Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
“I expressed interest,” Zahra explained.
“You flirted and cast that magnetic magic spell you have that no one else has,” Stella corrected. “Don’t deny it—you know you can get anything you want from a man just by batting your eyelashes and doing your adorable little pout.”
Zahra demonstrated her technique on all of them. That produced a round of laughter, although Raine didn’t exactly laugh.
“And why don’t we have these kinds of chairs in our hospital for our patients’ families?” Vienna demanded.
Zahra waved her hand languidly, dismissing the idea. “Why would we want to encourage the families of patients to stick around? They’re nothing but trouble.”
Harlow had to agree just a little bit with her. Sometimes the family was much more difficult than the patient. She leaned over the bed to brush a kiss on Raine’s cheek. “We’ve missed you terribly. We actually were coming up with a plan to break you out of here.”
“It wasn’t a very good plan,” Shabina said. “I think we’re not very good at being criminals.”
“Speak for yourself,” Stella reprimanded. “I’m more than capable of being a great criminal mastermind. Well…unless Sam is interrogating me. Then I spill my guts instantly. It’s rather pathetic.”
Zahra let out an exaggerated groan and covered her ears, singing la-la-la. When she stopped, she glared at Stella. “You’re not allowed to even mention Sam’s name. You get that goofy, dreamy, smarmy look on your face, and we all run the risk of throwing up.”
A little giggle escaped from Raine, and Harlow wanted to hug Zahra. She was always so droll with her humor. Making Raine laugh when she was so pale and haunted-looking seemed an impossible feat, yet Zahra had managed it. Zahra and Stella were the best of friends. Stella would gladly be teased to get a smile out of Raine.
Stella rolled her eyes. “All I said was when it comes to being a master criminal, I’m totally all over it. Unless…”
“Stop!” Zahra said, sitting up straight and glaring at Stella.
“Raine,” Vienna cut in, interrupting the running commentary between Stella and Zahra. “How are you feeling?”
Harlow put aside her friendship and studied Raine as she would a patient. She did look better than the last time she’d visited. A little stronger and definitely less stressed.
“I feel better. I spent time with Rush, talking over my options, and he’s convinced me that with care, I won’t lose my leg. I decided…” Her face took on a rueful expression. “That maybe he knows more than I do and I shouldn’t be resentful. I knew I was blaming him for my problems. He gets under my skin with his bossy ways.” She twisted her fingers together. “And he’s wicked smart. That annoys me too.” The last was a rushed confession.
Harlow found herself laughing. “Of course, that would be annoying on top of everything else. Sheesh. You would think that as a doctor he’d drop the irritating, dominating male superiority and develop a bedside manner.”
Vienna’s eyebrow shot up. “Harlow, you know very well surgeons rarely have a good bedside manner. I don’t think that’s covered in med school.”
“Rainier’s a surgeon, and he has a wonderful bedside manner,” Shabina said, doing her best to look innocent.
Zahra tossed her arms into the air, groaning and sliding down farther in the seat. “You can never get together alone with Stella again, Shabina. She’s a terrible influence on you.”
Harlow loved that Raine laughed, her eyes dancing for just a brief moment. More and more, she seemed to be coming back to herself. That told Harlow that the hopelessness Raine had felt over possibly losing her leg had passed. She wasn’t a woman to dwell on the worst-case scenario for long. More than likely, Rush had sat down with her and gone over every option she had and allowed her to do what she did best—research.
“Do you think they’ll let you out of this place soon?” Shabina asked.
“I hope so,” Raine said. “I really want to go home. Rush says I’ll need someone in, and he’s reluctant to allow me home without proper arrangements.”
“Zale is away again,” Vienna said. “I could move in with you.”
Raine blinked away tears. “All of you are always so good to me. I couldn’t believe that we were placed on lockdown, and I had no way to communicate with you.”
“You must have been scared,” Harlow said. “I would have been, cut off from everyone and not having a way to communicate.”
Raine nodded. “I think I went a little crazy for a few minutes there, thinking of ways to escape, but then Rush came in and realized I wasn’t being defiant. He saw that I was genuinely scared. He kind of moved into the room with me, and it felt like the first time he’d operated on my leg after I was shot. He just stayed like he was a bodyguard, not my doctor. In all honesty, I didn’t realize he was the one who had put my leg back together at the time. He would play chess or Go with me and we had all sorts of conversations. Once I was out of the hospital, he turned into what I consider an arrogant jerk.”