Page 90 of Dance for Me

“It’s all part of my job,” she told him. “I happen to love my job.”

Yeah, he thought as she left him alone with Bodie, it shows.

“Right, little one, let’s see if we can’t make you feel a bit more human.”

Braun began with her face, dabbing the damp sponge over her forehead with light sweeps, painstakingly removing the grime and dried blood cluttering her skin. Leaning over her, he spent almost half an hour lovingly tending to her.

Once she was clean, the bruises were starker than ever.

When Lisa brought him clean water, he went back to work on her throat and neck. Ten minutes later, the water was dirty again but Bodie’s skin from her chest up was as spotless as he could make it without bundling her into a hot shower.

He was carefully washing each individual finger when they twitched in his. His eyes darted to her face, noting the signs of distress filtering slowly over her slack features. “Bodie, relax. It’s okay. You’re safe, little one. You’re in the hospital, but you’re safe, darlin’.”

Her fingers curled around his, their grip horribly weak, but his heart surged to life again with that simple gesture. “Take it slowly, darlin’. There’s no rush, take all the time you need.”

Cracked lips parted, a whimper all she could give him. It was enough. Braun slapped the buzzer once, twice, without knowing if hitting it more than once would do any good. He’d smash it if that got help here faster.

A sliver of drugged blue appeared from beneath her lashes, then vanished. Three times, she tried to open them before she succeeded. Heavy with pain and drugs, they struggled to focus, sliding around the room before meeting his. Something sparked in them, then her eyelids fluttered.

“Stay with me, darlin'. Just stay here with me. I want to see those beautiful eyes. Thought I’d lost you, Bodie. Scared twenty years off my life.” His thumb brushed over her knuckles. “You and me, we’re taking a freaking vacation when you’re better. Somewhere with white sand, plenty of sun, and a damn hammock we can spend all day rocking in.”

“More water already?” Lisa chirped as she rushed in, then her smile widened. “Oh, there she is. Not with us all the way yet, but certainly getting there. Let’s have a look at you before you drift off again.”

No, don’t let her drift away.

The nurse held her finger up in front of Bodie’s face. “Can you follow my fingers, sweetheart?” She moved her hand slowly from side to side, and Braun was relieved to see Bodie’s eyes track the movement. “Fabulous. That concussion will be gone in no time at all. Now, your man is taking excellent care of you, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. I’m going to give you a nice ride on painkillers and let you rest again, okay?”

Before the drugs took her away, Braun leaned forward and kissed the back of her hand. “I love you, Bodie. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Lisa pressed the button, and within moments, Bodie was back under the haze of morphine, her face relaxed once more. “She recognized you, that’s excellent. She’ll be in and out like this for a couple days. I think once she’s got some strength back, she’ll be a handful.”

Braun chuckled. “You don’t know the half of it.”

*

She’d lost four days.

Four days of alternating between floating in quiet darkness and hovering under the surface of consciousness, occasionally breaching the veil to prove she was still alive.

Bodie recognized her surroundings, her lover, but hadn’t had the strength to stay with him for longer than a few minutes at a time. Pain was her constant companion until the blessed button chased it away for a while. She loved that button. She’d marry the damn thing if she could.

The first time she stayed in reality for longer than five minutes, she managed to ask Braun what day it was. With difficulty—her face was horribly tight and swollen, making talking hard. Her lips were reluctant to form words.

Being awake tired her quickly, but over the next few days her periods of lucidness gradually increased, and with it her chances of recovering. Enough progress was made that the doctor who came to see her twice a day made the decision to transfer Bodie onto a different ward once her cannulas and nasal tube were removed.

While Bodie slept and her body continued the arduous journey of healing, Braun dealt with the fallout of her attack and tried to stack all the bricks in his life into an orderly pile. He didn’t tell her that, of course, he was remaining suspiciously close-mouthed about everything.

The doctor wasn’t being particularly forthcoming either.

All she knew was that Liam had taken Braun’s offer to run Avalon in his absence. Liam and Connie came every day to visit, as did Loki and Jasper. More often than not, Anarchy tagged along, hugging closer to the sadist than his own shadow.

Ten days after her mother and father almost ended the life they’d given her, Bodie was skillfully wheeled out of the ICU by two very nice porters and delivered to another floor, with Braun stalking behind them as though they might break into a run and kidnap her.

Not that anyone would want her like this.

Right now, she felt like a Mrs. Potato Head, only some vindictive child had plucked off her legs and an arm, leaving her with one remaining limb and a head. Just a useless, pain-riddled, drug-pumped blob.

As a new face fussed around her—a woman who introduced herself as Nurse Charlene—and Braun hovered over her like a hawk, Bodie held her hand out to him. “What are you avoiding telling me?”

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