Tryst (16 page)

Talie

The sterile odor of rubbing alcohol burned my nostrils and I wrinkled my nose against it. Awareness slowly creeped in around me and everything was dark. Panic was like a shot of adrenaline as I wondered why I couldn’t see.

And then I realized my eyes were closed.

Duh.

I blinked, taking in the stark-white walls, the TV hanging from the wall, and the ugly curtain hanging open around the bed. Ugh, I was in the hospital.

I thought back to the last thing I remembered
, and a sharp pain pierced my skull. I made a sound, thinking the doctor could have at least given me an Advil.

“Talie?” a familiar voice said from beside me. I opened my eyes again as the person hovered over me anxiously.

“Hey, Claire…”

She made a sound of relief and then smacked my leg.

“Ow!” I said without heat. “What was that for?”

“That was for almost dying!”
She smacked me again. “And that was for scaring me to death!”

“I almost died?” I focused on her face. It was pale with dark smudges beneath her eyes. Her hair was mess
ier than usual, and her shirt was on inside out.

“What’s wrong with your shirt?”

“I was in a hurry to get here.” She sniffed.

“How long have I been out?”

“About twenty-four hours.”

“And in those twenty
-four hours you couldn’t go in the bathroom and fix it?”

She made a strangled sound and flung herself on top of me. “Thank God you’re okay!”

The breath hissed between my teeth. My entire body hurt. “My car,” I said, the memory of the accident coming back in hazy flashes.

“Is totaled.”

“I didn’t like it anyway.”

Claire laughed. “Me either.”

“What’s a girl gotta do to get some pain meds around here?”

Claire’s smile fell away and concern filled her face. “I’ll go get the doctor, tell him you
’re awake.”

“Want me to just push the call button?”

“Nah, the doctor’s hot.”

I laughed. The action hurt my ribs and I groaned.

Claire rushed from the room, leaving me alone. I wondered how she found me, how she knew I was here. I wondered how long I lay on the side of the road before someone came by and called for help.

I wondered what Gavin was doing and if he was okay.

I shifted and a bandage slid onto my forehead. I pushed it back up, resting my head against the uncomfortable pillow on the bed.

I heard some commotion outside the door and I turned, listening to a few raised, muffled voices. Seconds later
, the door swung open and someone rushed in. Gavin skidded to a halt, stopping near the end of the bed.

I felt my eyes widen as shock rippled through me. “Gavin,” I rasped, pushing myself up to sit. My wrist ached and I slid a little, falling to the side. He came forward immediately, gently sliding his arm around my back and helping me right myself.

He looked awful. Red-rimmed eyes, wild hair, haggard cheeks, and wrinkled clothes. I was still trying to get used to him with clothes. Today’s selection was low-riding jeans (first time I’d ever seen him in jeans) and a navy T-shirt.

“Hey,” he said softly, adjusting the blankets around my waist. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better.”

He perched on the side of the bed, concern plain on his face. Even looking the way he did, he was still beautiful. My heart ached seeing him here, seeing him show concern over someone he didn’t love.

He picked up my wrist and applied two fingers to the inside, as if he were feeling for a pulse. “Headache? Muscle aches? Nausea?”

“Uhh,” I said, trying to keep up.

Another man walked into the room, this one wearing a doctor’s coat and being followed by Claire. She gave me a look that said she wanted to know details as soon as we were alone.

“Gavin,” the doctor said
, “let me do my job.”

“Her pulse is elevated,” he said, looking up to stare into my eyes. “Pupils seem to be normal
.”

“Gavin,” the doc said again
, “you don’t work here anymore.”

Work here?
Gavin used to work here? Was he a doctor?

“You don’t think I know that?” Gavin said, getting up from the bed to stare at the doctor.

Claire was right. He was hot. He had very dark hair, practically black, and light, icy-blue eyes. His face was clean-shaven (unlike Gavin’s) and his jaw was square.

“You should wait outside
,” hottie doctor said to Gavin.

“Stitch, you know I can’t do that.”

