Page 13

She rolls her eyes. “You were in a terrible car accident, Quinn, so everyone understands and if they didn’t, fuck ‘em.”

“Fuck ‘em?” I ask with a laugh. “If Gram were here, she’d pop your mouth for that one.”

Her face falls and she sucks in a breath. “Don’t you dare go dying on me, you hear?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Sis. You’re stuck with me for life.”

Tears well up in her eyes as she grabs my hand. “I’m holding you to that.”

Before I can respond, a little snore from the baby on my chest interrupts us and we both start laughing.

“You’d better get her home and in her own bed or she’ll be a bear tomorrow.”

Alice nods. “Yeah, the girl does love her sleep. Wonder where she gets that from?”

“Dunno,” I lie, making a face at her as she laughs. We gently maneuver Brooklyn from my arms to Alice’s and she leans down to give me a hug.

“We’ll come check on you in the morning, okay?”

I shake my head as she pulls away. “Just wait for me to call you. There is no sense in making two trips if they really do decide to discharge me.”

“You sure?”

I nod my head. “Yeah. I’ll be all right.”

Her lips purse as she studies me for a moment before nodding. “Okay, but I want you to call me if you need anything. Oh, and you also need to tell your body to stop bleeding.”

“You got it. I’ll focus on healing my wounds with the power of my mind.”

Fighting back a smile, she nods. “Perfect.”

Alice leans down and kisses my cheek as I place a gentle kiss on the top of Brooklyn’s head. She takes a step back and I can tell she’s reluctant to leave me.

“I promise you I’ll be fine, Alice. Go home and get some rest, okay?”

She stares at me for a moment before nodding and walking to the door to my room. “Love you,” she calls over her shoulder.

“Love you more.”

Once they’re gone, I lie back on the bed and close my eyes, slowly blowing out a breath. My eyes feel heavy but my mind is racing at a hundred miles an hour and random images from the crash keep popping into my mind. My hands start to shake as I piece it all together. I remember glancing over and the only thing I could see was the front grill of the truck just seconds before it slammed into the car. Then, the world was a blur as the car spun for what felt like forever and the blink of an eye all at the same time. And then he was there.

Sighing, I open my eyes and stare up at the florescent lights on the ceiling. Maybe the accident rattled me even more than I realized since I can’t seem to shift my focus from Lucas, a man I don’t even know. My love life in the last two years has been woefully lacking and no one has even caught my eye. God, I’m not even sure that I’m capable of being in a relationship anymore but something about Lucas cemented the inkling of a thought in my mind and it’s not as if I’m planning our wedding after only one chance meeting but I am thinking – what-if?

“Quinn?”

Turning toward the door, I gasp at the sight of Lucas standing in the doorway. “What are you still doing here?”

He smiles and strolls into the room like I somehow conjured him up just by thinking of him as I try to get my racing heart under control. “I couldn’t leave without making sure you were all right.”

“Oh,” I whisper, my cheeks heating. Who the heck is this guy and why does he have such an impact on me? “You’ve been waiting here this whole time?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“Oh.”

Our eyes meet across the room and butterflies dance around in my stomach as his blue eyes study me, almost like he can see right through me.

“So… are you? Okay, I mean…” he asks.