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Her heart raced. She closed the door and made sure the blinds were slatted closed then moved towards the bed. At its edge, she kicked off her shoes then carefully sat on the edge. He didn’t move. With a muffled sob, she shifted her body, wriggling to lie down beside him, an arm over his chest, another tousling his hair. He was warm. He was breathing.
She told herself he’d be okay.
Nothing else mattered. Not that she loved him and he didn’t love her. Not that he’d let her go, glad apparently that their relationship was over. Nothing except his health and his wellness.
It was the best dream he’d had in a very long time. This wasn’t just a dream. It was more. She was warm at his side, her body moulded to his just like that last night. He breathed in and – smelled her? That coconut and lavender and honey and berries, all the sweet things that reminded him of her. He made a sound like her name and opened his eyes, turning his head so fast his vision flooded with blinding white light so he couldn’t focus for a second, but as the white slowly receded he saw her – Lauren Monroe.
“Is it you?”
His voice was unrecognisable. Dark and gruff. He stared at her, needing her to say something, needing her to confirm that she was real.
But she nodded, lifting a hand to his cheek, touching him gently, her fingertips so familiar. He groaned, turning his head more slowly this time so he could press a kiss to her hand.
“Oh, Raf,” she whispered. “What have you done to yourself?”
He frowned, the last few days a blur. He’d been conscious for some of it, but had been so amped up on painkillers that it was hard to work out what was real and what wasn’t.
“I fell.”
“I know,” she whispered, moving away from him.
“Please –,” he wasn’t strong enough, goddamn it, to reach for her like he wanted to. “Please stay where you are.”
Her face was so pale. So thin. Had something happened to Lauren? Was that why she was in hospital? Nothing made sense.
“I should get a doctor. You need to be checked.”
“I’ve been checked and poked and prodded.” He pressed a finger to her side. “What I need is for you to be near me. Please.”
Please. The word cut through her. Please broke her heart. She nodded. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. For as long as you want me to stay.”
“And if I want you to stay forever?”
She stared at him, the words flying through her like fireworks and lightning bolts. But he wasn’t in his right mind. He’d fallen halfway down a cliff before landing awkwardly on a ledge. There was no way he hadn’t suffered enough of a knock to make his mind clouded. She couldn’t hold him to anything he said right now.
“Your family were here. I sent them away to get some rest. I gather they’ve been at your side since – since it happened.”
He grimaced. “Yes. I’ve been aware of that.”
“Do you know what happened to you?”
“I had a run in with a bird,” he muttered, lifting a hand to his head.
“I mean in hospital.”
He frowned. “No.”
He moved in bed a little and then frowned. “I can’t –,” he moved again. Lauren watched as comprehension dawned. “Cristo, Lauren, I can’t feel my left leg.”
She wanted to cry. She wanted to cry for him, at this moment, but she didn’t, because Rafaello was strong and determined and if anyone could handle an injury like this it was him. She put her hand on his and nodded. “They’re not sure what’s happened,” she said quietly. “It might be temporary.”
“Might be?” He nodded, frowning, pulling his hand away. “I see.”
“Raf, you have to wait and see. Give your body time to heal –,”
“That’s why you’re here?” He fixed her with a level stare, and she felt, for a moment, as though they were back at Villa Fortune and everything was as it had been on that awful last morning. “You felt sorry for me so you came here to assuage your conscience?”
She stared at him, at a loss for how he could even imagine that. “No.”
