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“Yeah,” I say softly, and she drops her forehead to my chest, making me bite back another wince.
“I should have told you I was in love with you when I realized I was,” she whispers, and I shake my head. She didn’t need to tell me; she’s shown me every day.
“I already knew you did,” I mutter, and she pulls back to look at me.
“Is it that obvious?” She smiles, running her fingers softly down my face again.
“I don’t know if it’s obvious, but I see it in the things you do, feel it when we are together. Love is just a word unless there is action behind it, that’s how I knew.”
“And you love me?”
“Yeah, baby.”
“When did you realize you loved me?”
“After Thanksgiving.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” She frowns, making me smile.
“I’ve shown you every day,” I say, then look over her shoulder when the doctor walks into the room clearing his throat.
“While he’s checking you over, I’m going to let everyone know you’re awake,” she says. I don’t want to let her out of my sight, but I know I don’t have a choice.
“Are my parents here?”
“Not yet. They’re on their way. Traffic is insane getting into the city—I guess the president is in town.”
“All right, come back to me,” I demand, and she nods, kissing my jaw before leaving the room.
Once she’s gone I look at the doctor, who’s studying the beeping machine at the side of the bed. “What am I looking at here?” I ask him, and he finishes writing, then looks at me.
“You’re alive.” He shakes his head. “The bullet went straight through, but it hit your subclavian artery on the way, which caused most of the damage. You lost a lot of blood—just a few centimeters more and you could have lost your arm, so I’d say you’re a lucky man.” Not so lucky, seeing that I had on a bulletproof vest and still managed to get hit. “We rushed you into surgery, stitched everything up, and gave you two separate transfusions. You’ll be here for a couple days, but you’ll be okay.”
Nodding at that, I stay put and let him inspect the wound. While he’s doing that, another nurse comes in to let him know the room I will be moved into is ready.
As soon as they both leave, Wesley pokes his head in through the door. “Where’s Fawn?” I ask him, and he grins.
“What, you don’t want to see me?”
“Not really.” I smile at him, and he shakes his head, walking toward the bed.
“She’s down greeting your family and hers. They all just arrived, so I told her I’d wait with you.” Damn, my parents and Fawn’s together do not bode well for me being alone with my girl and healing without drama.
“What happened after I got hit?”
“We got Juan. He’s going down, and no one can save him this time. His girl is talking—she’s currently trying to save her own ass.”
“Thank fuck.”
“Yeah,” he mutters, then runs a hand over the top of his head. I notice he’s still got blood on him—it’s most likely mine. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“You? Fuck, man, we should have known to check the apartment for weapons, given his history.”
“Yeah,” he mutters, taking a seat next to the bed. “Fawn was a zombie until the doctor came out and told us you were going to be okay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman so damn scared in my life.”
“I would be the same if something had happened to her,” I whisper, not even able to stomach the thought. I can’t imagine getting a call like the one she got. I can’t imagine thinking I might lose her.
“My baby,” I hear, and I turn my head toward the door and watch my mom rush across the room toward me. “I . . . Don’t ever scare me like that again, do you understand me?” Mom cries, placing her hand against my cheek.
“Sorry, Mom.”
“Just don’t let it happen again. Why weren’t you wearing your vest?”
“I was . . . I—”
“You need a better one, then.” She shakes her head as she leans in and kisses my cheek. When she steps back, my dad comes over.
“Son.” He shakes his head, reaching out to touch the top of my head. “You doing okay?”
“I’m good. The doctor said I should be out in a couple days.”
“Good.” He nods, and I can tell he’s working at holding back the emotions written all over his face.
“Jesus, man, you sure know how to get attention, don’t you?” Lucas says, coming over to stand on the other side of the bed.
“Jealous?”
“A little. I wouldn’t mind lying around for a few days having people wait on me hand and foot,” he jokes, and I shake my head at him as he leans down, touching his forehead to mine. “But seriously, I’m happy as fuck that you’re okay.”
“Me, too,” I agree, then watch Fawn’s parents come over.
“We had to come,” Katie says, leaning down to give me a kiss on my cheek. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, we’ve been worried sick.”
