* * *
The next hour passed in a foggy haze. Carly barely recalled the taxi ride to the hospital. Only the fact that Juliette had begged her to call with news and Peter had shoved her into the backseat registered in her memory.
She ran down a long corridor and stopped short before the door indicated by the hall nurse. “You go on. You’re his brother.”
“Now’s not the time to argue over who’s more important,” Peter said and gave her a nudge in the ribs.
“Ouch.” She shot him a dirty look. “Watch it before you do some permanent damage.”
“Quit stalling.” He drew his arm back as if to give her a second push.
“Okay,” she muttered, mentally acknowledging that fear held her back. She let out a deep breath and opened the door.
The room was small and antiseptic in appearance as well as smell. Beige walls and white bedsheets did little to add cheer to an otherwise bland atmosphere. Her heart thudded against her ribs and she glanced toward the bed where Mike lay, apparently asleep.
Quietly, so as not to disturb him, she tiptoed into the room and pulled out the chair next to the bed. She sat, then lifted his warm hand and clutched it between her own. Love rose deep within her and filled the emptiness that his departure had created. The need to throw herself into his arms and stay there forever grew with each passing second.
The panic that used to automatically follow her intense feelings for Mike didn’t surface this time because thanks to her parents, she’d learned a lot. Like the fact that the father she’d accused of not honoring his commitments had done just that. By returning to his marriage and making it work, he wasn’t the man of disgrace she’d believed, but a man of conscience.
Like Mike. Another man she’d accused of not knowing the first thing about keeping promises. His return abroad was proof... She’d been wrong again.
She let her gaze rake over him, and she took in the fact that he was home and safe. Carly gave a silent prayer of thanks that he would be okay. It wasn’t nearly enough. Peter had reassured her many times on the ride over that Mike wasn’t injured, merely out of commission. Never before had her ex-fiancé’s words given her so much comfort.
Mike stirred in his sleep and her gaze focused again on his face. Though he had only been gone a month, his hair was noticeably longer. He hadn’t shaved at all during his stint abroad and his almost full beard did little to dim his sexy good looks. Despite the gray pallor beneath the tanned skin, he possessed that give ’em hell look she’d come to associate with Mike.
With care, she pushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. When his golden eyes opened, relief washed through her and she smiled. “You’re the only man I know who can spend a month in a war-torn country and come home unharmed only to get blindsided by appendicitis.”
He grinned, but she could see the gesture took a great deal of effort. “You always knew I was unique.” He motioned toward the plastic water jug.
She poured for him and he gulped the entire cup. “Better?” she asked.
“Much.”
Silence filled the small room. Carly glanced over her shoulder and realized that Peter had sent her in alone. She turned back to Mike. “I was worried,” she said in a whisper.
“I wanted to come back sooner.”
“You did what you needed to. I understood that.” She fingered her bangs. The desire to admit her feelings was overwhelming, but his weakened state stopped her. So did the fact that she had no idea how he felt in return.
Yes, he was back, but for how long this time, she wondered. And even if he was to stay, what kind of future could they have? What was she capable of giving to him, and he to her?
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked instead.
He shook his head.
“Now that I know you’re okay, Peter’s waiting in the hall.” She rose, carefully releasing her grip on his hand. Before she could take a step, he caught her arm in a surprisingly strong grip for a man just out of surgery.
“Wait.”
Carly swallowed hard and tried to keep her inner panic from showing on her face. Deep, cleansing breaths, she silently ordered. When dizziness assaulted her, she knew she’d been unsuccessful.
“I’m not running anymore,” he said, in a voice still rough from medication but also tight with emotion.
“I know. You’re flat on your back,” she quipped with more lightness than she felt.
“You can’t joke your way out of this. We need to talk.”
“And you need to rest.”
Mike closed his eyes. Apparently she was right. The exhaustion was evident on his face and every forced word he spoke.
“You’re right,” he said finally.
“I usually am.” She smiled.
“Am I interrupting?” His brother pushed open the door to the hospital room.
Mike leaned his head back against the stack of hospital pillows and groaned. “Come on in,” Carly called out, saving him the effort. She turned to Peter. “I was just leaving.” She squeezed Mike’s hand once and headed for the door without meeting his gaze.
* * *
Mike leaned back against the uncomfortable pillow and waited while Carly slipped out the door. A floor nurse walked in behind Peter. “Hey, Pete.”
His brother grinned. “Looking better. I have to admit you scared the living daylights out of me.”
“Doubling over in the airport wasn’t my idea of a good time either.” He waited while the nurse did her thing—temperature and blood pressure.
“All set, Mr. Novack.” She jotted notes in his chart and walked out.
“If I had known about those good-looking nurses, I would have checked myself in here,” Pete said, his eyes following the attractive nurse’s departure.
“You’re one of a kind, little brother.” Mike eased himself higher in the bed, ignoring the pain as well as the painkiller the nurse had tried to force on him. He preferred having a clear head.
“I am, aren’t I?” Pete chuckled. “When are they releasing you?”
“Not soon enough,” Mike muttered.
“What’s your hurry?” His brother glanced back toward the closed door, but no voluptuous blond nurse answered his silent plea.
Mike laughed, then clenched his teeth at the accompanying pain in his side. “I can’t get my life together from a hospital bed.”
Carly had visited him twice yesterday and once already today. Each time she had stayed longer but left as soon as the questions turned personal.