Page 123 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
Two women were outside my hospital room whispering to each other. Or at least they thought they were whispering. They were actually speaking at a normal volume because they were whisper-yelling at one another.
“I’m going in.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Don’t touch that door! You’ll wake them up!”
“Shut up!”
“Don’t tell me to shut up!”
“Shut. Up!”
“Both of you shut the fuck up,” Nick said. “You make any more noise out there and I’m locking you out.”
“Effing try it!” one of the voices hissed.
Gigi.
I started chuckling against his chest.
“You two woke up Emmy,” Nick snapped.
“Oh, good! You’re awake,” Gigi said, waltzing into the room, followed by Sara Phillips.
Unlike Gigi, who didn’t feel any shame for waking us up, the pretty strawberry blond I had met at Gigi’s garage party was blushing and averting her eyes. She carried a huge bouquet of yellow and peach roses along with a bundle of balloons. Both women were wearing scrubs, likely to start working after their visit.
Gigi had flowers too, gerbera daisies in every color. In her other hand was a huge white box.
Nick gently slid his arm from behind me and sat up on the bed, swinging his legs over the side. “What are you two doing here?”
“We’re the welcoming committee!” Gigi said. She emptied her hands and came to me in the bed, gently caressing my sore cheek. “Yikes! I’m sorry, Emmeline.”
“Thanks. What are you welcoming me to?”
“The Kidnapped Club.” She grinned.
“Oh, fuck me,” Nick muttered as I laughed.
“Ooh! Ouch. Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much,” I said, clutching my ribs, which were now on fire.
“Sorry,” she said. “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she told Nick.
He was currently scowling at her while hovering over me to see if I was all right.
“I’m okay,” I said.
He grumbled a bit but sank down into his chair. “What did you bring us from the café?” he asked, jutting his chin toward the white box.
“Breakfast. We love hospital food,” Sara deadpanned. “But we thought you might want something special.”
For the first time since my ordeal, I actually felt hungry. It was Monday morning and I had spent almost all of the weekend sleeping.
“We called Tina at the café and she whipped up a special batch of cinnamon caramel rolls,” Gigi said. “Usually she only makes them on Sundays but she feels so bad for what happened to you that she made an exception.”
“Tell me you brought more than two,” Nick said.
