Page 85 of Rough Ride

She nodded and took a deep breath. When she stepped into the room, she almost started crying again. He looked so pale, so still.

“I’m not dead you know,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.

“I know.”

She walked to the side of his bed. She pulled the bedside chair closer and sat down. He reached out for her and she took his hand.

“Sleep, Eli. I’m here.”

And then she sat there, holding his hand, thanking God that he was safe and sound.

* * *

“I’m not in the mood.”

Crysta heard Eli yell the order as she walked down the corridor to his room. She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. It hadn’t been easy dealing with him, the paperwork, and the investigation, not to mention running the ranch. With both he and Jerry out of commission, she’d been overwhelmed. But, like Joe had told her before, the Hawaiian people took care of their own. People from all the surrounding ranches had pitched in to help. If it hadn’t been for them, she wasn’t sure what she would have done.

“I think I should get out of here today.”

Now Eli sounded like a five-year-old. He’d been a pain since they’d arrived at the hospital three days ago. She walked down the hall and gave the nursing station an apologetic smile. When she reached the door, she drew in a deep breath and pushed it open.

Sean was sitting by the bed, his booted feet stacked on the mattress. Eli was giving him a look while Sean ignored him by playing on his tablet.

“I said you can go.”

Neither man had apparently realized she was there.

“Is that the kind of welcome I get?” she asked.

Eli looked over at her and his scowl softened. “Hey, babe.”

Just like that, like nothing had happened, like less than seventy-two hours earlier he hadn’t almost died.

She wanted to scream at him. Sean was more perceptive than Eli.

“Hey, Crysta, you’re looking rested.”

She smiled at her step-cousin. “I am. I’m feeling much better after a long night’s sleep.”

“I was surprised you weren’t here when I woke up,” Eli said. Again, he was back to sounding like a little boy.

She turned to Eli, who was scowling at her now. He looked better, if a little pale for her liking. Of course, he was ridiculously sexy for a man who had been clinging to life just a day earlier—not to mention dressed in a fugly hospital gown.

“I thought maybe after her being here for almost twenty-four hours straight, she needed some rest. As did the doctors.”

Sean’s calm voice—tinged with humor—seemed to irritate Eli more, but Eli just gave his new friend a nasty look. It had been funny to see the way Sean had acted after the shooting. He had stayed at the hospital, only going home to change and stop by the ranch to bring her clothes. It was as if he had adopted her as his cousin and he thought of it as his sworn duty to make sure she was taken care of until Eli recovered.

“I think you can go back home. You look tired,” she said.

“I guess I will if Eli will promise to behave while I’m gone.” The look the man in question shot Sean had her laughing.

“Go on, Sean. I’ll make sure he behaves.”

As soon as he left them alone, she wandered around the room, then settled in the chair Sean had vacated when he left. She knew if she engaged Eli, he would start a fight with her. She said nothing, but turned on the TV.

“So, are you going to tell me how everything is?” he asked after a few moments.

“Everything is back to normal. Not much going on, other than cleaning up.”

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