I thought I heard Elliot curse as he laughed, but I wasn’t sure. It sounded kind of distant, but at the same time not. My head felt foggy, like I was tipsy from a few drinks.
The doctor grinned. “Nope, still 2020 with the same PM.”
Relief filled me.
“What happened?” I questioned as I flexed my fingers. “How long was I out?”
“A few hours or so.”
“I was talking to Elliot then my head just . . . burned.”
“Yes, Elliot told me what happened.” Doctor Abara frowned like my dad had when I was being naughty as a child. “You are in no condition to be frolicking around with your man, no matter how well you think you are, Noah.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion.
“Frolicking?” I repeated in bewilderment. “I wasn’t frolicking – oh my God! Elliot told you I tried to seduce him?”
Memories assaulted me and humiliation reddened my cheeks.
Doctor Abara raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”
“I’m gonna bloody kill him.”
I heard a couple of snickers and tensed.
“Is he here?”
“Yes,” the doctor answered. “Your parents too.”
“I beg your pardon?” I asked, raising my voice only to wince as my head ached. “I’m really gonna kill him. My dad knows what I did?”
“Yes,” the doctor answered casually, like we weren’t having the most mortifying conversation in history. “Any double vision?”
“No,” I answered. “Your voice sounds a little distant though, and I feel a little dizzy.”
He nodded. “Your pain levels?”
“Low right now,” I answered. “Was I given morphine?”
At his nod, I sighed. “I don’t like that stuff. It makes everything all foggy and it’s hard to think.”
“Try thinking a little less,” the doctor suggested. “You may feel like you’re recovering fast, but it’ll take your brain a very long time to be back to full functionality.”
“That’s just great,” I sighed when he frowned. “I’m sorry, I’m being grouchy. Sore head and all.”
Doctor Abara’s lips twitched. “Take care of yourself. The next time I see you I want to be discharging you. I don’t like getting emergency pages that one of my patients who was in the ICU just a few days ago has collapsed.”
His scolding was gentle, but very effective.
“I understand, sir. Thank you for coming by and taking care of me.”
He gave me a nod and a smile, then disappeared from view. I heard him talking in low tones with Elliot and my parents. I didn’t ask what they were talking about because, for once, I didn’t want to know. What I wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I closed my eyes, wishing I could forget the conversation that had just taken place, but I couldn’t.
“Is there any point in me pretending to be asleep in the hopes that you’ll all leave me to die in this bed of shame and humiliation?”
Chuckles filled the void.
“Not a chance, sasanach.”
I refused to smile. I was mad at him.
“You, get out,” I grumbled. “I’m not talking to you, big mouth.”
I opened my eyes and Elliot’s face grinned down at me. “My bad. I got scared and just told the doctor everything. I thought maybe all that kissing messed with your head.”
“Your kisses aren’t that amazing, paddy.”
He laughed, leaned down and kissed my cheek.
“Ye scared me, green eyes,” he whispered in my ear. “Me heart just about stopped when I couldn’t wake ye up. Ye screamed so loud.”
I frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
He straightened up and used the remote to raise the top half of my bed when I asked him to. My parents were next to me then, and I felt horrible when I saw tears on my mum’s face.
“Mummy,” I said into her hair as she hugged me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m okay.”
She held me for a very long time, and Dad held my hand, squeezing it. I knew I hadn’t chosen what was happening to me, but I still felt horrible that I was putting them through all this worry.
“I’ll do what the doctor says,” I assured my three keepers when they each took a seat. “I promise.”
“We know you will,” Dad said sternly. “Because we’ll make sure of it.”
I wondered how they intended to do that.
“Elliot told me about how we broke up.”
“Don’t think about it,” Elliot chided. “That conversation is what made ye collapse. I should have never opened me bleedin’ mouth.”
I looked at him. “It wasn’t the conversation; I was trying to think of why I did what I did when I strongly