“It’s okay, Dr. Alexander. I’ll take care of her stats. She’s family.”
Family. The word makes me grimace. Our family unit died along with my brother. It’s me who’s been holding on to Sean, not letting him go be happy and free with his new partner.
I turn my head to the other side, not wanting to look at his kind face and the memories that go with it.
“No way, Honor,” he snaps, and I glance back to him. “No way in hell you’re avoiding me. You scared the bejesus out of me. When they brought you into emergency, honey, I lost it.” His voice cracks, and he swallows. “I couldn’t even tend to you. I watched them pump blood into you and save your life.”
I swallow around the cotton coating my throat. Save my life. “What? What am I doing here?” I don’t remember what happened. The last thing I can recall is being hurt and angry with Dr. Hart, and ugh, my mother. She called, but it’s all a blur.
Sean’s jaw tightens, and his lips go white and flat. “The maid at your hotel found you earlier this morning, lying unconscious in a pool of your own blood on the bathroom floor, with barely a pulse. A razor blade clutched in the palm of your hand.”
I groan and attempt to lift my arm to my face to wipe along my eyes. The brunette holds my arm down and shakes her head. The other has an IV sticking out of it and attached to tubes going to a monitor and bags of fluids. This is a nightmare.
“Honor, you took a razor to your arm and wrist and cut up the palm of your hand pretty severely. Not exactly the first time if what’s hidden under the henna is any indication.” His eyes soften and flash with concern. “Bunny…” He uses the nickname he and my brother always used. An old joke from the past. “You tried to take your life last night?” His voice cracks, wracked with unspoken emotion.
Again, I turn my head and try to remove my hand from his. He doesn’t let go. Thoughts of what I must have looked like when they found me, what he must have seen when I arrived by ambulance… Shame coats every pore, and I close my eyes. Hot tears leak down my cheeks as his words delve into my psyche.
Did I mean to go that far?
When I lost Hannon, I wanted to. Thought about it so many times, but I was always a coward. I could never take it that far. Something always stopped me.
Sean curls a hand at the back of my neck and turns my face to look into his eyes. “I didn’t know how deep your grief went. I’m sorry, Honor. I should have been there for you. Watched out for you. Hannon would have…”
“Hannon’s dead,” I say flatly. “He’s gone, and he’s never coming back.” The words on my tongue sting like acid, each one hurting more than the next, but it’s the honest truth. I need to truly accept that fact and stop living my life based on the loss of him.
“Honor…”
Tears pour from my eyes. “Just go. Leave me alone. That’s all I’m ever going to be is alone.” The dread in my voice is undeniable.
“The fuck you are!” A deep growl I recognize instantly flares against my senses like a wall of flames.
My eyes immediately go to the open hospital door.
“You better get your hands off my woman, Doc, or you and me are going to have some serious problems.” Nick’s tone is rife with danger and fierce possessiveness. No one’s ever claimed me the way he did in that moment.
Sean removes his hand from around my neck and my upper thigh.
Oh, this is bad. So, so, bad.
“Excuse me. Who the hell do you think you are? This is my sister,” Sean says loudly, and for a second it makes my heart swell with love for him, remembering a time when hearing him say that would have been old hat. Not so much anymore. Hannon’s gone, and Sean is moving on with his life. I’m not his responsibility. I’m not anybody’s responsibility.
“You’re her brother?” Nick looks at Sean’s much darker features, the exact opposite of me, confusion rife within his features.
“Her brother’s dead,” Sean states, devoid of emotion, and that sends an arrow straight through my heart because I know how very true it is.
“What the fuck?” Nick shakes his head. “Get out of my way.” He pushes past Sean and comes to my side. He gets low, his eyes assessing me from head to toe and zeroing in on my bandaged arm, wrist, and palm. His jaw gets tight as his dark gaze flashes with anger. “Who hurt you?” Both of his hands go into fists. “Give me a name. A single name and I’ll take care of him.”
Tears fall down my cheeks again. I’m not worthy of this man. “Go home, Nick. You don’t know what you’ve stepped into.”
It’s as if I verbally punched him in the nose with how he jerks his head back. Slowly he inhales, nostrils flaring as he clenches his teeth before leaning his forehead against mine. His breath is minty fresh when it floats over my skin. “Dove…my woman’s hurt. I’m here. Right here until you’re better. That’s how this is going to go down.”
“Your woman? Nick!” The brunette who had tended to me smiles. I think Sean called her Dr. Alexander. She enters the room this time with a new set of bandages. Mine are soaked through.
“Amber? You taking care of my woman?” He doesn’t miss a beat and apparently knows my female physician.
The pretty doctor grins, lifts her head to the sky, and places both of her hands in a prayer pose. “Thank the good Lord above for this blessing.” She breathes in obvious gratitude and then lifts my arm. “And yes, I’m taking good care of her.”
Amber is
