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I swallow hard as my forehead starts sweating. My hands are shaking, but I take a few steps. Each one is worse than the last, but the image of her keeps me going.
I fight my way into the dark hallway, collapsing against the wall as I try to catch my breath. Stars dance in my vision as the darkness tries to take over once again.
When I can go on, I do. Pushing and fighting my way down the hallway wall.
I follow her scent, letting it pull me, letting it give me the courage I need to move.
Every few steps, I stumble. I crash into a cart and send metal instruments clattering on the ground. I collapse onto the floor and then pull myself back up.
A nurse runs over and tries to get me back into bed. Her hands around my body yanks a scream out of my throat. Everything hurts so much.
My bear urges me on. He tells me it’s all going to be okay once we find her…
I shrug off the nurse and continue down the hall. She follows me while yelling for help.
Help comes.
It’s her.
Maybe it’s because I’m teetering on the edge of death, but I swear she’s an angel.
She’s heavenly.
She’s perfect.
She’s worth every ounce of pain and then some.
I would drag my broken ass across the country for another look at her stunning face.
My mate has bright green eyes that look terrified as she sees me stumbling toward her. Her blonde hair is pulled back and I can’t imagine that my heart would be able to take it if I saw her untie her ponytail and let it loose.
She’s curvy too with wide hips that I want to leave marks on. A stomach I could kiss for days.
I’m falling forward and there’s nothing to stop me.
My hands fly out, but there’s nothing there.
I’m so dizzy. I can’t breathe.
“Mr. Young!” she screams as I fall to the floor.
I hit it hard.
Chin first.
It doesn’t stop me from smiling as the darkness approaches fast.
She said Mr. Young.
She knows my name.
My mate… knows my name…
My broken jaw is twisted up in a grin as the lights go out.
Chapter Four
Mila
I barely get my coffee before I’m practically sprinting down the hall.
“Ow, shit!” I curse when the hot liquid burns my hand. But it doesn’t stop me from hauling ass down the hallway.
I just started my shift and I want to know if Mr. Sexy Patient is awake. Rylan never woke back up after he collapsed at my feet. A couple of orderlies helped me carry him back to his bed, but it was the last time I saw his eyes open. My shift lasted another four hours and then I went home to sleep.
I barely slept at all.
All I could do was picture him as he stumbled down the hall. He looked so determined as he struggled to take each step. The poor guy fell hard onto the floor and I couldn’t help but notice his rock hard ass showing through the open gown.
I spent all of my sleeping hours tossing and turning as I thought about him. I had an unexplainable urge to go back to the hospital as a visitor to see him. To stay with him. To hold his hand. To curl up in the bed beside him and breathe in his comforting smell.
I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Maybe I need to get out more. Go on some dates. My mother is always telling me that and maybe it’s time I listen.
I hate to admit that my mother is right but what else can it be? I mean, I have a crush on an unconscious man with a broken body… how pathetic is that?
Even though I didn’t get much sleep, I’m looking good. I made sure of that. My hair is done and I took my time applying my make-up just in case… someone… was awake…
“Mila!” my friend and coworker Alice says when she sees me rushing down the hall. “What’s going on? Why are you running?”
“Oh,” I say, looking around in a panic. Shit! “Just trying to… get my… ten thousand steps in. You know, for cardio purposes.”
She nods even though I’ve never done any cardio-related anything before.
“Did you check on Mr. Young?” I ask, trying to act all nonchalant, but I’m leaning forward so hard that I’m coming dangerously close to doing a belly flop onto the floor.
“The shifter,” she says with a nod. “He’s awake and alert. Man, if I could bottle their healing ability up and sell it, I’d be a billionaire. Those guys are freaks of nature.”
“He’s awake?” I ask as my breath gets snatched out of my lungs.
She nods. “Yup. He asked about you.”
“About me?” I can feel my cheeks heating up. I can also feel my lips curling into a smile that won’t go away. “What did he say?”
“He’s not fully healed yet,” she says as she glances down at her phone. “He’s still a bit out of it.”
“Right,” I say dismissively, “but what did he say about me?”
“Something about the blonde doctor with the curves,” she says with a shrug. “I don’t remember.”
The curves?
I swallow hard as the smile fades from my face. I know I have big hips, but I didn’t think that was enough to dismiss me immediately. He must like his girls stick thin. Figures.
My mood plummets as I watch Alice write a text.
“He kept mumbling something about his mate,” she says as she sends it. “The guy is obsessed with her.”
“He has a… mate?” There’s a quiver in my voice but Alice is too preoccupied with her phone to notice it.
“He won’t shut up about her. Even when he was sleeping he kept talking about finding her and claiming her…. you know.”
“Lucky girl,” I say as I feel hot tears stinging the back of my eyes.
“Seriously,” Alice says with a nod. “Even with his face all mashed up, he’s a serious hottie.”
My shoulders slump down as I look at my shoes. I wore my best outfit for this guy. I spent two hours getting ready then had to run to work to make up for the time. And he’s got a girlfriend. Not just a girlfriend, a mate.
How ridiculous am I?
What did I think that the hottest guy I’ve ever seen is going to take one look at me and fall in love? Come on… You’re setting yourself up for failure.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Alice says as she stuffs her phone back into her pocket and looks at me with a grin. “I talked to Mitch about you. And good news, he’s up for a date.”
Normally, I’d be excited about a date. Even a blind date.
Alice said that Mitch would be perfect for me, but right now all I want to do is crawl under a blanket and watch Dirty Dancing on repeat while eating cookie dough ice cream.
“Um, okay,” I say as I clear my throat and try to get myself together. “I’ll let you know.”
“Oh, shit,” she says when she gets a page. “I gotta go. Duty calls.”
She takes off down the hall and my eyes go straight to room 76.
T
hat’s where Rylan Young is.
I can still walk by and see him. Just to make sure he’s okay. I’m a doctor. That’s my job. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Before I can change my mind, my feet start moving toward the door.
I peek in and my breath is taken away when I see him lying on the bed. His eyes are closed but the swelling in his face has gone down. He looks even more handsome than I could have imagined.
I quietly walk in as my eyes lock on his massive chest that’s slowly moving up and down with every heavy breath.
For some reason, the sight makes my eyes water. He’s stunning. I could stare at him all day. I will if he doesn’t wake up.
With my heart pounding, I walk over as quietly as I can. He inhales deep and then starts jerking around on the bed. Softly at first, but then the convulsions get harder, like something deep inside is trying to jerk him awake.
He opens his eyes and I swallow hard when I see how mesmerizing they are. They’re a blue-gray color that grips my soul and won’t let go.
I stand there transfixed, heart racing, skin tingling, breathless, and disoriented. His face turns serious as he stares back at me.
Seconds go by. Neither of us moves. We don’t seem able to.
Say something, Mila!
“Hello, Mr. Mate… I mean, Mr. Rylan. Mr. Young. I meant to say Mr. Young.”
My eyes fall closed as embarrassment sets in.
It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s already taken.
“You were right the first time,” he says in a low voice that teases through my body. It gives me warm shivers all over. “You can call me Mr. Mate. Or, just mate.”
I laugh awkwardly at his joke and then pull out my stethoscope, pretending that’s why I was here all along.
“I have to check your heart.”
He watches my trembling hand as I awkwardly place the drum end onto his enormous pec.
“You’re shaking,” he says. God, that voice… it’s as smooth as melted chocolate.
My hand is shaking. I’m so nervous.
“It’s a medical technique,” I lie. “It helps me hear the heart better.”
He doesn’t question it. He just watches me as I listen to the pounding of his heart.
