CHAPTER 51
Palmer
“Palmer,” a soft voice says, merely a whisper in a dream.
I nestle deeper into sleep, adjusting against my arms. It’s not until Ofelia pats my knee that I am jolted from my slumber with a sharp gasp.
I trip over myself to apologize. “Shit, Ofelia, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to actually fall asleep. I promise I was just trying to doze.” I pull off my hoodie then stand to fold the blanket.
“It’s all right,” she says.
I look up at her, and that’s when I notice her tearstained face. Panic floods my body, and I grab her arm harder than I mean to. “What? What’s wrong?”
She says nothing.
Turning quickly enough to make myself dizzy, I whip around to face the bed. The world tilts on its axis, and the ground feels like it falls out from under me.
Bailey leans back against the pillow, a lopsided smile on his handsome face, peering at me through his swollen eye. His dark gaze is as intoxicating as it’s always been, maybe more so now, because now? Now, I know he’s alive.
He opens his lips and greets me exactly the same way he always does. There have never been two words that I’ve prayed to hear more than those:
“Hey, beautiful.”