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And: I’m sorry for being an ass the last few weeks.
And: Let’s both get out of these muddy clothes and celebrate being alive. While naked.
And: I’m terrified I’m falling in love with you.
But before any of those fool things could come out of his mouth, Isobel broke the hug and pulled back.
Then she screamed.
Because her arms were covered in blood.
His blood.
Oh.
Shit.
That was when he passed out.
Chapter 17
ISOBEL
Isobel paced up and down the hospital corridor, her nails chewed to nubs. It was an obsessive habit she hated, but compared to the alternatives, it was one she could live with.
What she couldn’t live with, however, was Hunter not being okay.
The ER waiting room was loud and chaotic all around her. Babies crying. People crying. The news on the big screen in the corner of the room. The tornado warning was finally over but it had touched down near a mobile home park. The whole ER was buzzing about it and there had been a load of patients who’d come in with minor to severe injuries.
It was all just freaking insane. And the rush and chaos meant no one was telling her anything about Hunter.
But he’d be okay. He had to be okay.
God, when she’d hugged him and her arms had come back covered in blood… And then his eyes had rolled back in his head and he’d just sunk against her—
She leaned against the wall, feeling out of breath all over again just remembering it. She’d never felt more terrified in her life. Not even after she’d swallowed all the pills from every bottle in the house she could find that horrible night back when she was sixteen. It was only after she’d finished downing them that she’d realized she didn’t want to die—but she’d been terrified she was too late and that she was just minutes away from death.
But no, not even that trauma compared to seeing all the blood and being positive that Hunter had just died in her arms. She’d been so busy worrying about the damn horse she hadn’t checked to make sure that he was okay. What was wrong with her?
She pushed off the wall. It had been hours. She was just about to go to the nurses station and ask again if there was an update.
But then the double doors swung open.
And Hunter himself strolled out, wearing an oversized blue T-shirt with a giant yellow smiley face.
Isobel’s mouth dropped open. Yes, he’d only passed out for a short time in the car, but he’d still been so woozy and out of it when she dropped him off. The nurse who did triage had taken one look at Hunter’s back after Isobel had helped him stumble in and sent him straight into surgery. His shirt had been shredded and his back wasn’t much better.
There’d been so much blood.
Isobel shook the images from her head and ran up to Hunter, automatically sliding her shoulder under his arm to prop him up like she had on their way into the hospital. “What are you doing up? You should be in a wheelchair.” She looked up at him. “Actually, you should still be back there in a bed. What’s going on?”
“Aw, I’m fine.” Hunter swung his arm over her shoulder easily enough but didn’t lean nearly as much weight on her as he had earlier. He headed toward the exit. He was a little stiff but walked with far more ease than Isobel would have expected.
She moved with him, completely confused. “But your back!”
“Just needed a little stitching up.”
“A little—” She started, incredulously. His back had looked cut to pieces, especially that deep gash on his upper shoulders—just a few inches to the left and it would have hit his spinal cord. She shuddered and reached up to clasp the hand of the arm he had around her.
