Page 129 of Distant Shores
I sighed and scrubbed a hand over my face. I hated making them worry. This was supposed to be a super simple thing, but that damn anesthesia had not agreed with me.
“Why don’t you go to bed?” I asked, looking her over. “You look exhausted. I’m just gonna eat this, take some pain meds, and pass out until tomorrow.”
She looked like she was going to argue.
“Please, Delly,” I added, then started eating my soup as if to show her I meant what I said.
“Want me to sleep here? Like in the olden days?” she asked.
I smiled as I dipped my spoon into the bowl, feeling generally better the more I ate, though my ankle was getting steadily worse.
“That was whenyouwere sick, Delly.”
She shrugged. “I know. But… you never got sick. Like, ever.” Her brows furrowed. “I never noticed how weird that was until now.”
I quickly ate more soup, not meeting Delly’s probing gaze. Of course, I never showed her when I was sick. Thankfully, she sighed and got off the bed without questioning it more.
“If you insist on only having Tylenol, I’ll just leave it on your bedside table for when you need it,” she said through a yawn as she walked toward the door. “But we picked up your prescriptions on the way back, too, and I think there’s a higher dose of ibuprofen in there.”
With one last, lingering look, Delly left me to it.
If I strained my ears hard enough, I could hear murmuring outside my doorway, and something about it had the soup sitting like a brick in my stomach.
I was too tired, too out of sorts to logic away the feelings that swarmed freely as I heard Cole and Ireland’s voices just out of range.
It made me think I’d never felt real jealousy before. Or at least, I’d never felt it like this. Visceral and irrational.
Eventually, the sounds outside my room quieted down.
Cole returned, and I tried not to question him, toglareat him, reminding myself that he was just being himself.
And he was good to his core.
He looked dead on his feet as he got me to the bathroom one more time, keeping me steady while I brushed my teeth.
After only a few inappropriate comments, he was gone, leaving me alone in my bed.
Just when I was about to give up hope that I’d see her again tonight, she was there.
The knot in my stomach relaxed, and my entire body did the same.
That was the Indigo effect.
She gave me her back as she pushed my bedroom door closed until only a crack was left.
I couldn’t wait another moment.
“Ireland,” I said softly. “Come here. Please.”
Slowly, she turned around, my bedside lamp casting a soft glow over her face, which was set in a careful mask.
I held out my hand, reaching toward her in invitation.
Her eyes fell from my face to my open palm, and she walked softly toward me, her posture straight and bare feet silent, as always.
After only a beat of hesitation, she slid her hand into mine.
Goosebumps erupted all over my aching body.
