“Thank you. For this and everything else.” He wasn’t leaving with much—a carry-on containing his small amount of clothes and the items in this sack. But it was more than he’d arrived with.
“C’mere.” She motioned him forward and hugged him. He could tell she was using only a percentage of her strength in awareness of his healing ribs. Pulling back a little, she regarded him with gruff affection. “Promise me you’ll come back. I’m determined to see you again fit and well.”
“I’ll come back.”
She hugged him again. When they separated it took him off guard to spot moisture in the eyes of such a practical woman. Leigh thrust it away with her wrist, then went to give Remy, who was talking with an employee, a hug.
“Love you,” he heard Remy say.
“Love you. You two be on your way now. He needs a hospital.”
“I’ll get him there,” Remy promised.
Leigh jerked a nod and walked out the door without looking back.
Remy crossed to him. “Ready?”
No. “Yes.” How expensive was this flight? He hated that she was having to pay for him.
The pilot led them outdoors to a prop plane.
They buckled into seats behind the pilot.
Jonah looked over at her, breathing in the scent of her soap—lemon, sage, sweetness. Her hair was down today, parted in the middle. She wore a V-neck gray shirt, black jeans, flat black lace-up boots.
Internally, he cursed the fever and cough. He’d been making steady progress, but then, as if he was playing a board game, he’d drawn the wrong card and been sent several spaces backward. He couldn’t recover here any longer. He had to leave.
Resistance overwhelmed him as the plane raced down the dirt airstrip, gathering speed. It lifted off. Soon after, Islehaven slipped from view. He twisted in the seat, trying to keep sight of it.
Too soon, it disappeared.
Be careful what you wish for, Remy thought grimly. Stress tightened her posture as they prepared to land in Rockland after their twelve-minute flight.
When she’d found Jonah ten days ago, her first goal had been to ensure that his vitals stabilized. Once that had been achieved, her goal had been to reunite him with his family and get him gone. She’d wanted him out of her house.
All of a sudden, she’d gotten her wish.
It’s just that she’d never wanted it to be like this. For this reason.
As challenging as having him as a houseguest had been, she was realizing that she perhaps hadn’tcompletelyloathed having him around. She’d just mostly loathed it. Because now that their time at the cottage had come to an end, some very tiny part of her was . . . sad.
When Jonah had insisted that she accompany him here, she hadn’t put up a fight because she needed to see her duty to him through and because he wasn’t up to making this journey alone. He needed her . . . . Well. Notherexactly. But he did need someone capable to go with him and get him safely squared away.
After landing, she called a cab. Then watched Rockland’s sunny streets slide by from the cab’s backseat. It always jarred her system to return to the mainland. There wereso many people.
“Does anything here jog your memory?” she asked.
“No.”
She’d called Jonah’s doctor this morning to tell him the fever and cough were slightly worse and that they were heading to the mainland. He’d assured her he’d speak with hospital admin in advance of their arrival.
When they reached the medical center, the doctor’s legwork saved them from much of the bureaucratic nightmare that would normally accompany the arrival of a man with no ID, name, health insurance, or memory.
They waited an hour—so many people—then a matronly nurse showed them to an ER exam room. Jonah sat on a bed on wheels. His legs hung off the end and he looked disgruntled as the nurse flitted around him.
At the very least, she’d succeeded at getting him under the care of qualified medical professionals. Which was something.
Fifteen minutes after the nurse left, a thirty-something man with tidy brown hair entered. His name tag readDr. Denny. As soon as he saw Jonah, he came to a stop, staring in shock. A huge smile broke across his face. “I’m a big fan.” He released a disbelieving laugh. “What an honor to meet you.”
