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“Great. Thank you. Those people are family, too,” I tell her, and she nods. I walk back to the waiting area and sigh.

“I told the nurse we’re family so you should be able to get in.” I don’t know what to do here. Every part of me wants to take control, tell everyone that the woman in that room is the goddamn love of my life but I also want to respect her wishes to keep things private.

Tucker sees my dilemma and nods at me. “Why don’t you go in there first, man? We’ll stop in to see her after you.”

“But…” Daisy starts to object, and Tucker shoots her a look. I can’t even be bothered to care. I’m so close to just falling apart, and all I want to do is see her. I nod and leave them behind as I make my way to her room. When I’m just outside it, I take a deep breath and open the sliding glass door, pushing the curtain back as I go.

Her battered body comes into view, and I break down, letting a few tears fall. There are so many damn machines hooked up to her, and it worries me even more. I shut the curtain behind me and go to the side of her bed, sitting down in the chair positioned there. Gently, I grab her hand and hold it in mine as I press my lips against the back.

“I’m here, Ad,” I whisper and wonder if she can hear me at all. She hasn’t moved except for the steady rise and fall of her chest since I entered the room.

Please don’t take her from me.

The curtain opens, and an older man in a white coat steps in with the nurse from the desk. Her gaze flicks over to my hand holding Addy’s, and her professional façade cracks slightly.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Clark,” he says, extending his hand, and I shake it.

“Trey Harrington.” My new last name rolls off my tongue like I’ve been using it my whole life, and even in this fucked up situation, I like the way it sounds.

“Nice to meet you, Trey. Has anyone spoken to you yet?”

I shake my head, and he nods, taking a deep breath. “Around four thirty this evening, Addilyn was brought in via ambulance after a car ran a red light and smashed into her. I won’t lie to you – it was bad. Quite honestly, I’m a little surprised that she’s still with us. She’s a very lucky girl.” I squeeze her hand as my heart constricts in my chest. I can’t even think about that possibility. It’s too painful. “That being said, she’s not out of the woods. She has a fairly bad head injury that I want to keep a close eye on, and at this point, I can’t say with any certainty when she’ll wake up. Could be hours, days, or weeks.”

“Okay,” I whisper, my voice hoarse.

“I know that sounds ominous, and I’m not downplaying just how serious this still is but after seeing pictures of the scene… well, I don’t have an explanation as to how she made it out of there with only a head injury. There are no other broken bones and no internal bleeding, just some very deep bruising. We’ll be doing regular CT scans to monitor her condition and doing everything we can to keep her pain at a manageable level.”

“Okay,” I mumble again, unable to think clearly right now. How can I when she’s lying here with bruises covering her body and I’ve got no idea when she’ll wake up?

“I know this is hard, son, but right now, it’s just a waiting game. She seems strong though, and I have no reason to believe that she won’t pull through.”

I nod. “Thanks, doc.”

“No problem and if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to have the nurse page me.” We shake hands again, and he leaves me alone with Addy. I can’t stop myself from reaching up and brushing my fingers ever so gently over her bruised cheek. God, she’s absolutely covered in angry purple splotches – so many that I’m afraid to even touch her.

“Mr. Harrington,” the nurse says from the doorway, and I turn to her, “I just wanted to let you know that it’s ICU policy to only allow two people to visit at a time and the rest of your family is getting a little restless.”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll go out and update them now.”

She smiles and leaves the room as I look down at Addy and kiss the back of her hand again. “Be back soon, Ad.”

Giving her one last kiss, I stand and gently set her hand back down on the bed before going back out to the waiting room where everyone is anxiously waiting.

“What did the doctor say? Is she okay? Can we go see her?” Emma asks as soon as she spots me, and I hold my hands up to stop her as I explain everything the doctor just told me.

“They don’t know when she’ll wake up?” Emma asks, her voice wobbling as tears well up in her eyes, and Nix pulls her into his body, leaning down and whispering in her ear. She clings to him as her body shakes with silent tears.

“It’ll be okay, Em. She’s the strongest girl we know. She’s going to pull through,” Daisy says, curling into Tucker, and I nod.

“Oh, and we can only go in two at a time,” I add, and everyone nods. Emma and Daisy leave to go see her next, and I start moving toward the chairs pushed up against the wall.

“You leavin’, man?” Nix asks, and I shake my head as I sit down in a chair and stretch my legs out in front of me.

“No.”

There is no way in hell that I’m leaving this hospital until she does.

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