Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“He’s fine,” Magnus says. “He’s got blankets on him—he’s okay. You saved him.” He looks over his shoulder. “Look, we have blankets for you now.”
“The ambulance is here,” I hear Einar say.
Suddenly blankets appear and Laila is wrapping one around me, tears streaming down her face.
“There you go again,” she says to me, her voice shaking though she’s attempting a smile through her tears. “Always saving someone.”
“It’s…” I try to speak but I can’t form the words. I can’t stop shaking.
It’s my job, I finish in my head.
And that’s when I realize that no matter what happens, no matter how I feel about Laila and how she feels about me, I’ll always be able to do my job. I will always be here to protect someone. It’s in my DNA, in the very fabric of my being.
But for once, with Laila holding me close, the blanket wrapped around me, everyone staring at me with encouraging if not tear-filled smiles, urging me to stay awake, I know that even though it’s my job to protect these people, it’s nice to know they want to protect me too.
Twenty-Three
LAILA
“Laila?” Magnus says, appearing at the end of the row of chairs that are lined up outside James’s hospital room. I glance up from my fingers, which are bleeding from where I’ve torn the skin while waiting.
But his eyes are bright, his smile kind. “Did you want to see him?” he asks.
I get to my feet, moving on instinct toward him. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Magnus says, placing a hand on my shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “Just a bit of hypothermia. They’ll keep him here for a few more hours, but then he’s coming back with us.” He leans in; his dark eyes have a knowing look in them. “Take it easy on the boy, okay?”
Then he strides off toward Einar, who is standing at the end of the hall, the entire wing blocked off for the royal treatment, so to speak.
I pause outside the door, trying to compose my thoughts, trying to get my emotions together. I’m afraid that the moment I see him, the moment I’m alone with him, I’ll lose all my resolve. It’s been like that under the best of circumstances, let alone when he’s been close to death.
I swallow hard, take in a deep breath, and open the door.
James is in the room, the bed raised to a sitting position. He’s wearing no shirt, and the fact that I can see his bare, hard chest and muscles is more distracting than the IV lines going into his arms.
He gives me a lopsided grin, and that alone nearly buckles my knees.
“Shouldn’t you be wearing a shirt?” I manage to ask, coming over to the end of the bed and stopping there, my hands on the railing, afraid to get any closer.
He shrugs lightly. “I’ve been bundled in a variety of things for the last few hours. I guess the nurse just wanted to see what I was made of.”
I give him a shy smile at that. “How are you feeling?”
Another shrug, one shoulder now. “Out of sorts, to say the least.”
I stare at him like he might disappear before me if I don’t. He stares right back at me, pinning me in place, and I can feel a million different things in his eyes, but I don’t know which one is true. He opens his mouth and exhales, his chest sinking. Then he licks his lips and the intensity in his gaze fades, a moment having come and gone. “How is Bjorn?”
“He’s fine,” I tell him. “Thanks to you he was only in the water for a few seconds. Doctors looked him over, and he’s the same as he ever was. Well, almost. That fall struck the fear of god into him. Would you believe me if I said he’s a changed boy?”
He laughs, the sound making my heart bloom in my chest. “I wouldn’t believe you. Bjorn will be Bjorn until, well, until he turns into Magnus, I guess.”
“I’m not sure how my country is going to fare having King Bjorn follow King Magnus,” I admit. “Complete chaos.”
“Ah, but chaos is what makes things fun,” he comments.
“You sound like you’ve been hanging around Magnus for too long.”
“Perhaps,” he muses. Then his gaze darkens. “Laila…I have some things I need to say to you.”
I raise my hand, looking down at the foot of the bed. “You don’t need to say anything to me, James.”
“I do,” he says, his voice strained. “I do. Look at me.”
I obey, lifting my chin so my eyes meet his. He’s staring at me with so much anguish that it causes cracks to form in my heart. “I have everything to say to you. I am so bloody sorry, Laila. So damn sorry for acting the way I did with you. I shouldn’t have gotten so scared again. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. I shouldn’t have let the fear of losing you make me lose you for good.”