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“She was trying,” Erin cried again, her grip on my hand tightening. “She loves you, Lee. Everything you’ve done for her. Your immeasurable patience. Your good, kind heart. She couldn’t help but fall in love with you.”
“I love her.” The words barely scraped up my throat, but it was a truth I couldn’t deny. I’d loved her from the moment I first saw her, and nothing could ever change that.
“She’ll pull through this,” Van told the three of us, like it was a promise he would see through to the end. “She’s strong. She’s not going to let this stop her.”
Erin leaned her head against my shoulder, and Donovan reached across me, reaching for his wife with one hand as he put the other back on my arm.
“He’s right. Kelly is strong. She’s overcome so much, and she’s not going to stop now. Not when she’s got something to live for.”
My chest clenched, and though I wanted to get up and move, to burn off the restless feeling inside of me, I stayed put. I stayed with Kelly’s parents, letting them comfort me as I tried to do the same for them.
We weren’t going to lose Kelly. I loved her, and if I was what made her want to live, there was no way I’d ever let her down.
29
LEE
“Lee?” A hand smoothing over my head dragged me out of a restless sleep. I blinked my eyes open and peered through the dimly lit room. My back ached, my shoulders throbbed, but that hand smoothed against me again, pushing the pain to one side as a new one took center stage.
Lifting my head, I found Kelly’s hooded eyes staring down at me from the raised head of her hospital bed. Her good hand—the one that wasn’t wrapped in gauze but instead had tubes pumping fluids and pain medication into her veins—fell from my head to her lap. I was half-draped over her, my ass in the chair beside her bed, unable to bring myself to step away for even a moment.
“Kelly, baby.” My voice was gruff, though I tried to keep quiet. While Donovan had gone home to get some rest, Erin slept on the tiny cot across the room. “What’s wrong?”
Immediately, I tangled my fingers with hers, pulling her hand gently to my lips. I pressed kisses to her skin, breathing in the scent of her, trying to prove to myself that she was right there.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice shook, and the sound had me lifting my tired eyes to hers.
“’Bout what, baby?”
Her bottom lip trembled as she looked at her bandaged hand. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident, I swear.”
“I know.” I cupped her cheek with my free hand and wanted to cry tears of relief when my girl pressed her face against my palm. “I know you didn’t mean to.”
“You do?”
With a nod, I offered what I hoped was a smile, then pressed another kiss to her hand. “Van told me. I—” My heart rose to my throat and I swallowed it down. “I thought you were dead. If it weren’t for him, you would be.”
Kelly shook her head, knocking tears loose from her eyes.
“When I saw your text, I ran straight to you. And Van jumped in my passenger seat and followed me home. All I did was cry because I thought you were gone. But he called an ambulance and told Joss to call your parents.”
“Are they here?”
“Your mom is.” I tipped my head toward the cot where Erin slept. Kelly’s watery eyes darted that way, and more tears slid down her cheeks. “Your dad ran home to take a nap and get some clothes. He’ll be back in a few hours.”
She licked her lips and dragged her gaze back to me, blinking slowly. Lifting her good hand toward my face, she traced a finger across my cheek.
Wiping away a tear.
“I was right.”
My brow furrowed. I leaned closer, straining to hear her weakened voice. “Right about what?”
“Hiring them.” Her head dropped to her pillow, like it was too heavy to hold up. Didn’t stop her lips from curling into a half-hearted smile.
Damn, she was gorgeous. Even looking like she’d gone through hell, she was still the most stunning creature in the world.
I pressed a kiss to her knuckles, trying to temper the roll of laughter that shook my shoulders. “You were right.”
