Page 104 of Fallen Empire
“You think that’s funny?” I asked, breathless but grinning.
He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “You’re the one turning hospital beds into tactical assets.”
I gave him a slow, exaggerated wink. “Adapt and survive.”
Millie snorted beside me. Even Nurse Ruth looked like she was biting the inside of her cheek.
Jaxson moved around to the other side of me, his hand already on the opposite handle of the walker. He didn’t speak, just glanced at Millie, and somehow they both knew exactly what to do.
Together, they adjusted the walker’s position a few inches back, a slight angle toward the bed, and I pivoted with them, my movements slow and shaky.
Millie’s hand hovered at my waist while Jaxson kept one steady on the handle. Neither rushed me. Neither let go.
Step by step, we turned until I was finally facing the bed again.
My body was trembling, and by the time I reached the bed, I wanted to collapse.
“Millie, I’m going to hold her while you move the walker from in front of her,” Jaxson said.
When his hands gripped my waist—firm, but not unbearable—my skin caught fire.
Even through the wreckage, through the bruises and exhaustion, I still felt it. Desire. Need. Hunger. Every nerve in my body still responded to his.
As soon as Millie moved the walker aside, I angled myself just enough to let my weight drop sideways, landing hard on the mattress and ripping myself away from the one place I wanted to be most.
Inside his arms.
I didn’t feel the pain at first, clouded by pure adrenaline. But the moment I took a deep breath, it erupted through every inch of me.
It wasn’t just ache. It was wildfire.
Every cell lit up, nerves igniting like live wires under my skin. My limbs pulsed with tremors, my lungs strained against the weight in my chest, and a deep, pulsing throb bloomed in places I hadn’t even realized I’d used.
My body felt like a collapsing building—cracked beams, shifting weight, everything about to give out.
“I’m proud of you,” Nurse Ruth said softly.
But I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
I was too afraid that if I opened my mouth, the scream in my throat would tear free.
“Let’s get you back onto the bed, dear.”
At that point, I didn’t care what anyone did to my body. I just needed to be still.
Jaxson moved to his usual side of the bed while Nurse Ruth and Millie stepped closer. He was at my back again, gently guiding me toward the center.
“I’m going to pull you up. It may hurt a little,” he said.
I nodded, my vision flickering in and out, everything blurring around the edges from the agony.
After a few careful pulls and slow, bracing twists, I was finally back on the mattress. Propped against the angled bed, I let my head fall back onto the pillow Jaxson had just adjusted, too weak to lift it again.
“You did amazing, sweetheart. Now, on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”
I looked at her, tears stinging the backs of my eyes, and simply nodded.
She didn’t need the words.
