Excited at his offerings, everyone was quick to give me hugs and kisses and then it was just me and Vance.

Vance eased onto the bed beside me, careful to not jostle my leg. He settled me against his chest and kissed the top of my head, much in the same manner as I did Knox earlier. I hoped it had comforted my little brother as much as it did me.

“Shouldn’t you be heading back to Lake Murray?” I asked even though I was snuggling closer to him.

“I’ll go straight to school from here in the morning.”

I tsked. “That’ll make for a rough day.”

“I don’t have a class until ten and so what if I have a rough day. It still won’t compare to the level of rough you’re going through. Man, Austin, I hate you got hurt, babe.”

Even in pain, I managed to find humor in his convoluted statement. “You just called me a man, by my name, and babe in the same sentence. Not nearly as eloquent as you were earlier with the doctor while in Mr. Mayor’s Son mode.”

He dropped another kiss on my head. “It’s your fault. You hurting has my eloquence shot.”

The door opened without a warning knock. We glanced away from each other and eyed the startled nurse as she took in me being held by said Mr. Mayor’s Son.

She released a subtle cough and busied herself with studying the chart. “It’s time for more pain meds. Do you need help visiting the bathroom first?” she asked, much to my relief and embarrassment.

“Umm . . . yes, please.” And that was an ordeal I wanted to wipe clean from my memory. There was no dignity with having to flop and scoot out of the bed and then hobble-wobble to the bathroom with my backside hanging out. No one said anything, thankfully, just helped me in and out of bed.

By the time I returned to the bed, I was washed in sweat and my cheeks streaked with tears.

“Sweetie, how about trying to eat something?” Lettie suggested. We were on first-name basis and nicknames after the bathroom visit.

Swallowing a sob, I could only shake my head.

Lettie patted my hand that was fisted in the sheet. “I can give you something for the nausea too, and maybe later you’ll feel up to eating something. How’s that sound?”

I nodded, still unable to talk. With the earlier pain meds worn off and my siblings gone, there was no holding it together, so I fell apart. Sobbing and moaning until the medicine kicked in.

“Vance, you’re welcome to the other bed since no other patients checked in.” It was surprising that she never said a word about Vance laid up in my bed, but maybe it shouldn’t have been, considering he was town royalty.