Page 50 of Signed With Love

My chest tightens. “You better tell me right now you motherfuckers didn’t let my woman search that mountain for me.” It’s freezing outside and the terrain is dangerous and unpredictable.

“Billy’s with them. She was going to go regardless of what we said.”

“He has a fucking heart condition. Goddammit.” I’m already out of bed and throwing my jeans on. They’re stained in dirt and singed from the fire. The strong smell of smoke covers me. I don’t care. “She could have gotten hurt. It’s not safe out there.”

“Get back in bed.”

I ignore Chadwick’s command. I have to see Claire. I have to know she’s off that mountain and safe. I need her in my arms.

“Where are they?” I snap, working to quickly tie my hunting boots. They’ve given me enough pain medicine. I hardly feel the pain in my ribs. Still, black dots blur my vision. “You're taking me to them. Now.”

“They’ll check in when they are back to the plane.”

“Does it look like I care? Take me to my woman now.” I’m fully dressed, ignoring the soot on my clothes and the smell of smoke as I stomp out of the hospital room.

A nurse leaves the room next to mine. His eyes meet mine and widen. “You have to get back to bed.” He reaches for my shoulder, but I sidestep him. Chadwick comes up behind me as I shove past the nurse. “Where is he going?”

I keep walking, ignoring the protests of the hospital staff. I don’t slow down as I hit the waiting room.

Thorne’s deep voice echoes off the walls. “What the fuck are you doing out of bed?”

I spin on my boss as he grips my shoulder. “You should have told me you let her go out there.” I don’t keep my temper in check. We don’t let civilians go on search and rescues for a fucking reason. Claire should never have been in danger like that.

“She’s your woman. Stubborn as fuck. We weren’t stopping her, so I made sure Finn took care of her.”

My head is pounding, and I sway a bit on my feet. The light in the waiting room is harsh. The bile rises in my throat. Fuck.

“Jamison!”

Now I’m losing my mind, because Claire's beautiful voice is the last thing I hear before the world goes black.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Claire

Jamison’s body crumples to the floor. I’m rushing forward, but I’m not close enough to catch him. Thorne is quicker, and he hauls Jamison’s large body up with his. One of my hands lands on Jamison’s back and the other on his chest. Jamison’s six-foot-three-inch frame and over two hundred pounds is nothing but dead weight right now. A man in green scrubs trailed by Chadwick catches up and helps take over. They were rushing down the hospital hallway in our direction already.

Jamison should be in a hospital bed. Why hasn’t he been changed and cared for yet? I was told they were brought in over five hours ago. It just took our search team that long to get off the mountain and fly to the hospital. I expected him to be sleeping when I got here.

I’m fuming as the men get Jamison back to his room. Dad updated me after Finn talked to Thorne. Said Jamison and Rylee made it to the hospital and were being treated. Both were staying overnight. Finn tried to take Dad and me back to the hotel in town before coming to the hospital. I gave him one sharp look, and Finn brought me here first. I had Finn take Dad to the hotel for rest, but I’d be at the hospital to make sure Jamison was recovering. I didn’t expect to find him like this.

I follow them into the room as they lay Jamison on the bed. His head flops back on the white pillow. He’s covered in soot, the deep red mark on his forehead still raw and the stitches harsh against his tanned skin. His face is dirty, and his beard is thick and unkept. His long hair is wild and untamed.

Why hasn’t he been cleaned yet? Well, I’ll take care of it. I go to his feet first to remove his boots. His jeans are stained, and his shirt is torn. Why is he still in the clothes they found him in? The nurse, his lips moving, works on a nearby machine. I try to remove Jamison’s shirt next. It’s tattered, torn, and covered in blood. My throat vibrates as I growl in frustration. Everyone is still hovering in the room, shadows bouncing around us. I work on the snap of Jamison’s jeans next. I look up, making sure the nurse is doing something. He’s placing an IV in Jamison’s arm, so I pause not to shift his body unnecessarily.

A warm hand lands on my forearm. Chadwick slides a piece of paper my way. Sorry, we had him settled, then I told him you hadn’t made it off the mountain yet. He flipped. You seem pissed. Thought that might be why.

I glance at him, and Chadwick tilts the corner of his mouth up, waiting to see if he was right.

I nod. It’s why I’m upset. I bend my fingers in a “give me” gesture, requesting the pen. I use the nearby table to write. He does not leave this bed again unless he’s cleared by the physician. Got it?

I lift the paper and give it to the nurse. He reads it, then looks up. My brow is raised. He looks to my left, where Thorne stands. Chadwick and Thorne read the note. Chadwick starts laughing, and Thorne raises his hands in surrender.

The guys leave the room, and with the nurse’s help, I finish changing Jamison. The clothes land in the trash. I work diligently to remove the dirt from his body with a washcloth and observe every detail of the man I love.

As the initial rush of anger fades and I work to clean his face, I’m so overwhelmed that I could cry. I could have lost him on that mountain. I will always have that risk by loving this man. I don’t know what I would have done had I lost him, but I’ll learn to bear it. He carries all my heart now.

After I finish cleaning and the nurse leaves, I drop into the nearby chair. The hospital chair is uncomfortable, but I manage just fine. I wrap Jamison’s large hand in mine, lounge out in the chair, and promptly fall asleep to rest my frayed nerves.

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