Page 271 of Saving Her

“I think your man is awake.” She grins at me then turns her attention to Luca. “I’m going to quickly page the doctor. You’ve got two minutes of privacy before I come back to check your vitals.”

I nod, my vision blurring.

I’m not going to cry.

I am not going to cry.

The nurse walks away, leaving me to rein in the rampant beat of my heart and the building shake in my fingers.

“You’re not talking to me anymore, shorty?” he whispers.

That voice.Oh,God, that voice.

I drag my gaze from the door and meet the gorgeous eyes of the man laid out before me. With one glance he warms me. Makes me whole.

But he’s still pale. Entirely fragile beneath the muscle-man persona.

“They didn’t know when you’d wake up…” I grab his hand. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“Pessimism?” He grins. “From you? No way.”

I squeeze his fingers, both loving and hating his sarcasm. “It wasn’t pessimism. It was fear. I could barely breathe through the thought of losing you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

My heart pounds. Squeezes. Wrenches so tight. “Do you promise?”

“You know I’m a sucker for giving you anything you want.”

Yes,I know.

But his face sobers and for a moment there’s only silence and contemplation before he says, “I can’t remember everything. You need to bring me up to speed. What happened? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” My lips lift in an apologetic smile. “I wish I had answers, but I haven’t heard from anyone. When you collapsed, Sebastian wouldn’t let me call an ambulance. Instead, we dragged you into his truck and drove you here. I haven’t seen or heard from anyone since. Not my brother. Or Cole. There’s been no police to question what happened either.”

He sits, wincing as he repositions himself against the pillows. “What did you tell hospital staff?”

“Not much.” I reach for my chair, dragging it closer to the bed, not once releasing his hand. “I told them we had a car accident.”

“Good.” He nods. Cringes. Groans. “My head is fucking killing me.”

“You’ve got a bleed on the brain. They think you’ve had it since Greece.”

He raises a brow. “That would explain the headaches.”

“It could explain a lot of things.”

“Meaning?” He frowns. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”

Iamupset. So damn upset at the thought of our future uncertainty. “The doctor asked if you’ve been acting differently because it’s common an injury like yours could cause a change in behavior.”

“And?” His brows pull tighter. “You’re going to have to dumb it down. I’m still not catching on to what’s worrying you.”

“We barely spoke before you hit your head in Greece. Now we’re…” I wave a lazy hand between us. “I don’t know. I just thought maybe this thing with us is the change in behavior they were referring to.”

He grins, the curve of lips announcing a complete lack of seriousness. “You think the way I feel about you is due to brain damage?”

“Please don’t joke. It’s not unlikely—”

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