Wild Side (Rose Hill, #3)(104)

But he doesn’t want me there.

Or so he says.

Fucking dick.

“You all right, hon?” the nurse from earlier asks me.

I give her a feeble nod and a watery smile. “Needed a second to compose myself, that’s all.”

She nods back, looking at me like she just knows. “There is something very vulnerable about being stuck in a hospital bed. Makes people do and say things they usually might not. I see it all the time.”

“What about people who aren’t in the hospital bed who desperately want to bludgeon their husband for being stupid and stubborn as hell? Is that something you see very often?”

She chuckles. “Actually, it is.”

I nod quickly and glance away, feeling mildly embarrassed as I reach up to swipe a tear from my cheek. “Perfect, I’ll have company in prison.”

“Well, if you need an alibi, you just let me know.” The woman winks at me, and it reminds me of Rhys.

It reminds me of what we’ve been through. It makes my throat ache with how much I love him. And it gives me the boost I need to walk back in there with my composure fully intact.





CHAPTER 47


Rhys





I’M ROLLING AROUND IN MY OWN PUDDLE OF SELF-PITY WHEN Tabitha appears at the door again. Relief hits me like a tidal wave.

She’s back.

And she looks fucking furious.

She storms over to me, hands clenched in fists, feet stomping on the linoleum floors. She blows right up to the bed, a look of sheer determination on her pretty face as she peers over me.

“Rhys, I know you want me to leave, but that is just too fucking bad. Because I refuse. But I’ll go get a coffee to give you a minute for processing purposes, and then I’m coming back and I’m going to sit in that corner. Feel free to pretend I’m not here if you need to. I don’t care.”

She points across the room. “And when you’re done stewing in whatever feelings you’re feeling right now, I will be there. Just like you were there for me. This is who we are now.” Her eyes are so fierce, she pierces me with them. “This is what you do when you love somebody. And I have every intention of loving you just as thoroughly as I know you love me. You just have to let me.” Her voice cracks, and my chest shatters.

Tears well in my eyes, and one slips out, rolling toward my hairline.

She reaches forward, wiping it away with a gentle finger. “Because even at your worst, I still love you, Rhys. Just try not to be an asshole when I get back, ’kay? Because I am coming back, and this tantrum is annoying.”

She turns and leaves the room, forcing me to lie here with my guilt and turmoil. The ten minutes it takes her to get a coffee and come back are so excruciating that they feel like hours. She really pressed on a sore spot when she mentioned coming back.

But even assuring me doesn’t completely convince me. No one has ever come back for me.

She does though.

I let out a rough sigh and close my eyes when her outline graces the doorway. She doesn’t address me. She just pads to the corner of the room, where she flops into the chair and starts scrolling her phone, only peeking up from the screen to stare daggers at me.

I finally break the silence. “Why are you mean-mugging me?”

She flattens her lips but doesn’t look up. “Sorry, I’ll try to gaze at you lovingly from where I’ve been exiled.”

My tongue presses against my cheek. Okay, I deserved that.

She just grunts, then smiles as her eyes zero in on her phone.

I try again. “What are you watching?”

“Raccoon videos that Gwen sent me.”

“Raccoons?”

“Yeah. My next pet, I think. Hopefully, you’re allergic.”

My lips twitch because this feels…familiar. Normal in a not-normal situation.

“You can’t be mean to someone with a broken back.”

Her eyes roll. “Your back isn’t broken. At this point, I’m more concerned about the concussion, because you’re acting a fool.”

I almost laugh. It’s so her to be both furious with me and supportive in the same breath.

Someone comes in and leaves me with a contract for the procedure, which draws my attention away for a while as I read through it carefully.

I clear my throat and turn my head to look over at her. “Can I put you as my emergency contact?”

“Does a broken back make a person this confused?”

“My back isn’t broken.”

“Oh good. Maybe the concussion is healing after all.”

God, she drives me nuts—in the best way. Calling me on my shit left and right.

“Tabby, can you just answer the question?”

“What do you think?”

I swallow, letting out a thread of my inner turmoil. “I don’t know.” It seems obvious that my wife would be my emergency contact, but I just don’t know right now.

She drops the phone flat on her leg, blowing out a heavy, exhausted sigh. This woman who moved mountains and traveled all night to get to me without even being asked. The truth is, I wanted her to know I was okay, but I never expected her to come.

Old habits die hard, I guess.

Her head shakes as she makes her way across the floor toward me. Then she kneels at my bedside, dropping the railing down so there’s nothing blocking our view of each other. “Rhys.” She props her elbow on my mattress and holds her pinky up. “I pinky promise to always come back.”