Husband Stay (Husband #2) Read Free Page A

rest on my lap, feeling like a complete baby. Why on earth
had I made such a fuss? Especially now that the pill had done its work and the
pain was a muted rumble, like distant thunder.
    I turned to Sally
and said, “Is there anything I can do?”
    Her frown
deepened, but she didn’t take her attention off the road. “Pray?”
    She’d probably
said it as a joke, but I closed my eyes and immediately started into the prayer
my parents had taught me when my grandmother had been desperately ill. I
worship the lotus feet of Ganesha, and call on the son of Uma, the destroyer of
all sorrows...
    Whoever this man
was, it wasn’t fair for him to die in this way, with no loved ones nearby. So
when the ambulance pulled into the emergency section of the hospital, I kept
right on praying, staying where I was as Sally jumped out and helped her
partner get the stretcher out of the ambulance.
    Orderlies rushed
out of the hospital to meet them and I watched as the man I’d thought so badly
of, jiggled on the stretcher as it rattled across the asphalt and was swallowed
up into the hospital.
    I kept on praying,
feeling ever more hopeless, terrified that his last human interaction might
have been my curse about a stupid pair of shoes. The shock of it all must have
gotten to me, because I was on the verge of tears when Sally came back ten
minutes later and opened the passenger door to let me out. Somehow I held my
emotions in check.
    “Let’s get you
inside so they can look at that wrist.”
    I wished I could
tell her it was unimportant, so I could retreat to the tiny apartment I was
sharing with my cousin and have a cathartic sob, but there was something
wrong with the wrist. It needed an X-ray. I may as well get it done now.
    “Thanks.” I picked
up my handbag with my good hand and followed her in, trying to ignore how
uncomfortable my bare feet were on the uneven asphalt. “Is he going to be
okay?” It was none of my business, but I still felt a completely unwarranted
sense of responsibility for him. “Are his people coming?”
    She shook her
head. “No idea. We just pass on the information. Hospital staff will work that
out. Unless you know something about him that you can tell them?”
    I shook my head. “I’ve
never seen him before.”
    “You’d remember
him if you did.” She led me in through the sliding glass doors and a wash of
cold, disinfectant-tainted air coursed over me. It was a relief to be on
smooth, cool tiles. “He’s one big unit,” she added with another wink, then she
led me to triage. “Well, this is where I leave you. Sorry I missed your set.
I’ll try to get to the club some time to hear you.”
    “Really?” I was surprised
by her interest. It was sweet. “Thank you. Please let me know if you do come.
I’d like to buy you a drink to say thanks.”
    She glanced
around, and then back at me. “You’re not...hitting on me, are you?”
    It took my brain
two seconds to process that, then my breath fell out on a gust of shock.
“Not... No! Goodness no . I’m completely straight. Completely! Married,
well, separated, but—”
    She laughed at my
reaction. “Okay. It’s okay.” She patted my shoulder. “You just didn’t seem
interested in the hot guy, so I thought...you know.”
    “He was drunk and
unconscious.” I shook my head. “How was I supposed to notice he was hot?”
    And why would I
care? It was way too soon for that.
    Sally grinned. “Must
be just me with the lecherous thoughts.”
    The triage nurse butted
in with questions, so Sally excused herself and I was left to suffer the next
few hours of waiting and consultation and x-rays and more waiting all by
myself. I’d expected to grow sadder, but instead, as time passed I became more
curious about the guy and what was happening to him.
    In the end, I
embarrassed myself by cornering a nurse. “A man came in the ambulance with me.
Tall. Big build. Dark hair. Some sort of heart issue.”
    She nodded.
“Killer smile, sexy chest.”
    I