Page 116 of High Water

“Fallon’s okay though? Truly? I didn’t get to talk to her much before they took me away. I want to be sure they didn’t hurt her.”

“She insists she’s fine, and they didn’t hurt her. Just tied her up. She was a little banged up from that and thirsty. I don’t think they gave her much water or food while they had her. But otherwise, we had her checked out, and she’s okay,” Grant insists.

“And the guy who took her to him? He was part of the MC. Have you dealt with that?”

“I told Ledger that either he deals with it or I will. He gave me reason to believe it’s been taken care of.”

“He’ll never bother Fallon again? I don’t want her to ever have to even see him on the street.”

“His ticket was one-way.” Grant’s eyes meet mine.

“Good.” I look between Grant and Ramsey. “And thank you for making that Ledger’s problem and not yours. This family needs a break from heartache. We’re overdue.”

“I think we all agree on that, sis.” Ramsey offers me a sympathetic smile, and I squeeze his hand tight.

“I love you. You know?”

“We love you too.” Ramsey runs his palm over the back of my hand.

“God… I’m so tired.” I let out a deep sigh.

“Nearly dying will do that to you,” Grant deadpans.

“I might close my eyes until Fallon and Bishop are back, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Yes. Sleep. You need it.” Grant nods, and Ramsey shakes his head in agreement before he settles back into the chair.

“Might take a quick nap with you.”

“I’m gonna head down to the cafeteria and check on them.”

“Tell Fallon I love her and to finish eating first.”

“I will. Don’t know if she’ll listen, but I’ll try.”

“Thank you for trying.” I smile at my brother as he leaves the room, glancing back at Ramsey and nodding to tell him he’s on deck to keep watch.

I close my eyes. I’m desperate to see Bishop and Fallon, but I’m relieved to know they’re safe. The rest of my worries can wait until tomorrow.

FORTY-NINE

Bishop

“I know you were skeptical of date nights, but that was a dramatic way to try to get out of one,” I tease her. “I hope you know that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. I’ll just be rescheduling.”

“Bishop!” She gasps when she fully wakes from her nap as they wheel me into the hospital room.

“Hey, honey.”

“Are you okay? Everything’s okay, right?” She looks between me and the nurses.

“They’ve cleared him of the most serious possibilities.” The nurse nods. “Still have to keep you both for observation though.”

Relief floods her face, and her eyes fall over me. We’re both banged up pretty badly, but more or less all right otherwise. We just need a few weeks of rest and healing. Then we’ll be good as new. She reaches for my hand, and I take it, squeezing it tightly in mine.

“Are you really all right?” she asks, her eyes searching over me like she might be able to find something I won’t tell her about.

“I’m really all right. They just wanted to be extra thorough in their checkup.” I give her a smile, grateful to see her awake even if she is a little groggy. “How are you feeling?”