“What are you saying?”
“That it was hard not knowing if you were coming home or not. And I know I have no right to—”
He kissed her, long and deep, then pressed his forehead to hers. “If you feel half of what I feel for you, Cyn, you have every right. I hate it every time the doctor or nurse has said they can’t tell me something about you because I don’t have the right to be included in what they’re doing for you and telling me how you are when I’m desperate for any scrap of confirmation that you’re okay.”
“Well, then I guess you won’t care that I listed you as my emergency contact and that you can receive my personal and private information and make decisions for my care. Just in case. I mean, this is the second timeI’ve ended up here in as many days and Rad is a problem I’m not ignoring.”
“You did that?” He couldn’t believe the trust she’d put in him.
“Yes.” To lighten things, she gave him a funny grin. “You’ve met my mother. Do you think I want her to be the primary source of what’s best for me?”
He chuckled. “No.”
“Which is why you didn’t call her and tell her I’m here.”
“I wanted to wait until I knew what was going on.”
“Wise choice. I’ll call her tomorrow and tell her what happened, so she doesn’t hear that I was back in the hospital from someone else.”
“I just want to take you home. I want you to be okay.”
“If these symptoms don’t go away, I’ll learn to manage them.”
“And you’ll take my advice about protecting yourself until I can put Rad behind bars.”
“I love that you call it advice when we both know you’re just telling me what to do.”
“I wanted to soften it, so you’d be more amenable to doing what I say for your own good.”
“I will do my best to follow youradvice.” She kissed him to stop him from saying more, then leaned back and stared up at the IV. “It’s done. And I have to pee. Help me up?”
He sat up and took her by the hips. “Stand up slowly. Give yourself a second. Let me know if you’re dizzy.”
She braced herself with a hand on the IV stand. “I’m okay. I feel fine.”
He still walked behind her to the bathroom, keepinghis hands on her hips just in case. He left her alone, pushed the call button for the nurse and waited outside the bathroom door for Cyn to come out.
The nurse walked in just as Cyn returned. “Everything okay?”
“Her IV is done.”
“Excellent. Any more episodes of blindness or going deaf?”
“No. I feel fine.” Cyn sat on the edge of the bed.
“Great.” The nurse took the needle out of her arm and covered the puncture mark with a cotton ball and some tape. “Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll be back in a few minutes with your discharge papers.”
“Thank you.” Cyn waited for the nurse to leave, then pulled the hospital gown off.
He handed her the stack of clothes he found in the cupboard by the bed.
She was only wearing a pair of black panties that barely covered her bottom. She slid her bra straps up her arms, connected it in the back, then leaned forward and adjusted her boobs in the cups with a little wiggle.
“I like watching you get dressed almost as much as I like undressing you.”
She grinned. “Hand me my shirt.”
“Do I have to?”