Not You It's Me (Boston Love #1) - Julie Johnson Page 0,137
to realize what’s happening — his eyes spring open as he snaps back into full consciousness.
His head turns, his eyes find mine, and I feel my heart flip at the relief in his gaze.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“Sunshine,” he breathes, sitting up. In the space between two heartbeats, he’s gathered me in his arms and crushed me against his chest. “You’re okay. You’re alive. You’re breathing. You’re speaking.”
“I’m fine, Chase.” My words are muffled against his shirt. “But you’re kind of crushing me.”
“Sorry.” His hold loosens, but he doesn’t let me go. I get the feeling, in that moment, he can’t let me go. “I thought…” He trails off, looking into my eyes. “I thought you were dead. And then they said, even if you woke up… You were without oxygen, and…” His forehead drops against mine, and he breathes me in. “I thought you were dead.”
“That makes two of us,” I say, my voice wry. “What happened? I don’t remember anything, after the car sank… I ran out of air, and… well, it’s just darkness, after that.”
His jaw clenches and he pulls back to look at me. “I got there just in time to see the SUV go over the railing. Brett’s man, Hawkins, came up. You didn’t.”
“The Hulk.”
“What?”
“Brett’s thug. I call him The Hulk. Sometimes, Bruce Banner, too.”
He looks at me like maybe my brain was damaged, after all. “Sunshine…”
“I was kidnapped, shot, punched, and drowned. I almost died! You aren’t allowed to tease me right now.” My cheeks heat. “Just tell me what happened.”
He watches the blush spread across my face like he’s witnessing a miracle firsthand. “Never thought I’d see that again,” he murmurs, rubbing one thumb across my bruised cheekbone, his touch gentle.
I lean into his hand, so he’s cupping my face.
“I jumped in after you, but the car was already submersed, sinking fast. It took me a long time to get to you, to cut the seatbelt, to pull you to the surface...”
“But you did.” My eyes fill. “You saved me.”
“If anything had happened to you…”
“It didn’t.” I reach up and place my hand over his. “I’m fine.”
I sit up straight as a thought suddenly occurs to me, panic rushing through my veins. “Chrissy!”
“Shh, sunshine, she’s all right. Actually, she’s right upstairs,” he assures me. “The police got her to the hospital in time. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl late last night. Mark’s with her now.”
“And Winnie?”
“He’s okay. Just a few bumps and bruises. Shelby’s watching him — she’s been going back and forth, between your room and Chrissy’s room.”
“Thank god they’re okay,” I breathe, settling back against my pillows. “What time is it?”
“Around six — the nurses will be in soon, to take your morning vitals and yell at me.”
My eyebrows lift. “Why would they yell?”
“This is the ICU — visitors aren’t supposed to spend the night. Or bring flowers.” He grins. “I was persuasive.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
He has the grace to look a little embarrassed. “The large contribution my family makes every year at the MGH fundraiser may’ve helped matters.”
“I’ll bet.” My voice is dry. “Wait, I’m at Mass General?”
“Yeah. You were in rough shape. They air-lifted you here.” His face goes dark. “Scariest thirty minutes of my life.”
“Well, that just sucks!”
His eyebrows go up. “Excuse me?”
“The first time I ever ride in a helicopter, and I’m unconscious the whole freaking time.” I huff. “Just my luck.”
He grins and shakes his head at me.
“I’m serious!” I protest.
“As soon as you’re better, I’ll take you on the company helicopter.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
He kisses me then — just a light brush of his lips over mine, and the tenderness of it steals my breath.
“You should sleep,” he says, pulling back slightly, his eyes moving over my features like he’s trying to memorize them. “You need to heal.”
“I’m fine,” I murmur, but I can hear the drowsiness in my own voice.
“Shh.”
My eyelids slip closed, despite my best efforts. “Chase?”
“Yeah, sunshine?”
“Are you staying?”
He pauses a beat. “Always.”
I let the beauty of that single word sink into my bones.
“Then, why are you still on the chair?”
I hear him chuckle seconds before his arms slide around my frame as he climbs into bed with me.
“This is definitely going to get me in trouble with the nurses,” he whispers against my hair.
“Tell them I coerced you. That you’re powerless to resist me.”
I feel his lips twitch against my temple. “That, Gemma Iphigenia Summers, is the truth.”
My eyes snap open and a horrified gasp erupts from my mouth at the sound