Page 75 of All Our Ghosts

“Then let him do what he needs to do. He’s only trying to help, not cop a feel,” I say, resting my head against the headboard, “or I’ll kick you out.” My voice is firm as his eyes meet mine. “But,” I start as he narrows his eyes. “I’d like to have you here for support, so let him do his job,please.” The last word came out as a whisper.

The darkness in his eyes softens again as he lets out an exasperated breath. “One wrong move Lang–”

“And I’ll lose a hand. I know.” Shawn smirks as he stands. “Now the bruise on your chin will heal fine and you have just a few scratches that won’t scar. You’ll look like yourself in a couple of days.” He stands up a little straighter and motions for the blanket I’m still under. “I’d like to check the bruising on your side and stomach. Without a hospital, we won’t know if there’s any internal bleeding but I do recommend that you get checked by someone soon. I can only do so much here at the clubhouse.”

I nod and pull the blanket back, freezing when his words hit me. “Wait, internal bleeding?”

“With the extent of your injuries, Miss Andrews, it’s a possibility. From what Holden explained you took quite the fall and we don’t know what happened while under the water.” Hiseyes soften with the tone of his voice. “You’re truly lucky he found you when he did.”

My brows furrow. “Call me Kade, please, and what do you mean?”

Holden sucks in a breath forcing my eyes to move to his. “You were unconscious when I found you… and not breathing.”

It’s my eyes that go wide this time. “So you…”

“You’d made it to a sandbar by the time I found you. I had to–” His hand finds mine and gives it a soft reassuring squeeze though I feel less than assured right now. Holden doesn’t finish his words, but I know exactly what he means.

C’mon, Sunflower…I need you to come back to me.

His words in my head are faint, muffled and garbled by the sound of raging water and wind but I remember hearing him. Tears sting the corners of my eyes realizing the horror that he went through for us to end up here.

“Oh my god,” I whisper.

“Maybe we should focus on your injuries for now,” Shawn urges, his voice wavering for a moment as his gaze flicks between me and Holden. “You two can talk after?” It’s a question now, but I nod anyway. Holden moves across me carefully and pulls back the blanket.

“Baby,” his voice is soft as he tugs on the bottom of my shirt when I’m still frozen, my eyes glued to the door ahead of me.

I glance over to him, coming back to the present. I move to grab the hem of my shirt only to realize I’m not wearing anything underneath. “I uh–I don’t have a bra on.”

Shawn shakes his head, “It’s okay. Just uhm…” His eyes flicker to Holden, “I only need it high enough to see your ribcage.”

I nod again, tugging my shirt up enough to tuck under my breasts with Holden’s help. Shawn gives me a small tight-lipped smile as I lean back into the pillow. His eyes rake over my stomach, his fingers gentle on my skin as he pokes and prodsat me. Holden’s tense beside me, his gaze glued to my abdomen while mine are glued straight ahead and scared to look down. I don’t want to see what a mess my body looks like.

“The bruise on your stomach has definitely darkened,” he starts, his fingers moving gingerly down the side of my ribs, sending a shooting pain to my spine. My hand juts out, gripping Holden’s forearm as my eyes fall closed. “Your ribs are tender, but nothing seems broken.” Finally the torture his fingers inflict stops as he straightens again and sits back down in the chair. “As I said before, I really recommend that you get checked by the hospital for any internal injuries, but I assume you’ll heal just fine.”

“You assume a lot for a doctor,” I say softly.

Shawn laughs. “Well, without the technology, I gotta use my hands and eyes. You’ll be okay, Kade. Holden saved you from a lot of worst-case scenarios.”

I look up at Shawn before glancing at Holden. His eyes have moved from my abdomen to the comforter. I lower my shirt and sigh gently, careful not to irritate my ribs. “Thanks, Doc.”

He nods and begins packing his things back up. “Keep the cuts clean and ice the bruises often. Fifteen minutes on, fifteen off.” Shawn gives me a smile and a curt nod to Holden before moving to the doorway. “I’m a call away if you need anything. Holden has my number.”

I nod. “Thanks, Shawn.”

He excuses himself and shuts the door behind him as he leaves. The room goes quiet as the reality of everything we’ve gone through begins to settle within me.

“How long?” I ask softly, still staring straight ahead but feeling his eyes move to me with the question.

“I don’t know for sure…” he says softly, “two or three minutes maybe.”

I close my eyes, feeling the tears gather in my lower lids again. I’m lucky all I got was a beating to my body. “Thank you,” I whisper again.

“I wasn’t going to leave you,” he says, forcing me to look at him. “Not at the river, not in general…” Holden turns his body to me, picking at the tiny balls of fabric on his sweatpants. “I went to Alabama when I left you.”

My brows furrow. “What?”

“I have an old military buddy. He owed me a favor,” he starts. “He lives in Alabama and I had asked him–” Holden pauses and looks back up at me, “before Marlowe’s, I had asked him to look into you. As a precaution for the club.” I open my mouth but he shakes his head. “I shouldn’t have done that, I know. I just was worried about someone we didn’t know being around all the time and…”

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