Page 64 of Mistaken Intention

“Stay, Josie… please?”

She nods her head and sits beside me, and I keep hold of her hand, staring at her beautiful face until my eyes close…

Chapter Seven

Josie

It’s hard to recognize the man sitting across from me at the breakfast table. He’s so different to the man who lay in his bed yesterday, his eyes closed against the light, his face pale and drawn. Today, the color has returned to his cheeks and the sparkle to his eyes. He hasn’t asked why Hunter summoned me so abruptly yesterday and I’m relieved by that, because I don’t know how I’d explain it… other than to lie. Again. And I really don’t want to do that.

As for what happened when I got back here…

When I found him lying on the floor, I didn’t know what to do. I tried to be a nurse, to check his vital signs and stay calm. But my heart was beating so hard, I couldn’t tell his pulse from mine. When I called his name and he didn’t respond, it took every ounce of strength and willpower not to panic.

It was my fault. He was my responsibility, and I’d let him down. As I was calling his name over and over, squeezing his hand and rubbing his chest, I knew I’d never forgive myself, even if he came round… which he did. Eventually.

When he said his head hurt, my first thought was that he’d hit it when he’d fallen. Had he tripped, or stumbled? If only I’d been here…

Once he made it clear the headache had been there before the fall, I realized it was connected to the concussion. It wasn’t an additional problem, but a legacy one.

I still should have been here, watching him, caring for him. But I knew I could beat myself up later. Getting him up off of the floor was the most important priority. Only there was no way I could do that by myself. I needed help.

So I called Hunter.

He came running… and I mean running. He was slightly out of breath when he arrived, and he brought Ella’s fiancé with him, which showed he was thinking more clearly than I was.

Between them, they got Drew up the stairs and into his bedroom, and I took over from there. I could have left him in his jeans and t-shirt, but he’d broken a picture frame when he’d fallen, shattering the glass. It would have been easy for tiny fragments of it to be lodged in his clothing, and it was much safer to remove it. His t-shirt was easy enough, but I had a little more difficulty with his jeans… although I managed it in the end, lying him on the bed and tugging them off.

As I pulled the covers over him, I felt lost. I needed to draw strength from him, but he was sapped by pain. It was too much to ask him to be strong for me, too.

I apologized for leaving him and he opened his eyes, squinting against the light, focusing on my face, then he reached out and touched my cheek with his fingertips.

“It’s not your fault, Josie. I’ll be okay.”

It was like he knew I needed to hear that… needed the reassurance.

I felt a lump form in my throat, tears pricking behind my eyes, but it was unfair to cry in front of him. “I’ll let you rest.”

“No… don’t go. Please.”

I swallowed down my emotions. I could cry later. I edged backwards, feeling the heat of his body through the covers andtaking comfort from that… from the nearness of him as his eyes fluttered closed again.

I stayed with him for ages, watching the rise and fall of his chest, the occasional flinch from the pain I guessed was still rampaging through his head. He settled eventually, though, and I stood, pulling up the covers, and bent, gently kissing his forehead. He didn’t even stir. I didn’t mind. The kiss was for my benefit, not his.

I left him to sleep, going downstairs for a while. The living room was tidy, the broken glass all cleared away, and I poured myself a glass of orange juice and tried reading a book to relax. It didn’t work. Drew might have only been upstairs, but I found it odd, being in his home without him. It made me feel restless, so I gave up with the book and went back up to my room, checking on Drew as I passed. He was still sound asleep, but I left my bedroom door open to be on the safe side, and laid down on the mattress, letting my head sink into the soft pillows.

As far as I was aware, that headache had come out of nowhere, but if it proved one thing, it was that I needed to keep a closer eye on him. I also needed to stop him from trying to remember. That was obviously what he’d been doing. The broken photograph was evidence enough of that. I could understand him wanting to know, but if this was going to be the result, I needed to find other things to keep him occupied.

I also wondered then if his headache had anything to do with what had happened between us earlier in the morning. It felt like a lifetime ago, but he’d been upset by my response – or lack of it – that much was clear.

Was I even more to blame? Should I just have let him act on his emotions… and mine?

It would have been so easy. I’d yearned to feel his lips on mine for such a long time. But there was still so much to be said… to be revealed.

I took a shower to freshen up, leaving the bathroom door open in case Drew called out for anything.

He didn’t, but when I came out, having wrapped myself in a fluffy towel, I thought it best to check on him and was surprised to find he was awake and in need of painkillers.

Once I’d got dressed and fetched them for him, he swallowed them down and got back into bed, before he asked me to stay. No. He begged me to stay.

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