Freshwater Kisses (The Kisses 3)

I ripped the oxygen tubing out of my nose and threw my legs over the side of the bed. A woozy rush went through me, and my hands tightened on the sheets. I really hoped the nurses' station was close by because I wasn't going to make it far. But I had to get to Avery.

"Shh, lie back down," a soft voice said from the corner. I glanced over to see Grace starting to rise from her chair. She pushed away a hospital tray full of books and a laptop and walked over to the bed. "Avery's fine."

Grace carefully picked up my feet and deftly maneuvered me back into bed. She wrapped the oxygen neatly around my ears and under my chin, her hands sure and steady. She was going to make a great nurse one of these days.

"But I was supposed to pick her up! Grace, I'm so sorry! I..."

"Shhh. Don't worry, little sis. They called me as soon as you were out of the water. I picked her up from school on my way here." She smiled and soothed my ponytail down across my shoulder. "One of the nurses is showing her where the vending machines are. She'll be up here in a little bit."

The oxygen tickled my nose, so I tugged at it. Grace frowned and replaced it in my nose, giving me a look that told me to keep it there.

"What time is it?" I asked. "And where's my watch?"

Grace sat down on the edge of the bed. "I have your stuff in a bag in the closet. And it's a little after three in the afternoon. Don't worry, I called your boss and told them you weren't going to make your second shift." She paused and scrunched her nose. "Your boss is kind of a jerk, by the way."

I gave a wry laugh and finally relaxed a little. "No kidding. I'll be lucky if I still have a job after this. I got run over by a boat, but since I'm missing the shift, it'll all be my fault."

"Don't worry about it. That was a temporary job anyway. I'll be done with school in a few months, and then we won't have to worry quite so much," Grace said. She patted my leg gently.

I groaned. "You had a test today, didn't you?"

She shrugged as though missing a test was nothing. "Family comes first; you know that. Besides, the professor said I could make it up. At least it was the teacher that actually likes me. If it was Mrs. Burnside, I might have had to kill you."

She said it with a straight face, but as soon as she finished she flashed me a grin. Grace was so close to finishing nursing school that she could taste it. She had doubled up on as many classes

as the program would let her to finish as quickly as possible, but even so, we were struggling to make ends meet. With her school schedule, she didn't have any time to work. It was my measly waitressing job that was keeping a roof over our heads and food on our table. Once she graduated and could work as an RN, life would be much easier.

Except now, I was going to have to add whatever medical bills came out of this little trip. I pushed the thought away. The last thing I needed to be worrying about was how I was going to pay for this. My job didn't exactly offer health insurance.

"The doctor let me look at your x-rays," Grace said. She grinned excitedly, her medical streak showing through. Her little sister was in the hospital, but she was excited that she got to see the x-rays. I couldn't help but smile at her. Such a medical nerd. "You are lucky, little sis. Just a concussion, a bruised rib, a strained wrist, and a bajillion little cuts and bruises. You are going to be black and blue for a while."

"Just a concussion, a broken rib and a sprained wrist? Ugh, it feels like I got run over by a truck." I massaged the bandage around my wrist, noticing it for the first time. I also was noticing that breathing was actually rather uncomfortable.

"Well, you did. A boat, but same difference," Grace said with a shrug. I swatted at her and missed.

"Who hit me?" I gave a silent prayer that it wasn't Robbie. That it was just someone who looked kind of like Robbie. And drove a similar boat.

"Robbie Saunders." Grace's petite features twisted in anger. "He was drunk."

"No... He wouldn't..." I shook my head.

"Well, he did. Blew a point two," Grace said. She closed her eyes and shook her head in amazement. "He managed to pull you onto his boat and get in to shore, thank heaven. You were out cold."

"He wouldn't sail drunk..."

Grace continued as though she hadn't heard me. "Only damaged two boats pulling into the dock. Would have been three if Sheriff Grinswald hadn't been there. He put him straight in jail. It will depend on if you press charges as to whether or not he stays there." She gave me a look that said I should press the charges.

"Robbie Saunders wouldn't sail drunk," I said firmly. Grace took my bandaged hand in hers.

"He did. And he nearly got you killed because of it. I know he was your friend when you were kids, but he's different now. I'm sorry, Sam." Grace looked at me, her pale blue eyes serious. My shoulders fell. I knew it was true, but I still couldn't believe it.

The door to the room opened and a small form stood in the doorway for a moment before yelling, "AUNT SAM!" and running across the small room. She jumped up on the bed and gave me the biggest hug her small arms could manage. I hugged her back as tightly as my poor broken body would allow.

The tiny blonde-haired child let go of me and regarded me solemnly, her big blue eyes taking in all my cuts and bruises. "Mommy said you got hurt and were sleeping. I'm glad you're not dead."

Grace let out a strangled noise as she tried to keep her face straight. I grinned at my niece.

"I'm glad I'm not dead, too. I'm sorry I didn't pick you up from school and get ice cream like I promised," I told her, pulling her into a more comfortable position on my lap.