Chapter 58

CHAPTER58

“Try not to panic,” came the words that, of course, left her with no choice but to panic, especially since she was pretty sure that she was dying.

God, everything hurt, Bailey thought, moving to swallow only to rethink that decision when the move sent fire down her throat. Why did everything hurt so much, she wondered as she watched Casey open her mouth only to close it on a heavy sigh and follow that up with a muttered, “Of course, you’re going to panic,” that had Bailey nodding since talking really didn’t seem like an option at the moment. Having absolutely no idea what else to do, Bailey settled for lying there in what she assumed was a hospital bed, staring helplessly at the woman who looked completely lost while she struggled to figure out what she was supposed to say.

After a few minutes, Casey gestured absently to the door behind her with a weakly mumbled, “Everyone’s fine,” and a hopeful smile that quickly died away with a muttered, “I have no idea what the hell I’m still doing here.” When Bailey could only lay there, staring at her, Casey dropped down in the chair by the door with a heavy sigh.

“I honestly have no idea what I’m supposed to say to you right now,” Casey admitted while Bailey thought about everything that happened as she ran her eyes over the small woman who’d lied to her, taking in everything from her dark brown hair to the blue eyes that matched her own and-

She had a sister.

“Do…” Casey began, only to lick her lips nervously before she continued, “Do you remember me?” After a slight hesitation, Bailey shook her head as Casey sighed and mumbled, “Of course, you don’t,” once again looking at a loss for words.

Swallowing hard, Bailey managed to get out, “What happened?”

“Jess took advantage of your caffeine addiction and put insulin in that Coke, which led to you to stop breathing, scaring the hell out of us, and forcing me to put my skills to the test and destroying that program that was blocking our cellphones in record time so that Nathan could scream at the 911 operator while Quinn and Tristan put the first-aid skills that they’d learned in the Marines to good use and managed to get you breathing again before the paramedics arrived,” Casey explained as she absently toyed with that thick watchband that she always wore.

“Once they had you stabilized, they transported you to the hospital, where you decided to scare the hell out of everyone again before slipping into a coma,” Casey added with a sad smile that had Bailey’s breath catching in her sore throat.

“H-How long?” she managed to get out on a hoarse whisper.

Meeting her gaze, Casey swallowed hard before she said, “Ten years,” while Bailey lay there, struggling to remember how to breathe.

That is, until she saw it, the slight twitch of the traitor’s lips.

Narrowing her eyes on the cruel woman who should know better than to toy with her emotions at a time like this, Bailey bit out roughly, “You are the worst sister ever!”

Chuckling, Casey got up with a satisfied sigh and headed for the door as she said, “You’ve been passed out for two days, but the doctor said that you’re going to be fine,” with a teasing smile before adding, “I’ll go see what’s taking Nathan so long.”

Grumbling incoherently, Bailey watched Casey go until she grew bored and found herself focusing on the man who’d been glaring at her since she opened her eyes. “How long are you planning on glaring at me?”

“That depends,” Quinn drawled as he pushed away from the wall.

“On?” Bailey asked, doing her best to bite back a wince when she rolled over onto her side so that she could focus on the man who looked like he’d been through hell.

“On how long you’re planning on scaring the hell out of me,” Quinn said as he carefully took her left hand in his, drawing her attention to the bandage wrapped around her arm. At her questioning look, he said, “You got shot because I fucked up,” as he leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead.

Frowning, Bailey said, “That wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes,” Quinn said as he pulled away just far enough so that he was looking into her eyes, “it was. I never should have let her near you.”

“You didn’t know it was her,” Bailey said, reaching up to run her fingertips along his jaw, needing the comforting movement right now to let her know that he was really okay.

“That’s no excuse,” Quinn said softly as he leaned into her touch. “God, you scared the hell out of me, Bailey.”

“I have the unfortunate tendency of doing that to people,” she said, nodding solemnly as she slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him down so that she could brush her lips against his and-

“I pushed the button.”

* * *

“What the hellare you talking about?” Quinn asked hollowly as he stared down into baby blue eyes that he never thought he’d see again.

“I pushed the button,” Bailey repeated as she slowly exhaled. “She pulled the trigger and I pushed the button.”

“Bailey…” Quinn said, swallowing hard as he watched her as she followed that up with a firm nod, cleared her throat and was forced to bite her bottom lip when it began trembling.

Nodding, Bailey mumbled, “Sh-She pulled the trigger and I pushed the button. I deleted the game, Quinn.”

“Oh, Christ,” he said, feeling his stomach drop as her words slammed into him.

She’d just lost everything.

“Bailey, I-”

“It’s fine,” Bailey said with a wobbly smile that broke his fucking heart. “As long as she didn’t gain access to Haven Technologies’ server, all the parts should be there. I can piece it back together.”

“And how long will that take to put back together?” Quinn asked as he cupped her face in his hand and gently caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“A really long time,” Bailey mumbled sadly with a sniffle and the saddest fucking pout that he’d ever seen.

“What do you need me to do?” Quinn asked, leaning down and kissed her forehead.

“I could use a little worshipping,” Bailey mumbled with a little sniffle that had his lips twitching against her forehead.

“I suppose I could do that,” Quinn said as he stood up and took in all of the wires and tubes attached to her while he debated his options.

“It would make this easier,” Bailey said with another sniffle as he made his way around the bed and carefully climbed in behind her, and once he was there, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

“Better?” he asked as he pressed his lips against the back of her neck.

“What happened to Kelly?” Bailey asked as she settled back against him, letting him know that she needed a change in subject.

“She came to Tristan’s house thinking that you needed her help, and once we realized just how badly we’d fucked up, I released her and told her to go get help. When she couldn’t get her car to start, she came back into the house to grab Nathan’s keys and made her way to the second floor. When she heard Jess threaten to shoot Nathan, she picked up one of the guns that we’d left outside the door and decided that it was time to make up for all those times that she’d made your life a living hell,” Quinn explained, trying not to think about what could have happened if she hadn’t showed up and-

Just thinking about losing her nearly fucking broke him.

“She shouldn’t have done that,” Bailey mumbled sleepily, letting him know that the medication that the nurse injected into her line before she woke up was starting to work.

“No, she shouldn’t have,” Quinn said as he entwined his fingers with hers.

“What happened to Jess?” Bailey asked after hesitation.

“She’s where she belongs,” Quinn said, trying not to think about the bitch that almost took the only thing that mattered to him away. She was two floors above them and currently handcuffed to a stretcher awaiting transfer to the local jail and it was taking everything that he had to stay where he was when all he wanted to do was make the bitch pay for what she put Bailey through.

“What happens now?” came the weakly mumbled question that had him closing his eyes as he pressed his lips against the back of her neck as he savored the feel of her in his arms.

“Now, you close your eyes and go to sleep, knowing that I will never let anyone hurt you again.”