38. Chapter Thirty-eight

Chapter Thirty-eight

Remington

After a day of working on the ranch with Caleb and joining him for dinner, he and I were walking toward Joy’s. He was meeting Cormac for a drink, and I was too antsy to wait for Hannah to get to her place.

“Think I’m ready for full-time work yet?”

“Nope,” he replied.

I barked a laugh. “No? Am I ever going to get off the bench, coach?”

“Far as I’m concerned, nope.”

“Hey.” I pressed a hand to his shoulder. “I’m good, man. I only have the occasional headache these days. No dizzy spells. I’m healing.”

“I’m glad, but the answer is still no. I like having you out there with me, but if I take you on full-time, when are you going to be able to work on that book of yours?”

“I—” didn’t have an answer for that. We’d had a fantastic day. There was nothing like being in the saddle, doing hard work while shooting the breeze with the best friend I ever had. And because he was my best friend, he was looking out for me.

“No answer, eh?” He chuckled. “I’ll take you on two days a week, but those other days, you’re going to be working on your book so you have your evenings to spend with Hannah.”

“I can’t argue with that.”

“I know you can’t.”

We were drawing close to the bar when movement from the alley caught my attention. Something big was on the ground—an animal?

“What’s that?” Caleb’s voice cracked like thunder in the otherwise quiet night. “What the hell is that?”

Before we could get a good look, a person wearing all black darted out, running in the opposite direction. Caleb and I exchanged a quick glance then moved in unison, booking it for the barely moving…it was a person sprawled on the ground, face down.

Caleb got to them first, crouching over the body. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no,” he cried, falling back on his ass. “Hannah?”

My world stopped. Blindly, I fell to my knees beside Caleb—beside the body. “Is it—?”

“It’s her,” he rasped, moving the tangled, muddy hair off her bloody face. “Hannah?”

A ragged moan left her broken lips, her hand reaching out. I wrapped mine over hers, alarmed at how cold her skin was. But she was moving, breathing, alive.

“It’s Remi, sweetheart.” Somehow, the words came out steady, though I was a quivering mass of panic. “We’re gonna get you help. You’re safe now. You’re safe.”

The next couple hours were a living nightmare. Ambulance, cops, doctors, the Kelly clan, hospital, waiting room—all a blur of horror.

With my head in my hands, I leaned forward, guilt weighing me down like an anvil on my back. Elena was with Hannah, so all of us had to wait until we were allowed in her room. I’d never felt so goddamn helpless.

A heavy hand patted my back. “Get it out now, son.”

I turned my head. Lock had taken the seat beside mine. He was watching me with warm brown eyes that reminded me so much of Hannah’s. A knot lodged in my throat and refused to clear out.

He shook his head. “When you go back there to see her, you can’t take any of this with you. She’s going to be feeling bad enough as it is. You bringing your guilt won’t help anyone.”

“I should’ve been there,” I rasped.

He jerked his chin toward Cormac, huddled up with Caleb on the opposite side of the waiting room.

“I just got through hearing my son say the same thing. I’ll tell you what I told him, you did what you could with the information you had. Getting bogged down in the ‘would haves’ and ‘could haves’ will get you stuck in a world of hurt. Operate in facts. Hannah’s injured, but she’ll survive this. You got there in time, Remi.”

I nodded, tears blurring my vision. “I just need to see her.”

“I know, son.” The weight of his big hand on my back brought me as much comfort as his words. “I have a feeling she needs to see you just as much. We’ll get you in there soon.”

Soon was relative, but a nurse eventually called us back to Hannah’s room. I thought I’d gotten a handle on my emotions. But one look at my beautiful girl, bruised and battered in a hospital bed, and my knees threatened to give out. I had to brace myself on a wall, letting her family go ahead of me to see her first.

“Remi?” Raw and gritty, Hannah used her voice to call out to me. “Get over here.”

Elena moved to the foot of the bed, giving me space to stand right beside Hannah. The bruises on her throat almost had me seeing stars, but losing it wasn’t an option. Like Lock had said, she needed me. She was hurting, maybe afraid. The very least I could do was be a pillar for her to lean on, knowing I’d stay standing when she couldn’t.

“I’m here, sweetheart,”

She reached for my hand, weaving our fingers together. Her eyes, bloodshot and filled with tears, found mine.

“I was trying to get to you,” she whispered. “Kept thinking I needed to see you again.”

My head fell forward. I took a deep breath, working hard to stave off the sheer panic.

“You did a good job, sweetheart. You fought hard. You made it to me.”

Her split lips curved into the slightest smile as her eyelids drooped. Her doctor had dosed her with pain meds, but she was fighting them, trying to stay awake.

“I made it to you, Remington,” she echoed softly.

I touched her unmarred cheek, cupping it as gently as I could. “You’re safe now, Hannah. You need to rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?” Her lids were already lowering.

