Alpha Hero - Hope Ford Page 0,50

tell him, “You were hit by a drunk driver.”

“Is the other driver okay?” Of course he’s compassionate, even for someone that inflicted pain on him. Guilt hits me again.

I nod my head. “Yep, not even a scratch on him.”

Immediately, he lifts his hands up off the bed to look at them. “My hands?”

He’s one of the top performing heart surgeons in the state. I knew he would be worried about his hands. I tell him what the surgeon told me. “Your hands are fine. You have some torn ligaments and a very small fracture in your leg and a bunch of cuts and bruises, but they’ve already fixed your leg. You will be good as new.”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out. He’s staring up at me, and there’s so much I want to say to him. We start talking at the same time.

“Go ahead. You first,” I tell him.

“There was a paramedic…”

I pick the empty envelope off the bed and hold it up to him. “Yeah. She found me. She stayed with me too, until you got out of surgery.”

Brian

I nod my head, but stare openly at the envelope. It’s the one I gave the paramedic to give her. So since she has it, she knows that I’ve now turned her money over to her. She has no connection to me now. None. She is free to do what she wants, when she wants without ever questioning me.

She wipes a fresh tear off her cheek. “About earlier…”

I know how kindhearted she is. So I know how hard that had to be for her to say to me. My feelings are hurt. There’s no doubt. But more than that, my heart hurts.

I shake my head, ignoring the stabbing pain. “Let’s forget it, okay?”

She reluctantly shrugs. She pulls the chair over from the corner of the room and slides it up next to my bed. I watch as she sits down, resting her hands in her lap. Her face is red, and I don’t know if she’s embarrassed about earlier or if she’s just uncomfortable now.

I can’t look away from her. I never can. She’s beautiful. More beautiful than any woman I’ve ever known. I’ve fought these feelings for what seems like forever, but quite honestly it’s only been a year… a very long year.

When her dad died two years ago, I stepped up. Because of my relationship with him, I took care of his daughter, never wanting her to worry, or hurt, or struggle. It’s only in this last year that my feelings for her have changed. I don’t know what or why, but I started looking at her differently. Not as the little girl that always hung on her dad’s every word. No, she’s grown up quite a bit since then. Now she’s independent and thinks for herself. She’s always wanting to be better, to do better. Just watching her brings pride out of me. But there’s more.

She crosses her legs and her skirt slides up her thigh. I drag my eyes off her exposed skin and back up to her face.

Her forehead is creased and I know that look. She’s thinking, trying to figure out where to go from here. She pretty much told me that she wanted to be rid of me earlier. And no matter how much it kills me, I made sure that she got what she wanted. I canceled all my appointments for the rest of the day and drove straight to the lawyers and made them rush on the paperwork. Knowing that there’s nothing tying us together anymore almost kills me. I know she’s only here now out of obligation. She feels like she has to be here.

I curl my hand into the sheet and grab on to it. “Kendall.”

She looks from her hands up to me questioningly.

I smile at her softly. “You don’t have to be here. As a matter of fact, you probably need to go.”

She starts shaking her head side to side and grips the railing of the bed with one hand. “No, I want to…”

I put my hand next to hers. I almost grabbed hers, but caught myself at the last minute. I stare at our fingers, right next to each other but not touching. “No, really. You have class tonight and well, I’m fine. I’ll probably get out of here tomorrow.”

She smirks. “You were in a car accident. You just had surgery… They are not letting you out tomorrow.”

I just shrug my shoulders. “Regardless, you don’t