“Jayson will be the first to tell you not to worry. He’s fine. I’m fine. We’ll talk and hash things out. It’ll all be okay. I promise.” His words of reassurance don’t help lessen my apprehension.
I shake my head on the pillow which just makes me dizzy. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. Not like that.”
“Let me text them, okay? Just hold on.”
Ryder hits the call button and tells the nurse that I’m awake. She says she will page the doctor and someone will be in shortly. Instead of texting, he calls Julien.
“Hey, man. She just woke up. Got it.” He hangs up. “They’re heading back up,” he tells me and sits back down, taking my hand between his larger ones. Strong, capable hands that love me. Hands that know exactly how to hold me and touch me.
“I’m not going to leave you, Ryder.” He just blinks and gives me a timid smile. “I mean it. I love you.You, Ryder. I remember everything that happened tonight. So do not, for one second, think that anything will ever erase my love for you. I’m yours. You’re stuck with me,” I say stubbornly, and he exhales with relief.
Ryder drops his head onto our joined hands. “Tonight scared me in more ways than one. I love you. So very much, Elizabeth.”
“You hold my heart. I think you always have.” He leans over and I sigh into our kiss. Ryder is my home.
As soon as he pulls back, the hospital door opens, and it feels like an entire circus comes parading in. Jayson and Julien come rushing through with Daniel, a nurse and a doctor following close behind. Ryder steps away to give room for everyone to crowd around me. Voices are talking, one on top of the other. Daniel grabs the twins and pulls them away so that the nurse and doctor can get to me. Everyone except the hospital staff has pinched faces, tight with apprehension and exhaustion.
I’m given the all-clear and told I’ll be discharged within the next few hours once the final bloodwork results come in. The doctor says my glucose levels came back low, so that’s what caused me to faint. They’d been giving me intravenous glucose for the past hour and are waiting for to make sure my levels are normalized before I’m released. But I know the real reason, and it’s one I’m not going to discuss with him. I nod yes to everything the doctor says so I can get out of here as quickly as possible. I’ve had enough of sterile hospitals to last me a lifetime.
I know once I’m home, however, I’ll have some explaining to do. To have two memory blackouts, one after the other, has never happened before. Jayson is right to be concerned. What if I am driving a car or doing something else when the next one happens? I could hurt someone. I could hurt myself. It’s something I need to seriously think about.
The doctor and nurse leave and I’m once again surrounded by four men with matching strained faces.
“I’m fine.”
“Fucking hell, princess.”
I look over at Daniel and he gestures to Jayson. “I agree with what he said.”
I don’t know why, but I start laughing.
“I’m glad someone finds this situation funny,” Julien grumbles.
“I’m fine. Like the doctor said, low blood sugar. I didn’t eat much today. I should have carbed up after our morning run.”
“Elizabeth, I called Dr. Narwali. He would like to see you tomorrow to make sure everything’s okay,” Daniel tells me. I know when to pick my battles and now is not the time.
I allow everyone to coddle and fuss over me for another thirty minutes until I can’t take it anymore.
“Do you guys mind if I speak with Jayson alone?”
Ryder hesitates before kissing the crown of my head. “Take your time. We’ll be outside.”
Daniel wiggles his phone. “I need to call Drew and let him know how you are. I’ll be right back.”
Julien smacks a huge kiss on my mouth with his lips. “That’s for scaring the ever-living fuck out of me. Again. I guess I should call Elijah, too. He’s going to want to see you himself. Let me know when.”
Ryder holds the door open for Julien and they step outside. Jayson is standing in front me, hands in his pockets. I get a momentary flash of a silver-eyed boy with two missing front teeth hanging upside down from a tree branch.
I roll to the side to grab the bed control so I can raise myself up into a more comfortable sitting position. Jayson reaches it first.
“Here. Let me get that for you.” He presses the “up” button until I’m more upright.
“That’s better, thanks,” I tell him.
“Why does this feel weird? We shouldn’t feel weird around each other.”
“You did break down my front door,” I tease, giving him a small smile.
