“Yeah.” Brandon came to her and pressed a button on the side of the bed. The bed made a soft buzzing noise as it raised her upper body to something closer to a sitting position. “Did you want to see him?”
She tried to take the cup from him, but he didn’t let it go. Instead, he held it to her lips. Heat warmed her cheeks as she gingerly placed her fingers over his to tip the cup and sip. Cool water slid over her tongue and eased the dry tightness in her throat even as electricity zinged through her fingertips from touching his skin. Another sip, and a third, then Brandon gently pulled the cup away.
“Let’s take it a little at a time.” His tone was gruff, but with the odd note of gentle amusement she hadn’t ever heard him use for anyone else. “Haydn.”
Brandon placed two fingers on the side of the bed. Haydn reared up and placed his good right paw on the bed. He struggled with the prosthetic and missed the edge.
“Oh.” Sophie started to lean forward, but Brandon touched her shoulder gently. She settled back.
“It’s okay. He’s still getting used to it, and this is the first time he’s tried to do this on command.” Brandon watched Haydn find a comfortable position standing.
For his part, after the initial awkward moment, Haydn seemed unfazed. He regarded Sophie with a doggie grin.
“I’m glad you’re okay, too, Haydn.” Sophie remembered the earlier part of the day, parts of it coming to her in bits and pieces. In particular, the feel of the asphalt pressing into her back. And the warmth of Haydn pressed to her side as they waited for Brandon and the EMTs to come to her. The big dog had made the fear less in sharing and she’d done her best to swallow the sadness of Brandon stepping away from her.
It was stupid. She always told herself it was because Brandon was a far-ranging spirit and she’d never wanted to try to hold him in place. His nature wouldn’t change. It was why she’d spent so many years convincing herself he was better, safer, as a friend who came and went throughout life instead of hoping for other kinds of dreams.
And today, he’d stepped away because he was needed elsewhere. It made sense. It wasn’t because he’d been trying to leave her. He’d been ensuring the safety of everyone in the area, including her.
She kept rationalizing it all to herself. It was only helping her feel a little bit better.
“How are you feeling?” Brandon’s voice brought her back from the memory and her own tendency to chew on things.
Sophie blinked and looked up into those hazel eyes she’d known forever. They were more green than brown right now, because of the green in the shirt he wore. It was the same shirt he’d been wearing when she’d last seen him, so she couldn’t have been asleep for too long. The ripped-up sleeve was beyond mending, though, so she made an extra effort to commit it to memory since he’d probably toss it in the rag pile later. “What time is it?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You first.”
Oh. “Sorry. I’m fine.”
A jumble of questions filled her brain, and she hadn’t meant to ignore his.
“First of all, no need to be sorry. It’s about twenty hundred hours. Elisa and Lyn are going to be here any minute so they can see you before visiting hours end for the night.” Brandon turned his head and gave Haydn a quiet command. Haydn let his tongue loll out as he backed away from the side of the bed and dropped down to all fours again, disappearing out of sight. “Second, you have a habit of ignoring your body. You always say you’re fine, and at least this evening, I’d like you to clarify.”
Her mouth had fallen open midway through his second point. She realized it as her tongue started getting dry again. Closing her mouth and swallowing, she tried to give him a real answer. “My ankle hurts. I guess I got scraped up in a few other places. And I’m a little sore but not ready to cry or anything.”
He nodded. “The doctor will probably be in soon. I let him know you were awake. Can you give him even more honest detail when he gets here?”
Of course she would. Well, okay, Brandon did know her. She preferred not to make a big fuss out of things. Being in a hospital at all was out of character for her, but even she couldn’t argue the need for formal medical attention after being caught by an explosion.
Her body tensed at the memory of it. Startled, she drew in a quick breath and then forced herself to exhale slowly. She didn’t want to think about it.
“How did you know I was awake if you only just came in?” She accepted another sip from the cup of water he offered. The monitor issued an irregular beep as her heart stuttered. Damn. She couldn’t keep her cool around Brandon even for something as small as this. “And you could just give me the cup.”