Page 51 of Forever Your Touch

“Where can I wait?” Mason asked and picked up her hand, twining his fingers with hers. It felt so right, she went completely still. Her heart hit a fast beat, and she almost yanked her hand from his. She might have had she not been scared out of her mind.

“I’ll have the nurse show you to the surgical waiting room when they come and collect Ms. Maxwell.” With that, the doctor left them alone.

“I’m scared.” Jo gripped Mason’s hand. “I’ve never had any kind of surgery.”

“It’s gonna be okay,moye dragotsennyy. I promise.” Mason hugged her, and Jo let herself sink into the embrace. He was here, hadn’t thought twice about coming, and Ray wanted to stay on the lake and finish his fishing trip. She was beginning to realize exactly how stupid she was. The past could only keep her bound for so long.

“Mason?”

“Yeah?” he whispered.

“Promise you won’t leave me alone.”

“Never, Jojo. Never.”

They stayed that way until the nurse came and took them upstairs. Mason kissed her forehead, as was his habit, and gave her an encouraging smile. She could do this. She could be brave.

It was going to be okay. It wasn’t a life and death surgery. They were just repairing her leg.

It was going to be fine.

Chapter Thirteen

Mason paced.

He sat and fidgeted.

He paced some more.

Waiting was a bitch.

He asked the nurse if there were any updates, but she told him no.

He tried calling Keith, but he was in the air, so his phone was off.

He paced until the other people in the room asked him to sit.

He sat and fidgeted some more.

Leaving wasn’t an option. What if the surgeon came while he was gone? He and Jo both agreed to tell the hospital he was her brother so they would let him stay.

It wasn’t like she was having heart surgery or anything. They were fixing her leg. Nothing to be worried about.

But he was terrified.

She’d looked so afraid when they’d told him he couldn’t go any farther, it shattered him. He felt helpless, and that feeling only got worse as the minutes passed.

The watch on his wrist laughed at him. She’d only been gone about forty-five minutes, but it felt like hours. They’d needed to prep her, so she might be in surgery by now or she might not.

He was going nuts.

His phone buzzed. He glanced at it. Ray.

Motherfucker.

He let it go to voicemail.

He started pacing again, and the other people gave him looks that promised repercussions if he didn’t knock it off.

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