“I promise. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “Just for a little while…”

Lock brought me a chair so I could sit by Hannah’s side while she slept, her hand cradled in mine. Hearing her even breaths reassured me. Each one was precious, and I’d never take a single one for granted.

After a while, her siblings went home, but Lock and Elena stayed, snuggled together on the small couch under the room’s lone window.

Elena had been there when Hannah had spoken to the police. Once Hannah had fallen asleep, she’d shared what had happened with Lock and me.

She’d gone down the alley to help Tina. It was no surprise she’d put her own safety aside to save someone else. But goddamn, if it didn’t make me angry she’d been put in that position at all.

The police confirmed Tina hadn’t made it, most likely strangled to death, and Hannah had been able to tell them Teller was the one who’d done it. Teller had gone after Hannah next, giving her a concussion and bruises all over, the worst on her throat. If Caleb and I had been a minute later, we might have been too late.

It took all my power to hang on to the fact that we’d made it in time. We hadn’t been too late. Lock had been right. Spiraling down the rabbit hole of “could haves” would only lead me to a bottomless pit of misery. We’d been there, and Hannah was going to heal. That was what mattered.

I didn’t know how, but I fell asleep sometime during the night, waking to fingers running through my hair. Jerking my head up from where I’d rested it on Hannah’s bed, I was greeted by the most beautiful sight of my life, Hannah’s smile.

“I woke you up,” she whispered.

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Scooting to the edge of my seat, I surveyed her bruises. They had gotten darker over the hours. “How are you? How’s your pain?”

“Come closer.” She’d barely pushed out any sound, but I’d heard. I pulled my chair as close to the hospital bed as I could, and she cupped my face, sweeping her gaze all over me. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Not a chance.”

“I kept thinking that…when she was killing me, I kept thinking I wasn’t done loving you. We just got started.”

I nodded, though each time I lowered my head, it became harder and harder to pick it back up with the weight of reality bearing down on me.

“You and I both had close calls; we both stared down death, but we turned back, and it brought us together. This is it, sweetheart. It’s gonna be easy street from here on out.”

She stretched her thumb to brush it over my bottom lip. “Your mouth to God’s ears. I could use a little easy right about now.”

“You’ll get it. That, I can promise you. Your feet aren’t going to touch the ground.”

The door swung open, and Elena and Lock walked through. I must’ve been crashed out hard because I hadn’t even noticed they’d left.

Elena stopped on the other side of the bed and bent down to kiss Hannah’s forehead. “Morning, my darling girl.”

Lock squeezed her foot over the covers and handed me a steaming cup of coffee.

“We spoke to Detective Cox,” Lock started. “It looks like Brady and Teller are in the wind. Car’s gone, clothes packed, cash withdrawn from their bank accounts. There’s an APB out for them. Cox thinks they’ll be picked up pretty quickly since neither are seasoned criminals.”

“Your doctor will be in soon to check on you,” Elena added. “If he thinks you’re okay, you can go home this afternoon.”

Lock folded his arms over his chest. “Not alone. Until Teller is brought in, you can’t be on your own, Hannah.”

“I’ve got her,” I said. “She won’t be alone.”

His eyes landed on mine, staying there for a long beat. “I figured as much. She’ll be safe with you.”

“She will,” I confirmed.

Hannah waved a hand. “I hate not being able to talk,” she whispered.

Chuckling, I caught her hand and brought it to my lips. “Do you have any objections to staying at the house with me?”

Her eyes were round, worried. “Phoebe…”

Elena brushed her knuckles along Hannah’s forehead. “Your sister is staying at the ranch for the time being. No one will be alone.”

Hannah nodded then winced. “Moving is bad.”

I kissed her fingertips. “Lucky for you, I enjoy being at your beck and call. You won’t need to lift one pretty little finger until you’re feeling better.”

“Love you,” she mouthed.

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

The doctor came in to check on her soon after, and Lock and I waited outside. Resting his head against the wall, he blew out a long breath.

“Next time I see my baby girl in a hospital bed, it’ll be after she’s welcomed her own baby into this world,” he stated.

My stomach clenched even as my heart picked up at the idea of that kind of future. “I’ll make sure of it.”

He cracked his eyes open and pinned me with a long, assessing stare. “I know you will, Remington. Just like I’m pretty sure you’ll be the one by her side when she’s having that baby.”

“It’ll be me. Hannah’s my life.”

“Good. Exactly as it should be.” He straightened to face me and threw his tree-trunk arms around me for a tight, brief hug. “I’m trusting you with my girl, Remi.”

“I’ve got her covered, Lock.”

Another long pause where he held my gaze with a stony expression before breaking into a small but warm smile. “I know you do, son.”

Having this man’s confidence buoyed me. I would not let him down. Nothing and no one would come between Hannah and me. I’d keep that promise to my last breath.