And then I spot him.
Jamie is lying on his back in a bed, half his gorgeous face covered by a hospital mask, but I know him at a glance anyway. His brown eyes are closed, and he’s way too still.
My throat closes up at the sight, and all I can do is stare.
I don’t know how long I stand there staring. A few seconds? A minute? Blake grabs my shoulders from behind and squeezes. Hard. That’s when I remember to breathe, sucking in a great blast of air.
He gives me a gentle shake. “Stay loose, Wesley. Come on.”
“Sorry,” I mumble.
Blake shakes his head. “It’s all right. This is as far as I go, but I’m going to call you in a couple of hours, okay? Or text me if you need me. Either way, I’ll pick you up later. We left your car at the rink.”
Shit, we did. I’m not even sure where I am right now. “Thank you,” I say, meeting his gaze. “Really, I…”
He waves it off. “No need. We’ll talk later.”
Blake turns around and disappears toward the elevators.
“Right this way, Mr. Wesley,” the doctor says. “The nurses will help you into the gear.”
Ten minutes later I’m wearing a long disposable gown,gloves, a head covering, goggles, disposable slippers and a face mask. It’s fucking ridiculous.
“These rooms have two doors,” a petite Asian woman—her name tag says Janet Li, R.N.—explains. “You enter this way…” She points at a door off the room with the glass. “And you leave through that far door. All the gear stays in the room just outside the patient’s room. There’s a lot of signage to help you know what to do. Okay?”
“Got it,” I say. I just need to get in there. Screw the signage.
“You’ll go in alone right now, but if you need anything or the patient needs anything, use the intercom button on the wall and someone will assist you immediately.”
“Thank you.”
When she unlocks the door to Jamie’s room for me, I dive through it. There’s a second door behind that one, unlocked.
Then it’s just him and me. Finally. I grab his hand and give it a squeeze. I’m stunned that it’s so hot to the touch. They weren’t kidding about that fever. “Baby,” I choke out. “I’m here.”
He is still.
So I start babbling, because I want him to know it’s me. I tell him everything that happened to me today.Everything. How Blake got injured and I went to find him. How I got the awful phone call. “I was so freaked,” I tell him, though Jamie’s brow remains perfectly smoothed by slumber.
The masks between us are loathsome. I just want to rip the thing off.
Eventually my story winds down. I park my ass on the edge of the bed, hoping that’s okay, and pull his hand into my lap, where I stroke it with my stupid gloved hand.
His eyelashes flicker.
“Canning,” I whisper, squeezing his hand. “Hey. Come on, babe.”
His pale eyelids part, and when I can see his eyes, I finally believe that everything is going to be okay. His eyes widen, but then his brow furrows.
Fuck, he’s scared. I must look like a freak, or at least a stranger. “It’s me,” I say loudly. “Hey, look.” With my free hand I rip off the goggles and then—screw it—the face mask.
His face relaxes, and I smile for the first time in hours. Maybe ever.
“Mr. Wesley! What are you doing?” I turn my head to see the nurse just on the other side of the glass, one hand on her hip, an angry frown on her face. She’s holding a phone to her ear, and her voice booms from a speaker on the wall. “You can’t take off the protective gear!”
I can, though. She’s not going to overpower me. I can take her in a fight. So I shuck off the hair covering, too. Then I get off the bed and stand over Jamie’s head. He’s watching me with wide, trusting eyes.
“Mr. Wesley!” she barks. “Stop it.”
