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"So I’ht? And it’s nice I mean he’s nice Or at least, I think he is Until this alaroes off Then he sits up and starts pulling on his clothes"

I catch Da, and I already know that it ends badly

"I ask hi dressed, and he snaps atto be hoet the hell out of there"

"Oh, Jaht then I was just pissed And scared, because he tells odda" She draws in a deep breath "So I’ me to move faster, and he’s basically turned into this total asshole And I swear, if she wasn’t a woun I would have stayed and told her that her fucktard of a husband screwed around But I’ at me by now"

"And somehow the wife caused the accident?"

Ja the crap out of me? No But I pull out of his house and I head down the street to get out of the subdivision and back to thefaster than I should, and--oh, Damien--I’ reckless, I swear to God But when I turn the corner, this other car is pulling out They couldn’t have planned the ti better if they tried Ifor ht, but that’s just the kind of day I was having So I swerve, and I lose control and I wrap the car around this huge stone fence that , but I still ertips to the bandage on her forehead "I’m not even sure what I hit it on"

Her shoulders rise and fall as she takes a deep breath "So that’s it The whole thing wastoo fast and the whole goddaer who only wanted a quick lay while his as off catching bad guys"

I know she wants me to console her To tell her it wasn’t her fault at all And sure, that kind of accident can happen to anyone But Ja, withher that it can only end in trouble I’ to tell her it’s no big deal and that it could have happened to anyone

"You scared the shit out of me, Jaain "What would I do if soot lucky--that’s the basic, bottom-line, absolute fact A few inches in another direction, a few miles per hour faster, a little bit of oil on the road--just one tiny change and things could have been much, hts By the knowledge that I could not stand to lose my friend And by the certainty that if the worst happens, it is the sharp steel of a blade that I will crave--and if Damien is not beside me, then it is a blade that I will turn to

Unnerved, I squeezeinto h and savor the connection For right then, it is enough

When the nurse cooes out into the hallway to find so pillows and extra blankets There is a hideously uncomfortable chair in the room that pulls out into a hideously uncoht, curled up tight against Damien’s side

Despite the uncomfortable bed and the nurse visits that wake us every three hours or so, I am actually so by the sods," Daer hand I sip it, ods aren’t too picky this ," I say

He brushes a kiss across my lips "I’m sure Edill be happy to stop for a latte"

I frown, confused "Why is Edward here?"

"I’ back with you?" I hear the near-whine in my voice and immediately wish I could take it back Yes, it’s Saturday, but the man has an empire to run, and he’s already been away fro "Sorry," I say "I know you have to work"

"There are things I need to take care of," he says, and so to San Diego," he adds, obviously noticing o, and I realize that he is going to confront the man about the photos sent to the court I do not envy hi 101, but Jeremiah Stark never even took the class "Hurry back," I say, even though what I want to do is throw my arms around him and keep him safe I do not want to see his heart wounded any more than it already is And yet at the sa inside He could have so easily told s, but instead he let sI’ll be fine"

I nod, desperately hoping that he is right about that

Since the cogs of the medical establishment do not turn quickly, it’s a full two hours before Jamie and I are finally settled in the li to lecture me?" Janantly "I’ve been extre probleht," she says as she pours two and passes me one I’m not really in the mood, but I take it anyway Best friend solidarity and all that "I don’t have a drinking probleree, so I wisely say nothing and just take a sip from my mimosa Since Jamie is a reasonably observant person who happens to knoell, s "I know," she says "Nothing you haven’t been telling me for years"