The steady beeping of the monitor greeted me as I pushed back the curtain that shielded Sam from the door. Her left arm was in a sling, she was attached to an IV, and obscene monitors attached to her head at equidistant intervals.
I pulled the chair closer to her bed and sat, taking her right hand in mine and pressing a kiss to her palm.
“I love you. I have to leave for a few days, but I’ll be back once this storm cell passes. Then you’ll be awake, and we can figure out what the hell we’re going to do, because if this has taught me anything, it’s that I can’t exist without you. You broke down every defense and made me feel, so you’d better be around to help me figure out what to do with all these feelings. We have to find a way, Samantha. We just do.”
I sat with her, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath. She would wake up. She was stronger than Grace, and if I repeated that to myself enough, I could get through this. She was going to wake up.
“Hey.” Colonel Fitzgerald lightly shook my shoulder, and my eyes snapped open. “It’s two thirty. You fell asleep. Probably a sign that you need to get some rest before you fly.”
My thumb stroked across the smooth skin of the back of Sam’s hand. “I don’t want to leave her.”
A soft, sorrowful smile came over her mom’s face. “I never want to. It’s the hardest part of my job, leaving her, especially when she doesn’t have anyone else, really. But if there’s anyone who understands duty and military orders, it’s Sam. This is the only life she’s ever known, Grayson. She was brought up in it, and something tells me she’ll marry into it. She’ll understand.”
“She shouldn’t have to. I should be here. We haven’t spoken…” My throat closed.
“I know. She told me. You two are the right people at the wrong time. Odds are stacked against you, I logically know that, and with that math-freakish brain of hers, so does Sam. But she’s never been one to back down from a challenge or to take the easy route.”
“She must get that from her mother.”
She laughed. “Stop sucking up and get out of here. I’ll stay with Sam. She won’t be alone.”
With every cell in my body protesting, screaming to stay by her side, I leaned over Sam’s bed and brushed my lips against her cheek. “I love you, Samantha. Fight like hell. I’ll be home soon. Please forgive me.”
I physically walked out of the door, but my heart stayed in that bed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sam
Everything hurt.
I pried my eyes open, and the world came into focus. I was in a hospital. Where? Why? The tornado.
I moved my head slowly and saw Mom sitting in a chair, reading on her tablet. “Mom,” I croaked.
Her eyes flew wide, and she smiled just as big, dropping the tablet to the bedside table and pressing the nurse call button. “Hey, Sam. Relax. You’ve had a rough day.”
“Water?” My mouth tasted like a fuzzy animal had died in there. Where was Grayson? Was he okay? Was the house hit?
She lifted the clear cup to my lips, and I took a few swallows. “Better. Thank you.”
“What do you remember?” she asked.
My face scrunched. “We made it to the locker room, and then the wall came down. I think. Oh God, how’s Avery?”
“She’s fine, only broke her pinky finger, and she’s been sitting in the waiting room all morning. You did a damn fine job of protecting her, and I’m incredibly proud of you.” She sat on the edge of my bed.
“Good. I’m glad she’s okay. What day is it?”
“Tuesday. You were only out overnight. They were worried about brain swelling, and you have a beautiful concussion.”
“And the sling?” I tried to move my arm and gasped at the pain that coursed through me. “Fuck that hurts.”
She quirked an eyebrow but didn’t chastise me for my language. “Don’t move it. You fractured it in three places and dislocated your shoulder. They’ll remove the splint and cast it later today now that the swelling has gone down.”
I dragged my tongue across my incredibly dry lips. “Grayson?” I asked softly.