“Oh, and I called your dad.”
“You did?!”
He was going to freak out.
“I promised him that I’d have you call him as soon as you woke up.”
Charli had her phone out and was calling before I could protest.
“Hi Mr. Bur—Yes, she’s awake.”
She shoved the phone at me. “Hey, Dad.”
“Are you okay?” He sniffed. “I got a flight. I’m going to be there as soon as I can.”
“No. Dad. I’m fine. You don’t need to come—”
“Sadie! This is not up for discussion. First the fire, now you get attacked, you’re coming home.”
I closed my eyes as exhaustion pulled at me. “Dad.”
Charli snatched the phone back. “Mr. Burke, Sadie has to rest but—”
I could hear my dad on the other end of the line but his words sounded like he was underwater. Or I was. I took a breath and closed my eyes.
“Okay,” Charli said quietly. “Okay. Yes, I will...”
The last thing I remembered was hearing Charli speaking but her voice sounded far away. The next thing I knew I felt something warm envelop my hand. I opened my eyes and saw Alex sitting beside my bed. He was holding my hand and his head was hanging down.
“Alex.” My voice was so quiet I could barely hear it inside my own head.
He lifted his head and I saw the pain, the anguish in his eyes. My chest ached that I’d been the one to put it there.
“Sadie.” He lifted his hand and ran his fingers across my forehead gently.
His featherlight touch was comforting and warmth spread through me.
“Hi.” I smiled weakly.
“Hi.” Concern radiated off of him as he stared down at me. His thumb brushed along the side of my face and I remembered what Charli had said about my black eye.
“Is it bad?” I asked.
“Your injury?”
“My black eye. Does it look bad?”
“You look beautiful. So fucking beautiful.”
I loved when he said that to me. I wasn’t sure why the word fucking made it feel so much more special, but it did.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized.
“Sorry.” He shook his head. “For what?”
“For scaring you,” I breathed.
“It’s not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for. Just rest. Just rest and get better.” He sniffed and I saw a tear fall down his cheek.
Something was wrong. Something was different between us. I could feel it.
I knew that I was high on painkillers and that Alex was sitting beside my bed, he’d told me I was fucking beautiful, he was caressing me sweetly. But there was something different in the way he was looking at me and I knew it had nothing to do with my black eye.
I needed to ask him if he was okay. I needed to reassure him that I was fine. I opened my mouth to do just that but then I closed my eyes and everything went black again.