Stitch?
Wasn’t that who called him the other day when I was at his place? My head started to throb worse than before. My mind was swimming. I was so confused. What the hell was going on?

“You’re not even supposed to be in here,” Stitch said tightly.

“You know me,” Gavin said, as if that made his trespassing okay.

You know me.
I didn’t realize how three small, insignificant words could hurt so much. The doctor knew Gavin? He knew him in ways I didn’t, in ways that I likely never would.

“You aren’t related to her
, man. You have no connection. Wait outside.”

Claire looked at me with big
, round eyes. She was totally eating this up. Gavin made a sound in the back of his throat and turned toward the door, but he didn’t go through. He tightened his fists at his sides like it was physically painful for him to leave.

“He can stay,” I said, earning everyone’s gaze.

Gavin turned back, relief written all over his exhausted face.

“Are you sure?” the doctor said.

I nodded.

Stitch
sighed and approached my side. He performed a quick but thorough exam, checking my vitals and asking me a lot of the same questions that Gavin was firing off when he first bound into the room.

“You were very lucky,” Stitch said
, pulling back when he was done looking me over. “Some minor cuts and bruises, a sprained wrist, bruised ribs, and a hard knock on the head.”

“Do you remember the accident?”
Claire asked, coming up beside the doctor.

“The roads were slippery,” I recalled. “I think I lost control of the car.”

“It flipped over and rolled down the bank and landed partially in the sound,” Gavin said from the other side of the room. His voice was dark and low.

“How did I get here?” I asked, looking at Claire.

She glanced over her shoulder at Gavin.

“I brought you in.”

“You?” I said, shocked. Everyone looked at Gavin, waiting for him to offer more information. He didn’t.

I looked at Claire. “How did you know I was here, then?”

“When you didn’t show up at my place and your cell kept going straight to voicemail, I got worried. You didn’t sound good last time we talked,” she said, lowering her voice. “So I drove out here, went to Aunt Ruth’s. He was there.”

“Gavin?”

“I was getting you some clothes and stuff, checking on Salty,” he muttered. “Your clothes weren’t there.”

“They were in the car with me.”

He grunted.

Claire once again gave me a look that said I owed her a bunch of answers.

I sighed wearily. My whole body hurt. I glanced at Stitch. “I don’t think the pain medicine you gave me is working.”

Gavin stiffened and pushed away from the wall to come forward. “Are you in pain?”

“A little.”

“I’d like to finish her exam alone
,” Stitch said, his voice leaving no room at all for negotiation.

“I’ll be right outside,” Claire said, letting herself out.

Gavin was slower to comply, but eventually he left, not saying if he was staying or not.

“Now that they’re gone
, do you mind telling me how you really feel?”

“Like hell.”

He smiled. “Yeah, that sounds accurate.”

“I’m really going to be okay?” I asked him. He was an easy guy to talk to
. I didn’t feel awkward around him at all. I wondered if that was because he knew Gavin.

“I don’t see any reason not to be optimistic.”

“Spoken like a true doctor.”

“Hey
, they don’t hand out these white coats to just anyone.”

I smiled.

“Ms. Ronson—” He began, but I cut him off.

“Talie,” I said.

“Talie.” He corrected. “Are you having any kind of cramping or discomfort in your abdominal area?”

I thought for a moment, really trying to concentrate on that part of my body. “No.”

“That’s good.”

“Did the seatbelt do some damage to my waist?” I asked, lifting my hand to my belly.

“No,” he said and paused.

“What is it!” I demanded.

“When you came in, we did a full workup of your blood, alcohol levels, etc.”

I nodded, not understand
ing where he was going with this.

“Ms
… Talie,” he said. “You have low levels of HCG in your blood.”

“
HCG?”

He nodded. “We ran it again, just to be sure.”

“What!” I said, beginning to panic.

“You’re pregnant.”

All the breath whooshed out of my lungs as disbelief took over. “Pregnant,” I whispered after long moments.

“Because of the low levels of the hormone in your bloodstream, I would suspect you aren’t very far along. I doubt a home pregnancy test would even give you a positive result.”

I sat there in shock, barely hearing anything he said.

