Page 53 of Keeping Collette

“I’m sure you do.” He chuckled softly. “Later.”

He waited for Astrid to enter Collette’s room, enjoying the squeal of happiness coming from Collette.

Turning, he shoved his hands in his pocket and headed down the hallway toward the bank of elevators. He hesitated a moment before pushing the down button. The guy who hit Collette was still in the hospital, but he’d been moved to a section that dealt with drug addicts who were detoxing. Deal had gone to see him to chew his ass out, but the guy had been suffering major withdrawals because he wasn’t getting his regular fix. Anything he said wouldn’t be coherent. In the end, he’d decided there was no point going off at the guy because it wouldn’t achieve anything, and Collette was going to recover.

The sun hit him as he exited the hospital, and he breathed deeply, inhaling fresh clean oxygen instead of the stale recycled hospital air.

He made his way to his car and got in, grabbing the spare set of sunglasses he kept there and popped them on.

The sooner he got home, the sooner he could get back to Collette.

An hour later, Deal returned to the hospital parking lot, freshly showered and wearing clean clothes. A brightly wrapped parcel sat on the passenger seat. He’d had enough time to head to the large electrical store to pick up Collette an e-reader. She’d mentioned being bored without something to read, as her device had gotten damaged in the accident.

He got her a pink one with a funky pink cover. He hoped she liked it, and the guy in the store said she would be able to log into her account and all her books would still be there. He wasn’t familiar with e-readers, as the only reading he did were reports for missions. He preferred to chill out in front of the TV, watching sports, movies, and other shit.

He pictured himself watching a show while Collette curled up beside him on his couch with her e-reader in her hand. Her head resting on his shoulder.

The image reminded him of what he’d thought about when he and Astrid had been talking. It was useless to deny it any longer, he was head over heels for Collette, and though it was the last thing he’d expected, he wasn’t mad about it. In fact he liked it a lot. He wanted the future with Collette he’d imagined earlier, and he hoped she wanted it too.

He pulled into the first spot he found, eager to get upstairs to see her. Astrid would still be there. She said she wouldn’t leave until he got back, and he didn’t doubt her word.

The wait for the elevator seemed interminable, even though it wasn’t any longer than any other time he’d waited.

The second the doors opened, a man strode out, his phone glued to his ear, and if Deal hadn’t moved to the side, he would’ve run into him. Some people had no sense of awareness these days. Danger was always lurking.

Deal shook those thoughts off. He was more aware of what was going on around him because of his job. It was what he did that kept people safe so they could be unaware, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want everyone to be uber careful.

He reached Collette’s floor and stepped out, keen to see her. To make sure she was okay even though he knew she would be.

As he approached Collette’s door, the faint melodious tones of laughter reached him. It sounded as if there was more than just Astrid in her room.

Who else had come, and were they having a party?

He rapped his knuckles on the door and waited a few seconds before opening it. As he’d suspected, there was a little get together happening. Collette was propped up in bed, her face flushed from a combination of laughter and happiness. Her eyes sparkled, and he took a moment to drink her in.

He loved seeing her this joyous.

Astrid was sitting in the seat he usually sat in. Steff was on the bed, and Marie, in her scrubs, was sitting in the other chair.

Anything he’d been about to say was stuck in his throat, because he was entranced by the beauty of Collette. Her hair may be messy and the bruises on her face from the airbags were turning yellow at the edges, but he’d never seen her look more beautiful.

“Hey, you okay?” she asked, her brow furrowing a little, and he was annoyed at himself for sucking some of the joy from her.

“Oh no, he’s fine,” Steff said, giggling. “He’s got the ‘look’, right girls?” she directed her question to Astrid and Marie.

“He has indeed,” Marie said, before she yawned. “But his arrival is my cue to go. I’m exhausted, and I’m sure Isaac is impatient for me to tell him to leave the cafeteria.”

“Isaac’s here?” Deal asked, finally finding his voice.

“Yeah, he always picks me up, but when I popped in to see how Collette was doing—because I hadn’t had a chance to come up after I treated her in the ER—I sent him a message to say come and get me later, but he was already here.” Her features softened as she talked about her husband, and Deal had been grateful that she’d been on duty when Collette had been wheeled into the ER, and had treated her. With her vouching for him, he was able to get the information about her condition that was normally given to a patient’s next-of-kin. If she hadn’t had been there, he would’ve lied and told them that he was Collette’s fiancé and the only family she had.

“And I should get back too. I got a call from production, they need to redo a segment for my upcoming special. Callum will be meeting me at the studio.” Astrid stood and pushed the sleeves of her top down.

“Which means that I should go too, seeing as you’re here Deal, and Collette won’t be alone,” Steff said with a smile.

The women bussed Collette on the cheek, and then did the same to him as they all retreated out of the room.

“Sorry my arrival broke up the party.” He kept his gift behind his back as he came over to her bed, and bent to brush his lips softly over hers, as if it was the most natural thing to do. If Collette was surprised by it, she didn’t show it.