Chapter 31
FLETCHER
I woke up groggy and disoriented. Everything hurt. My whole body throbbed with pain. Even my soul ached, if that was possible. My skull pounded with every beat of my heart, and everything was too bright. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the light.
“Adam?” I croaked out the word, my mouth drier than a desert. I tried to lift my hand to gesture at the window, but found I couldn’t move it. “Blinds? Too bright…”
“Okay, kitten.” Adam’s low timbre was music to my ears. He patted my hand gently before adding, “Hang on.” He got up, and I heard his feet move over the floor. Then, blessedly, shadow bathed the room.
I relaxed with a soft sigh, my eyelashes fluttering closed once more.
Adam shuffled around. The chair legs made a soft scraping sound on the tile.
The beeping of the machines threatened to pull me back under the surface of oblivion.
Adam’s fingers squeezed gently around mine, a subtle confirmation that he was right there, by my side.
I squeezed back, and I was drifting away again.
The next time I awoke, I was alone. It was nighttime. The room was dark, lit only by a strip of light above the sink. I could see nurses walking past through the cracked-open door.
My mouth was so dry. So thirsty. I tried to move, but everything ached and my body moved sluggishly. If I were in the hospital, that meant I was likely doped up on pain meds, and if it still hurt this bad? Damn.
I fumbled for the call button with my good arm. The other one was in a cast. I couldn’t see the rest of my body beneath the white blankets, which worried me, so I tried wiggling my toes. The blankets moved. Thank god. At least I didn’t lose any limbs.
I remembered the wreck, remembered the white Dodge truck careening towards us, and Sky screaming, “LOOK OUT!” But it was too late. There was nothing I could do… Was Sky okay? Worry bloomed like a deadly flower in my heart.
I managed to press the call button, then sank back, exhausted all over again, as if I’d just run a marathon.
A nurse came in a little while later, her dark hair pulled up in braids. “Hey, hon,” she said. “Can I get you something?”
“Is… Is my boyfriend here?” I asked her.
She smiled kindly at me. “The tall one with the dark hair? No, he went home for the evening. He said to tell you he’d be back tomorrow.”
I slowly shook my head. “No. The one who was in the wreck with me. The blond guy.” She seemed a bit taken aback, blinking down at me.
“Sky. Sky DuPree. Is he… Did he…” I swallowed the lump of emotion growing in my throat.
“He’s alive, right? I didn’t…” Kill him, my mind taunted. God, please let him be okay.
“Um. Give me one second, okay? Let me grab someone,” the nurse said, skirting out of my room like her tail was on fire, and my eyes filled with tears. If I killed Sky, I’d never forgive myself.
A few minutes passed, but they felt like an eternity before someone else knocked lightly on the door. A portly older gal with a graying bob came shuffling in, carrying a small cup.
“One of my girls said you’ve got some concerns about a friend?”
I nodded slowly. Damn, it even hurt to breathe.
“Here, honey.” She leaned over me and put the cup to my mouth, pouring a couple of small nuggets of ice in. “Suck on these for a second. I’m sure you’re thirsty.”
I nodded again, tired to the bone. Relaxing, I let my tongue spread the melting ice around in my mouth with a soft sigh.
Once I swallowed it, I looked at her, my brows knitting. “I need to know. The guy that was in the car with me when I wrecked? Sky DuPree? He’s okay, right?”
She smiled. “Well, because of privacy laws, I can’t tell you exactly,” she said, and my heart sank, but she held up a hand. “What I can say is that he’s better off than you, okay?”
I lifted my gaze to hers. “So he’s alive?”
“Yes, honey, he’s alive,” she affirmed. “And once you recover enough to leave the ICU, we will move you to his room, as per your husband’s request.”
“Thank god.” I could’ve groaned from relief. I sank back into the pillows and let my head loll. “Thank you,” I whispered, my heart suddenly ten times lighter.
She squeezed my arm, then set the cup of ice chips on my bedside tray. “Here, honey. Why don’t you suck on these and try to rest, alright? The vampires’ll be in to get some blood and take your vitals in a little while.” She winked at me, then left the room.
