“Be a good girl for Auntie Alice,” I whisper to her, tears welling up in my eyes. In her thirteen months of life, I’ve never once spent the night away from her and it’s tearing me up to have to do it now. I didn’t expect it to be this hard to say good-bye. Turning to Alice, I smile. “Thank you for all your help and I’m sorry. I know you’ll probably have to skip your class again tomorrow night.”
She rolls her eyes. “You were in a terrible car accident, Quinn, so everyone understands and if they didn’t, fuck ‘em.”
“Fuck ‘em?” I ask with a laugh. “If Gram were here, she’d pop your mouth for that one.”
Her face falls and she sucks in a breath. “Don’t you dare go dying on me, you hear?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Sis. You’re stuck with me for life.”
Tears well up in her eyes as she grabs my hand. “I’m holding you to that.”
Before I can respond, a little snore from the baby on my chest interrupts us and we both start laughing.
“You’d better get her home and in her own bed or she’ll be a bear tomorrow.”
Alice nods. “Yeah, the girl does love her sleep. Wonder where she gets that from?”
“Dunno,” I lie, making a face at her as she laughs. We gently maneuver Brooklyn from my arms to Alice’s and she leans down to give me a hug.
“We’ll come check on you in the morning, okay?”
I shake my head as she pulls away. “Just wait for me to call you. There is no sense in making two trips if they really do decide to discharge me.”
“You sure?”
I nod my head. “Yeah. I’ll be all right.”
Her lips purse as she studies me for a moment before nodding. “Okay, but I want you to call me if you need anything. Oh, and you also need to tell your body to stop bleeding.”
“You got it. I’ll focus on healing my wounds with the power of my mind.”
Fighting back a smile, she nods. “Perfect.”
Alice leans down and kisses my cheek as I place a gentle kiss on the top of Brooklyn’s head. She takes a step back and I can tell she’s reluctant to leave me.
“I promise you I’ll be fine, Alice. Go home and get some rest, okay?”
She stares at me for a moment before nodding and walking to the door to my room. “Love you,” she calls over her shoulder.
“Love you more.”
Once they’re gone, I lie back on the bed and close my eyes, slowly blowing out a breath. My eyes feel heavy but my mind is racing at a hundred miles an hour and random images from the crash keep popping into my mind. My hands start to shake as I piece it all together. I remember glancing over and the only thing I could see was the front grill of the truck just seconds before it slammed into the car. Then, the world was a blur as the car spun for what felt like forever and the blink of an eye all at the same time. And then he was there.
Sighing, I open my eyes and stare up at the florescent lights on the ceiling. Maybe the accident rattled me even more than I realized since I can’t seem to shift my focus from Lucas, a man I don’t even know. My love life in the last two years has been woefully lacking and no one has even caught my eye. God, I’m not even sure that I’m capable of being in a relationship anymore but something about Lucas cemented the inkling of a thought in my mind and it’s not as if I’m planning our wedding after only one chance meeting but I am thinking – what-if?
“Quinn?”
Turning toward the door, I gasp at the sight of Lucas standing in the doorway. “What are you still doing here?”
He smiles and strolls into the room like I somehow conjured him up just by thinking of him as I try to get my racing heart under control. “I couldn’t leave without making sure you were all right.”
“Oh,” I whisper, my cheeks heating. Who the heck is this guy and why does he have such an impact on me? “You’ve been waiting here this whole time?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Oh.”
Our eyes meet across the room and butterflies dance around in my stomach as his blue eyes study me, almost like he can see right through me.
“So… are you? Okay, I mean…” he asks.
I shrug. “Um… I think so?”
“You sound really sure of yourself,” he answers, chuckling as he moves further into the room and sits on the edge of the bed. Just the feeling of him sinking into the mattress, knowing he’s that close to me, is driving me crazy. I think back to the way he held my hand at the accident and I wish he’d do it again.
“Well, they used very scary words like internal bleeding but no one seems all that concerned about it so I’ve decided to just go with it. Or maybe that’s the morphine talking.” I hold up the button Bonnie handed me and grin. He laughs, the kind of laugh that warms you all over and the hair on my arms stands on end.
“You’re a lightweight,” he teases and I nod.
“Oh, totally. I barely even drink.” Reaching across the sheets, I grab his hand because I can’t possibly resist anymore and he meets my gaze. Just like before, a spark of something races up my arm and my heart skips a beat. “Thank you, by the way. For coming to my rescue earlier and for waiting around all afternoon to make sure I was okay. I think you restored my faith in humanity.”
He nods. “Of course. I couldn't just leave you there like that piece of shit did.”
“I suppose I need to talk to the cops, huh?”
“Yeah,” he answers. “I have a buddy on the force and I would have asked him to handle this personally but he just lost someone close to him and he’s not really in a good place.”
“Oh, no. Please. You’ve already done so much for me.”
He shrugs. “It’s no big deal. I already talked to a detective and gave him my statement so they should catch the scumbag pretty fast.”
“Thank you.”
He grins and my insides turn to mush. God! He is so damn handsome. How the hell did I not notice that before? I mean, I know I’d just had my brain slightly scrambled but he’s not the kind of man that blends into a crowd with his impressive build and armfuls of colorful tattoos. Not to mention his eyes, which remind of the deepest, bluest ocean. Something about them just draws you in and makes you feel at ease. Or maybe that’s just me.
“You don’t need to keep thanking me. I'm just glad I could help you and your daughter. Speaking of which, how is she?”
“Good. Not a scratch on her, in fact. She’s home and sleeping soundly in her bed.”
He flashes me that damn smile again. “Good.”
“I'm sorry if we ruined any plans you had today,” I say, thinking of the hours he’s spent here. Shaking his head, he gives my hand a squeeze.
“Don’t worry about it. I think this turned out way better than my other plans.”
“Yeah?” I ask, fighting back a smile as he meets my eyes. “What were your other plans today?”
His face falls and I instantly regret asking the question. “I was going to look for my brother.”
Before I can ask him anything else, Bonnie steps into the room. When she spots Lucas perched on the edge of my bed, she flashes him a stern expression.