Chapter 5

Hospital was crowded with people waiting for the doctor. Some of them walked down the hallway as they waited. Nurses rushed down the hallway followed by worried family members.

Seeing the commotion Lucas gently moved Grace out of the people's way, encouraging her to walk beside the wall. He was right beside her, closer to the passage, shielding her with his body from anybody who passed in order to prevent anybody making a sudden contact with her injured arm.

As they reached the nurse room, Grace looked up as an older nurse came toward them. She listened as Grace explained what happened.

"All right, Miss Bennet. Doctor will be with you shortly. Please, take a seat".

Grace nodded and walked toward the chairs in the hallway. As she started to sit down, she hissed in pain.

In a second, she felt his presence, so close to her as he instinctively reached out to her, his hands gently finding their way to her back and shoulder as he helped her to sit down.

"Easy…Hold on to me", he gently guided her good hand to hold on his forearm as she slowly sat down. His forehead creased with concern "Is it your wrist?", he asked and she shook her head, her eyes closing in pain.

"It's like pain shot all the way to my shoulder as I moved it to my left", breathing out as she sat, Grace opened her eyelids to see concern in Lucas' eyes. And something…else…

Guilt?

"Grace, I am so sorry, I…", he started, but she quickly interrupted him.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Lucas. It wasn't you who yanked my hand. You saved me from that creep", as his eyes shone with uncertainty, she added "You hit him, remember?"

Lucas tilted his head slightly to his side feeling a small smile creeping to his lips.

"Well, not before you bit him and saved me", he silently chuckled, causing Grace to grin.

"Well, my bark is worse than my bite", she watched amazed as Lucas' dimples showed up in all their glory as he laughed. Wanting to keep them on for just a tiny bit longer, Grace added "Hey, he asked for it. I am not usually like this. Actually, I'm quite pacific".

Lucas smiled widely, feeling something warm wash over him. He only knew this lovely woman for about an hour and she already made him smile more times than he could count.

How does she do that?

Lucas couldn't reason with a feeling of peace he felt so strongly. His eyes shined as he gently brushed his fingers against her upper arm.

"Grace…thank you. Thank you for saving my life", he whispered.

A small and uncomfortable smile crept up to her lips and Grace swallowed, trying so hard not to blush.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're alright", she said, her warm and sincere tone of voice washing over Lucas' heart.

Who was this woman?

He nodded, looking down.

It was downright amazing how she showed up in the darkest hour of his life. When he was alone on a dark road to the unknown. Danger wasn't unknown to Lucas, but broken heart was. He never felt so alone in his life, ever since that revelation at the train station.

His heart bled and he swallowed hard.

And that was when he felt her gentle fingers lightly brushing his palm.

"Lucas?"

Startled, he looked up.

Her eyes watched him with warmth and concern. He could feel it warming his heart.

"Are you alright?", she silently asked.

His lips shivered slightly before he inhaled deeply, pressed them tightly and quickly nodded.

Looking up, he could tell that she didn't quite believe him, but didn't want to push.

For now.

In order to try and change the subject, Grace looked down at her blue-gray dress and silently snorted.

Interested, Lucas slightly smiled "What?"

"Lillian is gonna throw a fit when she sees all this mud on me", she giggled and Lucas felt his mood improving big time at that sweet sound.

"Well, I will make sure that she understands that you are a heroine of the day", he said, his voice apologetic "It's my fault you got yourself in all this after all".

Grace smiled "Lucas…I thought we were past that conversation", she echoed his words from the car causing him to smile and shake his head "Plus, it's just an old dress. Not fit for a heroine", she creased her eyebrows, looking down at her creased skirt "Maybe for a warrior princess. Or a pirate queen. Or a bodyguard, in case you may need one now", she quipped.

Lucas' eyes sparkled and as she looked up, both of them burst to laughter.

At that moment, the nurse's voice was heard as she called out for Miss Bennet to go to the doctor's office.

Lucas quickly stood up and helped Grace to get up too without a need to lean on her injured arm.

"Well, that's me", she looked at him pulling on a serious face "Please, stay out of trouble while I'm gone", causing him to laugh. Satisfied, Grace nodded and opened the doors of the doctor's office.

As the doors closed behind her, Lucas let out a breath and lightly rubbed his forehead, not being able to wipe the smile from his lips.

You truly are something else, Miss Bennet.