“What do you think you’re doing in here?” he demanded of her, after staring down at her in silence for several minutes.

“I was trying to sleep,” she snapped back and turned over and lay back down, shutting her eyes. Ryan was furious with her. How dare she not only leave his bed but then have the gall to ignore him when he was trying to speak to her?

He ripped the blanket off her body, which caused her to sit straight up in bed, no longer pretending to be sleepy. She glared at him.

“You’ll be sleeping all night in my bed,” he told her.

“I’ll sleep where I want to,” she stated right back at him.

“You’re the most insufferable woman I’ve ever met in my life. Did you forget we have an agreement? Did you think I’d simply fork out a ton of my own money, set you up in my home and get nothing in return?” he demanded of her. She flinched at his words and the rage behind them.

“You got what you wanted last night,” she finally spat at him, still humiliated she’d so easily caved into him. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the way she’d responded to him.

“I’ll continue to get what I want and what I want is you in my bed every night, all night,” he told her as he leaned down on the bed in front of her. She glared back at him, with her arms crossed against her chest. “Do you understand?” he asked her, only inches from her face.

“Yes,” she spat, willing to say about anything to get him to back off and give her some breathing space. He smiled triumphantly and closed the space between them. She gasped in shock at the passion of the kiss and before she had time to react, he pulled away and walked from the room.

Nicole sat there trembling on the bed. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved he’d left, or not. She couldn’t deny she wanted him but that was natural, as she’d been head over heels in love with him at one of the darkest times in her life. She’d depended on him and needed him and she’d ended up having to let him go, for fear of him pitying her. There would’ve been nothing worse.

She slowly got up and headed back to his room to find her clothing. It was mercifully in the closet. She looked at her few pathetic items and hung her head down. She’d been living with only a few outfits for as long as she could remember. Her sister’s needs had been so much more important than her own. Patsy had never been aware of the sacrifices she’d made because there was no reason for her to know. Nicole was only doing what any sister should do in her circumstances.

Nicole made her way downstairs and headed straight for the food. She was once again starving and filled her plate. She ate a bit more than she had the day before but her stomach was still not used to having a full meal. There was a secure feeling in knowing she would have a warm meal in the morning. She would rather have that guarantee than a full dinner.

“We need to get going, so we can see Patsy before she’s taken into surgery,” Ryan told her. She stuffed the toast in her mouth and jumped up.

“I’m ready,” she told him through her mouthful of food and walked toward the front door. Ryan followed her and they had a silent drive to the hospital. Nicole had to tell herself she was doing the right thing and nothing else mattered except for her sister getting better. It was hard to remember anything when she was in the small space with Ryan, though.

His scent invaded her senses and caused her stomach to tighten with need. Even when she was mad at him, she still wanted to be near him and she still wanted to feel his touch. She tried to convince herself she was simply exhausted and when her sister was better she wouldn’t feel the pull toward him. She’d worried about everything for so long she needed some worry free days. Her body needed time to recharge itself.

Patsy was alert and nervous when they stepped into her room. It took a while for them to calm her down, especially considering Nicole was just as nervous as Patsy was. When they wheeled her into the surgery room Nicole couldn’t say a word. She was close to bursting into tears.

“The surgery’s going to take a couple of hours so why don’t we go out to lunch. You need to get your mind off of what’s going on,” Ryan suggested as they walked towards the waiting area.

“No, I need to be here in case the doctor comes out,” she said in almost a panic.

“We can stay, that’s fine,” he offered. They stepped through the doors and Nicole was dazed to find his family sitting in there. It was all of them, including his cousins, their spouses and both of his uncles. The women jumped up and immediately threw their arms around her, causing the tears she refused to let fall, come cascading down her cheeks. She was scared and very happy to let Jasmine and Trinity comfort her.

“What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask them. After all, Patsy wasn’t related to them. She was more than grateful for their presence, though.

“We couldn’t let you go through this on your own,” Jasmine said, as if she was crazy to think anything differently. Nicole was more than willing to accept their love and support and continued to cry all her fears into their arms.

Ryan found himself a third wheel and didn’t like the feeling. He should be the one who she was turning to. It should have been his shoulder she was crying into. He wanted to kick himself when he had those thoughts because he normally hated clingy, emotional women and ran the second they behaved in that manner.

The men pulled him out of the room and walked him to the café to get some much needed coffee. None of them said anything, just drank some coffee and let the girls have some needed time together. Not one of them could possibly understand the female mind and felt safer at a distance, so they didn’t accidentally say something that may land them in hot water.

