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“No hospitals,” I whispered, the words a struggle. “Just need to sleep.”
Grayson tightened his hold on me. “Enough of this. I’m taking you to the goddamn hospital. Rhett, have my car brought round, would you?”
“Sure thing.”
“Is she gonna be okay?”
“I don’t know, Caitlyn. I shouldn’t have let her…”
I don’t know what he said next, because the whooshing in my ears was deafening. All I could do was hold on to him as he carried me through the house, out the wide front doors and down the shallow steps to his car.
“Sir.”
The valet opened the passenger door, and Grayson set me carefully on my feet. “In you get.”
I wanted to argue, to say I’d be fine, but I couldn’t find the words. And maybe it was time to admit that, yeah, I was very fucking farfrom fine. So I let Grayson help me into the car, closing my eyes as he reached in and grabbed the seatbelt, clicking it into place.
It felt like hours later before I could finally lie down in my private hospital room. Everything was quiet, save for the occasional beep from the machines keeping track of my vitals. My eyelids felt like they were made of sandpaper, and my head was pounding.
All the tests had been run and now I was hooked up to an IV, waiting for the morphine to kick in. Grayson shifted slightly in the chair, reminding me he was there.You can go,I tried to say, but I couldn’t get the words out. Finally, I gave into the exhaustion that was clinging to me like a shroud and drifted off to sleep.
I couldn’t say how long I slept, but when I woke up again, it was daytime. A wave of nausea washed over me when I tried to sit up, so I lay back down, feeling dizzy, weak and miserable. Also, like my head was full of cotton wool, making rational thought really fucking hard. One thought pushed through, though. Where the fuck had Grayson gone? And why the fuck did I care? Simple answer, I didn’t. So I rolled over and went back to sleep.
When I woke up again, I felt less woolly headed. The first thing I heard was Grayson’s voice. Deep and rumbling and very reassuring. He hadn’t left me, after all.Thought you didn’t care.
“I haven’t been able to contact either of her parents, but I’ve spoken to her brother. Unfortunately, his wife is very sick with her pregnancy and is in hospital herself, so he’s unable to come for her.”
Poor Dante. He’d hate that. God, I hoped Lucy was okay.
“I see. Well, that is very unfortunate. I can’t see how we can discharge her, in her current condition, without assurances that someone will look after her. It will be some time before she’ll be able to achieve simple tasks, such as meal preparation and bathing on her own. There is simply no way she can be by herself. Of course, we are more than happy to keep her here, but given that you have let us know of her strong distaste of hospitals, more than once, a prolonged stay here would almost certainly have detrimental effects on her mental and emotional well-being.”
“I understand. Leave it with me.”
Grayson stepped back into the room, pausing briefly when he saw I was awake, watching him silently. He said, “We need to talk.”
“Apparently so,” I replied. “I heard what the doctor said. I can manage on my own.” It was a token effort, but you know, it had to be done. Grayson’s only reply was to raise his eyebrow. I sighed, giving in since I really felt too much like shit to argue anymore. “Unless you have any better ideas.”
“I do, as a matter of fact.”
“Let’s hear it then.”
“I have a house about two hours’ drive from here. It’s on a private, secluded beach, very quiet. I can arrange for a nurse to visit daily, to assist you personally, and there’s already a housekeeper who comes by regularly to take care of everything else. All you would need to do is rest and get better.”
I stared at him. This all sounded way too good to be true. More than anything, I hated to be a burden. I also hated to be coddled. So I could go to Grayson’s beach house and just deal with a nurse on the daily and not worry about bothering anyone else while I recovered. Buuuut, it wasGrayson’sbeach house. How much more control of my life did I want to give him?
“Or you stay here until the doctor says you’re well enough to take care of yourself. Up to you.”
Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, huh? “Okay, then. Your beach house it is.”
His eyes widened in surprise at my quick answer. He really had no idea how much I hated hospitals. “Alright then. I’ll make the arrangements right away.”
CHAPTER 19
Grayson
“All set?”
“I guess.” Stef sat on the edge of her hospital bed, showered, dressed and ready to go.