“Jack.” What about Heather? Had she gotten out of the building in time? Had she been near another bomb that had gone off? Closer than him. Close enough to—no, he couldn’t think that way. But heneeded to know.
“Can I get a phone? I need to find out what happened to the woman I was with. Please.” He sounded desperate, but hell, hewasdesperate.
“I’ll see what I can—oh, maybe this friendcan help you.”
When the nurse stepped aside, the air gushed out of his lungs. Heather stood there, her face beaming, eyes brimming with moisture. Relief, intense and strong, hit him, and he closed his eyes trying to catch his breath.
“Heather.”
“I guess you have your answer,” the nurse said as she left the room. “Try tokeep him calm.”
“I’ll do my best.” Walking over to the bed, she took his hand then bent over to kiss his forehead. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“I scared…I didn’t know if you were alive or…” He trailed off, not wanting to finishthat sentence.
“Alive. And so are you. It’s taken you a while to wake up though. I was worried sick.” Her lower lip trembled so he pulled her closer until she rested on the edge of the mattress.
Squeezing her hand, he shut his eyes as he felt actual tears leak out of the corner. She was alive and so was he. They’d managed to escape from an almost impossible situation.
“I had surgery?” Now he was curious. Exactly how bad off was he? Hefelt like crap.
Nodding her head, Heather said, “Yes. Ruptured spleen and some other internal bleeding shit. You’ve got a few broken bones and another concussion. You’re kind of a mess.”
“Sorry.”
“But you’ll be good as new soon enough.” The tears in her eyes and the anxious expression on her face made him believe otherwise.
“You’re crying,” he accused. “So you’re upset about something. Did I make you miss a hair appointment?”
An unladylike snort erupted from her mouth, but he’d gotten the distraught expression off her face. Looking at her now, her hair was kind of a mess. Limp and tangled. She was still the most beautiful womanhe’d ever seen.
“How are you feeling? Did you get injured, aside from the knock on your head from Stokinger?”
“No, and I’ve eaten now, so I’m not as grouchy either.”
“Food, yeah, that would be nice.” When he took stock of his stomach and the nausea that resided, he thoughthe might wait.
Heather leaned down and rested her elbows on either side of him, her face so close he could almost kiss her.
“The cops were amazed at how we managed to get out. Said it would makea great book.”
“A book, huh? Are you getting into writing now?”
“No, we can hire someone to write it for us. Perhaps even get somemovie rights.”
Her expression was much better now. The inane chatter had brought her back to the beauty he loved.
“Who would they get to play you?”
Her eyes lit up and roamed the room in thought. “Not sure. Someone totally hot, of course.”
“No one’s as hot as you, princess. Especially not with your infamous gymnastic moves getting that flashlight upto your hands.”
“You had the macho hero thing going on, picking up that metal and getting it topick the lock.”
Another reason his abs hurt, he was sure. “We’re pretty badass, huh?”
“Totally badass. And Stokinger won’t be doing that again anytime soon. Drew said they picked himup in Florida.”
