Jannie shrugged. Though she said nothing, her posture and demeanor told him more than any spoken words.
Several moments passed in silence. “Do you want me to leave?” he finally asked softly.
Please say no.
She shook her head.
He pulled the chair closer to her bedside.
For a while, he just sat quietly. He had encountered grief before, but it involved friends losing older relatives. This was a thousand times worse, throwing him into a situation he’d never faced. He didn’t know what to say.
At long last, her beautiful eyes sought his, searching, and he watched with a heavy heart as she licked her lips and swallowed hard. “They’re gone.”
Such weight in only two words.
His head did some sort of jerky motion that passed for acknowledgment.
Her face was a blank mask, her beautiful blue eyes vacant. “Could you please open the shutters?”
“Sure.”
Nick rose and went to the window, unlatching and pushing the white louvered panels aside.
He stared out at the hospital courtyard, fists clenching and unclenching.
He’d been too late.
“Nick.”
His truck had been right outside with the valet. He should have driven her himself instead of waiting for that ambulance.
He’d failed.
Again.
“Nick,” Jannie repeated.
He turned, stood there for a moment, then dragged his gaze up to find her staring with infinite sorrow in her deep blue eyes.
“Don’t blame yourself. There was no saving them.”
How did she know what he was thinking? “I should have—”
“No.” She looked beyond him at the lavender Las Vegas morning sky. “I’ve suspected for a while but hoped I was mistaken.”
So, she’d seen signs. Nick lowered his head and swallowed. It had to be damned tough when you knew so much.
He moved to stand beside her bed. “I’m sorry.” All he could say, really.
Her face was immobile. But her eyes … his heart turned over as he saw the shimmer of unshed tears in her beautiful sapphire gaze.
She blinked hard. He watched in awe as the tears retracted. The woman was so strong that she even held her tear ducts under firm control.
“I haven’t felt movement at all.”
“I see.”
She reached out, her fingers closing firmly around his forearm. “Don’t you dare feel sorry for me.”
