jaime said. "I wanted to. Eve didn't. We had Leah in our sights--or so we thought--and she was a thousand miles from you, so Eve didn't want to freak you out, freak Paige and Lucas out, spoil their vacation ..."
"Tell Mom it wouldn't have made a difference. Even if I'd known Leah was free, I'd never have seen her in this until it was too late."
"I'll tell her. And she has a message of her own to pass along. She says that what you did was incredibly selfless and brave, and if you're ever tempted to do anything like that again, remember she's waiting on the other side to kick your ass for the rest of eternity."
I laughed, but it came out a little ragged, my gaze sliding to the safety of the window.
"Did I miss something?" Adam asked.
"She's warning me not to tangle with psychotic hell-escapees," I said. "Which is good advice in general, and--"
"What'd Savannah do?" he said, cutting me off as he turned to Jaime.
I tried to protest, but Jaime told him. As Adam realized what she was saying, his face went rigid, eyes blazing, his fingers heating on my arm. When she finished, though, he turned to look at me, and his expression ... It was respect and it was pride and it was anger and it was something more, too, but before I could figure out exactly what it was, he glanced down, rubbing his chin, the fingers rasping against his beard stubble.
"Yes, you need a shave," I said.
The corner of his mouth twitched a little, but he still didn't look at me.
"Your mom's right," he finally said, voice gruff. "It was an insanely brave and insanely stupid thing to do, and if you ever consider it again, remember I'm on this side, and if you survive, I'll kick your ass for the next fifty years, okay?"
"Okay."
I smiled and he looked at me, and our eyes met, and my heart started beating so fast I could barely breathe.
"Oh, would you look at the time?" Jaime said, jumping up. "I promised Elena I'd call with an update before three."
"I'll call her myself," I said quickly, and Adam looked away just as fast, saying he'd get my phone, then go grab us all something to eat from a cafe across the road.
"They have chocolate chip cookies," he said as he handed me my phone. "They look really good."
I made a gagging noise and he laughed, and whatever had been in the room a moment ago had passed.
As he teased me, though, a nurse stopped and popped her head into the room.