“Based on your surprise
, I would guess that you weren’t trying to get pregnant?”

“What?” I said, glancing up. “Uh, no. I wasn’t trying.”

“You asked about pain medicine. It’s the reason you’re feeling the majority of your injuries. I didn’t give you anything for the pain yet.”

“A baby…” I said, still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I was pregnant.

“Now, we have certain medications that are safe for women in your condition, but I wanted—”

I gasped, cutting off whatever he was about to say. “Is the baby… is it okay?” Oh my
God, the accident could have killed my baby.

Tears welled in my eyes.

“There is no reason at all to believe that there was any harm done to the fetus. Right now, it’s very small and your body is designed to protect it.”

Without thought
, I placed my hand over my belly protectively.
My baby
.

“Now about the pain meds
…” Stitch began.

“I don’t want any,” I said firmly. I wasn’t about to do anything that might cause this little peanut any harm.

“We have some that are considered safe.”

“No
,” I said. I would rather feel every ounce of pain than pump some drug into my system while my little one was trying to form.

“Okay. If you change your mind, just have the nurses page me.”

“I won’t, but thank you.”

He got a tender look on his face. “I would say this was a welcome surprise?”

“Oh, yes.”

He stepped away from the bed. “You’re going to need to stay at least one more night. Then we’ll talk about springing you.”

“Okay,” I said, still distracted by the news. It was so utterly surreal.

He stopped almost to the door. “He’s the father, isn’t he?”

I glanced up. He couldn’t hide his entire grimace. He wasn’t supposed to be asking me personal questions like that. But I understood immediately why. Gavin and Stitch were friends.

Gavin was the father of this baby.

I didn’t think it was possible to love it so much so fast, but it was all-consuming.

A moment of panic pricked my chest. “Did you tell him?”

“No. Doctor-patient confidentiality. But I do hope that you tell him.” He gave me a look suggesting he didn’t want me to hurt Gavin.

“Of course I will
,” I responded.

Stitch’s face softened. “I really think you
’re exactly what he needs.”

Before I could ask why
, he left the room.

I sat there in the quiet with the white walls surrounding me, rubbing a hand over my stomach. Where mine and Gavin’s baby grew.

Stitch was wrong. This baby and I weren’t what Gavin needed. I wasn’t what he wanted. He made that perfectly clear.

Talie

Claire entered the room almost as soon as Stitch left. I probably should have asked him
what the people here in the hospital called him because I doubted it was Stitch.

“Everything okay?” she asked, coming to sit beside the bed in a stiff
-looking chair.

“Yeah,” I replied, still half a million miles away. For a fleeting moment
, I wondered how I was supposed to do this. How I was supposed to act like everything was normal, like nothing extraordinary just happened.

I was pregnant.

With Gavin’s child.

Was it totally stalker-ish and creepy to be thrilled I was going to have a little piece of him forever?

I’d only known about this baby for minutes. This baby was barely two weeks old. Yet I loved it with every fiber of my being.

In that moment
, I was glad this baby wasn’t Blake’s. I didn’t want him to taint something so perfect and wonderful.

“Earth to Talie,” Claire said from beside me.

I glanced at her guilty. “Sorry.”

“Should I call the doctor back in here?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Are you sure?”

I grinned. “You just want an excuse to see him again.”

She widened her eyes. “Did you see his butt?”
She mouthed the words OH MY, and I laughed.

“Can’t say that I looked.”

“You were too busy making eyes at
Gavin
.”

“I was totally not.”

“All right. Spill,” she said, sitting up. “Clearly there has been a whole lot going on here on this island beyond you and the cat in a fight of wills.”

“Salty and I called a truce.”

She lifted her eyebrow. “Was that before or after you got involved with Gavin?”

I pressed my lips together.

“Please…” She scoffed. “Don’t act like it isn’t true. The sparks between you two are off the charts.”

“You noticed?” I said, surprised. I thought
he and I were the only ones who could feel that.

“Uh, yeah. I think everyone in this hospital noticed.”

I lifted my eyebrows in silent inquiry.

