Everything hurts… like light my veins on fire, hurts.Breathing is a feat because my chest is so tight.My knee throbs, my arm feels like it’s in a vice, and my head is pounding to the point that I might vomit.
Slowly, my eyes begin to blink open, and my surroundings become clearer.The room is dark, so the sun must be down.It feels quiet for a hospital, yet there’s a presence in the room.
“You’re awake.”A masculine voice startles me into looking over to the side of the bed.“Surprised to see me, too.”His icy eyes crinkle at the corners with a slight smile.“Did you think I’d just abandon you after watching you get plowed over in the street?”He sits forward now, lifting the side of the blanket and touching the curve of my thigh.
“Yes.”My voice cracks with the dryness of my throat.
For a man his size, Lucca is quick to his feet to grab the pitcher on the table and pour me a glass of water.Popping a straw in it, he brings it over and offers it to me.I open my mouth as our eyes hold each other, taking a refreshing sip.I lower my lids as the water coats my throat and cools me down, yet the rest of my body feels heated.
He draws the straw back from my lips.
“Thank you,” I say.
Taking a seat on the side of the bed, he studies me as though I’m a bug under a microscope to be analyzed.“Why do you leave the stockings?”
I chew my lip, and Lucca lifts a hand to relieve it from the abuse.I notice that the veins are pronounced, and the tattoos stand out starkly against his white dress shirt.He raises an eyebrow, awaiting my answer, while brushing his thumb across my lower lip, even after I begin speaking.
“You just didn’t look happy, and I wanted to see you smile just once.”
He gives me that eye-crinkled smile again without even a twitch of his lips.
“I can think of plenty of ways you’d make me smile.”The color of his eyes darkens to this midnight blue, making me blush.My fair skin gives me away so easily, too.
“You shouldn’t say things like that.”It’ll break my heart when he eventually walks away.
“Why?”He puts so much authority into the singular word.
I blow out a breath to muster up my courage, still unable to meet his eyes, even though he holds my chin in his hand.“Because we both know it wouldn’t last.”My heart cramps at the truthfulness of my words, but I must accept the reality of who we are.He’s way too good for someone like me.
“Is that so?”His fingers pinch my chin, forcing me to meet his intense, penetrating stare.“Because Idobelieve I’m the master of my own life.Only I can know if there’s any truth behind that statement, and believe me,amore, it would not be true for me.”
“Oh.”He’s wrong, but I’m in too much pain and too fatigued to argue with him.
“You don’t believe me.Think I’ll change my mind.”He hit the nail on the head there.Caressing a finger along my jaw, the tender touch seems out of the ordinary for him.It’s too soft for such a virile man.“I’ll forgive that, but, Coco, don’t test me on my own feelings.”
Swallowing roughly, I give a short, clipped nod.
“Knock, knock.”Saved by the nurse.“How are you feeling, Miss Spencer?How’s the pain?”
She ignores Lucca, which I imagine is hard to do since he takes up the entire room.
“As long as I don’t move or breathe, I’m okay,” I reply, but it’s a lie.Everything hurts, all the time, but I don’t want to complain.“My head is killing me, though.”It pounds relentlessly.
Lucca frowns as he watches on, stepping out of the nurse’s way.
“That’s to be expected, you took quite the knock to the noggin.Fifteen stitches isn’t anything to laugh at either.I’ll check with the doctor to see what we can give you for that.”
Smiling gratefully at her, I can still feel Lucca’s gaze as the woman continues to check my vitals.
“When can she leave?”Finally, he speaks.
“So long as there’s no other issues overnight, I suspect in the morning.But not until we get the head pain under control.I do believe the doctor wishes to do another CT as well.Be certain there’s no brain bleeding.”
Well, that’s terrifying.
“Is that something I should worry about?”I can’t help my shaky voice.How will I pay this hospital bill, let alone a longer stay?
Sitting back in bed with my stomach in knots, panic begins to take hold as I stare up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell I’ll do now.I’ll be out of work for weeks, and I won’t even be able to crochet anything for my Etsy store.
