I sighed. I wish I had my phone. I knew Austin had put a tracker on it, but didn’t think I’d need it if I was just stepping next door.
I closed my eyes again and succumbed to darkness. I don’t know how long I’d been out, but the deafening sound of gunfire had me waking in fright, and then the door to the office flew open and I screamed behind my muzzle.
“Booker! In here,” Mack called.
I burst into tears as Mack rushed to my side and cut the bindings on my hands then my feet just as Austin arrived and knelt in front of me.
“Baby.” He gently peeled the tape from my mouth and I collapsed in his arms.
“I knew you’d come,” I cried. “But did it have to take you so long?”
He lifted me and I whimpered at the pain. Then I passed out.
* * *
Iwoke to hushed voicesand opened my eyes to find Austin’s head leaning on my arm, his hand holding mine.
“Dani?” my mother crooned and walked toward me.
Austin stood and leaned over my bed, a tentative smile on his face as he swept my hair from my forehead. “Hi, baby.”
“Hi,” I rasped and grimaced. My throat was burning. “Water.”
Austin nodded and grabbed me a cup and a straw, guiding it to my mouth. I drank deeply and then relaxed back onto the mattress.
My mother squeezed my hand and smiled. “You gave us a scare, baby girl.”
I nodded.
“I’m going to let the nurse know you’re awake,” she said.
I nodded again and she left the room. I reached for Austin, who took my hand and pulled it to his lips. “Fuck me, baby. It took me two hours to get you out.”
“That’s all?” I asked.
He frowned. “That’s a fuckin’ long time when I’m scared outta my mind not knowin’ if you were okay.”
I smiled. “I knew you’d come.”
“We’re gettin’ married.”
“We are?”
He nodded. “Tomorrow.”
I chuckled, ending on a whimper at the pain in my ribs.
“Sorry, baby. You’ve got a couple broken ribs.”
“I’m okay, honey.” I squeezed his hand. “A little beat up, but okay.”
I could see the sheen of tears in his eyes, but he turned his head and blinked them away.
My door opened and Macey Stone walked in, her light-blue scrubs crisp and clean. “I’d hoped our second get-together would have been dinner or something, but I guess I’ll have to take a rain check.”
I smiled. “You’re on.”
“How’s your pain level?” she asked. “From one to ten?”
