Then, thegunshots and the pain!
I turned my head slowly, seeing that he was there. He sat slumped in a chair beside the bed, arms crossed over his chest, head tilted back against the wall, fast asleep. Even like that, he looked tense. Like he’d only allowed himself to rest because the exhaustion finally forced him to.
He’d told me he didn’t sleep well, and I could see it now. In the tension of his shoulders and the anxiety written over his face.
His leather vest was hung over the back of the chair and dark stubble shadowed his jaw. One large hand rested loosely on the edge of my hospital bed like he’d been holding onto it.
Like he had been watching me and waiting.
My chest tightened unexpectedly.
I studied his face quietly, confused by the swirl of emotions inside me. Was it fear? Relief? Gratitude?
There was something deeper that made my heart beat just a little faster, too. Something I wasn’t ready to name yet. And as I lay there watching him sleep, I knew one thing for certain.
Everything had changed.
