Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry, Tanner.”
“What?” His gaze shot up to her. “Why are you apologizing?”
“I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did yesterday. It’s part of the reason I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about how I pushed you away for defending me. By rights, you should still hate me, yet you keep looking out for me. All my life, I wanted someone to defend me, and you did that. And how do I reward you? By telling you to go. I . . . I didn’t mean it. I don’t w-want you to g-go. I think I k-keep thinking that you’ll w-work out I’m not w-worth it. I mean, we hardly know each other. Why would you want this?” She waved her hand through the air over her body.
He leaned forward, his face intent as he took hold of her hand. “First of all, do not speak about yourself like that. Why wouldn’t I want you? You are smart and funny. Loyal and beautiful. The way you take care of your friends . . . fuck, Lilac, I would be damn lucky to have you as mine.”
A sob escaped her, tears dripping down her cheeks. “I’m messed up, Tanner. I’ve got s-so many problems. I never should have come here, never should have brought those problems with me.”
“Hey, if you hadn’t come here, I would be even more upset with you, understand?”
“You wouldn’t have known, though. You could have m-moved on with your life.”
He shook his head. “I’ve had this gaping hole inside of me ever since you took off, Lilac. I’ve been a grumpy asshole. Ask any of my brothers. Out of all of them, I’m the most easygoing and fun, but I haven’t felt like myself since I lost you.”
“How can you ever forgive me?” she asked.
“Because I know you have your reasons for what you did. And you’re going to tell me them so I can handle them for you.”
She let out a small, watery laugh. “Do you realize how arrogant you sound?”
“I do?” He gave her a pleased look. “Good. That’s what I was going for.”
Lilac groaned. What was she going to do with him? He was terrible.
Before she could say anything else, the door to her room opened and a doctor and nurse stepped in.
Nerves filled her as she remembered what had happened.
She’d collapsed.
God. What if something was really wrong? What was she going to do? And what about the cost of this room and all of her care? There was no way she was letting Tanner pay for it.
But she was grateful that he’d thought to give her his last name to use. Sure, a hospital database should be private. There was no way that Stefan should have access to it. But she knew what sort of resources her brother had. He’d found them before. She just hoped to God, he wouldn’t find them this time.
The doctor was an attractive woman with dark hair. She smiled at Lilac. “Hello, Mrs. Malone.”
Jeez. She liked the sound of that a little too much.
Focus, Lilac.
“I’m Doctor Ann Martin and this is Abby.” She gestured at the friendly-looking, blonde nurse.
Abby gave her a small wave.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake and looking better.”
“Um, yeah. Do you know why I fainted?” she asked.
Doctor Martin glanced over at Tanner. “Would you like to have this conversation in private?”
“I’m her husband!” Tanner protested.
Abby snorted, then put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
“Yes. Her husband,” Doctor Martin said, looking doubtful. “Mrs. Malone? What would you prefer?”
“Please call me Lilac. And . . .” She should kick him out, but he’d done so much for her. And the truth was that she was tired of pushing him away. She wanted him close. “I want Tanner to stay please.”
“Very well. When you were brought into the hospital, your heartrate and blood pressure were very low. We took some blood and ran some tests. We’re still waiting on the full results, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you were low in iron as well as some other vitamins. You were also very dehydrated which is why we put the drip in.”
“Okay.” None of that sounded terrible, right? “Was it due to low blood pressure that I fainted?”
“That’s the most likely scenario. However, we want to run a few more tests. We also checked your blood sugar, and it was low.”
“Oh.”
The doctor’s face softened. “Lilac, when was the last time you ate?”
She swallowed heavily. “Um. Well, I . . . I had some dinner last night at Dirty Delights. Wait, no, that was the night before. Yesterday . . .”
Shit. Did she eat anything? “It was an eventful day.”
“Do you often skip meals?” the doctor asked.
“It’s not . . . I’m not . . . I just forget. When I get stressed, my stomach ties up in knots and I can’t eat. I don’t know. I just haven’t had an appetite.”