Page 14 of Shoot Your Shot

My head feels fuzzy, and even though it’s dull, there’s no missing the aches in my body. I open my mouth to say her name, but before it comes out, a young woman in navy-blue scrubs walks into the room. And when she sees me alert, her face instantly lights up, and she rushes to the bedside.

“Mr. Kolburne,” she says with a smile. “You’re awake!”

The excitement in her voice startles Paige, waking her up, and I realize I’m not dead or asleep. This is fucking real. I haven’t seen my wife in a year and a half. I didn’t really want the first time I saw her again to be while I was in a fucking hospital gown, lying in bed, feeling like I’d been run over by a truck. But as always, I can’t look away from her.

The nurse continues to talk, likely explaining why I’m here, but it’s all background noise and muffled because when I look at my wife, I can’t focus on anything but her. Her lips are as red as they ever were, and those freckles sprinkled across her face make me wish I could kiss each and every one.

Her shock is obvious as she stares back at me with her big brown eyes, like a deer caught in headlights. Within seconds, she shoots up from her chair and stands beside the bed.

“He’s awake?” rushes from her lips as she looks from me to the nurse. “When did he wake up?”

“Just now,” she answers Paige delicately.

“Does he know?” Paige blurts out, panic covering her face. “Did you … have you told him what happened?”

“Not yet.” She shakes her head before heading toward me. “Mr. Kolburne, you took a pretty hard hit on the ice. You had a heart attack.”

Even though it’s the nurse telling me what happened, my eyes fly to Paige’s, as if to confirm it, and she bobs her head once weakly, looking at me with pure sympathy, making me feel even more fucking pathetic than I already do.

The nurse takes her stethoscope from around her neck. “I’m going to listen to your ticker, okay?”

“Go for it,” I mumble.

My eyes find their way back to Paige as the nurse slides the cold metal against my chest, moving it around to different places. It hits me that she’s probably here out of obligation, notbecause she still cares for me. That’s who she is. She’s a people pleaser and an empath to a fault.

“Why are you here?” It comes out sharper than I planned. But, hey, I’m not convinced she’s actually here at all. And if she is, I hate that it took whatever the fuck just happened to me for her to show up.

At first, she looks upset. But quickly, it turns to anger, though she tries to mask it by keeping her cool. She’s my wife though; I know when she’s fucking pissed.

“I’m your emergency contact, apparently,” she says, keeping her voice level. “You probably didn’t feel the need to change that since I’m your wife. You know, since we’re still married on account of … you not signing the papers.”

I narrow my eyes at her. I might be stuck in this bed, yet my cock stirs because she is the sexiest woman on the planet, even when she’s mouthing off.

Especially when she’s mouthing off.

“They must have gotten lost in the mail,” I say, subtly dipping my head to the side. “My bad.” I look around, realizing my mom isn’t here. “Does my mom know what happened?”

My mother has always had a way of making things harder. So, the fact that she isn’t here is sort of a blessing because, fuck, that woman would be panicking. But I also want to make sure she knows I’m okay.If I even am.I guess I should probably find that out.

“I called her right when I got here. She and your brother had seen the news.” Paige bites down on her lip. “I’ve been in contact with them both, filling them in. Your brother couldn’t get a flight in until tomorrow because of a storm, but that wouldn’t work because—”

“He has a game the next night,” I say, finishing her sentence.

She nods slowly. “And your mom so badly wanted to be here when you woke up. But she’s back in Washington, extremely sickwith the flu. The last thing you need is to catch that. I promised her that I’d update her as soon as you woke up.”

I take my time studying her face. “And how’d they like talking to you, wifey, after you weren’t at Christmas last year?”

Rolling her eyes, she grinds her teeth, the way she always does when she’s annoyed. “For your information, your mom sent me a gift in the mail. So, yeah, I don’t think she hates me.”

The nurse steps between us, eyeing both of us nervously. “Okay, look, we’re going to need to run some tests on you. In case you don’t remember, when you took that hit on the ice, you had a heart attack. So, while you seem okay, your body went through something incredibly traumatic.”

“And then I can go home?” I say, dead-ass serious. “Because I fucking hate hospitals.”

“We’ll get to that, Mr. Kolburne. Let’s see what the tests tell us and what the doctor thinks, okay?” She glances anxiously at Paige before shifting her gaze back to me. “But I will say this: when we do send you home, it’s imperative you have a support system in place; otherwise, we can’t just send you on your way. You might feel great now, but your body took one hell of a hit. This isn’t going to be an overnight recovery, Mr. Kolburne. And I’m sorry if this comes off as insensitive, but this might not be the best time to … figure out this whole marriage thing.”

“There is no marriage to figure out. Aside from that whole … mess, we were … wearefriends,” Paige assures her. “I’m simply here to make sure he gets better.”

“Friends, huh?” I attempt to wink at her, but even my face muscles are weak.

---