Angel Falling (Falling #1)(6)
“An angel in white?” I gave her my best smile, considering the circumstances. Her lips twitched at the corners.
“I was going to say a perfect stranger.” Her gaze searched mine, a frown marring her elegant features. She was struggling with something, but hell if I knew what. My woman decoder was broken on account of whatever shit was in the IV.
I shrugged on instinct and the pain zipped through my shoulder. My head fell back and I gritted my teeth, trying to not cry out. Wouldn’t want the dame to think I was a *.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” she gasped, as her soft fingers felt all over my face and chest to assess the damage.
The woman’s hands seemed to hold magic because when they flitted over my skin I didn’t feel any pain, only a deep sense of content. Her scent drifted over me. Smelled like sweet apple pie on a perfect Sunday morning back home. It soothed me, going a long way to ease the full body ache.
Once I’d recovered my composure I looked her over good and hard. She was all woman dressed in a man’s suit. For the life of me I couldn’t figure why the hell she would hide that perfect body in something so masculine.
I took a deep breath, sucking in all her goodness. “God, you smell nice.”
She leaned back and grinned. “Yes, well. Thank you.”
Just when I was going to ask her name, a pointy little fella in a suit matching hers entered. They must have had a two-for-one sale on the suits. I looked the man over from head to toe. Couldn’t be her husband. This man was a pipsqueak. She was taller by half a foot. She didn’t wear a ring, and I’m certain a woman like her dated men that looked like Ken dolls, not like Ken’s baby brother who hadn’t hit puberty yet.
“Aspen, Legal is here.” His voice was low, almost a whisper.
“Aspen? Like the place?” I grabbed her hand and she looked back at me. God, those eyes. I could drown in ‘em.
“Yes, like the place. Aspen Reynolds. It’s good to meet you, Mr. Jensen.” Man, she was pretty.
A tall woman in green scrubs entered. She held a clipboard. “Mr. Jensen. How are you?” My angel, who now had a name, backed up against the wall and out of the way. The pointy one whispered something in her ear. I was having trouble paying attention, my eyelids heavy again.
“Oh, I’ve been better.”
“What’s your pain level from 1 to 10?” she asked and scribbled down information on her clipboard while reading the machines next to my bed.
“‘Bout a six or seven.”
She nodded. “That’s really good. The doctor will be in shortly to discuss your surgery.”
As she exited, a man entered. He introduced himself as Dr. Nicholls and went over the specifics of my surgery. He said I was very lucky. Had the pipe entered at a different location, I’d be lying on a bed in the morgue right now, not in recovery. Based on my prognosis, he saw me being able to leave in a couple days.
When he finished, my gaze caught the gorgeous woman standing in the corner. She opened her mouth to speak, but I drifted off, not hearing what she’d said.
I awoke only when the nurse adjusted my bandage, checked my blood pressure, and asked me if I wanted to eat. I was starved, but too tired.
“Where’s the woman … Aspen?”
She smiled. “I forced her out, practically kicking and screaming, after visiting hours. She stayed the entire day, though. Fussed over you, demanded things from the Dean of Medicine, who by the way, hopped to it. She must care a lot about you.”
“I can’t imagine why. She just met me today.” I grinned, and her lips twisted into a knowing smile but she chose not to comment.
“Get some rest, Mr. Jensen. I’m certain your friend will be back first thing in the morning.”
My mind went blank and I fell asleep once more.
***
I smelled her before I saw her; a light vanilla scent in the air filled the space surrounding me as I came to. She held my hand with hers, pale and little compared to mine. Her phone was in her right hand and she scrolled through messages.
She hadn’t noticed I was awake, so I studied her. Golden hair, shiny and bright against her fair skin, and she sported another dark suit.
Her head turned and her gaze caught mine. A lovely smile broke across her face. “Mr. Jensen, you’re awake. How do you feel?” She removed her hand. It was strange how I missed it moments after she pulled it away.
“Better than yesterday.” I grabbed for the bed controls and the mechanism whirred to life, lifting my upper body to a reclined seated position. Again, I did a mental check, starting with my toes, up my legs and upper body. Everything seemed better than yesterday. Aside from the throbbing space and dull ache surrounding my left shoulder, I was happy to be feeling more like myself. The cobwebs of anesthesia from the surgery were all but gone.
The door opened and Aspen’s little friend strolled in alongside a different nurse, this time in blue scrubs. The nurse made quick work of checking my vitals, pain level, adjusted some nobs, pressed buttons, and then she was gone.
“Aspen, Legal is expecting to hear back from you today.” The small fella spoke so low I could barely catch what he said.
She nodded at him then turned to look at me. Her professional demeanor I was used to seeing each morning was back. Shoulders stiff, back ramrod straight, teetering on insanely high heels. I missed the soft-spoken angel who held my hand. “Mr. Jensen,” she started.