“By the time I got here
, you were already admitted and stable. Gavin was at Aunt Ruth’s place, ripping apart your room for your clothes. He was very upset that you seemed to pack everything up and take it with you.”

“I don’t know why he would be surprised
,” I muttered. “He told me to go home.”

“When we got back to the hospital
, all the nurses made it a point to get out of his way. When I asked for your room, they asked me if I was family. I told them I was your sister.” She grinned.

“You are
,” I said simply. She was the sister of my heart.

“Anyway, the nurse looked like she was going to tell him to stay out of your room
, and he about bit her head off.” She leaned close, a look of concern crossing her features. “I think he might have anger issues, Talie. How well do you know him?”

If she only knew.

“The doctor… Stitch appeared and intervened, telling the nurse that he was the one who brought you in. After that, they seemed to back off.” Claire finished.

“But he wasn’t in here when I woke up.”

“No, because some of your tests results came back and he was hounding Stitch for an update on your condition.”

I had a moment of panic that maybe he knew about the baby
already. Stitch said he didn’t tell him, that he couldn’t. It wasn’t like I didn’t want him to know. I was going to tell him. This was his baby too. But I wanted to be the one to tell him. I wanted to witness his initial reaction because that was the one that would tell me if he truly wanted to be a part of this child’s life or not.

“But he was in here before that?”

“He didn’t leave your side. Every time you so much as breathed heavily, he was up and checking all the monitors and IV.”

Why would he do that? Why would
he tell me he didn’t love me, tell me to go home, and then come take up vigil at my bedside?

“What’s going on between you two?” Claire asked
. “Are you sleeping with him?”

I felt my face flush because
, oh yes, I was sleeping with him, and oh yes, it was the best sex of my entire life.

Gavin entered, looking just as haggard and wrinkled as before. His blue eyes found me and held, skimming over my body like he was making sure I was okay.

I glanced at Claire. “Would you give us a while?”

She lifted her eyebrow.

“Please.”

“Of course. I’ll just go down to the cafeteria.”

“Actually, why don’t you go check on Salty?” I hated thinking of him being alone.

She looked at me like I lost my mind.
“Did they get my purse out of the car?” I asked her.

“Yeah, it’s over there.”

“Would you please grab me some clothes somewhere? One of the surf shops or something? Unless of course they got my suitcase out of the wreckage too?” I glanced at Gavin since he was the one at the scene with me.

He shook his head.
“That part was already underwater when I got you out.”

Oh.
Would I have sunk to the bottom of the sound if he hadn’t showed up when he did? The thought made me shudder.

Gavin strode across the room to a small closet
-looking cabinet and pulled out a white no-nonsense blanket and brought it over to me, draping it around my body.

The gesture melted my heart.

“There is cash in my purse,” I told Claire.

She went to the door, bypassing my purse. “You can just pay me back later,” she called.

“I’ll be back later. I’ll bring you some real food.”

“Thanks, Claire.”

When she was gone, Gavin said, “She’s not really your sister, is she?”

“My best friend.”

“What the hell were doing out driving, Talie? The weather was awful.”

“What were you doing out surfing?” I countered.

He scowled. “That’s different.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t almost die!” he shot out.

His little outburst rendered me momentarily speechless. It also hurt my already pounding head.

Before I could respond, he was moving, coming forward to sweep both arms around me and pull me up against his chest.

He was so warm and he smelled just like he always did. I buried my face in his neck as his hand pressed the back of my head even closer against him. Tears sprang to my eyes
, but I refused to let them fall.

“When I saw your car flip and then disappear over the side of the road
, I swear to God my heart almost stopped beating,” he murmured, clutching me against him.

“You saw?” I replied, my words trapped against his chest.

I didn’t think he heard me. He held me for long moments and then gently pulled me back to cover my mouth with his. The kiss wasn’t like the ones we shared in the past. There was nothing urgent and hot about this kiss. There was nothing insistent and wild.

But it wielded more power than
all the other ones combined.

