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Peyton took her hands, drew the his head, he kissed her on both wrists, his lips the softest of brushes And afterward, he gathered the ties she had been holding…and executed a perfect bow, the two loops exactly the sath, the johnny now re-closed

Placing his hand over her heart, he whispered, "I alad you’re okay"

Without another word, he wrapped his ared her back down onto his chest

She resisted For a little bit

But then she stopped fighting

--

As the hours of daylight passed, Peyton did not sleep He just stroked Novo’s back with a slow hand, the contours of her spine and muscles a landscape he learned better with each pass

He had often recognized her strength How could he not? There was a lot of pain underneath all of that, though--and he was struck by a need to find out her secrets, get in and help her conquer those demons But come on, what could he really do for her? He was h-seas

At so of that patient with the , he wondered how er anyone could last in that condition

A quick check of the clock on the wall and he cursed Five o’clock

Damn it, he didn’t want to leave her and he o where he was expected at five-thirty But he was used to doing shit he had no interest in

With slow, careful movements, he repositioned Novo--and prayed that she stayed asleep She looked like she was reallyup already and her brows relaxed now, not furrowed in pain When he was standing on his oo feet and she had curled onto her side, he eased the blankets into place and realized that they had never been skin to skin She hadn’t taken her johnny off, and he hadn’t even gotten in under the covers

See to herself

As he pulled on his tuxedo slacks, he had soh alone Sexual attraction did not a relationship make, and neither did it justify demands for emotional connection And hell, he knew firsthand from those hours on the phone with Paradise that people talked about themselves on their own timeline and no one else’s

Just leave her be, he told himself Those defenses of hers were in place for a reason

His tuxedo shirt was a wrinkled mess and he hated that as he pulled it on, but it wasn’t like the thing was going to stay on hier than the walk down to the males’ locker room He’d take his shower there and throw on a set of scrubs

Over at the door, he stared back at Novo sleeping on that hospital bed She was in the position of a young, her knees tucked up tight, her arood eapons curled into innocent rolls under her chin Black lashes rested on cheeks that were no longer so pale, and that heavy black braid was like a rope as it lay along the archer’s bow of her back

He had soain

This ht here, was a one-off, an artificially constructed instant limited to the final phase of her recovery The next ti to be up and at hi, heron all cylinders

He had been granted a gift the now Not by her, though She never would want anyone to see her like this

Stepping out of the room, he took off the piece of paper that had been taped to the door and folded it a couple of tier visible Then he put the thing in his pocket and hustled down to the locker rooe of clothes, and he was ready for as ahead, another hurdle to be juh, a "t" to cross, an "i" to dot--and then things were done here He left his tux in one of the lockers and was stuck wearing his forlossy pointed toes looking absolutely ridiculous sticking out from underneath the hems of the scrub pants

Back in the hall, he paused by Novo’s roo No one was out and about Dr Manello was probably sleeping off his toked-up version of a rager, and Doc Jane and Ehlena were no doubt getting ready for First Meal at what they called "the big house" There were no Brothers around, and certainly no trainees

There were going to be soon enough, though

They were supposed to be having a ht That hy this particular appointlass door of the office Peering in, he almost hoped there would be no one at that desk But of course, that was a not-happening