Something about the way he said it made her believe him. “Okay, so can you at least tell me what thisvisitorsaid?”
He started to reach out, almost as if he were going to rest his hand on her leg but stopped himself. “He told me someone very dangerous is after you.”
The discontentment she felt from his not touching her was more than a little disturbing.
Refusing to let it show, she gave him an incredulous look. “And you believed him?”
His single nod and somber expression were enough to make her stomach turn. “I believe him.”
A few seconds passed before Ellena responded with a head shake that reminded her she needed to stop moving her head altogether. “You realize how crazy that sounds, right?” She stared back at him. “I’m a psychologist, Gabe. I talk to them and then I go home. I sometimes stop at the grocery store on the way, and every great once in a while, when I get a wild hair or two, I meet Jenna for dinner or drinks. But for the most part, I lead a very normal life.”
Some would call it a normal life. Jenna calls it sad and boring.
And she’d just admitted as much to Gabe.
Head throbbing again, Ellena didn’t bother to hide her agitation when she asked the obvious question. “Who in their right mind would want me dead?”
Gabe’s eyes turned cold. “I don’t know yet, but I promise you I will find out.” He did reach out then, his large hand resting gently on her blanket-covered thigh. “No one’s going to hurt you again, Elle. You have my word.”
“Gabe…”
“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t take what this man said very seriously.”
The comment was a crushing reminder of the reason for his impromptu return.
“I know you wouldn’t have.” She forced herself to keep eye contact. “Your noticeable absence the last three years has proven that.”
The flash of guilt on his face should’ve made her feel better. Instead, Ellena felt worse.
She really needed to get control of her emotions. Better yet, maybe she needed to make an emergency, in-hospital appointment with her own shrink.
“Sorry.” Using her good hand, Ellena rubbed her fingertips along her right temple. “This is just a lot to take in. Plus my head hurts, and my arm’s starting to ache again, which is making me cranky, and I…”
She stopped talking when Gabe leaned over the bed’s railing and pressed the button to contact the nurse. She also stopped breathing, refusing to let his mesmerizing scent influence her in any way.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting you some more pain meds.”
“I don’t need more medicine. It makes me loopy.”
“It will also help you rest, which is the best way for your body to heal.”
Ellena barely held back the low growl building inside her chest. A lot of things may have changed between them, but Gabe’s innate need to take care of her clearly hadn’t.
Too bad that’s no longer his job.
“Listen, Gabe. I appreciate your concern, but I don’t need you coming in here and taking over everything. I’ve gotten along just fine on my own since you left.”
“I know you have.” A flash of pain filled his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
“And exactly how would you know that?”
He opened his mouth to respond at the same time the nurse walked in. Despite what Ellena had said to him, she found herself more than ready for those drugs to be administered into her IV.
For what seemed like forever, she’d wanted nothing more than to see him again. Now all she wanted was to get away from the frustratingly confusing man.
If a medically induced nap was going to be the only way to accomplish that, so be it.
