I was okay. Safe. I had Bell and Ford. This hospital was on the opposite side of the city from where Michael lived. Everything was fine. I whispered the reassurances over and over to myself until we pulled up to the emergency room.
I was out of the cab in a flash, Bell hot on my heels as Ford tossed some bills at the driver with a muttered “thanks.” I charged into the ER, scanning for anyone who might be able to tell me where Brody was. A middle-aged woman behind a desk gave me a kind smile. “Can I help you? Are you hurt?”
“N-no. I’m looking for Brody James. He was brought in after a mugging. I’m his girlfriend.” It was the first time I’d used the word. Brody and I had never had to define our relationship, we simply were. Lovers, partners, friends. Everything that lay between us was far more than the term girlfriend could ever encapsulate.
“Just a moment.” The woman checked her screen. “I can bring you back to him, but your friends will have to stay here. There’s already one guest with him.”
“That’s fine.” I turned to Bell and Ford. “I’ll come out as soon as I know anything. Or I’ll send Carson.”
Bell grabbed my hand and squeezed. “You sure you’ll be all right by yourself?”
I nodded. “I’m fine.” It was a total and complete lie, but I would will it into truth.
“Okay. We’ll be right out here,” she said, releasing my hand.
I followed the woman whose name tag read Rosa Cruz through a maze of hallways. “Thank you for taking me, Ms. Cruz.” My voice shook as I spoke, but I refused to let the tears burning the backs of my eyes fall.
“Call me Rosa. And, of course. I’m sorry you guys are dealing with this tonight. But we have wonderful doctors here. They’ll get your young man fixed up, don’t you worry.” Rosa’s kindness only made the burn behind my eyes intensify. “Here you go. He’s in number eleven.”
I paused for a moment outside the curtained area. I took a long, slow breath as I gripped the fabric. My hand trembled, but I gave the fabric a tug. I barely registered the hulking man sitting in the chair beside the gurney. I only had eyes for Brody. He was pale, and even though the overhead light had been turned off, he seemed to squint in pain. A bandage covered the right side of his head from his temple to part of his scalp. I couldn’t help the small noise that escaped my mouth.
“Shay?”
Brody’s voice was rough as if he’d smoked a pack of cigarettes in the past hour. The tone sliced through me, leaving nothing but shards of glass in its wake. “Hi,” I whispered.
Carson stood, patting Brody’s arm. “Told you she’d come.” His gaze shot to me. “Nice to meet you, Shay. I wish it were under slightly less dramatic circumstances.”
“You, too,” I said absently, only taking my eyes off Brody for a second. I crossed to the bed and took his hand in mine. It was too cold. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, promise. The doc just came in and said no brain bleed.”
All the air left my lungs on a whoosh. And with the air came the tears. Once they started, I had no hope of stopping them.
“Shay, no.”
Brody gave my hand a tug to bring me closer. But instead, I collapsed onto the bed. My body shook as I sobbed. “I was so scared I was going to lose you, too.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” His fingers ran through my hair and down my back in a soothing caress. “Car, can you give us a minute?”
Carson must’ve agreed because Brody kept stroking my hair and back. “I’m fine. And so are you.”
I sniffled into the hospital blanket, trying my best to pull it together. I focused on my breathing, the feel of Brody’s hand in my hair. Finally, I was able to sit up. “I’m so sorry.”
His brows drew together. “For what?”
“That I didn’t come with you. That—”
Brody started to shake his head and then winced. “No. I shouldn’t have pushed. I promised you I wouldn’t, and then that’s exactly what I did. I’m the one who’s sorry. I was just about to call you to apologize when that mugger surprised the hell out of me.”
My fingers fisted the blanket on his gurney. “Did the police get him?”
“No. Someone down the street saw the attack and yelled. The guy took off. But I was already hitting the pavement. Got my head pretty good.”
I reached, ever so slowly, to cup Brody’s face in my hands. His stubbled cheeks had never felt so good, the prickle of his scruff assuring me that he was here and not going anywhere. “How do you feel right now?”
His lips quirked. “They gave me a dose of pain meds before you arrived so I’m feeling better than I was. They still want me to stay overnight for observation.”
Brody seemed annoyed with the prospect, but I was relieved. The journey back to Harbor wasn’t an easy one, and I’d feel a lot better if the doctors kept an eye on him for a while longer. “I’ll stay with you.”
“You don’t have—”
“I’m staying,” I said firmly.
“I don’t want you doing something you’re not comfortable with.”
I swept my thumbs across his cheeks the same way he had with me so many times before. “I love you. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.” The simple truth hit like a freight train. Brody was my person. The first one I wanted to share both my triumphs and failures with. He was my comfort and my encourager. He’d given me everything, and I just hoped I could give him a fraction of that.
Brody tilted his head so his lips met mine in a soft caress. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I thank my lucky stars every day.”
I smiled against his mouth. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“I think I can live with that.”
It was a good thing he could because I was never letting go.
44
Brody
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I froze halfway in rising from the bed. The bed that I’d practically been living in for two weeks. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“You are not,” Shay said as she hustled to my side. “And you’re supposed to call me if you need to get out of bed.”
Shay had taken the overprotective nurse routine to the extreme. It was mostly adorable, but I was beginning to go stir-crazy. “I’m taking a shower, getting dressed, and going downstairs. I might even take a walk.” I needed some of that fresh island air and would maybe venture to my studio. My fingers had been itching to paint.
“That’s too much. You need to rest—”
I cut Shay off by framing her face and laying a hungry kiss on her lips. “I’m fine. A few headaches. A little dizziness here and there. But I’m healing. And if I don’t start moving around, I’ll never make a full recovery.”
She laid her hands on my forearms, squeezing. “I just want to make sure you’re being careful.”
“I am. It would be impossible for me not to be with this crazy nurse I have at my bedside.”
She arched a brow. “And who would that be? Should I be jealous?”