“He’ll be okay, right?” She asked, trying to hold back her tears and failing as she squeezed my hand.
“He said it was only a graze, and he’d be fine.” I reassured her. But he’d been gone longer than I’d expected for a minor cut.What if he lied?It wouldn’t be the first time one of them had lied about the severity of an injury.
Blake jumped when she heard the doctor call her name.
Jack stood beside her, offering emotional support.
When Blake left with the doctor to go see her fiancé, I was the only one left waiting to hear about the person I loved. Because yes, somewhere along the line I’d fallen in love with him. Hell, I’d probably loved him since Vegas.
He has to survive.
Meg and Emily sat on either side of me. They each wrapped one arm around me while holding my hand with the other. I didn’t need to tell them I was terrified of losing him. They knew. They understood.
What if the bullet hit his spine, and he never walked again? I’d still love him, but would he be okay? Did his lungs collapse? Did they have to…Oh God, I don’t even know what they do for collapsed lungs.
I gripped Emily’s hand tighter.
“AJ’s fine.” Jack’s voice pulled me out of my head. “Doc said they needed to take skin off his hairy ass because the tear from the bullet was too wide for stitches.”
Subdued laughter filled the room.
“The doctor said hairy ass?” Jay asked after breaking eye contact with me.
“No, I paraphrased.”
“How do you know AJ’s ass is hairy?” Jay raised an eyebrow, then turned towards me and winked.
Is he doing this for my benefit? Trying to make me laugh?
It worked. Though my laugh was more of a strangled chuckle. At least I was no longer on the verge of panicking.
“Are you telling me you’ve never seen another man’s ass?” Jack asked.
“For the love of all things holy, can we please stop talking about AJ’s ass?” Cate asked.
“If AJ were here, he’d suggest talking about yours just to piss off Jay,” I said, surprising everyone.
This time, the laughter wasn’t subdued, and I joined in.
When a doctor asked who was here for Nathan, ten people stood up and turned.
I was the only one whose knees wobbled.
The clock stopped ticking until Jamie said, “Come on, Flirty, let’s go.” His hand on my shoulder helped remind me that I needed to breathe.
Please let him be okay.
Chapter 59
Nathan
My eyelids felt like sheets of lead. The rhythmic beeping hurt my head. A heavy weight pressed into my chest.
Ignore the pain and open your eyes.
With great effort, I did. The bright white room confirmed my guess; I was in the hospital.
The weight on my chest was Ashley.Thank God.
