Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“I lied.”
His gaze returned to mine. No words were necessary for him to know my question.
He squeezed my hand and moved closer. “When you asked me if we’d be together a year from now if one of us wasn’t relocated, I said we wouldn’t. I said I liked being single and having my freedom. But the truth is, I was terrified. I was terrified that I’d fuck things up if we stayed together. You don’t deserve to be hurt again and…”
Bennett paused, and I watched as he attempted to swallow his emotions. When he looked up again, his eyes were welled with tears.
“You don’t deserve to be hurt again, and I don’t deserve to have love.”
It crushed me to hear him say those words. He deserved so much good in his life.
Bennett closed his eyes and steadied himself to continue. “But I’m done caring about what I deserve or you deserve—because I’m selfish enough to not give a fuck that I don’t deserve you, and I’ll work hard every day to become the man you do deserve.” He smiled and brushed his hand down my cheek. “I love you.” His voice broke. “I freaking love you, Annalise.”
We were interrupted by the nurse wearing blue scrubs. She leaned over my face from the other side of the bed, opposite of Bennett. “Just going to add some medicines into your IV. They might make you a little groggy.”
Oh good. Someone told her about the lipstick on her teeth. I watched her push some medicine into my IV line. I turned back to Bennett, but my eyes became even heavier. So, so heavy.
***
Bennett was slumped over in the chair next to me, sound asleep.
I looked around. It was a different room than I’d been in earlier. Wasn’t it? Or did I dream the other room—the big, windowless one with a dozen beds and only a curtain separating me from the patients on either side. Now I was alone in a big room with a door, except for the man sleeping next to me. And a window behind him told me it was nighttime.
My neck felt stiff, so I tried to move my head from side to side. The slight brush of the sheets woke the sleeping giant.
He smiled and leaned forward. “Hey. You’re awake again.”
I lifted my arm to grab my mask, but Bennett stopped me. “Don’t take that off yet. Let me call the nurse. They lowered your sedation dosage, but they wanted to check your breathing and vitals before trying without the mask. Okay?”
I nodded. He disappeared and came back a minute later with a nurse.
I didn’t recognize this one. She listened to my chest, took my blood pressure, and watched the monitor for a minute.
“You’re doing great. How do you feel?”
My ribs were killing me, but I nodded to say I felt okay anyway while pointing to the mask.
“You want to take it off?”
I nodded again.
“Okay. Let me go get you some ice chips. When we take it off, you’re going to be really dry from all the forced air for three days.”
Three days? I’d been in here for that long?
When the nurse returned, she set a Styrofoam cup with a spoon down on the tray next to my bed and then reached around my head and loosened the strap that had been holding my mask in place. Slipping it off, she waited nearby, her eyes moving between the monitor and me.
“Take a few deep breaths.”
First I opened wide to stretch out my cramped jaw, and then I did as she instructed. My face was so sore, especially my nose.
She listened to my chest again, then slung her stethoscope around her neck. “You sound good. How do you feel?”
My hand raised to hold my throat. My voice croaked out a low, “Dry.”
“Okay. Well, we need to go slow. But I’ll keep an eye on your stats from the nurse’s station and give you two a little time.” She turned to Bennett. “One or two ice chips at a time. That should help moisten her throat.”
The door hadn’t even closed when Bennett had the ice chips in his hand and spoon at my mouth. I would have laughed at his eagerness if my side didn’t hurt so much.
He spooned some chips into my mouth and then leaned down and brushed his lips to mine. “That was a long nap you took. I finally started to talk to you about my feelings, and your response was to conk out for twelve hours.”
I’d almost forgotten about everything he’d said earlier. But once he reminded me, every word came back, crystal clear. Although I wanted to hear him say it again. So I put on my best confused face. “Feelings?”
Bennett’s eyes widened. “You don’t remember me pouring my heart out to you yesterday?”
I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop my smile. He noticed.