As if his mind had conjured her up, she appeared at the door of the room. His heart jackknifed, slamming against his cracked ribs, and a muffled groan razed his throat. Shit. He didn’t want her seeing him like this.
“Are you okay? Shall I call a nurse?” She was by his side, her beautiful blue eyes filled with worry. “Do you need more pain relief?”
He’d sunk enough pain relief to down an elephant. “What’re you doing here?” Yeah that sounded friendly. She might not be serious about him, but for whatever reason she was here now and she’d let his parents know. He owed her for that.
She jerked back as though he’d slapped her. “The hospital called me. I…” she swallowed and dropped her gaze, which made him feel like a right prick. “I told them we were engaged so they’d let me see you.”
At least there was nothing wrong with his brain, then.And she wanted to see me.
“I picked up a few things for you. I hope you don’t mind.”
He gave the backpack she balanced on the edge of the bed a bemused glance. Looked like his. But what the hell was she doing with it?
“Yeah, sorry about that.” It came out as a growl. “I don’t know why they called you.” Yes he did. And no fucking way was he going to tell Piper the reason.
Her knuckles tightened on the backpack. “I’m glad they did.” Then she looked up at him again. “I’ve never been so scared in all my life. I was so afraid you—that you wouldn’t pull through.”
Guilt twisted through him. It wasn’t as raw as it should’ve been, not with all the drugs pumping through him, but it still made him feel like a piece of shit. “I’m a tough bastard. You know that.”
She’s never been so scared in all her life?Belatedly her words penetrated his fogged brain. Last thing he wanted was to be the reason she was scared. But if she meant what he hoped she meant…
I’m a screwed up bastard.
“No.” She gripped his hand. “It doesn’t matter how tough you are. I don’t know how I’d go on if you’d died.”
His heart hurt and it had nothing to do with his injuries. “You’ve gone through worse.” His voice was gruff. He didn’t want to talk about Colton. Not here, not now.Not ever.But his brother was a specter, forever between them and he had to get over it if he wanted any chance of a future with Piper.
She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t want us to have another chance, would she?
She leaned toward him, so close her subtle perfume drowned out the smell of disinfectant. “No, I haven’t.” Her whisper was so low it took a couple of seconds for her words to penetrate. “I’ve never lost anyone I loved before, Mason.”
His mouth dried. She hadn’t saidI love you, but what else could she mean? Or was his brain still messed up from the accident and she wasn’t saying what he thought at all?
Words thudded through his brain and choked his throat but only one name made it through the blockage. “Colton?”
She bit her lip and for a moment he thought he’d pushed her too far, that she was going to turn and leave and this time never come back.
“I ended it with him that night he took your bike. That’swhyhe took it, don’t you see? Because he was so…I don’t know. Angry at me.”
This day was going from crazy to completely insane. “You ended things with Colton?”But they were all set to get engaged on her eighteenth birthday.His brother had never stopped banging on about how desperate Piper was to get married.
She shivered and he wanted to pull her onto the bed with him and hold her close. But all he could manage was to grip her fingers so she knew he was right here.
“Things hadn’t been right between us for ages. That night I knew I couldn’t take any more. We had a huge row…and he stormed off.”
Colton had been spitting bricks that night. He’d never breathed a word about Piper though. “Jesus.” He let out a ragged breath. No wonder she was so torn up about it. It wasn’t only the ghost of his brother he had to contend with. It was the knowledge Piper couldn’t get over the regret that their last words had been an argument.
“He was your brother.” There was so much hurt in her voice it crushed his heart. “You’re the last person I can tell. But you have to believe me. Things weren’t the way they looked.”
They’d looked like the perfect couple. She was telling him that was a lie.
They’d never talked about her relationship with Colton. He certainly didn’t want to know the details. But she was hiding something, and even in his current state he could see how badly she needed to get it off her chest.
“What are you talking about? What was going on between you and my brother?”
She shook her head. “I can’t defile his memory.”
Only Piper would use a word likedefile. He shifted, and grunted in pain before he could stop himself. “I’m not my parents. I know he wasn’t the saint everyone thought. Yeah, he was my brother and I guess I loved him, but he could be a real dick at times. What did he do, baby?”
