29. Noah
Noah
The automatic doors slid open before I even registered walking through them. The fluorescent lights were bright, and the air smelled like bleach and stale coffee. I hurried inside, quickly scanning the waiting room.
“Ma.”
She stood immediately, her purse slipping off her shoulder.
“She’s okay,” she said before I could ask. “She’s awake. They’re stitching her up now.”
Stitching. My stomach twisted at the thought of my Bailey getting stitches.
“What happened?” My voice sounded foreign—tight and terrified.
Ma squeezed my arm. “She was in the back room. Said she was looking for glassware Emory had requested, and the step ladder slipped.”
Of course it fucking had. I swallowed hard.
“Was she alone?” I asked.
Ma hesitated. “Yes.”
The guilt hit like a freight train, hard and damning. I should have stayed. I should have made Grant go instead of me. I should have been here with her.
A nurse appeared at the doorway. “Family for Bailey Collins?”
I didn’t even give Ma the chance to answer.
“Yes,” I replied.
The nurse looked at me. “Are you the husband?”
“I’m her boyfriend.”
She had the decency to look apologetic. “I’m sorry, but only family is allowed in the room.”
“Well, we’re basically—” Ma started.
I didn’t have time for this.
“My girlfriend is lying in a hospital bed. Alone. Likely wondering where the hell I am. So if you want me to get down on one knee and propose to her right now, that’s a scene I’m willing to make,” I huffed.
The nurse rolled her eyes before gesturing with her head to follow her back. My pulse pounded in my ears, and every step felt like it took a year.
“She lost a decent amount of blood from a scalp laceration,” the nurse said calmly. “Head wounds bleed a lot, and it looks worse than it is.”
Looks worse than it is. That didn’t feel reassuring in the slightest. She pushed open the door, and I finally got to put eyes back on my girl.
Bailey was propped up in the hospital bed, a white bandage wrapped around her head, hair matted slightly at the crown where they’d cleaned her up, and her sundress was gone, replaced with a thin hospital gown.
Her eyes found mine immediately, and that fragmented feeling that I had felt since leaving earlier in the day suddenly vanished.
“Hi,” she said softly. “Were you causing trouble out there?”
I crossed the room in three long strides.
“Don’t,” she started, like she knew exactly what I was about to say. Maybe she did, but I was still going to say it.
I stopped beside the bed, hands hovering over her like I didn’t know where it was safe to touch.
“Jesus, Bailey, you scared the hell out of me,” I said, my voice quivering despite my best effort.
Her lips curved slightly. “You do like to say I have a flair for the dramatics.”
“This isn’t funny.”
Her smile faded. I reached for her hand, threading my fingers carefully through hers. She was here. She was okay.
“What were you thinking?” The words came out harsher than I intended. “Reorganizing shelves by yourself? On a ladder that’s older than Theo?”
She squeezed my hand. “I was fine. I just lost my balance.”
“You hit your head, Bailey.”
“I know that,” she said gently. “I was distracted. Thinking about too many things while also quite literally trying to balance boxes in my arms.”
I exhaled sharply and dropped my forehead to the edge of her mattress. “I shouldn’t have left you. I should have been there for you, and I’m so sorry, baby.”
Her hand moved to my hair, toying with the curls. “This is not your fault.”
“I knew that ladder was garbage. I knew it.” My jaw tightened. “You said you needed me.”
Her fingers stilled. “I didn’t mean like that,” she whispered.
“I don’t care how you meant it.” I lifted my head, meeting her eyes. “If you say you need me, I stay.”
Surprise flickered across her face. “You can’t drop your whole life every time I trip over something,” she said.
“Watch me.”
Her breath hitched. Silence settled between us, thick and heavy. The beeping monitor beside her bed filled the space.
“Does it hurt?” I asked quietly.
“A little. My pride hurts like a bitch, though,” she replied.
I brushed my thumb over her knuckles. “They said scalp wounds bleed a lot.”
“It looked more dramatic than it felt,” she said. “I scared your Ma half to death once I got her on the phone.”
My chest tightened again. “God, I can’t believe you were alone. I’m firing everyone who didn’t offer to help you.”
She looked away for a moment. “I didn’t want to bother anyone.”
That was the problem. “You’re not a bother,” I said firmly. “You don’t need to carry boxes alone, and you damn sure don’t need to climb ladders alone. You don’t handle things alone anymore. Do you understand me?”
Her eyes filled slightly.
“You’re not temporary,” I continued, voice steadier now. “You don’t have to prove yourself here.”
A tear slipped down toward her cheek. “I didn’t want to look incapable,” she admitted.
I leaned closer, careful of the bandage, and pressed a kiss to her temple. “You could never look incapable to me.”
She let out a shaky breath. “I tried to call you,” she said quietly. “But I got sent to voicemail.”
My stomach dropped.
“You tried to call me?”
I whipped out my phone and saw that my notification bar was filled with missed calls and texts from Bailey.
I had put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” during my meeting with Nate, not wanting to be interrupted.
How stupid of me. Rage at myself simmered low and dangerous in my chest. “I’m replacing the ladder tomorrow,” I muttered.
“And installing shelving that doesn’t require a damn circus act to reach. ”
She huffed a small laugh. “You’re spiraling.”
“For you? Of course.”
Her fingers tightened in mine. “I’m okay, Noah.”
I searched her face, really searched it.
“Promise me you won’t do something like this again,” I said.
“I promise,” she replied.
A beat passed between us before she smiled faintly at me. “You drove like a maniac, didn’t you?”
When I didn’t answer, she narrowed her eyes at me.
“I made it in an hour,” I muttered.
Her eyes widened. “Noah Allen.”
“I would’ve made it in forty-five if—”
She cut me off with a look.
I leaned forward and rested my forehead against hers, carefully. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” I whispered.
“Fall?” she asked.
“Leave me thinking I lost you,” I said.
Her breath hitched. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
I pulled back just enough to look at her.
“Good, because I meant what I said.”
“About what?” she asked.
“About you and me. We’re endgame, baby.”
I kissed her gently, needing the reassurance that she was here with me.
A nurse knocked lightly before stepping in. “We’ll keep her overnight for observation.”
“I’m staying,” I said immediately.
Bailey glanced at me. “Noah, you don’t have to.”
“I know you have a head injury, peaches, but I’m pretty sure you already knew I wasn’t going to leave your side.”
Not now and not ever.