Page 49 of Last Chance Love

“Then what was it for?” he asked curiously.

“I was, well, the only thing I remember was dreaming about our last conversation.”

“About your brothers?”

“Well, not that one, I meant the last one before I disappeared on you.”

There was a moment of silence before he sat down. After a moment, he reached out and laid his hand over mine. “I thought about that while waiting for you to wake up. Switching between digesting the fact that you’re a heroic idiot?—”

“Please don’t say that around the guys. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“And thinking about what you told me when we were taking a break. I couldn’t help but do the math, and if I’m right, you disappeared a little after Ian’s death, didn’t you?”

I swallowed hard. “I did.”

“Which means our last conversation over the phone was you dealing with everything from that.”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t tell me.”

“No.”

He nodded, giving me a sad smile. “I’d hoped I was wrong about that.”

“Reed…” I began but realized I didn’t know how to finish what I was trying to say. How could I fully explain what it had been like back then? To describe the hopeless spiral my life and head had been trapped in, leaving me unable to break free? And how did I explain that I had still been thinking of him, trying to keep him as far from the black hole that had situated itself at the center of my everything?

“Don’t,” he said, shaking his head. “Now is not the time to talk about that. You’ve had a rough enough day, let’s not add discussing that shit to the list. You need to rest.”

“What is that?” I asked as he drew out what I saw now was a capped needle.

“Painkillers,” he said with a small smile as he pulled the IV line toward him.

“I don’t?—”

“It’s enough to take the edge off the pain and help you sleep, but you won’t be incoherent. I’m not interested in sedating you.”

“I…okay,” I said as he pushed the fluid into the line. It was darker than the saline, and in the dim lighting, it looked like black sludge as it slid down the clear tube into my arm. I felt heat from where the needle connected, snaking up my arm through my veins where it reached my chest. There was a pinch as my chest tightened before releasing and sending warmth through my body. “Okay, that’s a feeling.”

“I tried to be merciful with the dosing. Considering your medical history didn’t show anything stronger than Tylenol in the past few years. Well, your official medical history anyway,” he said with a sly look in my direction.

“I never dropped hot behind bars,” I told him quietly. “And never did anything.”

“Well, I’m going to trust that you’re smart enough not to lie to the person who’s supposed to be taking care of you,” he said as he eased the needle back. “And will be sentimental enough to feel like you wouldn’t lie to my face.”

“Nah,” I said with a small smile. “Not me.”

“Good,” he said, retaking his seat.

“Once I’m out cold, you need to go get some rest yourself. You’ve had a long day, just like me.”

“I’m okay.”

“Yeah, the dark circles around your eyes say otherwise.”

“Well, there is a pretty big circle around one of them.”

“Reed.”

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