The Truth by Erin McCauley

steps down the hall to Grayson’s room. The worst part was she didn’t know what she would do once she got there.
    She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. Reaching for a paper towel, she scrubbed the make-up from her cheeks and beneath her eyes. Pulling out a compact, she attempted to cover the red blotches the remained on her face. It was obvious she’d been crying, but she also knew it would be a good hour before the evidence was gone, and she couldn’t wait that long to see him.
    She spotted Jordan leaning casually against the wall when she emerged from inside. She took a deep breath and asked, “Where is he?”
    “I’ll take you,” he replied, reaching down and taking her hand. When they stopped outside the door to his room, he turned to her, “Don’t do or say anything you’ll regret. Take some time to think it through before you make any decisions, okay?”
    She nodded her head and pushed open the door. Grayson appeared to be sleeping. The sheet lay at his waist, exposing the wrappings around his rib cage, and the scar on his shoulder where he’d been shot before. She noticed the large purple lump on his right temple, and the scrapes along his arm. She fought down the knot in her throat and walked around to the side of his bed. She sat quietly in the chair next to him and stared at the man who’d given her a second chance at love.
    Every part of her wanted to run. She didn’t want to feel the fear, the worry, or remember the endless pain. She couldn’t even feel relieved that his injuries were so much less than they could have been. His eyes fluttered open and a smile covered his face when he spotted her.
    “You look terrible. Stop worrying, I’m fine.” His voice was thick and scratchy, evidence of the heavy doses of medication still running through his system.
    Unable to speak, she reached over to take his hand.
    “The clerk made it, Jordan’s okay, and the bad guys are locked up. See, everything is fine. I’m fine.” He squeezed her fingers running his thumb over the back of her hand.
    She laid her cheek against the back of his hand and closed her eyes, trying to soak up the comfort he was desperately trying to give her. Her mind drifted back in time to the muffled shouts of doctors, the beeping of machines, and endless amounts of blood. She squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the visions. She couldn’t. She heard the panic escalate in the doctor’s voices, the rushing of feet against the linoleum floor, and the sound of the heart monitor as it stopped beeping. Then the long horrible buzzing as the peaks on the heart monitor flattened into an endless straight line.
    Panic threatened her again, as her chest constricted, and her eyes burned with the tears threatening to spill. She sat up in the chair and pulled her purse onto her shoulder before standing up. “I have to get Ryan, but I’ll come see you tomorrow. Get some rest,” she said, avoiding his eyes.
    She could hear him speak but couldn’t make out his words as she rushed from the hospital room, her face once again covered in tears.

Chapter 12
    Grayson tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable in the small hospital bed. His mind continued to replay the scene from the day before. What had happened with Lexie? It didn’t make sense. She’d rushed from his room without a backward glance, and now she wouldn’t answer his phone calls. She seemed to be pushing him away, but why? He’d tried to talk to Jordan when he came by but he simply said Lexie had a hard time with hospitals. Jordan wouldn’t look him in the eye when he spoke, proving to him it was much more than that, and nothing Jordan was going to divulge. How was he supposed to understand if she wouldn’t even talk to him?
    He would be discharged in the morning and had left a message asking Lexie to pick him up. He needed to see her and knew his anxiousness was keeping him awake, causing the time to go by incredibly slow. The night nurse