Pieces of Us - Carrie Elks Page 0,61
those cuts come from.”
“I got a little battered swimming to shore. I had to drag Sam with me.”
“Is he okay?”
“They’re looking him over as we speak. They’re going to admit him to keep an eye on him. He swallowed a lot of water, so they need to check on his lungs.”
“I need to make some phone calls,” Aiden said in a low voice to Autumn. “Call off the helicopters. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded, standing in the middle of the hallway, her hands curled into balls as she watched Griff standing with his friends.
He slowly turned his head, his eyes widening as he took her in. “Why didn’t you assholes tell me my girl was here?” he muttered.
“I figured you could still see,” Jackson told him.
Griff walked over to her, reaching out to stroke her cheek as though he couldn’t quite believe she was there.
“Hi,” he said softly, his thumb tracing her jaw.
“Hi.” Her voice trembled.
Close up she could see a bruise forming on his right cheek, along with two lacerations that had been closed up with sutures. There were deep scratches on his arms, too. Livid red ones that made her wince. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I am now.” He tipped her head up with his thumb, his eyes soft as he gazed down at her. “Thank you for coming.”
“I was scared to death,” she admitted. “What happened to you?”
“The boat hit a rock as we headed out. We thought it was containable, and they’d be able to repair it at the yard when we got it there. But the wood pretty much crumpled under the pressure. We had no choice but to abandon ship. Problem was, we were two miles off shore.”
“Didn’t you have life jackets?”
Griff pressed his lips together. “They should have been on board. They weren’t.”
“I heard you say you had to swim Sam back to shore with you.”
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his wet hair, dragging it away from his brow. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes. “He started to struggle about a half mile in. The current is strong out there. By the time I turned back, he’d gone completely under. I had to dive to find him.”
“You saved his life,” she said. “And nearly lost yours.”
“There was no chance of that. I can swim two miles easily.”
“At night? Carrying another body?”
He gave her a half smile. “Yeah, well that made things a little more complicated.”
“What did the doctors say about you? Shouldn’t you be monitored, too?”
“They offered. But I just want to go home as soon as I know Sam’s okay.”
She opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. He’d been through more than enough. He didn’t need her begging him to listen to the doctors. “Okay. But you’re coming home with me. That way I can keep an eye on you, even if the doctors can’t.”
“Is that some kind of code for a booty call?” he asked, giving her a crooked smile.
She bit down a laugh, her muscles relaxing for the first time in hours. “If that’s how you want to take it.”
“I do.” He nodded, his expression serious. “Just as soon as I’ve had some sleep.”
“Okay then.” She blew out a mouthful of air. He was all right. No, better than all right. He was alive and smiling at her like nothing had ever happened.
Right now, she’d take that.
It was another hour before they made it home. Lucas gave them a ride to the beach cottage, lifting his hand in a wave as he pulled away to head back to the fire station. Griff was still wearing the scrubs he’d been given, his clothes too far gone to bother bringing home, and his feet were stuffed into undersized white slippers, the kind you saw in expensive hotels.
Autumn unlocked the door and stepped to the side so Griff could follow her in. The early morning light flooded in through the doorway, illuminating the white washed wooden floor and pale walls. Griff closed the door behind him and Autumn looked at him with raised brows.
“What do you need?” she asked, kicking her sneakers off and feeling the warm wood on her bare feet. “Food? A shower? Or do you want to go straight to sleep?”
He slid his hands around her waist and buried his lips in her hair. “I just want to hold you for a minute.”
“Okay.” She let him pull her body close against his, feeling the hardness of his muscles through the thin fabric of the scrubs. He