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She survived that…and who knows what else?
I stride over to the bed and tenderly kiss her forehead. I try to ignore the beeping of the heart rate monitor and the IV in the back of her hand. Try to ignore how battered she looks. Try to ignore Kellan is here with me.
I thread the fingers of my good arm with her hand that’s free of the IV needle. “Hey, how are you feeling?” It’s a stupid question because I imagine she feels like shit.
Her gaze slowly drinks me in as if she hadn’t expected to ever see me again. Her eyes land on my sling, and her forehead wrinkles into a frown. “What happened to you?” Her words are slightly slurred.
“The idiot injured his shoulder while rescuing a boy and his father,” Kellan says from the doorway.
Jess’s eyes move to him, and a smile flickers on her lips. “Hi.”
A shot of jealousy torpedoes through me at how she’s smiling at him but I didn’t get the same reaction. I knock it aside. I’m not about to ruin what Jess and I have, what we could have, because I’m jealous of my brother and their friendship.
I should be happy they are friends. Happy he’s accepted her in a way he’s never accepted my past girlfriends.
Kellan moves closer to her bed. “You had him going crazy looking for you.” His tone is gentle, teasing. I don’t remember him ever talking to a woman that way, not even Em. I get the feeling he understands Jess in a way I never will, and I can’t figure out why.
Not knowing the why kicks my internal tripwire. Jealousy spills through my veins once more, with curiosity mixed in.
Jess looks at me, and this time I’m the recipient of her smile. It’s nothing like the smiles I’m used to from her. It’s softer. The fist around my heart, which I hadn’t noticed until now, loosens a tiny amount.
Her smile vanishes and her muscles tense. Her eyes go glossy and her hand in mine shakes. “I-I’m so sorry about your truck, Troy. I-I’ll pay you back. I never…I never should have taken it hiking. I’m sorry.” She sounds terrified—like a serial killer is chasing her through the forest.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I tell her, trying to figure out what triggered her reaction. “It’s only a vehicle. It’s you I’m more worried about. You could have died out there.” I could have lost her.
I release her hand and reach toward her bruised cheek to stroke it.
The heart rate monitor beeps faster and Jess flinches like I’m going to hit her or something. I drop my hand to the bed and frown at her reaction. Like I said, it was only a vehicle. As it is, my heart is still reeling at how close I came to losing her.
She shifts on the bed like she’s trying to get comfortable. “I need to go home now.”
I thread my fingers with hers again. “Sorry, but Samuel—Dr. Thompson—wants you to stay overnight for observation. And the state police will be here in a few minutes to ask you questions about the accident.”
If I thought Jess was pale before, that’s nothing compared to how pale she goes at the mention of the police. She pulls her hand from mine and jerks the cover off her, revealing her hospital gown. “I have to go.”
“You can’t. You’re not well enough to leave the hospital. You have a concussion.” I keep my voice even and the words come out slow, as if that’s all it will take for her to see reason.
“I’m fine. I just want to get Bailey from the vet and go home.” She makes a move to rip the IV out.
I grab her free hand, stopping her. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t need any more painkillers. And I can drink fluids when I get home.”
“Jess, it’s only one night. I can pick up Bailey on my way home.” Except I can’t drive anywhere. It was my truck that crashed through the guardrail, which means after I leave the hospital, I’ll need to deal with my insurance company and make arrangements for a new vehicle.
“I don’t want to talk to the police.” The fear and stubbornness in her voice are palpable, and I can’t help but wonder if her reaction has to do with her past. It’s like she’s scared of the police.
“Why not?” I ask calmly. “All they’re gonna do is ask you what happened.”
Kellan steps closer to the bed. “What did happen out there, Jess? How did Troy’s truck end up down the slope?”
“I was driving home after I went hiking and a deer jumped onto the road. I swerved to miss it.” She frowns as if the memory causes her pain.
Her explanation fits with the skid marks I saw on the road at the crash site.
The door opens, and the nurse from earlier enters. “The officers are here to ask Jessica a few questions, and then we’ll be moving her to another room. You two should go so she can get some rest.”
“I’m not staying.” Jess pulls her hand from mine and reaches for the IV in her other hand. “I can’t stay here.”
