“Oh, uh…are you okay?”
She looked up to see a woman, in bright pink scrubs with little light pink bows on them, watching her with concern written all over her face.
“I’m good. Just got winded. First trimester problems.” Her hand gently patted her belly, hoping it was a good enough excuse that the nurse wouldn’t hold her up any further.
“Oh, I remember those days. Congratulations!” She began to walk down the stairs towards Mae. “Feel free to sit on a step if you need to. But don’t push yourself. All those hormones can sometimes make you actually pass out. Better to take the elevator than to hurt yourself trying to get in some extra steps.”
“I’ll be careful. Thank you.”
Mae allowed herself one more deep breath after the nurse disappeared down the stairs before she pushed off the wall and continued her climb to the fifth floor.
Shoes still in her hand, Mae burst through the fifth floor stairwell doors, her breath rattling in and out of her chest. She didn’t care. As soon as her feet hit the cool linoleum, she took off running. Straight to the nurses station. Then around the corner and down the small hallway to where Stone’s room was. The door was closed, but it only took a single second for her to shove it open.
“Michaela.”
Heat washed over her so quickly she barely registered the other eyes on her in the room as she rushed to his side.
“Thank God.” Her words were barely a whisper, but that was all she could manage through the emotions swirling around, making her lightheaded. Her legs, shaking and barely keeping her upright, got her to his bedside, where her handcovered his. Stone squeezed her fingers, and that’s when Mae broke.
Tears flowed down her face. She faintly registered Rhett in the corner, moving towards her. Then, a thump whacked against the back of her legs and down she went, plopping right into the chair that had become like a second skin for her over seemingly never ending days she’d spent by his side. “You asshole. Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“Welcome back, Mr. Lawson.” A booming voice filled the room as a man in a white coat strolled in. “I’m Dr. Anderson, your neurologist. Mae, I’m sorry to interrupt, but there are a few things I’d like to check over on Stone before too much time passes.”
Mae nodded, pulling away from Stone and walking back towards the wall. He instantly felt pissed at the doctor. Holding Mae in his arms was his only priority at that moment. Somewhere, inside the darkness of his jumbled mind, was the feeling that he had to get back to her.
“Don’t go too far, Michaela.” His tired voice cracked.
“I’m not going anywhere, Sully.” She winked as her back pressed against the wall and the tension in his shoulders faded.
The doctor stepped forward, a bright light flashing in his eyes before Stone started blinking, trying to stop the pain.
“Sorry about that. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a bus,” he groaned. “How long have I been out?”
“Thirteen days,” Mae whispered from the corner.
“What?” The steady beeping on the machine beside his bed picked up.
“There’s no reason to worry. Your body needed time to heal, and your brain knew that.”
Dr. Anderson continued with his exam. Poking Stone’s skin, asking him to move certain body parts, examining his reflexes. But the entire time, Stone kept his eyes on Mae.
She looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes and a grayish tint to her skin that immediately made him want to take her home and tuck her into bed. Had she been taking care of herself? Had their friends made sure she was taken care of? Their friends…
Stone’s eyes widened. “Is Lacy okay?”
Mae’s eyebrows pulled together and her mouth made a little frown. “She’s fine… Sloane’s making sure that everyone’s on their way. They wouldn’t let me stay the whole time. I would have been here… I should have been here when you woke up.” Mae wiped at a tear that was tracking down her face. Shit, this doctor needed to finish up so he could get his arms back around her.
“Isn’t she here?” His eyebrows pulled together. “Or, I guess, if I was out for two weeks, she would have been released, right? She was okay…”
“She’s totally fine. Why are you worried?”
“Her allergy. We were all at dinner. In the parking lot. I was… I was hit by a car, right? My body feels like I was hit by a car.”
He watched the confusion cloud her eyes. Mae’s eyes bounced to the doctor, who was standing with his arms crossed, watching their conversation unfold.
“Stone, what’s the last thing you remember?” Dr. Anderson asked.
