“Is it bad?” he asked.
“You’ve looked better. But to put it in perspective, you’re still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”
He tried to laugh but it hurt. She grimaced in sympathy.
“I’m sorry,” he croaked, when she took his hand in hers. “So damn sorry.”
“You should be. You know better than to go anywhere without your emergency pack. You could have been seriously hurt.” Her eyes shone as she looked at him. “You were lucky.”
He was just so glad he hadn’t hurt anybody else. He was a goddamned idiot, he knew better than to mess with hypoglycemia. “I don’t care about me. I’m sorry about last night. About not telling you the truth. About pushing you away when I should have pulled you closer.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
A nurse walked in and pulled a thermometer out. Becca swallowed, but the pain didn’t leave her eyes. He hated that he’d put that there. “Maybe we should talk about this later?” she said, glancing warily at the nurse.
“There’ll be a later?” Something like hope lit up inside of him, mixing with the exhaustion he felt.
Becca nodded slowly. “Yeah.” She looked as tired as he was.
“I can’t believe you were here all night.”
“Just because we argued doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.” Her eyes were soft. As though there was so much more she wanted to say.
He knew how that felt.
There was that hope again. Lighting a little fire in his chest. “I care, too,” he said, his voice graveled. Becca ran her tongue across her lip, her eyes catching his.
Even without sleep and wearing rumpled clothes she looked beautiful. He couldn’t believe he’d hurt her. Not only because he’d pushed away the one perfect thing in his life, but because she was such a good person. She didn’t deserve to have red rimmed eyes or lips that trembled when she looked at him.
She deserved to always be happy. And he wanted to be the one to make her that way.
“I know you care.” Her voice was soft. “But now you need to concentrate on getting better. You scared me last night. Scared all of us.”
Daniel nodded. “I know.”
“We’ll be taking you for your scan in a moment, Mr. Carter,” the nurse said. “And your mother called to say she’ll be here in an hour. She’s delighted to hear you’re awake.”
“Thank you.” Daniel smiled at the nurse, and a blush stole up her cheeks. “I appreciate that.”
“We’ll be in to get you very soon.” The nurse glanced at Becca with an embarrassed smile, then scurried out of the door.
“Still got it,” Becca murmured.
Daniel shook his head at her. “Will you stay?” he asked. “Until I’ve had the scan.”
“Of course.”
He slid his fingers between hers. “Thank you,” he said softly. “For being here. For caring.”
She pressed her lips against his brow and he closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the feel of her mouth against him. He wanted more, but not yet. Only once he’d apologized properly. Told her everything she needed to know.
Maybe then she wouldn’t want him. It was a risk, he knew that much. But one he had to take.
He’d fight until he had no fight left inside him. Do whatever it took to be worthy of this beautiful woman with the mossy green eyes.
Last night he’d pushed her away. Now he needed to figure out how to get her back again.
Chapter Thirty
It was almost nine by the time her brothers left the hospital and headed back to Hartson’s Creek. Becca had insisted they go spend time with their families. “I don’t think I need your dimples and sexy smile any more, as useful as they were,” she told Gray with a smile. “Go home and give those twins a huge kiss from me.”