Southern Comfort - Natasha Madison Page 0,11

around his neck, tucking his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat. “As I mentioned to you”—he looks at Casey—“after you let me speak …” I look back at Casey, who just rolls his eyes. “I told you she would wake up when she was ready.”

“I heard you,” Casey says.

“If everything looks good, she can go home tonight. But,” he says, and I look at him, “it’s best if she gets rest and no television or computer.”

“For how long?” I ask him, thinking of all the work that will pile up.

“At least seven days. After seven days, if you turn on the television or computer, and you get a headache, you have to turn it off and start over at day one again,” he says. I don’t even want to think about how I’m going to work if I can’t use my computer. “If the headache is really bad, I want you to come in.”

“I’ll make sure she follows the rules,” Casey says from beside me. The doctor just nods at him, then walks out of the room with the nurse.

“Cowboy,” I say. He shakes his head but doesn’t look at me. My heart sinks when he doesn’t look at me. Why would he look at me when I’ve caused him all this headache? Why would he even want to talk to me after I brought this danger to his house? He could have been hurt; his family could have been hurt. I take a deep breath and wipe away the tear that falls with my hand. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. He looks at me shocked, and before I tell him that I’m going to leave, the door opens and Charlotte comes in with a bag in her hand.

“I brought soup,” she says, smiling. “In case you’re hungry.”

I slowly pull my hand away from Casey’s even though it suddenly feels cold. “Thank you,” I tell her. Kallie just stares at me as I try to get her to hear my thoughts without saying a word. “But I’m not hungry.”

“She probably just needs to rest,” Kallie says. I look down at my hands, trying not to face Billy and see his disappointment in me.

“We should go,” Billy says. I try not to cry, but he comes close to the bed and leans down. “We’ll see you at home,” he says, softly kissing my cheek. I close my eyes, trying not to sob out.

Charlotte is the next one to me, and she doesn’t go soft like Billy does. No instead, she sits on the bed next to me and pulls me to her. Her arms go around me, and I want nothing more than to sink into her hug. “I’m going to go home and prepare all your favorite foods,” she says. I want to tell her not to, but if I say anything, the sob might rip through me.

“We’ll walk you out,” Jacob says, sharing a look with Casey. I don’t look over at Casey because I’m afraid to see the disappointment on his face. “Casey,” Jacob calls him, and I think he’s going to fight him, but instead, he pushes away and gets up.

“I’ll be back,” he says softly, my eyes watching Kallie. She waits for the door to close before she turns and looks at me.

“What’s the matter?” she asks. I try to look at her, but my tears cloud my vision.

“I need you to get me out of here,” I say, and her mouth opens in shock. “It’s not safe, and I refuse to put you or your family in anymore danger.”

“You have to be insane,” she hisses. “You must have hit your head harder than I thought if you think I’m going to let you escape.” She folds her arms over her chest.

“I can’t do it,” I say, and the sob finally rips free. “I can’t see the disappointment in their eyes.” Throwing the covers over my legs, I climb out of bed and turn to walk out. I must move too fast because my head spins, and the next thing I know, I’m on the floor, and Kallie is yelling for help as the blackness takes me again.

Chapter Six

Casey

I don’t want to leave her. I don’t want to walk out of this room without her, but I can tell Jacob wants to tell me something that he doesn’t want to share with Olivia.

“What’s so urgent?” I ask him once we get outside the room.

Jacob glances at the door behind me. “He’s gone,” he says.