Page 81 of My Heart Before You

The jolt of the truth hit her chest so hard, her eyes darted to the road ahead to see if they’d been in an accident. It felt as if the steering wheel slammed straight into her.

There was a reason she felt as if her world had changed all week, because it had. She’d been avoiding the truth, but it pulsed with every beat of her heart.

Nothing spoke louder than her actions.

She swore she’d never step foot in an emergency room again, but she’drunthere to see that he was okay.

She undeniably loved Colin.

And now she was terrified of losing him.

?Chapter 30?

The tension that radiated from Emilie was almost palpable. Her hand had been fidgeting ever since she slid off the gurney in the ER. Colin’s drug inhibited mind clumsily fumbled, thinking of how to make her feel better, to convince her that he was fine.

Well . . . mostly fine.

His head and flank were already starting to throb severely with that last dose of IV morphine wearing off. The three of his largest injuries hurt the most, but soon bruises would show up where he’d hit the ground and rolled after the initial impact. When they reached his condo door, he drew in a large breath and his ribs retaliated against the movement, making him groan involuntarily.

Emilie’s still shaky fingers reached up and traced his brow, her eyes darting from his forehead to his matted hair. He resented being the cause of that subtle tremor. Catching her hand with his, he gently kissed her fingertips. Her body visibly relaxed, eyes fluttering closed as she slowly exhaled.

Better.

When her soft brown eyes blinked open, he pulled her captured hand to the center of his chest and wove his bandaged one under the braid at the base of her neck. Her lips parted before they even touched his. The swelling in his chest and euphoria he felt had nothing to do with the lingering effects of the narcotics dissipating from his system.

It’d been a week since he’d kissed Emilie—entirely too long. After everything that happened today, he wanted to be with her more. Be able to touch her more. Be able toloveher more. As their tongues wove together, she pulled at his sides to bring him closer, and a painful grunt left his lips. Immediately, she dropped her hands and stepped back.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m just getting a little sore.” He dug his keys from the paper bag of medications given to him by the discharge nurse. “Let’s go inside and I’ll take these.”

Emilie brought him a glass of water as he carefully changed from the OR scrubs to his soft pajama pants and cotton T-shirt. The action of stretching and moving was probably stupid to do now instead of waiting until the morphine tablets kicked in, but he felt more comfortable in his own clothes.

“Why don’t you also take ibuprofen?” She was already in his medicine cabinet, pulling out the correct dosage.

He liked the sight of her in his bathroom, knowing where things were. Her aqua scrubs reflected off the mirrored cabinet as she closed it, giving him dual Emilies. The more this image played in his mind—her in different colored scrubs, putting her toothbrush away before walking with him to the hospital, a quick but stirring kiss outside before they started the day—the more he liked the idea of her here with him.

She lowered her head in that shy way of hers as she approached, and Colin knew he must have been staring too intently.

Her hand held out the burnt orange pills. Letting his fingers run from the inside of her wrist to the center of her palm to collect them, he watched the delicate skin over her throat as she swallowed. Damn it if he didn’t want to push through all the pain and press her to bed right now.

“You should lie down.” She moved past him to adjust his pillows and pull back the comforter.

“Only if you lie with me.” He heard the gruffness in his voice and didn’t care.

“Colin. You’ve broken ribs and had quite a morning already.”

“I told you I was fine.”

Her finger pointed to the opened covers with a stubbornness he’d only seen in spurts. “Rest.”

The first thing on his mind was presumably out of the question right now, but one way or another he wanted her in his arms.

He softened his voice. “Please lie with me.”

Her chest lifted and fell quickly as her lips opened. “Only if it won’t hurt you,” she whispered.

Three large steps brought him to those lips, sealing them with his own. This time her hands carefully wove around his neck, avoiding all his injuries.

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