Page 49 of Playboy

Before she could utter a word, the female doctor stepped up beside her bed.

“Hi, Gabby. My name is Captain Ebers,” she greeted her with a warm smile.

“Hi,” Gabby said, feeling a bit awkward.

“How are you feeling right now?”

Her head throbbed with a dull, insistent pain, and her entire body felt heavy and disconnected. She tried to shift, but something was wrong. Her body wasn’t responding the way she expected it to.

“I feel like a herd of elephants ran me over,” Gabby told the doctor as she tried to sit up a little, but again, something felt off. It felt like her left leg wouldn’t work.

“I’m sure you do. Your body suffered serious trauma. Can you tell me what you remember?”

Gabby thought hard. Her brain was still a little foggy, but once she pushed through the thick haze, it didn’t take long before her memory came flooding back.

Her eyes snapped to Playboy.

“The boat,” she whispered, recalling the boat that was speeding toward the guys where they were working. “I stopped them from crashing into you guys,” she said, as her voice trailed off, looking directly at Playboy.

Playboy nodded, confirming her words.

Suddenly, the concern for her wellbeing became a distant thought as she became concerned about the others.

“Was anybody hurt?” she asked him, urgency laced her tone.

Playboy gently gave her hand a little squeeze. “Because of you, everyone is safe.”

The doctor cleared her throat.

“If you don’t mind, Gabby, I’d like to ask you a few questions and then give you a quick check-up.”

“Sure,” Gabby told her.

Dr. Ebers’ expression was calm and measured as if she’d had this conversation a hundred times before. She approached slowly and began her routine check. She asked some general questions, her full name, what year it was, and what state she lived in. Gabby answered automatically, her mind still struggling to shake off the fog. The doctor’s hands moved to her pulse and checked her pupils, all while asking a steady stream of questions she wasn’t fully processing.

It was only when her voice changed, softening further, that the weight of her next words hit her.

“You sustained a serious head injury during the accident,” she began, her tone careful, “but thankfully, your scans show no permanent damage. You’re very lucky in that regard.”

Gabby blinked again, nodding slightly. A head injury—that would explain the pain and the confusion. But there was something else in her eyes, something deeper, and her heart began to pound.

“During the accident, you suffered a significant injury to your lower left leg,” the doctor continued, pausing briefly. “We did everything we could, but the damage was too severe. I’m very sorry, Gabby. We had to amputate below the knee.”

For a moment, she didn’t understand. The words didn’t make sense.Amputate?Her mind couldn’t wrap around its meaning.Slowly, almost mechanically, her gaze dropped to the blanket that covered her legs. A lump formed in her throat as her hand moved, shaking, to pull back the fabric. She stared, wide-eyed, at the space where her lower left leg and foot used to be.

It wasn’t there.

Her breath caught in her chest, and suddenly, the room felt too small, too bright.This can’t be real. This can’t be happening.A swirl of confusion, disbelief, and terror all crashed together.

Gabby’s heart pounded louder in her ears. She was an athlete—a swimmer. Her legs were everything. She needed them for her work, for everyday life. How could she—how could anyone expect her to function?

Her body trembled, her hand still frozen near the edge of the blanket, unable to process the sight of her missing limb. Her chest tightened painfully, and her mind raced through a million thoughts—her career, her identity, everything she had built her life around. Gone. Just like that.

In the background, she noticed the presence of her parents. Her mother was there, sitting in the corner, her eyes red and swollen with tears. Her father stood beside her, stoic but devastated. And then there was Playboy, now standing but still holding her hand. However, his face was filled with something unreadable—pain, concern, and something else she couldn’t quite place. He hadn’t left her, even though part of her wished everyone would disappear so she could scream and cry and not feel their eyes on her.

The doctor’s voice pulled her back into the moment. “Do you have any questions?” she asked gently.

Questions? Gabby’s mind was a chaotic mess. What was she supposed to ask? What could she say in the face of this reality? She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t make sense of what had just been ripped away from her.

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