“They’re somewhere in the hospital,” Dad says, pausing mid-pace. “I think they went to the cafeteria.”
My mind automatically wonders if Evie is trolling for handsome doctors, but then I remember she’s in love with my brother, so I keep that thought to myself. “Is she mad at me for wrecking her car?”
“Mad at you? Of course not,” Mother says with a firm shake of her head. “She was so worried about you. And Priscilla too.”
“Priscilla is fine. They didn’t even keep her overnight. I believe she just got a few bumps and scrapes,” Father says. “You know this.”
Mother says nothing, just shoots my father an irritated look.
“We made George call to check up on her,” Father tells me with a little smile.
Well, that conversation must’ve been awkward.
My parents continue talking, but I’m not really listening, and I don’t think they expect me to. I’m so drowsy, and finally I give in, closing my eyes as I try to focus on their droning voices. They talk for what seems like hours, the sounds merging into each other until I can’t decipher what they’re saying. At one point, I swear I hear other voices—possibly George and Evie have entered the room—but I’m too tired, and my eyelids refuse to lift to see what’s going on.
Instead, I drift off to sleep.
And dream of Cannon coming to see me in my room. He walks in with a giant bouquet, so big and tall I can’t see his face at first, and when he sets the bouquet on a nearby table, I burst into tears at seeing him.
He says those sweet, sexy, vaguely inappropriate words like he does, and I get embarrassed because my parents are still in the room, but I don’t care because he surprises me with a giant diamond ring dangling from his pinky finger and then he’s slipping it on my finger, declaring his love for me in front of my family.
I’ve never felt more alive, or more loved.
So the disappointment is extra sharp when I open my eyes hours later to realize I’m alone in my dark hospital room, no massive bouquets waiting for me, no diamond ring glittering on my finger. Clearly the accident has made me delusional.
Clearly.
I’m bone tired and operating on only a few hours of sleep, and my knee hurts like a bitch. If any of my coaches saw me right now, they’d probably tear me to shreds for walking through this hospital like a man hell-bent on finding the woman of his dreams.
Because that’s who Susanna is. She’s the woman of my dreams. The woman I know I love. Who cares if we barely know each other? Who cares if we’ve only spent a few days together? Those were the most magical days of my life, and when you know…well.
You know.
And I know without a doubt that I love Lady Susanna Sumner.
“Sir! Sir!” A receptionist is yelling at me as I walk past a check-in desk, trying to get me to stop, and I do, because I’m hoping she’ll help me.
“I need to find a patient,” I tell her as I set the bouquet of red roses I got for Susanna in the gift shop on the high counter.
She gazes up at me, her eyes wide, her lips parted. I’m probably scaring her. I’m sure I look like hell. I haven’t shaved in days, I’ve been wearing the same clothes for the last thirty-six hours, and my hair is a mess. I bet I smell too.
Great.
“What’s the patient’s name?” she asks, fingers poised over the computer keyboard in front of her.
“Susanna Sumner.”
The woman types in Susanna’s name, then grabs her mouse and clicks. Then clicks again. She’s chewing on her lower lip, her eyes scanning the screen before her until she finally looks up and meets my gaze. “Sir, I’m afraid it’s too early for visiting hours.”
“You gotta be kidding me.” I glance around, my gaze setting on the plaque nearby that has the visiting hours listed. I check my phone.
Yep. I’m too early.
“It looks to me that Miss Sumner is being released this morning. Are you picking her up?” She tilts her head to the side, and I think she’s trying to tell me something.
“Yes,” I say slowly, and she nods, encouraging me to keep talking. “I’m picking her up, and taking her home.”
“Perfect. She’s in Room 204.” She smiles, but I’m already gone, the vase of roses clutched in my arms, headed down the hallway as fast as my bum knee will take me.