ACHE (Naked, Book 5) by Kelly Favor Page A

open once more.
    The effort of opening her eyes was immense. Lifting a boulder seemed like it would have been easier than opening her eyes at that moment.
    She was in a hospital room, but it took a little while to register it. Something was broken.
    White room, tubes, cold white sheets, and a terrible, fierce pain vibrated throughout her entire body. The pain was so fierce, actually, that at first she didn’t even recognize it as pain. It was just like static from a radio station, blaring, until she realized there was no noise.
    And that’s when she realized she was in terrible, horrible agony.
    She tried to moan but there wasn’t much coming from her numb, curiously lifeless lips.
    Her eyeballs rolled towards the doorway to her room.
    Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
    She heard the steady beeping sound, and another separate whooshing sound, like a pump.
    She was staring at the doorway for some reason, although it was empty in the hallway. Occasionally, she saw someone walk by—a nurse, a doctor—nobody looked in on her.
    And then, after what seemed like hours, someone started to enter her room.
    It wasn’t a doctor or a nurse. It was a patient.
    She knew that because the patient was wearing a hospital gown, and dragging an IV as they came into the room.
    The person’s face was so familiar, and yet it was strangely bruised and cut and swollen.
    I know him, she thought. I know him.
    The pain in her body was receding slightly, as she stared uncomprehendingly at the beaten and bruised person that limped towards her bed.
    His eyes stared with horror at her.
    Hey, you don’t look so great yourself , she thought.
    “Caelyn…” he whispered through swollen lips. “Caelyn, no. No.”
    And then she realized it was him.
    The name was on the tip of her tongue. She knew he was her love. She knew he was her angel, her savior.
    She tried to smile for him.
    ELIJAH.
    That’s right, she thought. It’s Elijah. Who else was there? Who else could there be?
    Caelyn wasn’t even sure how she knew him, or what their history was. She simply knew they were meant to be together.
    In the darkness, they’d been separated, but he’d come for her and now things would be okay.
    His face was deeply pained as he walked closer to her bedside. The IV bag swung on its stand as he nearly lost his balance. And then he righted himself, grimacing, and reached out his hand to take hers.
    She could feel his warmth and his love through the soft touch of his skin. Her pain went away completely in that moment as he held her hand, and her heart swelled with gratitude.
    “I know you can hear me, Caelyn. You’re looking at me, aren’t you kid? You see me? Just nod. Or blink twice. Give me a sign.”
    She tried to give a sign, but nothing was working. Even her eyes weren’t under her control. They rolled in her head, first one way and then the next. She moaned a little in frustration. But then she kept moaning, rhythmically, and it wasn’t up to her—the moans just kept coming.
    “What’s wrong, Caelyn? Are you hurting?” he asked, bending down to try and listen to her more closely. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said.
    She could hear the agony in his voice, and she knew he was walking only out of sheer will and determination. His breathing was ragged and shallow.
    Meanwhile, Caelyn could hear herself moaning as if from a great distance, the sounds coming from deep within her chest, like waves that built and built with sound and then faded out again.
    Elijah shook his head.
    “Excuse me, what are you doing?” someone called out from behind him.
    Elijah turned slowly. “This is my girlfriend,” he said.
    “You’re not supposed to be in here. What floor did you come from?” the woman asked, her voice full of suspicion.
    “Listen to her moan. She’s in a lot of pain. She needs medicine.”
    “Aren’t you the gunshot victim? You’re supposed to be upstairs in bed.”
    “I don’t give a shit about myself. Just get her some damn medicine,” he