Working It Out (28 page)

“Alec?” But he’d already
hung up. Grace shoved her phone into her purse and walked straight to the
receptionist, who’d finally looked up the information and directed them through
two swinging doors.

“Well?” Lanna rushed after
her. “What did he say?”

“They’re talking to the
doctor now.” Grace rushed down the hallway, walking as fast as she could. Lanna’s
footsteps echoed behind her. When they arrived at the right room, the door was
open, but Garrett and Owen blocked the way. Grace stopped behind them,
straining to hear the doctor’s words.

“Looks like you got off
lucky this time,” the doctor said. “Other than a concussion, you’re going to be
just fine.”

Relief poured over Grace,
making her lightheaded and weak. Seth was okay. Really okay. Lanna had been
right after all.

Maybe this was a good thing.
Maybe Seth would now see that he was human and breakable and—

“Take care of yourself,
and no more crazy stunts, got it?” the doctor added.

“Sorry, but I make no such
promises, doc,” Seth’s said with the usual teasing lilt in his voice. “I was
that close to landing it, and next time, I will.”

The doctor chuckled while
Grace took a small step back, shaking her head. Next time? Why wasn’t Seth
treating this more seriously? Didn’t he understand what could have happened?
What almost
did
happen? It was like he didn’t even care that he’d nearly
hurt his body beyond repair.

Lanna cleared her throat,
giving them away. Garrett glanced over his shoulder and moved aside, opening a
path to Seth’s bed.

One foot in front of the
other, Grace walked slowly forward as conflicting emotions ping-ponged around
inside her head, battling for control. She should feel only joy and relief. She
should throw her arms around Seth, kiss him, and tell him how thrilled she was that
he was okay. But doubt and fear kept her at the foot of his bed, unable to do
anything but stare at the bruises and tape covering the cuts on his once-perfect
face.

“About time you got here,”
Seth teased, lifting his arms to welcome her into what would be a warm and
wonderful hug. She wanted so badly to walk into his arms and accept it, but
something held her back.

Seth looked so handsome,
so strong, so
human
—a human that seemed to think he was invincible no
matter how many near misses he had. In that moment, Grace realized something. She
couldn’t live her life this way—with someone like him. It was too hard, too
painful, too much.

Grace couldn’t force
herself to go to him and feign relief and joy when she was falling apart
inside. Oxygen suddenly seemed hard to come by and the room way too crowded.
Grace needed to get out of room and as far away from the hospital and Seth as
possible.

“I’m sorry,” she choked
out. “But I can’t do this anymore.” He deserved more of an explanation than
that, but Grace couldn’t say anything more—especially not in front of all their
friends.

The bed creaked as Seth
moved forward, reaching for her. “Grace—”

Prying the engagement ring
from her finger, she dropped it on his bed. “I’m so sorry.” With a strangled
sob, she took a step back and bumped into someone. Without apologizing, Grace
spun around and fled the room. Down the hall she ran, not caring that she
didn’t have a ride home. She’d call a cab later.

Once outside in the warm
September afternoon, Grace gasped for air, feeling like her happy little world
had just been torn apart.

Seth grabbed the bag
containing his street clothes and began yanking at the ties on his hospital
gown. Every movement had his body protesting the pain, but he didn’t care.

“Unless everyone wants a
show, I suggest you leave.” The words came out harsh, but all Seth saw was Grace’s
ring—the one she should be wearing—sitting on some lousy hospital bed. He
needed to find her and talk some sense into her. Now.

With the exception of
Alec, everyone filed out of the room. Alec, on the other hand, merely turned
his wheelchair away and stared out the window as Seth dressed.

“Don’t go after her just
yet,” Alec said quietly.

Seth pulled his t-shirt
over his head and grabbed his shoes, plopping down on the bed to put them on.
“Why?” Nothing Alec could say would make him not go after Grace.

Alec twisted around to
face him, looking worn out, tired, and dirty. “What you did today was stupid.”

“Excuse me?” Seth paused,
holding his shoelaces in his hands as he glared at Alec. He’d just lost Grace,
and now her brother was calling him stupid? He didn’t need this right now.

“The doctor was right—you did
luck out.” Alec wheeled himself closer and glared. “Seth, you attempted a back
flip on bike. That’s something you try a hundred times into a pool first. Any
sane person would tell you that.”

Seth’s bruised body was
saying the same thing, but he wasn’t in the mood to hear it. Not when Grace was
getting farther and farther away.

Ignoring Alec, Seth tied
the last of his laces and stood, heading for the door.

“She’s right, you know,”
Alec’s voice rang out.

Seth stopped and
stiffened, knowing he wouldn’t like what Alec had to say. But he couldn’t force
himself to walk away either.

Alec approached from
behind. “She shouldn’t have to live her life always worrying you’ll pull
something stupid like you did today. You can’t ask her to do that, not after
all she’s been through already.” He paused and let out a breath. “A few months
ago, you told me that my accident doesn’t just affect me, it affects the people
close to me as well. And you were right. I think you’d do well to remember that
now.”

With that, Alec wheeled
himself past Seth and out of the small, barren hospital room. Seth watched him
go, making no move to follow or find Grace.

Alec’s words cut straight
through as the full extent of what Seth had done to Grace sank in. Although his
body felt bruised and beaten, his heart ached.

