While I was aware of Ryan and Nate, my focus was on the man in the bed—eyes closed and a bandage on his temple. He wasn’t attached to a heart monitor, which was something. I held my breath as I watched his chest rise and fall. He was breathing by himself. I gasped for air, having held it in for too long, so focused on watching his rib cage move.
While I’d been told that he was going to be fine, it hadn’t stopped my mind from catastrophizing his injuries.
“Hey.” Ryan grasped my shoulder and squeezed. “He’s doing really well.”
Not ready to pull my gaze away from Jayden, I simply nodded. My brain struggled to connect the bruised, unmoving form in the bed with that of my best friend. Jayden was never quiet. Seriously, the guy talked in his sleep all the time. I’d shared a room often enough over the years to know what could shut him up—only a heavy pillow smacked on his head—and what would get him saying the weirdest shit. I’d done the latter when bored or struggling to sleep by asking him random questions while he slept—hearing Jayden’s voice always mellowed me out, while his sleep talking offered me endless entertainment.
This right here was different.
There were no twitches, no eye flickers, no mumbled nonsense. Instead, there was only the steady rise and fall of his chest.
“You wanna take a seat? Need a coffee?”
I flicked my attention to Nate and returned his smile, quickly accepting his hug. “Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.”
Nate bobbed his head. “Cappuccino?”
“Just black would be great.”
He and Ryan’s sister left the room as I took the seat closest to Jayden’s bed. “What have the docs said?”
Ryan took the seat next to me. “He hit his head pretty hard, and his brain got shook up. They’re keeping a close eye on his vitals. He’s staying awake longer and he’s coherent, so they’re not as worried.”
A whoosh of breath escaped me. “So he’s really going to be okay?”
“He is. Concussed, but they’ve done an MRI and are pleased with what they found.”
“They found a brain, huh,” I forced out, trying to grasp onto any humor I could to settle my hurting heart. “I vote not to tell Jayden. He’ll start using it as proof in his arguments or something, letting us know he has the brain to prove all his crazy theories.”
Ryan snorted in amusement. “They won’t release him until they’re a hundred percent sure he’ll be okay. Probably until he can stay awake for longer than a couple of hours or something. It’ll depend on what the doctors advise.”
Knowing that sent a fresh tendril of relief through my system. “Okay, thanks, Ryan.” I glanced at his wrist. “You going to be okay?”
“Yeah. It was a clean break. It’ll heal up in no time.” He paused a beat. “How about I leave you alone for a while? See how they’re getting on with that coffee?” He squeezed my shoulder, stood, and left the room.
By ourselves, I hesitated before reaching out and taking Jayden’s hand. The asshole was pale beneath his bruises, and his stillness freaked me out.
“Thought he’d never leave.” Jayden’s gruff voice startled me. Reactively, I made to pull my hand away, but Jayden’s grip on my fingers prevented me.
My gaze darted to his face as he blinked his eyes open.
“You look like shit,” he grunted.
I snorted a laugh. “Looked in a mirror lately?”
His lips twitched, a frown quickly following. “My head feels like it’s going to explode.”
“You need some painkillers?”
“Nah. I had some not so long ago.” His hand jerked, and I eased up my hold, but once again, he gripped harder.
I closed my eyes and took a breath before refocusing on the man who fucking terrified me.
“You flew out,” he said. I bobbed my head. “Does that mean you’re not pissed off at me anymore?”
I released his hand and sat back fully in my chair. Emotion flickered in his expression as I moved before it resettled to the more carefree look I was used to seeing last season.
“Or maybe not.”
