She didn’t need me. She wouldn’t want me there once she learned the truth. I would never be able to make this up to her. She would never forgive me.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I’ll stay.”
She smiled, and her beautiful green eyes closed.
I still held her bandaged hand, and I sat next to her. I didn’t sleep when the nurse came in to check her vitals.
I didn’t sleep at all.
* * *
She was still sleeping soundly when a nice-looking young man with dark hair came in early in the morning. “Good morning,” he said. “I’m Dr. Hernandez.”
I stood, wiping my eyes. “Jonah Steel.” I held out my hand.
“Are you a friend of Dr. Carmichael’s?”
A friend? I hoped I was more than a friend. I’d dreamed of being way more than friends, but that seemed impossible now, given my oversight. I simply nodded. “How’s she doing?”
He scanned the chart. “Everything looks good. She can probably go home today. I’d like to send in a lab tech to take some blood, just to make sure the CO is out of her system. After we get a clean check there, she can go.”
I nodded again.
“No need to wake her up just yet. She’ll wake up when the tech comes in to take her blood.”
For the third time, I nodded, and then I sat back down in my chair, my body weak with fatigue. Melanie looked like an angel sleeping. Her hair was a mess, and she wore no makeup, but she didn’t need it. She was so naturally beautiful.
I rubbed my forehead. What had I done? I rose and left the room, took the elevator down to the main floor, and got myself a strong cup of coffee. When I returned to Melanie’s room, she was awake, and the lab tech was drawing her blood.
She attempted a smile when she saw me. “Oh good, you didn’t leave.”
“I would never leave without telling you I was going. I just needed some coffee.”
“Of course. Isn’t he wonderful?” she said to the lab tech. “He stayed here with me all night in that uncomfortable chair.”
The lab tech smiled. “He’s not the first one I’ve seen do that. It’s what people do for those they care about.”
Care about… Her words sank into my head. I had grown to more than just “care about” Melanie Carmichael. Was I in love with her?
And it hit me like a weight crashing down on me.
I was.
I was in love with her.
And it was a love that would nev
er be returned. I had failed her.
I had failed her, just as I had failed Talon on that fateful day.
I was so fucking tired of failing the people I cared about. The people I loved most in the world. Was I doomed to a lifetime of failing the people I loved?
It would appear so.
“All set,” the tech said. “Just please read the label on this vial, and make sure that I have your name and date of birth correct.”
Melanie took a look and nodded.