Cole helped me down the hallway and into my room.
I sat on the edge of my bed while Cole leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his eyes steady on me.
“You sure you’re okay?”
I nodded.“Yeah.I was trying to get up and walk in the hospital, but obviously, I didn’t do enough.Don’t worry about me.”
He thinned his lips.“That’s kind of what my job is right now.”
I rolled my eyes and lay down.“I know you enjoy watching me sleep, but I really think you can get something to eat, and nothing will happen to me.”
“I’ll be just down the hallway,” he said.“You need anything, you call out.”
“I know.”
“And keep your door open.”
I frowned.“Why?”
“So I can hear you.”
That shouldn’t have made me feel anything.
It did.
Chapter Eight
Cole
It was pushing ten by the time the house finally settled.
Mac had come down the hallway a little after nine, barefoot and already half-asleep, her hair loose around her shoulders.She’d paused at Star’s door, leaned in just long enough to check her breathing, then turned her attention on me.
“She hasn’t moved,” Mac said quietly.
“She needs it,” I replied.
Mac nodded, but she lingered anyway.“If she wakes up—”
“I’ve got it,” I said.
She opened her mouth, clearly ready to argue.
I cut her off before she could.“You need to be up early.You’ve got work.”
She frowned.“So do you.”
I nodded to where Star was sleeping.“She’s it.”
Her eyes flicked toward Star’s room again, worry written all over her face.“If she gets dizzy—”
“I’ll get you,” I said.“Unless I can handle it.Which I probably can.”
That earned me a reluctant sigh.“You’re stubborn,” she muttered.
“Takes one to know one.”
Mac shook her head, but there was a smile tugging at her mouth as she turned toward the stairs.“Wake me if you need me.”
