Chapter Eight

Grace groaned, blinking against the harsh, fluorescent glare. Holy hell, she had the headache to end all headaches.

“Welcome back, Grace.”

Once she could focus, she realized there was a nurse swabbing her face with something cool and damp.

“Where am I?”

“In the hospital, of course,” the nurse replied. “That was quite a spill you took. You have a concussion and needed a few stitches, but you should be fine. You’ve been drifting in and out of consciousness for the last few hours.”

Concussion. Of course—it was hazy, but she remembered slipping on the front steps. In that storm, it was a miracle someone had found her before she froze to death. Of all the stupid…

Grace sighed, closing her eyes as depression settled over her like the lead apron at the dentist’s office. There was no use crying over spilt milk. Or rather, spilt brains. Concussion certainly explained the foggy feeling in her head. But oh, the dreams she’d had! She almost wished she could go back into a coma or whatever it was.

“You gave everyone quite a scare, you know.”

Opening her eyes again with some reluctance, she gave the pretty blonde nurse a closer look. Despite the seriousness of her tone, there was a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She looked like she had a huge secret and was going to pop if she couldn’t tell someone.

Marina, her name tag said. Why did the name ring a bell?

“Do I know you?”

“Anything’s possible.” The nurse looked even more amused as she swiped the cloth down Grace’s neck and then turned to toss it in the trash sack that hung from the rolling tray. Her scrubs were cute—deep purple, with little stars and fairies and wands swirled all over them.

She pulled a small card from her pocket and laid it on the tray before turning back. Her smile took on a tender cast and Grace was startled when she laid a palm against the side of her face. “Merry Christmas, Grace. Take care of yourself.”

Before she could get a word out, the girl was out the door, leaving the curtain fluttering in her wake. Well that was a fine how-do-you-do. What if she’d wanted a drink or something?

Speaking of which, that big, insulated mug of ice water on the tray looked darn good. The inside of her mouth felt like someone had gone in and laid wall-to-wall shag carpet while she was out. Hopefully the hospital had a toothbrush for her.

When she leaned over to reach for the water, her eyes fell on the card. Seniorella was written on it in bold, heavy calligraphy.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Marina!” The nurse, with her secretive smile and fairy scrubs, was…

Grace’s fingers trembled as she laid them on the card and slid it off the edge of the tray. She closed her eyes for an instant and swallowed hard before reading it.

You thought my little rhymes were trite,

But I didn’t have much time to write.

You owe your man a great big kiss—

Now he knows how to make a wish!

Grace blinked and read the card again. And then her gaze suddenly focused on her hand and the card fluttered away as she really began to tremble. Her hand…it looked…

“Grace Elizabeth Hendrick, don’t you ever do that to me again.”

Her mouth fell open when Jared marched through the door with Alec close on his heels. He shoved his soft drink onto the tray and leaned over to gather her into his arms. “Jesus, sweetheart,” he choked against her ear. “You took ten years off my life. So much blood…”

All she could do was cling to his neck and whisper his name over and over. Could he be real? Was she truly still here?

He pulled back and looked down at her. His blue eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with red, his face pale, but he was the most heavenly sight she’d ever seen.

“What happened?” she asked, cupping his furry jaw and then running her fingers up into his tangled hair.

“You fell off the bed and knocked yourself out on the nightstand,” Alec snorted, taking her other hand and kissing her knuckles. “Next time you don’t want us to go to a game, young lady, just send a telegram or something, okay? We’re getting too old for this all-night vigil crap.”

“I’ll second that,” Jared intoned wryly.

Next time. The words gave her a chill. It finally sank in that she might be getting a second chance, and her mind raced with possibilities. Suddenly she could see endings for all those books she’d started and never been able to finish. Happy endings.

She could do this!

“I’m resigning from the English department,” she declared. “I want to stay home and write romances. Kinky romances,” she added, pressing a quick, heated kiss to Jared’s lips.

He grinned as he brushed a stray hair from her brow. “As much as I like the idea of you being home whenever we want you, Grace, you should probably wait a while just to make sure that’s not your concussion talking.”

“It’s not, but I was going to finish the year first anyway.” Frowning, she reached up to scratch at Jared’s moustache. There was something white stuck in it. It looked like…frosting?

Now he knows how to make a wish.

Surely he hadn’t…

She cocked her head and stared at him. Had her hardheaded pragmatist gone and done something whimsical? “Jared, have you been eating Christmas cupcakes?”

Color surged into his cheeks as his eyes narrowed on her. “You’re starting to creep me out, Grace. As a matter of fact, there was one on the kitchen counter when I ran in to call 911. The card said to make a Christmas wish and take a bite before the clock struck midnight. Since midnight was barely a minute away, I just…did it.”

“Oh, Jared…” Her eyes widened and she shooed him off the mattress, looking for the card Marina had left. But it was nowhere to be seen. She even peeked under the bed. “Do you have the card with you?” she asked.

“No. When I hung up the phone, I couldn’t find it.”

Her heart in her throat, Grace asked, “And what did you wish for, Jared?”

“That you would never leave me.” He kissed her hard and then pulled back to look at her. “Am I going to get my wish?”

She smiled as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I think you already did.”