Page 77 of Coming Home to Maverick

“Maverick?”

A hand squeezed his. He tried to turn his head, but he couldn’t. He tried to speak, but the words came out in thick monosyllables. His breathing picked up. What was wrong with him?

Then her face came into view, Bailey’s smiling green eyes filled with tears. “Welcome back, cowboy.”

“Have I been gone?” The words he meant to say came out all garbled and foreign to his ears, but she answered.

“You’ve been unconscious. But just for a day.”

A throat cleared. It sounded like Nash.

“Okay, maybe two days. But not very long.”

He tried to nod, but his head felt trapped.

“You’re in a brace ’cause they’re worried about your neck.”

And now he wanted to know exactly what had happened. He tried to move, to sit, to turn his head, nothing.

“Hey, hey, settle down. I’ll explain.”

He blinked furiously.

“Oh, that’s good,” Bailey said. “We could communicate this way. Blink twice if you want me to tell you what’s going on.”

He blinked twice and then scowled.

“Hey, he’s still got his sense of humor.”

He grunted.

“Or maybe not.”

If Bailey was smiling and making jokes, it couldn’t be as bad as he feared.

“You are not paralyzed.”

He let out all his air in relief.

“You are simply in a suspension. Your head and neck are held absolutely still, but your legs move. See, try to wiggle your toes.”

He did, and the movement brought him an absurd amount of joy.

“You will be out of this contraption any minute, and then we can see how your neck and head are.”

He blinked ten times.

“Okay, so you came running across the arena, away from the bull, which of course triggered his rage. That guy tore after you like I’ve never seen. He lifted his legs and kicked you straight in the back. It was so fast, no one could stop him, not even with the tranquilizers.” She grimaced. “So you went down and hit your head at a weird angle. They were worried you’d broken your neck when you didn’t stand back up.” Her voice cracked, and Maverick knew that even though she seemed cheerful, this whole experience had had an impact on her.

“So, they pulled you out, and they’ve been taking care of you ever since.”

Nash’s face came into view. “She’s been here ever since, too.”

Bailey blushed. “Of course, I’d be here.”

Then he remembered her contract and her singing, and he hoped she wasn’t missing something big ’cause he’d done something so dumb as to get kicked by a bull. If he hadn’t thought he’d won… He moaned and blinked again.

“Oh, of course.” Her beautiful eyes stared down into his. “Maverick, you won. And not just won, you beat your own record by so much no one will ever break it again, including you, I’m afraid.”

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