Page 228 of The Bonus

“Who are you?”

My world stops spinning…

“What?” My eyes widen in horror. “You don’t remember me?”

“I wish I didn’t,” she mutters dryly. “What are you doing, Gabriel …and why the hell is my hand hurting so much?”

I pull her into a hug and smile into her hair. “Never been so happy to hear you be a smart-ass, Gracie.”

The nurse appears at the door. “Hello, Grace. How are you feeling?”

I step back out of their way and she begins to check her vitals. I message Debbie.

She’s awake

And so far okay.

My phone immediately rings. “Hi, Deb,” I answer.

“She’s awake?”

“Yes,” I whisper as I walk out into the corridor. “She’s being a smart-ass and everything.” The doctor walks past me into the room.

“Thank god. Can I bring the kids up?”

“Let me find out what’s happening, she’s still hooked up to a lot of machines, and I’m assuming there will be further testing. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

“Okay, thank you.”

I hang up and walk back into the room to see the nurse looking into her eyes with a flashlight The doctor is talking to her.

“You took a nasty fall; you’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened, Grace?”

“Um.” She frowns, and her eyes find mine across the room. “We were dancing.”

“Yes.” I nod in excitement. “We were dancing.”

“And then.” She frowns as she thinks. “Where are the kids?”

“They’re at Debbie’s.”

She nods.

“You have a broken wrist that needs surgery and an ankle we need to do some more x-rays on. How is your pain? On a level of one to ten, how would you rate it?”

“Twelve,” she grumbles. “My head hurts.”

“We’ll get some pain relief organized, and once you’ve had your x-rays, you can have something to eat and drink, how does that sound?”

“Thank you.”

They both leave the room and I sit down beside her on the bed and take her good hand in mine. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Hmm.” She frowns.

I lift her hand to my lips and softly kiss the back of it. “You think I’m dramatic, only you could hit every step on the way down.”

She looks me over…

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