CHAPTER ELEVEN
“I am fine,” I insisted. I shoved Alaric’s helping hands away. “I can get out of this bed all by myself.”
The bear inside Alaric growled quietly. “The doctors said you needed more rest. They want you to stay here overnight to watch your progress.”
“I hate hospitals,” I spat. “I want to go home.”
“But they said—”
I pointed a sharp finger at the window, where the sun was setting. “By my best guess, I have been here for almost twenty-four hours. That is long enough.”
“Faith, please, just lay back down in bed.” He leaned over my prone body on the hospital bed, a playful quirk to his lips. “I’ll make it worth your while if you do.”
My brown eyes narrowed at his. “Is this a bribe?”
“Yes.” He didn’t lie. “Is it working?”
“That depends. Does it include candy?”
My husband snickered softly. “I’ll try. I’ll see what they have downstairs in the gift shop.”
Reluctantly, I nodded. “Fine. But make it a lot of candy. And creative. The crap they’re feeding me isn’t fit for a dog—not even a rabid dog. I’ve been better ever since they gave me that damn shot in my ass, and they still keep feeding me ‘soft food.’”
“I’ll be right back, beauty.” He snickered and kissed my forehead softly. “And try not to hassle the nurses too much this time if they come in. They’re just doing their job.”
I snorted. “They keep poking me with needles.”
“Maybe we should have had sex earlier,” he taunted as he walked toward the door. He lifted his hands and flashed them in the air. “While I’m gone, think of what these babies will be doing to your body once you’re feeling better.”
I stared at his hands. “I’m feeling perfect now. Let’s go home.”
“You can’t even sit up yet without help.” He winked and opened the door. “Patience, my beauty.”
I groaned under my breath as he left the room.
Those hands were carved by a true artist, his body a work of art to behold. Just like the brilliance that he created every day with a new building. I could stare at him all day—and found myself doing it half the time. There was no shame now that he was my husband. That bear shifter was all mine.
I turned my attention to my body. I could sit up fine on my own, the liar. It was walking that zapped my energy. I needed to do a few laps around the room to build my endurance up. Otherwise, I’d be pitiful in bed with him when we did finally make our way home.
I shoved myself up and pushed my legs over the side of the bed. I took it slow as I got to my feet, my legs wobbling just a little. My teeth ground together as I walked at an elderly person’s pace in circles around my room, my forehead perspiring with my efforts.
I glanced at my water jug and groaned. My dry throat demanded wetness. I’d done well with the walking. A little further to get some ice and water wouldn’t be difficult. I grabbed the handle of the jug and gradually made my way to the door.
I opened it and stopped in my tracks. I peeked outside, spying down one direction of the hallway then the other. To the man closest to me, I groaned, “How many of you are there?”
The CA soldier’s lips twitched. “Enough, ma’am.”
“For what? An invasion?” Shifters, all of them.
“You are Mr. Wood’s top priority. As such, you are also ours for the time being.”
Then I snagged sight of a different black haired shifter. “Do you know where the ice is around here?”
The man blinked. “Call your nurse’s station, ma’am. They will take care of it for you.”
“That’s not happening. I don’t want those bitches and their needles anywhere near me,” I grumbled. Holding the back of the hospital gown together, I stepped out of the room. “I guess I’ll find it on my own.”
Slowly. Painfully slow.
The shifter sighed and plucked the water jug from me. “I’ll take care of it, Mrs. Wood. But you need to get back in bed, where you should be…not pacing around your room.”
My cheeks pinked.
Their hearing was annoying.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” A doctor in blue scrubs pushed past me from behind, brushing by us, walking down the hallway and jostling my form so much I almost fell on my ass—and it wasn’t even a hard bump. I placed my free hand on the wall, glaring at the back of the doctor’s head as he moved down the hallway at a fast clip, not struggling to walk as I was. Perhaps everyone was right, and a little more rest was needed. To the shifter, I hissed, “Don’t tell Alaric I was up and about.”
I trudged back into my room and shut the door.
My ice and water arrived within two minutes.
I scrolled through books on my silver bracelet, waiting for my man to return with the gifted candy. He was taking a long damn time. I settled on a cozy mystery, sipped on water, and relaxed in bed.
My eyes shut as I yawned. So tired.
A little nap. Just a tiny one.
* * *
I opened my eyes to the rays of sunrise. I blinked up at the ceiling in confusion. There were balloons all over it, all in varying color, floating high above me, every square inch of the ceiling covered.
I lifted my head and peered around the room.
At the foot of my hospital bed were tiny red boxes all stacked up. They were in the shape of my new home, a miniature reconstruction of the mansion I was now living in. My jaw dropped as I stared at the beauty before me, the time it must have taken to construct it, the mansion almost touching the ceiling.
“Oh, my goodness,” I breathed, pressing my right hand over my heart. “That is beautiful.”
Alaric opened his eyes in the chair he was sitting in, pretending to be asleep. His lips quirked up at the edges, murmuring, “You said to be creative. It took me some time, and you were already asleep when I got back.”
Tears stung my eyes as I looked up at the balloons again. “It’s the sky, isn’t it?”
He nodded, his chest puffing with pride. “I wondered if you would be able to tell.” He pointed to the middle of the ceiling. “That’s the sun shining down on our home.”
I sniffled and wiped at my eyes. “I couldn’t go home…so you brought our home here.”
His eyes sparkled with mischief, even as he leaned over to hold my hand with a tender touch. “And each box is filled with a chocolate.”
My misty eyes widened comically on my face. “Are you serious?” I returned my attention to all those boxes. “I don’t deserve you. I can’t compete with this. Like, ever. I’m not this imaginative.”
He leaned over and pressed his lips to my hand he was holding, whispering against my flesh, “I have plenty of imagination for the two of us. You shouldn’t worry on that account.”
A blush stained my cheeks a pale pink, his meaning intimate and clear. “You are like a dream come true. I can’t wait to get home.”
He peeked up at me from under his lush lashes, kissing my hand softly again. And again. “Are you feeling better today?”
I stretched under the thin blanket, luxuriating in each of my muscles tightening and releasing. Clenching and uncoiling. “It feels like it.”
Alaric stood and bent over me, his rugged and sexy features hovering over my face, his shaggy brown hair dangling down around his face. “Then let’s get you where you belong. And this bed is not it.”