Page 11 of No One But You
“We gave her a mild sedative but she’ll need to be closely monitored because she probably has a concussion.”
“I can do that,” I assured her.
“Excellent.”Her smile relaxed slightly.“Obviously, as a doctor, you know she doesn’t need to be woken every few hours because of the concussion, but you should check on her breathing and restfulness regularly, and keep in mind that she’ll be in a lot of pain when she comes around.”
“I’ll manage it.”The last thing I wanted was Bailey hurting if I could do something about it.
“Will she need to stay the night?”Mum asked, glancing from the doctor to me.
“At this moment, we’re not certain,” the doctor replied.“We’ll monitor her for a while before deciding.”
Dad leaned closer.“Can we sit with her?”
The doctor’s expression softened.“Of course.Don’t try to wake her, though.Let her come around on her own.”
She gave us Bailey’s room number and left.We went straight to the room where Bailey lay motionless in a hospital bed, her tanned skin looking sallower than usual against the white sheets.
They’d cleaned her up, thank God.If she’d still been as bloody and muddy as she had earlier, Mum might have broken down.As it was, she whimpered and turned into Dad’s chest.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.“She’ll be all right.”
“Has someone told her parents?”I asked Summer, kicking myself because I should have thought of it earlier.
She didn’t take her eyes off her best friend as she murmured, “Yeah, I did.I told them I’d call them again with an update.”She moved closer and lightly touched Bailey’s hand.“I should have gone with her instead of cycling with Asher.”
“Don’t blame yourself.”After all, she’d had other plans.I hadn’t.Ishould have gone with Bailey, but instead, I’d worried about overstepping or making a fool of myself by being too obvious in my feelings for her.Now she was paying for my hesitation.
Next time, I’d choose differently.
SEVEN
Reason #14 why Max Braddock is husband material:
His beautiful heart.
BAILEY
The first thing I became aware of was a throbbing somewhere deep in my head.The second was that I hurt in a hundred different ways.My palms stung, my chest ached—especially when I inhaled—and any time I twitched, my muscles screamed in protest.
I tried to fool myself into going back to sleep, burrowing into the warm blankets and keeping my eyes firmly closed.It worked to an extent.I drifted in and out, becoming aware of my aches and pains each time I surfaced.
Eventually, I lifted my heavy eyelids, blinked against the brightness, and looked around.The walls were that standard off-white color that so many places shared, and the mattress beneath me was too firm to be mine.Not to mention the fact that I had a little more color in my bedroom than this.
Was I in the hospital?
I sniffled, whimpering when a shard of pain sliced through my poor nose.Fucking ouch.
Okay, but it did kind of smell of antiseptic and cleaning solution, like a hospital.
I needed to get up properly so I could look around.I planted my hands and started to push myself up but cried out when a searing pain tore through my hands like I’d laid them on a hot stovetop.
Dropping onto my back, I lifted my hands and stared at them.They were bandaged.What the hell had happened?
The door flew open, and Max rushed in, his eyes wide and his lips parted.When he saw me, he slowed.“Are you okay?”
He strode to my side and scanned me as if searching for mortal wounds.Maybe it was wrong of me, but I kind of liked seeing him worry like that.It showed that he cared, and I was more than willing to lie here and let him fuss over me, even if I didn’t understand what was going on or why I was here.
“Why did you cry out?”he asked, meeting my gaze now that he’d apparently decided I wasn’t about to bleed out in the bed of the… medical center?
