Chapter 20 #3
“Well, likely a very deep cognitive state of sleep,” she quipped far too brightly. After patting my hand, she moved toward a window, yanking open blinds. Sunlight flooded the room and the beast standing over me was highlighted as if wearing a golden aura.
“But she is going to be alright. Yes?” Beck asked.
“Just a few bumps and bruises with one deep laceration. A mild concussion. You’ll be fine. You just need to take it very easy for a few days. No running marathons. I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake. You should be discharged in a couple hours. He’ll pop in and explain the conditions.”
Conditions? What conditions? I didn’t have the energy to ask. My mind was still processing the huge beast I’d imagined saving my life.
“Thank you,” I said absently while trying to put the pieces together in my mind. When she finally left, the air became heavy with awkwardness. As soon as I tried to sit up, he was there hovering me once again.
“Don’t.”
“I need to sit up.” I punched the pillow with my fist, immediately wincing as I did.
He held up something in his hand. “See this thing? They just invented it when they knew you’d be dropping by. You can control the bed.” He pressed a button and half the hospital bed moved so I was soon in a sitting position.
“Very funny.” He wasn’t laughing.
Neither was I.
As he rubbed his hands on his jeans, I noticed he was wearing different clothes than I’d seen him in before.
“How long have I been here?”
“You were pretty out of it when I brought you in, so they decided to keep you overnight. They also checked for internal injuries and bleeding. You were lucky.”
I scanned the room, my memory completely foggy. My head was aching like a son of a bitch as if I’d been dropped on a concrete floor. No, moron. You had a tree fall on you and a wolf saved your life. “Wait. What happened?”
Beck narrowed his eyes, which caused me to concentrate on his face. He was sporting at least a three-day beard, the stubble covering his entire jaw and a good portion of his cheeks sexy as hell.
Wow. The crazy dream had gotten to me.
“You don’t remember,” he said quietly.
“I remember a storm. The wind was terribly strong, whipping everything around. Then I heard a loud crack or something and I think a tree fell on the car?” I stared into his eyes for confirmation.
“That’s exactly what happened. You were lucky a longer limb on the tree stopped the huge trunk from pressing its full weight on the car or you might not have survived.”
Nodding, a few visions flashed in front of my eyes. A face, part wolf and part man. Was that even possible? Then strong arms carrying me through the woods. Protecting me.
“How was I saved?”
As expected, he didn’t seem eager to answer my question. “We have cranes at the sawmill.”
“Cranes. How did you know I was in trouble?”
“Um, I was driving out to get some lunch.”
“Funny. Samantha told me you refused to eat lunch.” I had no idea whether that was the truth, but I wanted to see his reaction.
He looked away, offering a slight huff. “She didn’t have the right.”
“Okay. So you were heading to get lunch and saw me and what, ran back to get your crane in the middle of a horrific storm? Then what? You shoved me into your vehicle and drove me here?”
“Yep. Something like that. You were just very lucky you weren’t crushed. Thankfully, you were lying down. I was surprised.”
Yeah, I’ll bet.
My heart was pounding, the blood pressure monitor beeping like a bomb was counting down.
“When I heard the tree, something made me take off my seatbelt and duck. A few minutes later I was certain I heard an animal outside the car. Even more certain when the tree was ripped off the crushed hood and tossed aside. With the foliage removed, I was able to see someone standing over me. He was the one who removed the tree. He was also the one who pulled me from the wreckage, walking through the horrific storm for a couple miles until he could safely place me inside his warm pickup truck. I was a little out of it, but I was pretty certain the creature who saved my life was a wolf. Or half a wolf.”
His eyes locked with mine and we were doing a little dance of disbelief. Then he chuckled.
“Those were pretty good drugs they gave you, Sloane. Let me see what’s taking the doctor so long.” He walked away and headed for the door.
Of course, he had no interest in admitting he’d saved my life.
“Did you wait here with me at the hospital?”
He stopped walking but didn’t turn around. Yet every muscle in his back was visible under the tightness of his tee shirt. “Yeah, I did. You didn’t have anyone else.”
“Does that mean someone brought you clothes because they were wet or because they were ripped to shreds when you shifted into your wolf? You can’t fool me, Beck. You knew I was in trouble and you risked your life to save mine.”
“What about it?” His voice was gruffer than before and I could swear the man hated me with everything he had inside of him.
“Nothing. I just wanted to say thank you.”
Beck’s shoulders rose and fell right before he walked out of the room.