Page 102 of Take The Risk

​I had to stop and catch my breath. There were tears streaming down my face as I married her with only God as our witness. A legal wedding wouldn’t be more binding than the vows I’d just made.

​“That is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” A chocking sob had me turning.

​Well, God and Nurse Autumn were our witnesses.

​“I really want to touch her. Can I just hold her hand?” I knew I was asking a lot. I just needed to feel her, to have her feel me.

​Nurse Autumn waffled and then grabbed a bottle of antiseptic from one of the trays in the room. “Only for a second, and you need to put more of this on.”

​I held my hand out anxiously.

​When I was ready, I gently lifted her hand. I circled her ring finger. “When you’re awake, I’m putting my ring here.” I savored the feeling of her small hand in mine. Silently, I vowed it wouldn’t be the last time.

Chapter 38

​I groaned, swallowing around a throat that felt like sandpaper.

​“Ahh!” I shifted and then stilled as pain shot through my chest.

​“Phoebe?” A pretty face appeared above me. “You need to hold still.”

​Don’t worry, I would. I wasn’t making that mistake again.

​It was several minutes later when a whole bunch of people dressed in scrubs surrounded me. Hands poked and prodded and things were removed from my body. I wasn’t going to think about that. I was asked a million questions, and then finally, someone gave me some water.

​Who knew water tasted better than wine? That could be the drugs talking.

​A warm feeling spread over me, and the woman who’d told me not to move, my nurse, promised me the painkiller I’d just been given would make me feel much better.

​I doubted that.

​“What happened?” I croaked, frowning at the doctor with his stethoscope to my chest.

​“You don’t remember?” another doctor asked from the other side of my bed.

​I sifted through the dark fog that encompassed my brain only to regret it. “I remember what happened. I was shot.”

​I remembered a whole bunch of other things, but I wasn’t going to think about that right now.

​The doctor broke down my injuries for me and I reeled. “I was shot in the heart?”

​And you’re to blame. You give love a bad name. Bon Jovi’s voice played in my head, proving my brain was still just as screwy as always.

​“Essentially, yes,” the doctor confirmed. He went over what to expect and a whole bunch of other things I couldn’t keep track of. He then blew my mind telling me I’d been in a coma for ten days. They’d taken me out of the medically induced coma on day two, and I guess I decided to do a little Sleeping Beauty routine for a few more. So why was I still so freaking tired?

​“I DON’T CARE! YOU LET ME IN TO SEE HER RIGHT NOW!” Alex’s yell had me giggling.

​FYI, laughter of any kind after being cut open was a no-no.

​“That woman,” the doctor muttered, helping me as I started to cough, which turned to a wheeze from the pain squeezing my chest.

​“Breathe, Phoebe. Nice and slow.” The doctor adjusted me to take the pressure off my chest.

​“What did you do to her?” Alex flew into the room. An argument ensued around me while I fought through the pain.

​“Slow breaths, scribbler.” A large warm hand cupped my cheek, another one resting on my back.

​Distantly, I heard someone say they were going to up my pain meds, and the doctors gave Alex instructions. I heard none of it. A pair of amber eyes was in front of me, and there was nothing else in the world.