Bringing Him Home by Penny Brandon Page B

remember?"
    "Not everything." But he didn't want to remember everything, especially the haunted look in Jared's eyes as he'd knelt over him in the middle of the road.
    "You've been here two days. You had a severe concussion, but you've been sleeping a lot, which has helped."
    "Concussion?" Well, that kind of made sense. It certainly explained the fuzzy feeling in his head.
    Jared nodded. "Yeah, and your ankle was broken. They put a cast on it. You should be able to put some weight on it in a few days."
    Surprised, Kyle blinked. "You've been talking to the doctors?"
    "I wanted to know."
    "Why?"
    Jared's eyes narrowed again, though less in anger this time and more in speculation. "Because I care."
    Jared cared? After what Kyle had done to him? "Did they say when I can leave?"
    "The nurse said you can go home tomorrow."
    Home? Fresh pain ran through Kyle. He had no fucking home, and he never would. Not with Jared, anyway. "I don't have a home." A simple statement, but laced with so much controversy Kyle was a little shocked he'd managed to say it aloud.
    "I know. You told me." Jared's voice was still laced with anger, but then he sighed and before Kyle realized what he was doing, he leaned in and slid his mouth over Kyle's. Stunned, Kyle stretched up to bring their mouths closer, to strengthen the contact, but Jared pulled back.
    "Hungry?" he asked.
    Kyle shook his head and then wished he hadn't when a wave of nausea and another round of dizziness hit him, but then he wasn't sure if the dizziness was because of Jared's kiss. "No, just thirsty."
    Jared reached for the glass and brought it to Kyle's lips. Kyle took a grateful sip, letting go when he'd had enough. His lips tingled from Jared's kiss, and his mind reeled. Had Jared forgiven him? Even after what he'd done? But how could he? How could any man forgive another for walking away with no word of explanation?
    "Better?"
    No, he wasn't fucking better. Self-loathing burned in the pit of his stomach, and the nausea he'd felt a few minutes ago threatened to erupt. He stared up at Jared, afraid to say something, afraid that whatever he said wouldn't be good enough.
    The edge of Jared's mouth twisted down as though he were holding back a comment. "You look tired. Why don't you go to sleep?"
    "I'm fine," Kyle lied, petrified of closing his eyes, because when he opened them again, Jared might be gone.
    Jared must have seen something on Kyle's face, because he sighed. "Go to sleep, Kyle. I'll still be here when you wake up."
    Kyle wanted to believe him, desperately needed to. He watched Jared's eyes, looking for any sign of a lie, any sign that Jared regretted being here right now. He didn't see it. "Promise?" he asked, the word coming out as a flaky rasp that had nothing to do with the dryness of his throat.
    Jared gave a short nod. "Promise," he said. There was that softening in his eyes again, though it was at odds with the thin line of his lips. Kyle stared at him for a while longer; then when he couldn't ignore the exhaustion that had his body begging him to give in, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him, trusting Jared to keep his promise.
    But when he opened his eyes after something roused him, Jared was nowhere to be seen.
    A man in a white coat, who Kyle presumed was a doctor, stood at the bottom of the bed, clipboard in hand. Kyle looked around the rest of the room, empty, even the second bed across from his was empty, and he was sure he half remembered seeing someone in it before.
    Where was Jared?
    "How are you?" the doctor asked, coming around to the side of the bed.
    "Fine," Kyle lied.
    "No headaches, dizziness?"
    "No." Another lie, but Kyle wasn't about to jeopardize his chances of getting out of here by admitting the truth, no matter how stupid.
    "Pain bearable?"
    "Yes."
    Where was Jared?
    "Hungry?"
    Wasn't hunger supposed to be a good thing? It indicated he was getting better, right? "Starving."
    "Been to the toilet?"
    Kyle rolled his eyes, avoiding the steady