Page 96 of In Too Deep
“Me?You got out,” he managed, his voice rough.Each word took effort.His hand tightened around hers and anchored him to this moment, to her presence.“And Alex?”
“Expected to make a full recovery.”She wiped away a tear with her free hand.“You just missed Liam and Teague.They’ll be back.Liam volunteered to take you home, which, if all goes well, will be in two days.They’re already arranging the shift to help you while you recover, although they know you will want a say.”
“As long as you’re there, I don’t care what they choose.”
She was alive.
That was all that mattered.Everything else—the pain in his side, the grueling recovery ahead, the physical therapy, the slow return to normal—all of it was bearable if she was there.
Her eyes shifted away from his and focused on some point beyond his shoulder.The window.The wall.Anything but him.
There was something in it that made the whole room tilt and made his stomach drop.
No.
“Meg?”
She let go of his hand—the loss immediate and physical—and drew a slow breath as if she was gathering courage.
The loss of contact felt like a small death.
“Virgil found a replacement.I am leaving for Pennsylvania on Wednesday.”
The words hit him like a punch.Worse than the knife.At least that had been expected once the fight started.
This blindsided him.
“You can’t leave.”
When she didn’t respond—just stood there looking anywhere but at him—he pushed on, desperation creeping into his voice.“Fine.We’ll do long distance, and at the end of the season, I’ll join you in Pennsylvania.”
She crossed her arms across her stomach—defensive posture—then stared out the window.The parking lot below was emptying as the day shift ended, with cars pulling away one by one.Heading to problems that didn’t involve caves and explosives and near-death experiences.
“I think it is better to end things.Not drag it out.”
“You don’t get to do that.”The words hit with surprising strength—anger had broken through the fog of pain medication.
She blinked, her eyes snapping back to his face.“Noah?—”
“You don’t get to make this decision for both of us.”He tried to push himself up but failed, his muscles trembling with the effort—weak and useless.Pain shot through his side like lightning.The stitches pulled and burned.“Not like this.”
The irony of his words wasn’t lost on him.He’d made decisions for them for the last month.Pushed her away.Avoided her.Decided for both of them what was best.
But things were different.
Weren’t they?
She finally turned toward him.“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me.”His hand found hers again and held tight.He refused to let her retreat.“Don’t just run.Talk to me.”
Her composure cracked, the careful mask she’d been wearing since she entered the room finally shattering.All the pieces she’d been holding together came apart.
“I froze, Noah.When you were bleeding out, when your life was on the line—I completely froze.If Teague and Liam hadn’t shown up when they did, you would have died.Because I couldn’t function.I couldn’t think.I couldn’t do the one thing I trained my entire adult life to do.”
“You saved Alex’s leg,” he said with gentle insistence.“You were a good doctor down there.”
“Only because you were there to calm me down!”The words burst out of her, raw and desperate, her voice rising and cracking.“Don’t you see?When I was working on Alex, you talked me through it.You kept me grounded.But when it was you—” Her voice broke.
