To my surprise, he was awake and looking at me.
“You don’t have to stay here,” he mumbled.
“I kind of feel obligated,” I replied, setting my purse down and walking over to his bedside. “How are you feeling?”
“Drugged. Don’t like it.”
I chuckled. “That would be the painkillers. They said they wanted to keep you here one night, but you should be fine to go home in the morning. Not sure you’ll be catching that morning flight, though.”
“Crap.”
“Sorry about all this.”
“Not your fault.” His eyes were closing. “I can always stay another night at a different hotel. Book a different flight.”
“Sure. We’ll worry about it later. Just get some rest.”
My hand started to place itself on his forehead as if checking for fever, a habit from whenever someone near me was sick. I caught myself just before touching him and drew it back. His eyes were shut. He hadn’t seen.
“Get some rest,” I repeated, before seating myself in the chair near his bed. Maybe I could find something boring to watch on TV and relax. Forget that Carter’s dangerous world was apparently never more than a breath away anymore.
Chapter Ten
Relaxing was all well and good until Carter’s night nurse came in an hour later. I knew Yolanda from working several shifts on this floor with her. She was my favorite of all the RNs I’d worked under in this hospital. She was upbeat, cheery, and funny, and I’d never seen her get rattled, not even by the crankiest, most demanding patients.
“Yolanda,” I said softly, rising as she entered the room to check on Carter, scan his charts, and confirm his medication needs.
Her brown eyes widened.
“Girl, what are you doing here? Nobody told me you were here. Is this guy a friend of yours?”
“More like husband,” Carter muttered, eyes still closed. I’d thought he was asleep. Apparently not.
“Husband?” Yolanda echoed, shocked.
I rolled my eyes. What was up with him tonight, going around telling everyone we were married? Had to be the pain and pain killers. Still, did he enjoy trying to complicate my life? That was all well and good for him. He’d get to leave soon and go back to Texas. I’d be stuck here, trying to explain where my husband had gone. Serious injuries aside, I was about ready to smack him.
“It’s a new thing. Brand new,” I offered as an explanation.
“Girl, we need to talk,” Yolanda chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve got some stories to tell.”
If only you knew, I thought wryly.
“How are you doing, Mr. Ballis?” she asked Carter. “How’s your pain level?”
I kept quiet while she did her work. Carter was awake enough to respond to simple questions, so I let him speak for himself. Yolanda told him since his pain was manageable at present she would bring him another dose of pain medication in a couple of hours.
Turning to me, she asked, “You doing okay, honey? Anything I can get for you? A snack? Some coffee, maybe?”
“Oh, no thank you. I don’t need the caffeine,” I said.
What I meant was, I didn’t need the caffeine because it was late. I also didn’t drink coffee anyway. Carter, however, as if to keep up his streak of throwing my new life and identity into a tailspin said, “She can’t have too much of it. The baby, you know.”
Yolanda’s eyes opened wide. I gritted my teeth to keep from actually smacking Carter. Evidently, he’d found a new way to torture me, and he was enjoying it way too much.
“The baby? Taylor, honey, I had no idea! You never said anything. How far along are you?”
“I—”
I started to try and tell her that it was all a joke, that he was making it up, when Carter interrupted. Reaching for my hand, as if we really were a loving couple, he said, “Not too far. About three months.”
He didn’t know how close that remark came to getting him hit, injured or not. Yolanda had no idea that three months ago we’d met and spent a night cooped together up in a motel room, but Carter knew and he’d chosen the timing deliberately just to goad me.
“Girl, you look better than I did at that stage,” Yolanda said, shaking her head with a rueful chuckle. “I already looked like I was hiding a watermelon under my shirt. I never would’ve guessed you were pregnant. You’re not showing at all. That does happen sometimes with the first one, though. When are you due?”
Before either of us could answer that one, Yolanda interrupted herself, saying, “Oh, boy. I forgot, I was supposed to be in Ms. Doreen’s room by now. Glenda needed me to cover for her.” She offered me a huge smile. “We’ll talk later and you can tell me all about it. Congratulations, you two! See you in a couple of hours. If you need anything before then, give me a call.”
“Thanks, Yolanda.” As soon as the heavy door closed behind her I wrenched my hand from Carter’s and gave him the dirtiest look I could muster.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“Don’t you what me, mister,” I snapped. “Really? As if telling everyone we’re married isn’t bad enough, you decide to go and make up a lie that I’m pregnant? What the heck, Carter? Have the pain meds or loss of blood made you crazy? Have you lost your frickin’ mind? Are you trying to make it difficult for me here? These people are my co-workers, you know. I do clinicals at this very hospital.”
“Just having a little fun,” he said, settling into the pillows, imminently unconcerned. “You can’t get mad at me when I’m injured. And it’s not like it matters, Ellie. You won’t be here much longer.”
“Why won’t I?” I asked, sinking into the chair beside his bed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean Blake’s proven he’s untrustworthy. Do I think he’d turn you in to Nosizwe? No, not necessarily, but I’m not going to chance it. As soon as I get back to Fort Worth, I’ll be sending people here to relocate you. Mr. Costas told me to protect you. I’m not running risks with your safety.”
His statement hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart sank into my gut. Relocate? But we’d only been here a few months, had barely begun to establish new friendships and forge a new life for ourselves. Was this how it was always going to be, then? My family forever on the run, forever endangered because I’d accidentally stumbled into a war between shifters?
I could have argued, could have protested, but I already knew it wouldn’t do any good. From what I understood of the Talos, once he was told to protect something, he basically had no choice in the matter. He’d been ordered to protect me. He couldn’t not do it. Carter’s mind was clearly made up and there would be no changing it. Furthermore, judging by the way he’d relaxed into the pillows, by the shutting of his eyelids and the sigh that lifted and lowered his chest, he’d already drifted asleep.
I slumped into the chair, sighing deeply. I felt both angry and discouraged. My life had been ripped from me once for saving Jackson Costas back in November. I’d never truly felt at home here in the Northwest, but I was making do. Now, to be asked to give it all up again for another move into the unknown?