“I’m going to keep you in here while we run some more tests. Check there’s nothing else going on with your heart and your stomach. Are you sure I can’t call anyone? I’d rather you didn’t leave here on your own.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said firmly. “And you can send Ed home too. I’ll be all right now. I just want to be on my own.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m sure.” Coming here had been stupid. She knew that. Ed wasn’t interested in her. It was time she buried that fantasy. For good.
11
She was so ready to get out of here.
Georgina paced up and down the hospital room as she waited for the nurse to come back with all her paperwork. She had had to stop herself from snapping at the woman several times for how slow she was moving.
“I guess it was too much to ask that my most troublesome patient be waiting quietly in the wheelchair for me to come and get her.”
She turned to find Xavier standing in the doorway. She flushed guiltily then straightened her shoulders. “I really don’t need a wheelchair. There’s nothing wrong with me.” Nothing physically wrong with her. She kind of wished there were. That would be easier to deal with. But being stressed, suffering from anxiety, those weren’t things that people could see and understand. It wasn’t something her mother would accept.
And that’s why her mother would never learn about any of it.
Xavier sighed. “Being stressed and having anxiety isn’t something to be taken lightly, Georgina. It’s affecting your physical health. You need to find a way to relax. To sleep and eat. And running until you pass out isn’t a good coping mechanism for what is going on in your head.”
Darn. He was perceptive. They’d spent quite a bit of time together over the last twenty-four hours while he’d run his tests. Nothing startling had been revealed other than the fact that she was low in iron, vitamin B, and D and had raised blood pressure. So she needed some steak and vitamins. Done.
There was no need for any more fussing. Only, Xavier seemed to excel at fussing. He’d brought her dinner last night, insisting on sitting with her. She knew he’d wanted to make sure she did eat, probably the aides had told on her that she’d barely touched her other disgusting meals.
He’d even gone to her motel room and grabbed her some clothes to wear out of here. Which was really kind of him.
“Xavier, I’ll be fine. I’m an adult. I can take care of myself. Am I able to leave? I need to call a taxi.”
His face tightened. “You’re not going home in a taxi. And you’re getting in that wheelchair. Or you’re not leaving.”
She sighed. “All right. But has anyone ever told you that you’re extremely bossy?”
“Many times,” he reassured her.
“How am I meant to get back to the motel if I don’t take a taxi? My car isn’t here.”
“You have other options.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“You’ll see.”
Did he mean Ed? Butterflies filled her tummy at the thought. She had kind of expected to see him yesterday or this morning.
You’re being silly. You sent him away.
Yes, but she hadn’t been expecting for him to go. She knew it was contrary and silly, but she guessed she’d hoped he’d ignore what she said.
That’s ridiculous. You should be glad that he respected your wishes rather than going all alpha caveman. That’s so not your type.
Liar. Because the fact was, she was struggling with being on her own, with doing it all. Sometimes, she wished she could just go home and have someone else take over for a while. To let her Little side out and have someone make all the big decisions.
But she didn’t know if she could ever actually submit to someone or if it was just a fantasy. Maybe it would annoy her. She was an FBI agent. And a James. She shouldn’t need someone to take over. To be in charge.
Ed had probably been relieved to be clear of her. She planned to go back to the motel, pack up then go. There was no reason to stick around. She’d come here on a fool’s errand. Time to stop making an idiot of herself.
As she’d been going over everything in her head, Xavier had been wheeling her out to the exit. And then she saw them. They were standing next to the exit, making so much noise that she was shocked they hadn’t been kicked out. They all appeared to be arguing with each other.