Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek, #3) (42)

Noah and I have been pacing for two hours. Some of the others nearby have been giving me dirty looks, but I can’t just sit and do nothing.

She called Ellie’s parents and they’re on their way now, but it makes me question why they weren’t here in the first place. Her dad normally travels with her, but she never said why they wouldn’t be there this weekend.

Finally, after another hour, one of the doctors approaches us. He tells us she regained consciousness earlier, but they’re keeping her overnight for observation since she showed signs of an epileptic episode and also has a concussion. Since we aren’t immediate family, he can’t answer any medical questions or tell us anything more without her present.

“Is she alert?” I ask.

“Somewhat. She was experiencing some discomfort, so we gave her some pain meds before the CT scan, which made her quite drowsy.”

Noah frowns. “Can we see her?”

He nods and then leads us through the doors. Nervously, I scrub my sweaty palms down my jeans and then lift my baseball cap to run my fingers through the strands. As soon as I walk into her room, my heart shatters all over again.

The makeup she wore earlier has faded and too much blood has drained from her cheeks, making her look like a ghost. A large bandage covers one side of her head and she’s connected to a blood pressure cuff that’s currently squeezing her arm. Seconds later, the numbers appear on the monitor and it seems to have gone up some since the last time it took a reading.

A nurse who’s adjusting her blankets greets us, and when our eyes meet, she offers a tender smile.

“I’ll give y’all some privacy, but you can press the call button if she needs anything.”

“Thank you,” Noah says, standing beside Ellie and then taking her hand.

Once the nurse leaves, I stand on the opposite side and stare at Ellie. I’ve never seen her so peaceful before and it almost feels intrusive to see her this vulnerable.

Even if she hates me, I’ll always think she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

“What’re you thinkin’?” Noah asks after ten minutes of silence.

I sigh, exhaling deeply. “Wonderin’ what her first insult to me will be when she realizes I’m in here.”

She chuckles softly. “Probably call you out for starin’ at her like that…”

That makes me grin because I haven’t exactly made my crush on her a secret. “At least then we’ll know she’s fine if she wakes up scoldin’ me.”

When they haven’t kicked us out after thirty minutes, I grab a chair and sit next to her.

“I’m gonna step out and call Fisher,” Noah says, and I nod.

I take the opportunity to slide closer and grab her hand. Noah was holding the other before, and I don’t want her to feel alone.

Even if she’ll wake up hating me for it.

My phone vibrates, and I dig it out of my pocket to find several texts. A few from Cecilia that I don’t plan to respond to until later, my mom asking for an update, and Wilder in the sibling chat complaining about the lack of options at the lounge.

Like that’s ever stopped him.

After I respond to my mom and hit send, Ellie’s fingers twitch in my palm, and I snap my head up to her looking at me.

“Oh shit.” I jump in my seat. “Sorry, you scared me.”

Her brows furrow as she studies me and then moves down to where we’re touching.

“Noah’s on the phone with Fisher, but she’ll be back,” I tell her, moving my hands to my lap.

She stays quiet as her eyes roam over my face as if she’s seeing it for the first time.

“Sorry…I’m probably the last person you wanted to wake up to.”

When she doesn’t respond, I stand. “I’ll go find Noah.”

“Okay,” she finally speaks, but her voice is hoarse.

When I step into the hallway, Noah’s giving the doctor Ellie’s parents’ numbers.

“Hey, uh…she’s awake.”

Noah beams. “Oh good!”

The doctor follows us into Ellie’s room, who’s sitting up a bit higher now with a little more color in her cheeks.

He introduces himself as Dr. Murray and explains everything to her he told us earlier.

“I had a seizure?” she confirms when he finishes speaking.

“That’s what the initial exam and bloodwork are showing. Do you have a history of those?” he asks.

“No…never,” Ellie responds. “What happened exactly? How’d I get here?”

“You came in presenting hypotension, which is a sudden drop in blood pressure, but it’s possible something else correlated with it to trigger an epileptic episode. It was an unfortunate event that it happened while you were on your horse, which caused you to fall and smack your head on the barrel and then gave you a concussion,” Dr. Murray explains. “But the good news is the CT scan showed no signs of swelling or internal bleeding in your brain, and some of your bloodwork is still pending, but so far, nothing that makes me believe you have any kind of organ failure or infection.”

“That’s good, I guess,” Ellie says, but then looks at Noah with panic in her eyes. “I don’t remember any of that. It happened while I was in the middle of racing?”