Page 15 of The "I Do" Do-Over

My head is throbbing. So is one ankle and a shoulder. My eyes won’t quite focus, but I see a face that makes my heart throb with joy. The light is so bright it hurts, so I close them again.

But that voice.

That face.

They keep me in the pain — but also in the happiness. I didn’t realize the two could coexist so easily, such companionable partners.

Boone.

Some distant, desperate part of me wanted him to be the one to rescue me. And now, even though I’m so far from deserving an ounce of his caring, he’s here, plucking me from the snow, taking me to safety.

The sound of his snowmobile is an agony, but his heat and his smell so close soothe me. I bury my face against his chest and try to hold tight — to his body, and to consciousness.

I fail on the latter.

Knowing Boone, there’s no way he’d let the former hurt me.

The rest of my journey back to town is piecemeal: a flash of the inside of the ski lodge; a paramedic strapping me to a stretcher; the white ceiling of the ambulance’s interior.

At some point, someone must give me a shot of something for the pain, because when I awaken in a medical exam room, Doc Pierce and his nurse staring down at me with concern, the light doesn’t hurt quite so badly, and my eyes consent to focus.

“Where’s Boone?” I rasp, taking in my austere surroundings. I’m still on the stretcher, and the paramedic that secured me to it is standing in a corner of the exam room. I must be at Heartwood Medical Clinic.

“He’s up at the lodge helping with the search,” the paramedic volunteers with a kind smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

I try to sit up, but the straps stop me. It’s probably for the best because even the abbreviated movement makes my head spin with pain. “My parents?” I manage. “Are they—?”

Doc Pierce nods. “They’re just fine. The sluff missed them.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“You, on the other hand,” the burly doctor continues, “weren’t quite so lucky. I can treat you here, but considering that you likely have a concussion, I think it’d be wise for you to be seen at the nearest hospital.”

“The hospital?” I say, heart sinking as I think of the drive to the city. It’ll be at least an hour, depending on the roads.

As if he can see what I’m thinking, the doctor continues. “I’ve already called the Life Flight helicopter. It’ll be here shortly.”

Now my stomach turns to stone. The emergency medical helicopter? “That sounds bad.”

“Well, you were in a bad accident,” Doc Pierce says, blue eyes warm with empathy. “I want to make sure you get the very best care, and I can only do so much in this small clinic. A full hospital is far better equipped to help you.”

An idea forms in my head even while my belly feels heavier by the minute. “Fine,” I say, lifting my chin. “But I’m not going without my husband.”

The nurse’s jaw drops. “I didn’t realize you were—“ she begins.

“I am,” I interrupt, daring her to contradict me. “And I refuse to get on any helicopter without him.”

“Boone, you said?” The paramedic steps forward.

I nod, my heart galloping. Am I really doing this? What if Boone says no?

But it doesn’t matter. This whole experience has made something very clear to me — I want to be married to Boone. I want him to be mine. I want to belong to him.

I know how crazy it sounds. And that it’s a long shot, to think he could still want me after how I’ve treated him.

But it’s a chance I’ve got to take.

Then again, Boone was the one to find me on the mountain. He rescued me. Maybe it’s not such a long shot after all.

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