I poured a couple more chunks of ice into my mouth and closed my eyes.
Sky was okay. He was alive. Our injuries would heal faster than a human’s would.
Shifter recovery would kick in and naturally take over the process.
This cast would last maybe two weeks, not six to eight.
That was the bonus of being born a shifter.
Setting the cup back down, I shifted around to get comfortable and fell back asleep.
When I woke up, Adam was there. “Hey,” I mumbled, wiping at my gritty eyes with my good hand.
“Hey baby.” Adam brushed hair out of my face, then kissed my forehead. When he straightened back up, he was smiling. “You’re looking perkier today. How are you feeling?”
I let out a small laugh that hurt my ribs. “Like I got hit by a truck.” I deadpanned.
Adam chuckled and ruffled my hair. “Still have your sense of humor, I see. Good news—the doctors are going to transfer you from the ICU to the regular ward soon, either today or tomorrow. I requested that you and Sky share a room, so I won’t have to constantly run back and forth.”
I frowned. “Wait. Who’s taking care of Bixby’s?”
“Currently? No one. I told Josie and Kirk to do their best to keep the ship afloat, and that everyone’ll get a bonus on their next paycheck,” he said, sitting down on the chair next to my bedside. “What else can I do? There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you to go to work. Screw that.”
I threaded my fingers through Adam’s and squeezed his fingers. “How is Sky?” I asked, needing to know, but instead of the comfort I sought, Adam’s expression tightened. “Adam?”
“He’s…sedated,” he said quietly.
“What?” I sat up in bed so fast that pain lanced through me. I whimpered. Adam was on his feet in an instant, but I waved him off, staring directly into worried golden eyes. “Why?” I demanded.
“He panicked. He completely freaked out when he came out of anesthesia,” he explained. “It took me and a couple of nurses to control him. He was going to hurt himself further if they didn’t.”
Adam frowned, and I could tell this bothered him as much as it did me. “Sky is being kept on a mild sedative until he’s released, for his safety. I’m sure the hospital is triggering to him, considering his past, especially after being in a car accident.”
My heart ached, and it had nothing to do with my wounds. I shook my head, my eyes filling with tears that crested and spilled down my cheeks. “It’s all my fault,” I whispered. “Had I just stopped, or turned, or—”
“Stop,” Adam commanded, his tone sharp. “It’s not your fault, Fletcher.
The officers I spoke with said that the other driver blew a stoplight—and he was driving under the influence.
You couldn’t have changed the outcome, baby.
No matter how you look at things. I’m just thankful you’re both alive.
I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I lost you… ”
I gazed up into soulful eyes, sniffling. Adam handed me a tissue, and I awkwardly blew my nose with one hand, then balled it up in my fist.
I paused.
“Adam, the other driver…”
Adam was quiet. “He didn’t make it,” he murmured. “He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and died on impact. I’m sorry, Fletcher.”
I sagged there, absorbing this. So we survived, but someone else died. “Damn it…” I uttered, swallowing hard.
My mind flitted back to the oddities shop, the tarot reading, and the “dark spot” in Sky’s future. Did that witch foresee this? Did she even have that ability?
I sighed softly. “It can’t be helped, I guess. I’m just worried about Sky.”
“Me too,” Adam agreed. “I want to wrap you both up in bubble wrap and take you home, where it’s safe, and I can’t. I hate it.”
A nurse knocked on the door before poking her head in. “Mr. Rose? I’m afraid visiting hours are over. Time to say your goodbyes.”
Adam sighed, as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders, but stood. He kissed me first on the forehead, then on the lips.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, kitten, I promise. I love you,” he said, his thumb skating over my jawbone.
“I love you too,” I whispered, watching him go with sadness creeping into my heart.
I didn’t really want to be alone. Not right now, not knowing that Sky was lying in a bed drugged, just like in the facility, and that the driver who blew a stoplight had lost his life because of it.
A tear slipped free. I let it fall. Some days, life just sucked, and there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it.