G
race went
through
the motions at work, but everything around her felt dull and
lifeless, as if someone had erased all the color in the world. She smiled and
joked with her patients, but her heart wasn’t in it. It was broken.

Four days earlier, she’d
given her ring back. She hadn’t spoken to Seth since and didn’t feel any better
now than she had then. If anything, Grace felt worse. Seth hadn’t tried to call
or stop by. He hadn’t even sent a text. It was like he’d accepted the fact that
Grace was no longer a part of his life without so much as an argument.

That hurt more than
anything.

Grace said goodbye to her
last patient and walked into the break room, grabbing an apple from the fridge
even though she had no appetite. She took a large bite and chewed, letting the
juices run down her dry throat. From here on out, every day would get a little
easier. It had to. In time, her heart would mend. She’d find a guy who liked to
sit on his couch and play video games. A guy who thought an adventurous date was
watching an action film. A guy who preferred strolling through the park to
mountain biking and jumping out of airplanes.

But would he have Seth’s energy,
his ability to find joy and humor in pretty much everything? Would he be
playful and fun and zap away all the gloominess in the world?

Grace frowned, missing
Seth more than ever and wanting him to walk through the door right now.

If she were on the outside
looking in, she’d probably want to yell at herself for being stupid, that Seth
was perfect for her, and she needed to take one day at a time and not worry
about what could happen. But she wasn’t on the outside. She was on the inside,
with a heart too vulnerable and scared to watch Seth leave every day and wonder
if he’d come back in one piece.

“Hey, something wrong?”
Cameron pulled out the chair across from her, flipped it around, and sat down.
“You look like you just went through a bad breakup.” He paused, searching her
face before recognition dawned. “Wait, did you?”

Grace frowned. Cameron was
the last person she wanted to have this conversation with. He was about as deep
and sympathetic as an earthworm. But she couldn’t outright lie to him either.
“Maybe.”

“Why?” His forehead
wrinkled in confusion. “From what I could tell, you and Seth are great
together.”

Grace studied him. The
fact that he’d figured all that out from observing her might mean that he had a
little more depth to him than she thought. If Grace opened up to him, would he
surprise her? Had she given Cameron too little credit?

Reluctantly, Grace gave
him the Cliff’s notes version of what had happened and waited anxiously for him
to say something—anything—that would set her world straight once again.

Cameron cast a sidelong
glance at the door, as though he felt in over his head and now wanted to make a
break for it. When his attention returned to Grace, he cleared his throat. “How
is that different from being married to a cop? Or anyone, for that matter? I
mean who’s to say Seth won’t die in a car accident tomorrow? You can’t protect
him from everything.”

“It
is
different,”
Grace argued. “Yes, police officers willingly put themselves in danger, but
it’s for a greater good. And yes, freak accidents happen all the time, but
they’re just that—freak accidents. Seth, on the other hand, willingly puts
himself in harm’s way, and for what? Because it’s fun. It’s an adventure. What
about when kids come along? What then? How could I possibly tell our future child
that something bad happened to his daddy because he wanted to experience an adrenalin
rush?”

Cameron glanced longingly at
the door once more and sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s for the best.”
With that, he patted her knee and walked away.

Grace frowned at his
retreating back. It was all for the best? Did he really consider that a good
pep talk? Apparently Cameron wasn’t mentor material after all—not that she
really expected otherwise.

“Knock, knock,” said a deep
voice from the doorway.

Grace jumped before
realizing it was just Alec, sitting in a wheelchair and watching her. What was
he doing here?

“Don’t tell me you forgot
about our training session.”

Grace let out a breath of
frustration. She had forgotten. Normally Tuesdays were the days she trained
with Alec during her lunch break. But today it only meant four days since she’d
walked away from Seth.

Tossing her half-eaten
apple in the garbage, Grace left the break room behind and headed toward the
bench press. She watched as Alec slid himself from his chair to the bench,
swung his legs up, and laid down. Although he’d gotten better at doing that, the
dead weight of his legs still made the movement look awkward.

This is why you gave
the ring back and walked away—so you don’t ever have to watch Seth go through
something similar.

“Earth to Grace,” Alec
said.

Her eyes flew to his, and
she realized Alec was waiting for her to change the weights out. What was he
benching again? She stared at the weights, but couldn’t make her foggy brain
recall. Last week seemed like months ago.

Alec sighed. “Add fifty-five
pounds to each side,” he said patiently.

“I was just about to do
that,” Grace lied.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah,
and I was just about to walk.”

Grace ignored him as she
loaded the weights to one side. Twenty, forty, forty-five, fifty, done.

Alec watched her with a
contemplative expression. After a few moments, he raised an eyebrow. “So . . .
did you cancel the church?”

The question came out of
nowhere. Grace blinked at him in surprise. “What?”

“The church—the one you’re
supposed to walk down the aisle at in three weeks. Did you cancel your
reservation? What about the caterer, the flowers, the band?”

Grace suddenly felt weak,
and she sank onto a nearby chair.
Cancel
seemed like such a final word,
as though her emotional breakdown in the hospital somehow constituted a done
deal—the kind you couldn’t take back or say, “Hey, I’ve changed my mind.” More
than anything, Grace
wanted
to change her mind. She wanted to call Seth
up, apologize for freaking out, promise to never do that again, and beg him to
forgive her. She wanted the ring back on her finger and wanted to walk down
that aisle in three weeks.