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“She’s okay.”
That’s what she starts with. “Who? You’re scaring me here. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Palmer.”
My heart drops to my toes, and there is a fast-growing lump in the back of my throat. I swallow hard. “Palmer?”
“She was at our place doing the shoot, and she just fainted. Deacon was able to rush forward and catch her. She woke up right away, but we insisted that we bring her here so she can get checked out.”
It takes about thirty seconds for her words to sink in before I grab her hand and pull her through the doors. My heart is beating so fast it feels as though it could beat right out of my chest. I reach the board and seeP. Settyand the bay number next to it and pull Ramsey with me. Faintly, I hear one of my coworkers call out, asking if I need help. I don’t need help. I need Palmer. I need to set my eyes on her, and I need to hold her and tell her how much I love her.
IneedPalmer.
Pushing open the door of her exam room, I see her sitting up in bed, with Deacon at her side. I don’t look at my friend as I release my hold on Ramsey. I don’t hear anyone or see anyone but Palmer. My eyes roam over her, and she looks to be unharmed. When I reach her side, I bend over, placing my hands on either side of her cheeks.
“Hi, beautiful.”
Tears fill her eyes. “Hi, big guy.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Palmer
His hands are trembling, and there are tears in his eyes. I feel wetness coating my cheeks as I also lose the battle with my emotions. I open my mouth to speak, but he shakes his head. I quickly close it, not really sure what I wanted to say anyway. My tears have nothing to do with the fact that I’m in the hospital and everything to do with the man staring at me as if I’m his entire reason for being.
“I love you,” he whispers. His voice is thick and raspy.
“W-What?”
He smiles. “I love you. I’m in love with you.” He leans in and kisses my forehead. “Now that I’ve got that off my chest tell me what’s going on with you. Are you okay? Are you hurting?”
“You love me?”
He smiles softly. “I do.”
“But we said we were over.” I can’t process what’s happening right now. We were supposed to be a fling. I ended things to keep my heart from breaking even worse when he decided he was done. I’ve been miserable, and all this time... he loves me?
“Baby, don’t you know we could never stay over?”
A throat clearing has him turning to look over his shoulder. “Deacon.” Brooks greets my brother as he settles into the chair next to the bed and moves in as close as he can. He slides his hand beneath mine and carefully brings it to his lips. He presses a kiss to my knuckles.
“What did I miss?” Deacon asks. He doesn’t sound angry, just really confused.
“You missed the fact that your sister is the love of my life.” Brooks looks him square in the eye, not backing down from whatever my brother decides to throw his way.
“Brooks?” I croak his name. His eyes flash to mine.
“What do you need?” He kisses my hand again. “Are you in pain?”
“No. I’m not in any pain.”
“Tell me so I can fix it.”
“I feel fine. I just fainted, and these two insisted that I come to get checked out.”
“I’m glad they did.” He kisses the back of my hand again.
There’s a knock at the door, and Doctor Brown steps in. “Brooks?” he asks, surprised. “Do you know our patient?”
