Three Tiers for Win by Kathy Bosman

Author:Kathy Bosman [Bosman, Kathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astraea Press, LLC
Published: 2013-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

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Win opened his eyes to light streaming in through grey hospital curtains. In the corner, catching some of the light on her black hair, lay Elaine, her head against the armrest of a stuffed chair, her legs on the other armrest, curving like a river on an undulating hill. Her breathing was heavy, her lashes dark against her milky skin. His eyes feasted on the bit of thigh that was exposed by her dress pulled back against the chair. His next conscious thought was of an immense pounding sensation in his head which blurred the heavenly vision.

Oh right! He’d been beaten up the night before. Something squeezed within him at the dark rings under her eyes. What type of night had she had? He’d been too drugged to feel much, but she must have stayed up with him for long, feeling responsible for his pain.

He tried to pull himself up but a wave of dizziness knocked him down. As the spinning subsided, he opened his eyes again to find her stirring. Her gaze was fixed on him. She looked so vulnerable that every cell in his body ached to hold her and wipe all her fears away. Forget about the Olympics and Mick and money just for one night and hold the woman close, feeling her heartbeat against his chest. Maybe Mick had messed up his head, the way his thoughts were going.

“Did you sleep in that chair the whole night?”

“Win! Are you okay?”

“Besides a tsunami-sized headache and feeling like I’ve been for a flight with a kamikaze pilot, I’m great.” He smiled at her. She was at his side in a moment, her hand holding his.

“The doctor said you have a concussion and a few bruises, but not too serious. It’s just…” She cleared her throat. “You can’t swim for a while. I’m so sorry.” She buried her head into his arm.

“Elaine.”

“What?” she mumbled into his arm.

“Look at me.”

“I can’t.”

“Look at me right now.” He groaned as the raising of his voice made his head pound even more.

“Are you okay?” She frowned at him.

“Maybe I could do with some pain meds.”

“I’ll call a nurse straight away.” She stood up.

“Wait, please.”

“Okay.” She sat down with a thud.

“It’s not your fault — what happened.”

“It’s my brother who did this to you. What if you lose your fitness? You can’t swim for at least three weeks and the Olympics are in nine weeks’ time.”

“I’ll bounce back. It’s happened to other swimmers before. I’m not worried. Just flippin' sore.”

“I’m going now.”

“Just wait.” He stretched to grab her but didn’t reach.

She smiled at him for the first time since she’d woken up. Why did making her smile warm him up so much?

“Thank you,” he said.

“For what?”

“For standing by me.”

“I didn’t really…”

“Lainy.”

She gasped. “How did you know I like being called that?”

He shrugged. “What you did… it means a lot to me.”

Her eyes were tearing. He reached for her face but she pulled away when he grimaced.

“Please don’t strain. I’m going to get some painkillers for you.

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