Page 41 of Broken Rules
“Everyone in the industry has them, at least everyone I know. Basically, it’s like the worst shift imaginable where everything goes wrong. They suck because you wake up feeling like you never left work.” She noticed then that he was sitting on top of the blankets and there was a glass of water on the bedside table. She frowned. “Why are you awake?”
He shrugged a little. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “Your calm exterior says ‘there’s no problem, baby,’ but I can see it, right there in your eyes.”
He stroked his hand down her back. “What can you see?”
She lifted her shoulders, trying to match the right word to the feeling she glimpsed. “Pain,” she said simply.
He expelled a quick breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. “All right, Savannah Honey. You got me. I had a bad dream, too.”
Brows drawn, she took his hand. “What was it about?”
He shook his head, a sad smile curving his lips. “You don’t want to hear about my dreams.”
She scooched closer. “I do. Please, tell me.”
A distant look came into his eyes. When he spoke he did so with his usual calm and a matter-of-fact tone. “I dreamt about the time I saw a whole city block go up in flames.”
The weight of his words broke her heart into a million pieces, but she did not try to think of what she could say or do to make him feel better. It could never be better. Just like no one could ever make her feel better about her parents being killed in a car crash. She rose up on her knees and pulled him close and hugged him with her whole heart. She felt him melt into her, his arms coming around her with a ferocity that stole her breath. It was all there in that moment—their humanness...raw and real, flawed and desperate, vulnerable and broken. But there was also something else—hope.
They stayed like that until light penetrated the sheer curtains and her alarm went off.
He slowly pulled away, his gaze meeting hers. “Time to visit Nonna,” he said softly.
Brows drawn, she cupped his cheek. “I don’t need to go. I can call one of the nurses.”
He shook his head. “You go. Enjoy your time with her.”
She took a deep breath and shifted, stretching her legs out. “I have to work after but just a lunch shift.”
His mouth eased into a devastatingly gorgeous smile. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
She rose up on her knees. Her heart started to race at the prospect of coming home to Damien. “Do you promise?”
He grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. “I promise,” he said and kissed her in a way that erased any doubt from her mind.
