He kissed the top of her head. “You absolutely are, and I have a traumatic brain injury, so you aren’t allowed to argue with me.”

The nurse unhooked the sling that held his left arm in place and slid the blood pressure cuff around his upper arm. “Not optimal to do it this way, but you wanted Ms. Kendrick to stay.”

“It’s fine,” he said. His arm itself didn’t hurt; it was the shoulder joint and clavicle.

After she was done, she read out the numbers and said, “A little high, but that’s expected under the circumstances.” To Audrey, she said, “Don’t let him play the traumatic-brain-injury card too much, but give him that one.”

She then ran a thermometer over his forehead and announced the slight fever he’d had when he’d first arrived was gone.

“You missed dinner, but I can order a meal for you or get you a yogurt smoothie if you’re hungry.”

He accepted the offer of the smoothie mostly because he could eat it without Audrey being forced to leave his side.

The nurse returned a few minutes later with the snack, and they were alone again. He ate his smoothie, offering to share it with her, but she declined. She said she’d eaten while he slept and had plenty of snacks to see her through the night should boss baby demand food.

He smiled at that and wondered when she’d taken to calling Fig boss baby, but they had time for that later. The second dose of pain meds was kicking in, and he was getting drowsy. His eyes slipped closed without permission.

“I should let you sleep.”

“Don’t you dare leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Xavier. I’ll be right in the chair.”

“No. Don’t leave my bed. Please?” It was irrational, he knew, but he needed her there. It was one way to combat the fear that he’d wake up and find himself broken and alone in a hospital bed once again.

Chapter Forty

It wasn’t the most comfortable night’s sleep, but Audrey didn’t care. Hearing Xavier’s steady heartbeat all night long was exactly what she needed.

Undine arrived early the following morning with clothes and toiletries for Audrey. Xavier insisted that she break another hospital law and use the shower in his room rather than leaving to get cleaned up. After all, she had a history of making good use of his shower.

Clean and changed at last, she left Xavier’s room while his doctor checked in on him during the morning rounds.

She and Undine went to the cafeteria, where Audrey filled a paper cup with decaf coffee for herself and bought a bran muffin for boss baby. They settled at a small table in the corner.

She let out a long breath. This was all so normal—coffee and muffins with a friend—and yet all so surreal.