A Redo (Sterling Shore 6)

“I’ll go get the doctor, then I’ll take you to see Angel.”

It’s as if he knows exactly what I need, and it just cements the truth of what I feel for him. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to cry and worry him, and not wanting to blurt out I love him the first time in the middle of a hospital bed, looking my worst, and wearing this damn gown. It’s supposed to be the right moment, even though I’ve wasted a lot of those “right moments” by worrying about the future.

Wren walks over to Bella, and he gently shakes her shoulder. She practically jumps out of the chair, and I bite back a laugh when she goes wide-eyed and wild.

“Easy,” Wren says in his sexy sleep rasp, chuckling at her. “It’s just me. Allie’s awake, and I’m going to find a doctor.”

She immediately rushes away from him and comes to me, checking the stitches at my head.

“Don’t ask how I’m feeling,” I tell her, smiling, and she grins down at me knowingly. Wren walks out, looking uncertain as he leaves.

“I take it you’ve already been asked how you feel hundreds of times?” she asks.

“Not that many, but I’m sure it will be soon enough. Angel okay?”

She nods. “She just thinks she was having a sleepover at her grandmother’s for a couple of days. Your cell phone was cracked in the wreck, so Wren is having someone replace it. But Angel called worried because you weren’t answering, so I told her you broke your phone and that you’d call when you got a new one. It worked.”

I lean back, staring at the sterile white ceiling with drop tiles.

“And I got my job back,” she says with a grin.

“What?”

She nods. “Corbin Freaking Sterling told them I was to be reinstated immediately, and they could go fuck themselves if they had a problem with it. No one objected, obviously. His dad is pissed about what happened, because he’s close with the Prize family. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re definitely in the family.”

Her eyes widen, and she starts talking faster. “Speaking of which, I forgot to tell you the most important part. What you saw at the restaurant wasn’t—”

“Well, Ms. Thrash, nice to see you awake,” Dr. Luther says as he comes in. Thank God it’s not Zimmerman again.

He pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, and he glances down at Bella’s cleavage—twice—before finally looking over my chart. Wren stands behind him, cocking an eyebrow when the man checks out Bella’s cleavage one more time.

“Well, I’ll run a few quick checks, and try to get you out of here.”

He starts running over the typical questions that I answer robotically, anticipating each one as it comes. Finally, he finishes up, and Wren walks out of the room with him, probably giving me privacy.

“Let’s get you changed and back home.”

I nod, as I stand, wincing at how tender my hand is now that the IV has been removed. After I dress hurriedly, Wren returns, and ignores the woman who has brought in a wheelchair as he scoops me into his arms and carries me bridal style through the door.

“Mr. Prize! You can’t… Ah, hell. Never mind,” the nurse I don’t know says.

Wren smirks while carrying me onto the waiting elevator, but he doesn’t say anything. I don’t know what to say. He’s not acting like himself. I don’t know if he’s stressed out, pissed, or what.

“Will you go pick up Angel and bring her to my house?” Wren asks Bella.

“Yeah,” Bella says, curious. “Why?”

“Because that’s where you’ll all be staying until your house is fixed back up.”

Her eyes bug out, and she starts to speak, but the doors of the elevator open. Wren carries me toward the exit. Bella looks questioningly at me. I just shrug as I lean against him. He tenses—which confuses me—so I lift my head back up to see his jaw straining.

“Are you okay?” I ask him softly.

He nods, but he still doesn’t speak before he puts me in the front seat of his car that is definitely parked illegally. He jogs to his side, and his phone starts ringing as soon as he sits down.

With a harsh sigh and an apologetic glance toward me, he answers and starts talking fervently with the police, I assume.

***

ALLIE

Wren is walking around and talking on his phone, just as he’s been doing since we left the hospital. I assume he’s slacked off on work since he’s been dealing with our drama.

A pang of guilt strikes, but it’s eased by Angel’s touch as she stays curled up at my side. She’s doing her make-up work for school after missing a couple of days, letting the hell die down.

Melanie brought her over instead of Bella, and Bella is at our house with Corbin and Maverick Sterling—Oh boy. They’ve been packing up the things we’ll need for a few days, but it’s taking a surprisingly long amount of time. Which has me worried… I mean, I’ve met Maverick and Corbin, after all.