Against his better judgment, Jace had allowed himself to fall for Millie. He knew it wasn’t a clever thing to do, but he simply couldn’t stop it from happening. She was perfect in every way. Jace knew that it was likely she would never return his feelings and that all he would ever get from her was friendship. He wanted more, but he would settle for whatever she was willing to offer him. Millie’s happiness and well-being had become the most important thing to him.
As they ate, he wondered if she would ever talk again. It didn’t matter to him personally. He would learn her and Blade’s sign language and write her letters, but it would make her life so much easier and better. That was what he wanted for her: a happy life where she could thrive and enjoy everything the world had to offer.
After Millie had snapped out of her episode that day in the kitchen, she had been scared and tired. Jace knew better than to try to get her to eat or do anything else, for that matter.Instead, he made her tea and told her to go to bed and rest. She closed her bedroom door behind her, and he sat on the couch for hours, waiting until she emerged from her room again.
Once he was sure that she was all right, he left. The next day, she was waiting to eat dinner with him in the garden again. He hadn’t mentioned what had happened, scared to upset her, but there was something he needed her to know.
His stomach clenched with nerves as he focused his attention on her. “I like to believe that we are friends,” he said. “And I want you to know that I think you are absolutely amazing just the way you are.”
Millie’s eyes lit up, and her cheeks turned a pale shade of red. She touched her heart again.Thank you,she signed.
“I also want you to know that I am perfectly okay with it if you never talk again, but if you ever decide that you want to try, I am here to help you.”
The expression on Millie’s face changed, and for a second, Jace felt like kicking himself. He shouldn’t have said anything about it to her. Dr. Masterson had warned him that it was a sensitive subject.
Millie looked down at her hands, and when she looked up again, tears filled her eyes, but she smiled.
“Oh no,” Jace whispered. “Please don’t cry.” He had no idea what to do.
Millie shook her head and touched her heart for the third time since he sat down. She thanked him for wanting to help.
“You’re most welcome,” he told her. “Whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
Chapter 28
Twin Springs could hardly qualify as a town. It was small, too small, and the people were curious—not in a caring way, but in a judgmental way. There was nothing worth mentioning in the town except for Dr. Cooper, who had literally saved Blade’s life, and Dakota, who hadn’t left his side. Actually, it was Dakota who had saved his life, twice now. If she hadn’t stopped the bleeding, he would have been dead before they ever arrived at Dr. Cooper’s door.
The town was quiet, especially in the mornings. That was when the pain was at its worst, too. Those early mornings before Dr. Cooper gave him laudanum for the pain, and when Dakota was asleep, were hell. The medicine helped, but she was the one who kept him going. It was those early morning hours that made him realize that there were more important things than revenge. Those pain-filled hours, combined with almost dying, helped him understand just how much he wanted to live.
Two weeks had passed since Dakota dragged his bloodied body out of the Carters’ house. Blade only had partialmemories of the hours that followed. He had been half-conscious most of the time. The ride to Twin Springs was a haze of pain and blood. The thing he remembered most was Dakota’s voice cutting through the fog in his brain, yelling at him to hold on.
Blade shifted in the bed where he lay. There wasn’t a hospital in Twin Springs. Dr. Cooper had a small office in town, but he treated patients who needed long-term care in their own homes. Since Blade and Dakota were travelers, he had taken them in, giving them a place to stay without asking anything in return. Dr. Cooper’s house only had two rooms: one was the doctor’s bedroom, and the other was a spare bedroom that Blade had been occupying. Dakota had been sleeping on the couch in the living room. She had assured them that she didn’t mind at all.
Moving hurt; even after two weeks, he was still in pain. Dr. Cooper had warned him to take it easy. The bullet had missed all his vital organs, but his muscles had been damaged pretty badly. Blade hated taking things easy. He wasn’t used to doing nothing. Spending day after day lying in bed was driving him crazy.
“How are you doing?” Dakota asked as she stepped into his room, a bowl in her hands.
“You’ve asked me that about five times today already,” he replied.
Dakota shrugged as she sat down on the edge of his bed. “I was making your food. It took a while,” she said. “Things could have changed.”
“I’m doing all right, I guess,” Blade said, taking the bowl from her when she handed it to him. “I just hate being stuck in this bed.”
Dakota smiled at him sadly. “I know, but if you want to heal, you have to listen to Dr. Cooper.”
“And you, I take it?” Blade added, smiling at her playfully.
“Of course,” she agreed. “You know I’m always right.”
“Well, in that case, what can I do to get out of this bed faster?”
Dakota laughed at his playfulness. “You should eat your food,” she told him. “I added some magic healing potion to the soup.”
“I’d better eat it then,” Blade replied, taking a bite.
Looking satisfied, Dakota made herself more comfortable on the bed. It was nice to see her laughing and smiling again. The first couple of days following his injury had been really rough. He had been in tremendous pain, but hearing Dakota cry when she thought he was asleep hurt more than any physical pain could. He had always known that she loved him,but seeing how badly his being shot had affected her really put things into perspective.
***
