Hospitals always made me uneasy. The last time I had been here was the night my grandfather died.

My stomach lurched with the overwhelming smell of disinfectant when I walked in.

A nurse grinned as he walked past me. Steve had given me Isaac’s room number.

I stopped outside the door, trying to calm my nausea. Isaac needed me to be strong. I had to help him through this.

I tapped on the door and slid it to the side.

“Hi.” I smiled.

Steve was sitting in the corner typing away on his laptop. He looked up. “Oh good, Vanessa. You can approve this statement for me.”

I had to shake the blur from my head. I wanted to rush to Isaac. Kiss him. Touch him. But none of that was possible with Steve in the room.

“Oh sure.” I walked to the corner and leaned to read through the statement he had prepared.

Isaac’s eyes were on me. His leg was elevated in the bed. He was wearing a cotton hospital gown.

I nodded. “I think it’s what we need to say tonight.”

Steve stood, collecting his things. “I’ll head back to the stadium. It’s going to be a zoo over there once the news breaks.”

I closed my eyes. I hadn’t actually faced what had happened.

“Thanks for your help. I’ll talk to you later tonight.”

Steve looked at Isaac. “Sorry about all this man. Get better.”

“Yeah.” Isaac muttered.

I waited for Steve to leave then closed the sliding door in place and pulled the privacy curtain so no one could see Isaac. We both needed some damn privacy.

I rushed to his side, desperate to kiss him. I ran my hands through his hair, taking his lips. Gliding my tongue over his. I mewed when he reached, forward taking my breast. I kissed his firm lips, wanting to take the pain away. Wanting to make the nightmare disappear.

I broke away, staring in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Isaac.”

He looked down at his leg. “How much do you know?”

I shrugged. “Probably all of it. I know they’re waiting to do surgery tomorrow so the swelling can go down.”

“You know what this means, don’t you?”

I nodded quietly. He would probably never play football again. He would lose his speed with this kind of injury.

“What can I do? How can I help? I can fly in specialists. I’ll fly to specialists? Just tell me. Tell me so you can play again. I’ll do anything for you. You know that, don’t you?”

He circled his hands around my waist. “Baby, I knew I wasn’t going to play forever. It’s ok. I’m ok.”

I felt the tears well in my eyes. How could he be so calm about this? He had been given a death sentence for his football career and he was taking it in stride. It didn’t make sense.

I looked at the tubes running into his arms.

“How much of these pain meds have you had?”

He smiled. “Enough I don’t feel anything in my leg.”

“We’re going to get you through this. I’m going to take care of your entire recovery. I promise.”

“Will you dress up in one of those nurse outfits?” He waggled his eyebrows. “You’d make the most beautiful dirty nurse.”

I slipped into the bed next to him. There wasn’t much room with his broad shoulders, but I found a place to curl up next to his good leg.

“If you want a dirty nurse outfit, then I’ll do that.”

He growled. “What about now?”

I laughed, sniffing back tears between giggles. “I don’t think your doctors would appreciate that.”

“Fuck the doctors. I need your kind of medicine. Make me feel better, baby. Make me forget this fucked up night.”

I propped up on my elbow, turning his face toward me. I loved the chiseled lines of his jaw. His rugged cheekbones. His gorgeous dark eyelashes.

I ran my finger over his lips. “I love you, Isaac Price. I’ll love you whole again. I swear.”

He closed his eyes as my hand coasted under the sheet, massaging the planes of his chest.

“I love you too. Maybe that’s why I don’t give a shit about my leg right now.”

Sometimes it felt as if Isaac’s kisses could burn me alive. I moaned as his lips grew hungrier for me.

“Lock the door,” he whispered.

I kissed him again, lingering in the fire we built together.

“Holy fuck.”

I heard her voice before I could scramble into a decent position. My hand was on Isaac’s stomach and his mouth was on mine.

I closed my eyes, grimacing.

Charlie Maine stood in the door, mad as a hornet and cussing like one had just stung her.

“What the fuck is going on here?” She slammed the door behind her.