Page 65 of Natalie's Nighthawk

“I’ll get them,” Maddie offered. She opened the closet in the room and took out a bag that was holding her belongings.

“Wait,” Natalie said, spotting her cell phone at the bottom of the bag. “Do you think you need my cell, or can I keep that with me?”

He fished the phone out of the bag. “Don’t see why I would need it.” He handed it to her. Graham grabbed it since her hands were currently out of commission.

“Battery’s dead,” Natalie mumbled.

“How ‘bout I take it home and get it charged,” Maddie offered, taking it from Graham.

“Okay,” the deputy said again. “You get some rest. If you think of anything else, let me know.”

“Thanks, Ian, I will,” Natalie answered.

David and Maddie walked the deputy out.

Since they had a moment alone together, Graham wanted to try to apologize. He struggled to find the right words. Clearing his throat, he croaked, “Natalie … I?”

Maddie came back into the room before he could rasp out any more words. She went around to the other side of the bed from where Graham was currently sprawled next to Natalie. She laid a hand on her arm, tears in her eyes. “Please don’t scare me like that again.”

“I will do everything in my power to make sure I don’t,” Natalie promised.

“Good. I’m gonna hold you to that. Do you want me to stick around, or can I go home to get some rest?”

“Go. I’m probably just going to sleep too. Still so tired.” Her eyes drooped even as she said it.

“Okay,” Maddie leaned forward and kissed Natalie’s forehead. “Love you, little sis.”

“Love you, big sis.”

After Maddie left, the nurse came in to move Natalie to a private room. By the time they got her settled, she was overcome with exhaustion. Graham laid on the bed beside her again, the nurses having long ago decided that visiting hours didn’t apply to him. She sighed and snuggled deeper into his arms, but still didn’t drift off to sleep.

“Close your eyes, Chickadee. Rest. There will be plenty of time to talk later,” he assured her.

“You … you’re not going to leave me, are you?” she whispered.

His heart skipped a beat and hope blossomed. She still wanted him close. “Not a chance.” He squeezed her tighter and laid his head down on the pillow beside hers. He watched over her as she finally let herself drift off to sleep.

Chapter 22

Latethenextafternoon,Natalie’scorebodytemperaturewasbacktonormal, and she was released from the hospital. Graham was there the entire time. That, more than anything else, helped her to heal.

She could tell he was hurting. Knew he was struggling with finding the right words to say to her. She could wait. She saw in his eyes how remorseful he was. That was enough for her. She didn’t want to waste any more time with him now that she had that second chance she’d prayed so fervently for in her dank prison.

Maddie had been there several times throughout the day as well. She’d brought Natalie some of her clothes and was helping her dress in them so that she could leave this awful place. She’d had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime.

Natalie chewed on her bottom lip. Even though she was anxious to go home, she was nervous about what was waiting for her there.

“Something on your mind?” Maddie asked, ever attuned to her sister’s innermost feelings. “You seem lost in thought.”

“I’m just still trying to process everything,” Natalie answered.

“I get that. But I think there is something else bothering you.”

Natalie sighed. She needed help categorizing her feelings, and Maddie had helped her sort through some of her darkest thoughts in the years since the tornado. “When I was in that pit, the thing I thought about the most was wanting more time with Graham. I vowed that if I ever got out of there, I would tell him how I felt about him.”

“And now that you’re out, you’re hesitating?”

Natalie nodded, wincing when the bandage on her neck pulled. “I don’t know why. I love him. I do. But what if he doesn’t feel the same way? Am I willing to risk my heart again? And what if I’m so wrong about him like I was soverywrong about Erik? The fight we had that last night, the things he’d said … it was like I was hearing Erik’s voice raging in my head. I don’t ever want to go through that type of hurt again. And I have a feeling the hurt that Graham could cause me would be ten times worse than anything I’ve ever experienced before because I love him so much.”

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