He brushed his lips over me
, and I felt it right down to my very soul. There was something utterly tender about the way he caressed my lips with his, like they were something fragile and he was deathly afraid I might shatter. His hand cupped the back of my head, supporting my weight, and his other arm slid around the small of my back, lifting me off the bed and against his firm body. When at last his tongue dipped into my mouth, it was like he was tasting me for the first time. He groaned at the slight contact and licked a little bit deeper, tangling us together in the most delicious way.

He took his time, kissing me how he never had before. With more emotion than he ever gave. Usually there was a part of him he always held back, but right now
, as our mouths moved as one, I felt like I was finally getting to experience all of him.

And damn
, it was devastating.

When he finally broke the kiss
, he lifted his head just a fraction of an inch above mine and then came back for a soft, quick graze in the center of my mouth.

His eyes opened, and I struggled to focus on him because everything in my world was suddenly hazy.

“Did I hurt you, sweetheart?” he asked, swiping at a rogue tear with the pad of his thumb.

I shook my head no.

How was I supposed to be kissed like that—by him—and not cry?

“Did Stitch give you some pain meds?”

“No,” I rasped as he pulled away.

He looked at me sharply. “No?”

“I told him I didn’t want any. I wanted to stay clearheaded.”

He frowned. “You’re going to be even more sore tomorrow. I’ll tell him you changed your mind.”

I didn’t argue. He could tell Stitch what he wanted, but I wasn’t taking any meds. Yeah, now would have been a good time to tell him about the baby, but I wasn’t ready yet. We had things to discuss first.

“You saw my accident?”

He pulled away slowly and snagged the chair with his foot, dragging it right up beside the bed. Once he was sitting in it, he leaned forward, running a hand through his already wild hair.

“I didn’t see all of it, just the car flipping and disappearing from sight. I didn’t see it roll.” He paled a little as he spoke.

“How?”

“I followed you.”

“Why would you follow me? You told me to leave.”

“I told you to go home, Talie. To the beach house. I didn’t mean for you to leave town.”

“The beach house isn’t my home, Gavin.”

“Yeah,” he said, looking away. “I know.”

I started picking at the little white pill-balls on the blanket.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did.” Gavin began, his voice filling with regret. “I knew it would hurt you. When you went running through the storm back up the beach, I called to you, but you didn’t hear.”

He knew it would hurt me, yet he said it anyway.

“So I followed you. When I saw you driving away
, I panicked. I was worried so I followed. I caught up just in time to see your car flip off the road.”

“You said it rolled over the bank?”

His eyes seemed focus on the memory of what he saw. “I pulled up to the side of the road and jumped out of my car, leaving the engine running. Your car was upside down, only partially lying on the bank. With the current and the wind the way it was, I knew it was only a matter of time before the entire thing sank.” As he spoke, his hand slid across the bed and intertwined with mine.

“I screamed your name
, and when you didn’t answer…” He looked up at me. “I was fucking scared.”

“Gavin
.” I sighed. I reached up with my free hand and touched the side of his face. He leaned into the touch.

“I rushed up to the car and looked inside
. Shit was everywhere and water… water was filling it up fast. If it hadn’t been for the seatbelt—” He broke off, looking back up at me. “I pulled you out, talking to you, trying to get you to say something. But you were unconscious. I assessed your injuries as best I could and decided not to call an ambulance. I didn’t want to risk waiting for them to arrive.”

“You brought me to the hospital?”

He nodded. “They know me here,” he said. “I pretty much took over the ER when I brought you in.” He gave me a wry smile.

I couldn’t help but return it.

But his smile didn’t last very long. It faded then like a pair of blue jeans washed one too many times. “You were so still and pale,” he whispered. “It was just like…”

He stopped talking and looked away.

“Just like what?”

When he didn’t reply, I pressed. He was talking more to me right now than he ever had before
, and I wanted to keep the conversation going.

Softly
, I pushed my hands into the spiky hair at his forehead and wrapped my fingers around it, lifting his head so I could look in his eyes.

“Just like what, Gavin?”

Something in his expression twisted. He took a shuddering breath.

And then he replied.

“Just like the night my wife died.”