She didn’t know. Maybe they hadn’t told her. Maybe she was dreaming. After all, why would Charlie be standing over her with that look in his
eyes?
That look that for so long she’d believed was one of love.
He didn’t love her.
Yet, when she stared into his eyes, she’d swear there were unshed tears there, that there was such raw emotion that he must care about her.
But thinking about it, trying to figure it out when she hadn’t been able to understand for months why he’d left, made her brain hurt worse.
Her brain already hurt enough. Too much.
“Take a deep breath, Savannah.”
Annoyed, she took another deep breath. “Why are you still here?”
“I’ll be here until I know you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.”
“God, I hope so.” He sounded so sincere that she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Go away, Charlie,” she moaned. “You are nothing to me anymore so just go away.”
She expected him to argue, to say something. He didn’t say anything for so long that Savannah opened her eyes.
Her breath caught.
He was gone.
Had she just dreamed that he was there?
At this point, reality and non-reality all seemed to swirl together.
CHAPTER NINE
“I FEEL FINE,” Savannah protested for the hundredth time and was mostly telling the truth. Yes, she hurt all over still, and especially her left lower leg, but every day she felt a little stronger than the day before. “I want to go home.”
Although, not really. Not until she was one hundred percent sure she wasn’t going to go into early labor. If that happened, she wanted to be in the hospital, where her baby could get immediate medical attention. Five days had gone by since her wreck and although she’d had several contractions, they’d stopped on their own each time. The obstetrician had started injections as a precautionary measure to more rapidly mature the baby’s lungs and every day that she didn’t go into labor was critical time for her baby to continue to develop.
“Leaving the hospital is not going to happen for at least another twenty-four hours,” Dr. Kimble told her.
Twenty-four hours. That both excited and scared her. She was ready to be home, back in Chattanooga, away from Nashville and wondering if she’d see Charlie that day. She hadn’t since the recovery room. Which was her own doing. She couldn’t remember much of their conversation, but she’d told him to leave. She hadn’t wanted him there.
“Thank you. I’ll let my family know so someone can be here to bring me back to Chattanooga tomorrow.”
The doctor shook her head. “I don’t want you that far away from the hospital for at least a week, preferably longer.”
“A week?”
She nodded. “I want to check you closely until I’m sure you and the baby are stable.”
“But I live in Chattanooga,” she reminded her. “I can’t make that drive back and forth.”
She didn’t even own a working car at the moment.
“You’re right. You can’t make that drive back and forth. You need to stay in Nashville.”