She bent down under the gurney and pulled out the plastic bag containing Nick’s clothes and other possessions. Placing it on her knee, she rummaged through it and the plastic crackled.

Nick’s eyes flew open—the black of his pupils almost obliterating his irises—and he struggled to sit up. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for your phone.”

“It’s not there.”

Nick never went anywhere without his phone—neither of them did. “Where is it then?”

“I dunno.” His voice was agitated. “On my desk, maybe? I used it to order the diesel. No, that was the office phone …”

The pressure cuff on his arm inflated, checking his blood pressure. The numbers on the monitor leaped.

“It’s okay,” Libby tried reassuring him, not wanting to see his blood pressure rise any higher. “It’s no biggie. It will turn up. I just thought I’d check it to see if there were any urgent messages.”

“Unlikely,” he muttered, falling back on the pillow.

“My phone’s full of urgent messages from family and friends. Everyone’s worried about you, especially Jess. I better call her. Do you want to talk—”

“God, Libby! Why the fuck would I want to talk to Jess?”

Libby jerked back. In their nine and a half years together, Nick had never sworn at her—well once on Freedom during a race, but that didn’t count. He’d never sworn at her on land. She realized with a grip in her heart that this must be what fear looked like on him. Nick hated hospitals and the fact he’d allowed Missy to call an ambulance meant he’d been terrified he was dying.

Reaching for calm, she stroked his hair off his clammy forehead and kissed him. “What I was about to say was, do you want to say goodnight to the girls? But I think you’re a bit too stressed for that. We don’t want to scare them.”

Nick swallowed rapidly, as if he was trying hard to hold his emotions in check. He took her hand. “Sorry.”

The apology came out in a husky whisper and she stroked his cheek. “Will you be okay if I go and make a few calls?”

He nodded. “Get Alice to stay the night with the girls.”

Libby didn’t want Nick worrying about the arrangements, so she nodded, even though she had no intention of asking Alice when Jess was already at the house. Alice coming over would just be another disruption and she wanted things to be as smooth as possible for their daughters.

“Libs, tell the girls I love them.”

“Of course.” She kissed him again. “Try and sleep while I’m gone. I won’t be long.”

He squeezed her hand hard and his voice caught. “I love you and the girls so much. You’re my world, you know that, right?”

“Of course we know that. We love you right back.”

Chapter Seven