Page 72 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“I can hear you,” I said, my voice barely loud enough to hear. It was enough to get the attention of whoever was in the room with me.

“See? I told you he would wake up.”

“It was touch and go there for a while. I thought for sure that surgeon was going to shove a knife in his brain just for being a dumbass.”

“Surgeon?” I asked, but my voice came out raspy and sounded more likelurlen.

“Get him some more drugs. I want him knocked on his ass for the next fucking week.”

“We really need him to wake up naturally so we can perform tests.”

“Did I fucking ask you to question me?”

“Do I get a say in this?” I asked.

I was surprised anyone even fucking heard me. I sounded weak even to my own ears.

“No, you do not get a say since you’re the dumbass that didn’t let us take you to the hospital the first time around.”

That had to be Lock. My brain was moving sluggishly, but I was pretty sure that tightass, surly voice was his.

“What is going on here? I can hear you yelling down the hall!”

My lips quirked up slightly at the sound of Jade’s voice. She was here.

“Stop fucking grinning. She’s pissed at you too.”

Then her warm hand slipped inside mine, squeezing slightly, and my body relaxed. She was okay. She was right here by my side.

“Go back to sleep,” she whispered in my ear.

“Need you by my side,” I muttered.

For a moment, I thought I had just said it in my head, but then I felt the bed give beside me, and her warm body settled against mine. That was all I needed to drift back off to sleep.

* * *

Birds chirped nearby, but it wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I saw Jade sitting by the open window staring outside. The light hurt my eyes, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the day I chased her down in the backyard. I didn’t remember much of anything, other than her staying by my side every fucking second of the day.

When I woke up, she was there, watching over me like she actually fucking cared. It wasn’t right, not when I had treated her so badly. But as I watched her now, I just couldn’t remember any of the reasons I thought she might have betrayed me.

As if she could sense I was awake, her eyes drifted over to mine. She smiled at me and stood from her perch on the window seat. “You’re awake.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Three days.” Her eyes flicked to the door. “Better not be too loud or Lock will sedate you again.”

“Again?”

She smiled at me, but it seemed forced. “He’s pretty pissed at you for not going to the hospital the first time around.”

I grunted at that. Lock was always pissy about something. “You won’t tell him I’m awake, will you?”

“That depends. Do you plan on getting out of bed?”

I couldn’t if I wanted to. My brain was moving too sluggishly to figure out how to move at the moment. “No.”

“Any plans to get back to work today?”

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