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I hadn’t. I had been too wrapped up in the past to hear him.
“Are you okay? Do you want me to page the nurse? We haven’t had lunch yet. Maybe your blood sugar is low.”
I lifted a hand. “I’m fine.” But my vision blurred.
“You look a little green.”
I sat up straighter and took two calming breaths. “Oh,” I said, my voice shaky. “Hospitals remind me of when my mom was sick.”
He nodded slowly. “How long has it been now?”
I swallowed, the pain that never dimmed hitting me directly in the chest again. “Seven years.”
He knew my mother was deceased, but I was sure he didn’t know the whole story.
His facial features softened. “That must have been tough. For all of you.”
“It was.” I choked up as the emotion threatened to pull me under.
He stood up from the bed and stepped into me. Our feet were toe to toe as he towered over me—me seated, him standing. When I dipped my gaze to the floor again to hide the emotion swimming in my eyes, he lifted my chin with the lightness of his fingertips.
And our eyes locked, his blazing green ones to my hazel ones.
I saw such understanding there, the kind that only made sense if he’d experienced what I’d experienced, but there was no way he could feel my pain. I mean, how could he? He’d never lost a parent to cancer.
A watery laugh left my lips. “Remember what you said earlier?”
It was no one’s fault. Cancer took you when you least expected it. When everything was perfect and life wanted to give you the middle finger, for no other reason other than the fact that it could.
“I was going to ask you if you wanted a sandwich. It’s past lunch, and we haven’t eaten.”
Warmth formed behind my eyes, and I was a nanosecond away from tearing up when a tall brunette entered the room.
“Hey, I’m Denise. I’ll be your nurse today.” The lilt in her voice caused both of us to jerk our heads in her direction.
One look told me she knew who Austin Callaway was.TheAustin Callaway.
And Austin very well knew she was a fan because he groaned out loud and inched closer to my side, as though he wanted to hide behind me.
She sauntered over, her eyes flipping from mine to his, roaming over his face and then down his body. “So, you’ve met with Dr. Mendez.” She picked up a blue cloth gown from the table. “We’ve been instructed by your primary doctor to assess you first and report back. Please leave your underwear on; otherwise, everything comes off.” She grinned, like telling a famous pitcher to disrobe was the highlight of her year.
I suppressed an eye roll.
“Is there pain in your shoulder? Do you need assistance—”
“No, I got it,” he grunted as he took the gown from her. Then, he forced a smile through the pain, but I didn’t miss the amused glint in his eyes. “My girlfriend will help me.”
My eyes did a three-sixty around the room.Where the hell was his girlfriend?
Then, his eyes landed on mine, that amused look now directed at me.
My eyebrows flew to my hairline. “Me?” I almost choked. I didn’t think I could ever get used to him joking like that.
“Syd,baby, stop pretending and help out your man.”
His grin was downright devilish now, and my mouth gaped.
The nurse nodded in a more professional manner, her gaze flipping between the both of us, and then she slipped out the door.
