Page 76 of Mountain Struggle

She finally got her left eye open, but the right one refused to budge. She lifted her right hand, intending to wipe at her eye—she’d barely moved an inch when her body was racked by overwhelming pain.

Tess hissed and dropped her arm again, fighting the nausea that threatened to make her empty the contents of her stomach.

Movement next to the bed had her shifting her head towards the sound. This time, both her eyelids opened, just in time to see Damien sit up straight in an armchair. He was unshaven, his eyes bleary with sleep. Bright white bandages covered the back and side of his head.

“Tess?”

“Were you sleeping?”

He nodded. “I might have dozed for a bit. How are you feeling?”

Tess looked around the small room, careful not to move her arm again.

“Where’s Jamie?” she asked.

“He’s okay. He’s with my dad.”

“Is John okay?” she asked.

Damien smiled, showing his very white teeth. He seemed relieved about something, and Tess suddenly realized he might have been worried she wouldn’t remember anything. But she remembered everything that had happened, at least until she’d passed out on the terrace.

“He’s fine. He’s really tough. He and Jens have made a full recovery.”

“What about …” Tess’s mouth went suddenly dry. “What about Dubois?”

Damien’s jaw clenched tight. “He’s also going to make a full recovery. I don’t know whether he’ll head to prison or to a psychiatric hospital.”

She nodded. There wasn’t much she could say. She stared at the IV stuck in her left hand.

“Tess …” Damien began. His thumb caressed her wrist right above the spot where the IV went in. It was interesting to note that even among all that pain, she could still feel pleasure. The movement was hypnotic, and she felt her eyelids closing.

“Is it okay if I sleep a bit more?” she asked, already half in dreamland.

“Of course. I’ll be right here when you wake.”

When she woke up next, Damien was standing by the window, his back to her. It gave her the perfect opportunity to admire his tight ass and long legs.

He’s so sexy.

It amazed her that she could even think about sex, when she was in so much pain.

Must mean I’m getting better.

She tried to move her arm, and this time lifted it a couple inches off the bed before the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

“Tess! Don’t try to move your arm—they had to dig a bullet out of your shoulder.”

That explains the pain.

“How long have I been here?”

“Today is the second day.”

“And you’ve been here this whole time?” she asked, taking in his rumpled, unkept appearance. He sported a three-day beard—it was sexy, but very unlike his usual appearance. She tried unsuccessfully to remember what he’d been wearing the last time she woke.

He shrugged. “I went home for a bit to see Jamie.”

“How’s he feeling?”