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“Please stay,” he whispered, a far different kind of command than the one he’d just given. Both impossible to deny.
I felt my heartbeat then. The slow, steady rhythm upticking enough to notice. The hands started to slide away, but I made a sound, and they came back.
“Wake up, baby girl.” He coaxed. “Let me see those brown eyes.”
I blinked, the action cracking pain through my skull, and I recoiled, wanting away from the sharp sensation.
“Does it hurt?” He worried. “Are you hurting?”
I nodded once, not knowing much in that moment but sure it was safe to tell him.
He made a pitying sound, empathy nearly dripping from his vocal cords. The mattress dipped as he eased closer, the same warmth holding my cheeks seeped into my side.
Something soft brushed my temple and then my brow. I went nearly cross-eyed trying to look at the face so close to mine. I was able to focus on light-brown scruff, a flash of red. Soft breath puffed across my cheek, and the scent of chlorine mixed with a deeper musk swirled under my nose.
Home.
“We can’t have that, can we? I’m gonna make sure it stops,” he murmured, creating a rush of something against the back of my neck. Something that was such a welcome respite to the pain battering my body.
Somewhere, a door opened, and the body so close pulled back.
“She’s in pain,” he demanded. “How many times do I gotta tell you people to do your jobs?”
“Bro, I think he’s as bad as Max and Win,” someone else said.
Another familiar voice.
Why couldn’t I identify anything? Why was I so confused?
“Fuck off, Owens.”
Someone gasped. “Sir! Is that the first thing you want your fiancée to hear after all she’s been through?”
Fiancée?
A rush of intense sadness rolled over me, so intense it dimmed the too-bright light in the room. He was engaged?
But he was supposed to be mine.
“I already said nice stuff to her,” came the gruff reply. “She’s the only one who deserves it. What can you do about her pain?”
“I need to see the patient.”
The body rotated back around, and my attention clung to him, vision finally focusing.
The short sandy-brown strands of hair stuck up every which way and flipped up around his ears and at the base of his neck. His full lower lip was slightly swollen and red as if he’d been chewing on it for hours. His defined jaw and tapered chin were scruffy with more of the sandy hair. What drew me in the most were his eyes. One green. One brown. Both shadowed and tired but wholly focused on me. Despite his haggard appearance, he smiled. The kind of smile that reminded me I was glad my heart was beating.
“There she is. There’s my girl.”
Oh, I like his voice. Tears filled my eyes so fast the water spilled over almost instantly, slipping over my cheeks, cold against my already chilled skin. Even though it was an involuntary action and I didn’t really move, it hurt. Everything freaking hurt.
“Hey, hey now,” he crooned, part of his body coming back onto the bed. “You’re all right. I have the nurse here. She’ll check you out.”
He started to pull back, and panic overruled pain. I reached up, grasping for his wrist. There was a long tube stuck in the back of my hand, but I ignored it in favor of him. “Wait.”
He came back, eyes all over my face like he was taking inventory of every detail.
Who are you? My throat was so dry. “Water.”
