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Racing up the stairs, he was met with a tousled bed and two empty wine bottles on her dresser. A pile of clothes was on the floor, and her pyjamas were strewn on the bedside table as if flung there. Had she gone for a run? A ride? She’d be in trouble with either, out in this wild weather. His heart in his throat, he raced back downstairs, outside, and noted her hire car was still there as he headed over to his LandCruiser. Back behind the wheel, he revved it to growling life and fishtailed as he took off down the gravel drive, towards the stables. A quick scan of the round yard and beyond confirmed that Shea’s horse, Garth, was missing.
Oh god, please let her be safe.
A bumpy drive across the rain-swept paddock led him to the ridgeline, where he’d have the best view. There, he pulled to a stop, deciding whether to turn left or right, when Garth bolted past him. Saddleless.
Shit!
Turning in the direction the horse came from, he found Sammie at the top of the rise, face down, her limbs sprawled.
‘Oh my god, Sammie.’ He leapt from the four-wheel drive, ran towards her lifeless form and fell to his knees at her side. ‘Sammie, please, stay with me.’ His world spun. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t lose her now, not like this. ‘Please, God, no.’
What if she’d broken her back, or her neck? What if she were …? He couldn’t bear to think it.
Reluctant to touch her, for the fear of both not feeling her pulse or moving her when he shouldn’t, he guardedly brought his fingers to where he prayed there was a beat, at the same time terrified he’d feel nothing but cold flesh beneath his fingertips. He held his breath as he sought her wrist out. Warmth met his touch, as did a slow, steady pulse. His heart leapt in response. Then her hand flinched. And her moans were muffled. She started making a gurgling noise. That’s when he noticed the pool of blood beneath her matted hair.
‘Don’t move, Sammie.’ He carefully brushed her hair from her cheek. ‘I’m here, you’re safe, I’ve got you, okay.’ She couldn’t die. He wouldn’t allow it.
Taking his mobile from his back pocket, he dialled 000. ‘My girlfriend, she’s come off her horse, and she’s hurt, real bad.’
The responder asked him questions, which he answered as quickly as he could. ‘Please, hurry.’ Resting a shaky hand against her cheek, he blinked back hot tears. If this were it for her, he’d never, ever, forgive himself.
***
He called me his girlfriend … It was Samantha’s very first thought when she began to rise from the murky depths the painkillers had sent her to. Blinking, she wondered if the shimmery images were an angel. Had she died and gone to heaven?
‘Sammie.’ Connor’s deep voice reverberated through her heart, enticing it to beat faster.
Her reply was muffled by something covering her nose and mouth. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but her arms wouldn’t move.
Connor’s hand came to her shoulder. ‘Don’t try to talk yet.’ His touch soothed her. ‘You’ve come off a horse, and you’re in the hospital. But you’re going to be okay.’
She was going to be okay? Was this their second chance?
The beeping of a heart monitor swam into her consciousness and became louder, crisper. When she finally got her heavy eyelids to open and her blurry gaze fell upon his handsome face, she knew without a doubt that she wanted to be way more than just a girlfriend to him. She didn’t care that they couldn’t have children. She didn’t care that he hadn’t told her about calling her father – it had been done with good intentions. She just wanted him. Them. Forever.
His blue eyes fastened on her and burnt right into her soul. ‘Everything’s going to be okay.’
With him by her side, she knew his words were true.
A nurse bustled beside the bed. ‘Your vital signs are all looking good.’ Her hand was cool on her forehead. ‘I’m going to go and get the doctor now, back in a minute, okay?’
It felt like mere moments until the doctor arrived and after checking her over, the elderly physician smiled. ‘You’re a very lucky woman, Miss Evans.’
Thinking of how much worse her prognosis could have been, Samantha thanked the powers that be for saving her from such a fate.
‘You’re going to need complete bed rest for a week or two, which includes no flying back to London in the meantime, but then you can return to normal everyday activities.’
She found it hard to form any words, but Connor did it for her. ‘Thank you, for everything, doctor.’ His beautifully familiar voice was calming, soothing.
The doctor brought his hand to Conner’s shoulder. ‘Don’t speak of it, Connor, all in a day’s work.’
She steeled herself, while trying to gather the strength, and the courage, to say what she should have before all this had happened. ‘I want to be with you, Connor, always.’ Every word hurt physically, but she didn’t care.
‘You do?’
‘Yes.’ And she meant it, without a second of hesitation.
His look reached in and touched every fibre of her soul, placing all her broken pieces back together in a single breath. This was it. He was the man she’d been longing for, searching for, and he’d been right there, in her life, waiting for her to open her eyes and see him, all along. As contentment and calm filled her, she felt drug-fuelled sleep pulling her back under, and as much as she wanted to stay here, awake, with the love of her life, she simple didn’t have the strength to fight it.
