Page 51 of You Are Cordially Invited

“I love you too.” I ran my finger along the cool dry curve of his lips and over the trace of blood from where he’d bitten his tongue when he landed. Bruises from the impact also tugged at his jawline, mud flattened his hair above his ear, and one eye flushed a startling red.

He tried to kiss my finger as it passed, and just like that, I was done pretending everything was okay. Big, fat, ugly tears rolled down my cheeks and I didn’t give a damn who saw. A few dropped to his face and he blinked one away from his lashes.

“You’re gonna smudge your eyeliner, baby,” he croaked, his eyes closing again.

“Baby, shh.” I touched his face, touched everywhere I could reach, and then lowered my lips to press kisses to his forehead, brushing back those crusty blond locks and resting my cheek on the dirt-smudged skin that lay beneath.

His eyelids fluttered open and I felt it on my jaw.

“I’ve been so fucking scared, Ruby.” I lifted my head and stared down at those beautiful pale ash-coloured eyes with their flecks of soot. “They’re gonna take you for imaging. The bastards won’t let me come.” I glared at Will who rolled his eyes, again. Oh yeah, I was taking lots and lots of names.

“I wonder why.” Reuben tried for another smile, a scrap of life returning to his eyes.

“Don’t you start,” I warned him, sniffing back a charming run of mucous from my nose. “My list of retribution is lengthy.”

His attempt at a smile turned to a wince, and my gaze quickly ran the length of his body. “Are you in pain?”

“No.” He flinched again. “Just a mother of a headache, and my vision’s a bit off. Will says I was out for a bit.”

And the rest.“Do you rememberanything?”

“A bit about the tackle. I remember hitting the ground, but nothing after. Have you been here the whole time?”

I patted his cheek. “Where the hell else would I be? I’m gonna kill that damn Waikato prop.”

He stared at me for a second. “My hero.”

I snorted. “He’d snot me, right?”

Reuben’s lips twitched. “Probably.”

I sighed, then grinned slyly. “But I’d get a few quick punches in first. Dazzle him with my Taekwondo.”

He almost laughed and I leaned down to brush my nose against his, the simple gesture taking me back to when we’d first got together. It was one of Reuben’s favourite things and had always struck me as such a gentle act for a big, tough rugby guy.

Two orderlies appeared in the doorway and I stepped back to let them work, my hand drifting to Reuben’s. “I’ll let them take you upstairs and I’ll see you after. Everyone’s waiting for an update. I’ve been sending Alison out. I couldn’t face anyone until I knew more. Now, at least, I can tell them I talked to you.”

“Okay.” He tried for a smile, but this one didn’t reach his eyes.

The orderlies flicked the brakes off the gurney, and I kept my eyes on Reuben until he was out of sight. Only when he was gone did I realise that he’d never reached for me, never squeezed my hand.

My gaze shot to Will and I jolted at his sombre expression. “You tested him?”

He nodded and put a hand on my shoulder. “Right now, Reuben has a flaccid quadriplegia. He can’t move anything from the neck down.”

Chapter Ten

Cam

“What?”I stared at Will, my mouth open as his words sank in. “But... but his X-rays are clear. I saw them myself. There’s no obvious fractures or any reason—”

“From what we can see,” he corrected gently, “we need a more comprehensive set of images than the portable can give us before we can be sure, plus all the other imaging. There might be a disc herniation we’ve missed or soft tissue damage or a fracture we simply haven’t picked up. Cam, you know as well as I do that cases like this are decided as much on ruling things out until you’re left with the only thing it can be, as opposed to having any definitive clinical diagnosis.”

“Cases like this,” I muttered and ran a worried hand over my mouth, squeezing my eyes shut. “Jesus Christ. Why didn’t he say something?” I glanced to where I’d last seen Reuben in the hallway.

Will’s expression softened. “You know why. Weneedthat imaging, Cam. No one wants to jump to any conclusions, Reuben least of all. And he still had some feeling; his sensation is largely intact, but he can’t move.”

I slumped against the wall and tried to get my thoughts together. “Okay, okay. So what are the differential diagnoses if it’snota fracture? And it just can’t be that. I won’t fucking allow it.”

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