The habit of only sleeping four hours at the most in one stretch and the constant workload had started taking a toll on me as of late. A weariness pressed just as firmly on my body as the bitterness had done to my attitude. Reassured that everyone was okay for the moment, I gave in to the exhaustion and drifted off . . .

Daydreaming about being alone with Vance, his intense green eyes adoring me and his warm lips kissing me, was what got me through most days and many lonely hours at night when sleep wouldn’t find me. The daydream was always set on a sunny beach or the lake. It had certainly never been set in a hospital room with Vance staring at my leg in sheer disgust.

“Looks like someone took a crowbar to your leg, babe.” Vance shook his head, face scrunched as if he were the one in unbearable pain.

“You better not let Pa hear you call me babe or you’ll be the one with crowbar issues.”

“It’s not going to fall off, is it?” Vance’s focus remained centered on my bloated purple leg.

The blasted thing throbbed with a fevered beat in tune with my pulse. I was about to the point of wishing it would fall off. I slung the cover over the revolting sight and barely contained a wince. The lightweight fabric was as unbearable as if it were an elephant sitting on my leg.

Vance folded the cover away with much more gentleness than I’d used. Embarrassment flashed hot on the rest of my normal skin, remembering I was only wearing an open-back hospital gown and underwear. Glancing at the white-tiled ceiling and flipping through my memory, I cringed when it finally hit me that I’d pulled on a pair of Wonder Woman panties that morning. The product of a quick sweep through the department store where I was only looking for size five bikini cut and paying no mind to pattern or color. Needless to say, the crowd had made plenty of jabs about them at my expense and now there I was stuck in a hospital bed wearing them and knowing someone undoubtedly had caught sight of them during my snakebite frenzy.

When Vance reached to reposition the cover again, I batted his hand away and tucked the sides under my thighs to help conceal my silly underwear choice. “What are you doing?”

“The blanket is making it hurt worse.”

“So?”

He leaned forward to level me with a stern look, sending his blond curls to flop into his eyes. “So I don’t want you in any more pain than you have to be.”

The blistering pain was beyond anything I’d ever endured, so there was no patience or strength to tamp down my nasty attitude. Vance’s sweetness and concern did very little to soften it. My mouth blurted, “Why are you here?”