Chapter 26
I awoke to Aiden brushing my hair back from my face. His touch was slow and gentle, his calloused fingers tracing the edge of my temple. I blinked, coming back from a dream. The bright light of morning filtered through half-closed blinds, washing the hospital room in pale gold. The air smelled faintly of disinfectant and stale coffee. I had fallen asleep with my head resting on his hospital bed, my body curled in the chair beside him.
When I sat up, my neck protested in sharp pain. “Ow.”
“Baby, you need to go home and get some sleep,” he said softly. His voice was rough, half asleep, but the hint of concern made something twist in my chest.
Outside the door, I could see Doc arriving with a paper cup of coffee in hand, talking quietly with one of the nurses. The world felt strangely still after everything that had happened. I’d stayed all night, too afraid to leave.
Aiden had dozed on and off, mostly lost to the fog of painkillers. Every time his breathing shifted, I woke, terrified he’d stop. I kept telling myself the sleep meant his body was healing. Still, my stomach hadn’t unclenched once.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, rubbing at the kink in my neck.
“You look worse than I do,” Aiden teased, his voice gravelly but lighter now.
I tried to smooth my hair, but judging from his half grin, it wasn’t much of an improvement. “I look fine.” I could probably use a shower and about twelve hours of real sleep.
We’d both been interviewed the night before by his team and Sheriff Franco…repeatedly. The nurse had brought dinner, though I barely remembered eating it. I hadn’t meant to stay the entire night, but the idea of walking away from Aiden, even for an hour, had felt wrong.
Aiden adjusted his pillow. “I would’ve hauled you up into this bed if I hadn’t passed out again,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
He shifted carefully, paling as he did so. “Fine. How about you?”
“I’m fine,” I said automatically, though my body ached from every muscle locking in one position all night. My phone buzzed on the side table. “Hi, Dad,” I answered, seeing his face on the screen.
“Hey, honey.” His deep voice rumbled through the speaker. “Just wanted to check on Aiden.”
I reached for Aiden’s hand. “He’s good. The doctor hasn’t been in this morning yet, but he’s got good color, and he said he’s not in pain.”
“Is he still seeing double?”
I glanced at Aiden, who gave a slow shake of his head. “No, not anymore.”
“Good,” Dad said. “Listen, I think you should probably take the silver nugget boxes and put them somewhere safe.”
I froze. “I should?”
“Well, yeah. You have them, don’t you?”
My chin hit my chest. “No, Dad, I don’t have them.”
Silence hummed on the other end.
“Dad?”
“Honey… they’re not in the trunk of the car. We were all pretty wiped last night. I went out to check before bed, and they were gone. Figured you’d already grabbed them.”
My stomach sank. “No.” My mind spun in several directions, landing on just one. “But I have a good idea who might have them.” I groaned. I shouldn’t have told Cormac where they were. What was I thinking?
Dad sighed heavily. “You sure it’s okay? I can call the sheriff.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I’ll handle it and call Sheriff Franco myself. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“All right. Tell Aiden to buck up for me.”
I grinned. “I will.” I ended the call and dropped the phone into my lap.