When they’d let enough time pass, they finally made their way back to the room with coffee and donuts to share. The women managed to get Nicole to drink the coffee but no amount of pleading would get her to eat. Ryan was relieved the tears had at least dried up. He didn’t know how to handle them.

The hours waiting for the doctor to come back in were the longest of Nicole’s life. She paced up and down the hallways, waiting for him to bring her any information. She needed to know her baby sister was going to be okay and she wouldn’t feel better until that moment. Ryan tried to get her to eat something but there was no way she could keep any food down. The breakfast she’d eaten was sitting uneasily in her stomach and she feared she was going to vomit all over the pristine floors.

“Ms. Lander,” a doctor said, as he stepped into the room. She whipped her head around and looked at him with both fear and hope. Nothing could’ve happened to Patsy. She wouldn’t survive it.

“Yes?” she said barely above a whisper. She was terrified but needed to know.

“Your sister is out of surgery and it looks like everything will be fine. The next few hours are critical but it looks like your sister is going to make a full recovery,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she sobbed and threw her arms around the doctor, clinging tightly to him. He patted her back and whispered reassurances. She was so relieved the nightmare seemed to finally be over. She had to see for herself she was alive and breathing.

Nicole didn’t know when Patsy was transferred but she noticed her sister was being held by Ryan. The doctor was nowhere to be seen. He was rubbing her back and whispering reassuring words to her. She finally managed to pull herself together and was led into Patsy’s recovery room.

Ryan sent the rest of the family home, as Patsy wouldn’t be awake more than minutes at a time. There wasn’t any point in them staying there. They reluctantly left and exhaustion took over Nicole as she lay in the chair next to Patsy’s bed. She fell asleep for the first time in a long while, with peace in her heart.

The night was long, with Patsy only waking for short periods of time. Every time the nurses came in to check on her they assured both Nicole and Ryan, who also refused to leave, she was healing fine and it looked like she would be okay. Nicole wouldn’t completely believe them until she walked out of the hospital but she was happy.

“You’re coming out with us today. You’ve done nothing but sit here and worry about your sister and she’s fine. She has a million magazines, doctors and nurses at her beck and call and food being brought in. You, on the other hand, look like you haven’t eaten in a month, have dark circles under your eyes and are in desperate need of a manicure,” Jasmine said to Nicole.

Nicole stared at the two women before her, feeling slightly shell shocked. They were trying to get her to leave the hospital room but she would feel so guilty doing so. Patsy needed her there and she had an irrational fear if she left her side something would happen to her.

“I can’t leave her,” she pled with them.

“Nicole we simply aren’t taking no for an answer. You can either walk out of here with us, or we will get the guys to come and drag you out but you’re going out for a day of much needed pampering,” Trinity said.

“Go with them Nicole. You have been amazing and I love you to pieces but you need to take care of yourself and not just me all the time. Now get out of here and I’ll tell the doctors you aren’t allowed back in until tomorrow,” Patsy told her.

“Patsy, you don’t mean that, you need me here,” Nicole said, a little hurt by her sisters words.

“I do need you and I love you more than anything. I know how much you sacrifice for me and how much you have always given up for me. Get the shocked look off your face, I’m not blind. You make sacrifices every day to take care of me and I love and appreciate you even more for that but please take care of yourself. Now get out and I mean it when I say you aren’t allowed back until tomorrow,” Patsy reinforced.

“You’re never a sacrifice because I love you,” Nicole told her.

“You heard your sister, let’s get out of here,” Jasmine said.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get out for a few hours,” Nicole conceded. Both women nodded encouragingly to her. She gathered her purse and made sure Patsy was properly covered before reluctantly following the women from the room.

“First thing we are doing is getting you a hot lunch,” Trinity said.

“Then, we’re going to the salon for manicures and pedicures,” Jasmine added.

“After all that fun we’re doing some shopping and don’t you dare shake your head at me. It looks as if you haven’t pampered yourself in a long time. I’ve demanded Ryan’s credit card and your day’s on him. Seriously, you’ve got to quit shaking your head at me. The man isn’t going to go broke because you purchase a few outfits,” Trinity said.

Nicole was thinking there was no way she was going to spend Ryan’s money. He’d already forked out an arm and a leg on Patsy’s operation but she could live with that because it wasn’t for her. She didn’t find it acceptable to have him buying her personal clothing, though.

“We can argue about it more once you’re fed and pampered, then I’ll feel better winning because my opponent doesn’t look like she’s about to blow over in a small wind,” Jasmine said with a smile.