“Thanks for coming,” I say, and she smiles as Aiden touches the top of my head like my dad did moments ago before stepping back without a word. Getting hugs from the rest of my family, I frown when Eva walks into the room with a woman I know. Jesus, this bitch just doesn’t fucking stop.
“Levi,” Heather says as she comes toward me, and I look at Fawn, who is now standing next to my bed. Her face goes pale, which pisses me the fuck off.
“What the fuck, Eva?” Lucas asks, and she turns her eyes to him.
“She wanted to see him—she could have lost him.”
“I can’t believe you would do this right now,” Mom says glaring at Heather and Eva.
“I just . . . Eva told me what happened and I wanted to . . .”
“That’s nice and all, but if you’re who I think you are, then you need to leave. If Levi wanted anything to do with you, he would have called you, but he didn’t,” Libby says, and I hold back a smile. Libby is hard as nails when it comes to her family.
“She’s right. I appreciate your concern, but we have nothing to talk about,” I state firmly, and Heather looks around the room before looking at me once more.
“We were going to get married. I still care about you,” she says, but I know it’s a lie. She didn’t care about me when we were together, and she sure as fuck doesn’t care about me now.
“If you don’t leave, I will call security to escort you out,” Fawn says as Heather starts toward the bed.
“You can’t do that,” Eva says. Fawn’s eyes go to her.
“I can and I will. You shouldn’t have brought her here.”
“Who do you think you are?” Eva asks as her face turns red.
“Eva, take Heather and leave,” Mom says.
“Seriously?” she asks, looking at Mom, then at Lucas.
“Yes,” Lucas says, and she narrows her eyes.
“Whatever, I’m leaving,” Heather says. Eva looks around the room, glaring at everyone, before she disappears out the door with Heather.
“Good riddance,” Fawn mutters, and I chuckle, then groan again. Her eyes fly down to me. “Are you okay?”
“Kiss me.”
“No.”
“Kiss me,” I repeat, and she sighs, then leans down, pressing a kiss to my lips.
“Love you, baby.”
“I love you, too.” She rests her hand against the side of my face, kissing me once more, softly, before taking a seat on the chair next to my bed, where she pretty much stays until it’s time for me to be released from the hospital.
Watching Fawn walk into the living room with the phone to her ear, I set my computer aside, then tag her hand as she tries to pass
me. I pull her toward me, forcing her to take a seat. I dodge her hand as she reaches out to smack me away as I try to kiss her. “Yes, I will be there Saturday at noon,” she says to whomever she’s talking to, and I kiss the side of her neck, smiling as she tries to elbow me, never putting enough force behind the action to actually do damage, since she knows I’m still healing. It’s been four days since I was released from the hospital, and even though I still have a lot of healing and physical therapy to do, I feel back to myself.
“Okay, I’ll see you Monday, Mrs. Thompson, and thank you for the update,” she says, pulling the phone away from her ear and hitting the “End Call” button. “Seriously, you need to stop. You are going to end up hurting yourself,” she grouches, glaring at the smile on my face.
“What was the phone call about?” I ask, ignoring her glare. She narrows her eyes when I try to pull her into my lap.
“Mrs. Thompson talked to Tamara’s grandmother today. She wanted to let me know that Tamara will be moving. She didn’t want me to worry when Tamara wasn’t at school when I return to work next week.”
“What’s going on Saturday?”
“They are having a service for Tamara’s mom. Her grandmother asked Mrs. Thompson to let me know so I could go show my support if I wanted to.”
“You feel up to that?”
“Yes,” she says quietly, then turns sideways on the couch to face me completely. “I’m glad that Tamara’s getting some kind of closure. I just hope now she can work on healing.”
“Me, too, baby,” I agree softly. The DNA from the SUV came back as that of Elia Albergastey, so we knew something happened to Tamara’s mom in that vehicle. The CSI team concluded that one person could not lose that much blood and survive without immediate medical help, which left us to conclude, sadly, that Tamara’s mother had been murdered.
“What are the moms doing?” I ask, hearing banging in the apartment next door, and she rolls her eyes.
“Who the hell knows? I swear, they are going to make me lose my mind. Whose idea was it to let them help me move, anyway?” she asks, looking at the wall between our apartments when the banging gets even louder.
