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Chapter 20

Chapter

Twenty

Hays was in a mist of darkness. There was no pain, no real consciousness.

Was he dead?

A voice drifted in and out and sometimes he felt the pressure of soft fingers. Liz. He fought to get through the mist and be with her again. His Liz. She was all that mattered.

He heard other voices. His parents. His sisters and brother-in-law. Jagger. Belinda. Shawn. Julie. His closest friends on earth. Was he joining Mercedes? The words they spoke sounded like he was.

He fought harder. Liz. He had to be there for her. That was the only thing he really understood.

She was there. The pressure of her soft hand on top of his. Why couldn't he turn his hand over and hold hers?

"Hays," she said. Her beautiful voice soothed him. He tried to open his eyes and look at her, but he couldn't.

"Miss Oliver," a male voice said.

"Yes?"

"His vitals look good. His red blood count is regenerating and the white blood cell count is dropping."

"He'll make it?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Thank you, Dr. Malcolm."

"My pleasure."

Hays didn't like the way the doctor said that. Too flirtatious. He would make it, though? And Liz was here.

Now to get his eyes open. Feast his gaze on her beautiful face. Pull her close and kiss her for a very long time. Make her promise to never leave his side. It looked like he'd have medical leave from the SEALs again. Was it time to take a medical retirement? Jagger wouldn't like that, but Hays had to be with Elizabeth.

"Knock knock," Elizabeth said close to his ear.

Who's there , he tried to say, but he couldn't get it out.

"Alfie," she said, as if he'd answered her.

He'd used this one on her before.

"Alfie terrible if you don't love me back."

He thought he smiled. He wanted to proclaim his love, but his body wouldn't respond. What was wrong with him?

Elizabeth's soft lips touched his. Hays fought through the fog and the inability to move, but he couldn't return the kiss.

"I love you, Hays," she said against his lips.

And then she was gone. Into the black mist.

Hays couldn't form a single word to call her back.

A male voice penetrated his mind. The black mist swirled around him.

"Hays. I really need you to wake up, man."

Jagger.

Hays fought and fought and finally?—

"Jag," he croaked, still unable to open his eyes.

"Hays!" Jagger's hand rested on his arm. "Bee, he's awake!"

"Well, it's about time," she snipped.

Hays thought he smiled. "Liz?"

Then the black fog swirled around him again.

It could've been a minute later or a day. He managed to blink open his eyes. It was blurry, and the lights were too bright.

"There you are," Belinda said, smiling over Jagger's bowed head.

Jagger's head darted up. His eyes were red-rimmed. "Hays," he grunted.

"Ice chips?" Belinda asked. "Your parents are on their way. They went to a hotel for some much-needed rest, but we called when you woke earlier."

Hays's throat was raw. Had he been intubated? Not when Liz kissed him. Unless that had never happened.

"Thanks," he managed.

Belinda spooned some ice chips into his mouth. It felt amazing on his raw throat. They didn't incline his bed, and he felt pain now. In his abdomen.

There was a fight. Him and Peter? A knife.

He'd kept Elizabeth from being taken. Right?

"Liz?" he asked.

"Why don't you rest." Jagger said it like a command.

"Jag." He drew a breath, closed his eyes, and prayed for strength. "Liz?"

"I don't think …" Belinda started.

Hays's eyes fluttered open. Jagger was giving Belinda an admonishing look. She raised her hands. "Fine. Put him back in a coma. He's only your best friend."

Hays wanted to smile at their bickering, but he couldn't right now. What was wrong with Liz? Where was she? His panic made it impossible to breathe or speak, and that didn't help clear his head.

"Slow breaths," Jagger counseled him.

Hays closed his eyes and tried. In and out. In and out. But more than oxygen, he needed … "Liz?"

"She had to go into hiding," Jagger said.

Hays pried his gritty eyelids open again. Jagger's dark eyes pierced him. "Her father escaped."

He groaned.

"The good news is most of his assets have been seized, and his associates have been imprisoned or are doing everything they can to distance themselves from him. Of course the public outcry against him is huge. He wouldn't dare show his face. Quaid and Anna, Jacey and Cade aren't out in public, but they're not in deep hiding like Elizabeth. Aiden believes she'll be Benjamin's primary target."

She was alive, but she was still in danger and she'd left him. Did she think she was protecting him? His heart hurt.

He closed his eyes again. Liz was alive. She was safe. He just had to find her. "Where?"

"Nobody knows," Jagger said.

"Quaid knows." He opened his eyes again.

Jagger shook his head solemnly.

"She's alone?" The panic increased again.

"Paul Braven is with her. Aiden insists he doesn't even know where they are."

Paul. He'd protect her. What if she fell in love with the handsome pilot? No. She loved Hays. But she'd left him. Had they gone to some remote location? How would he find her?

It hurt down deep that she was hiding from him. She still afraid of her father. What if she didn't want Hays in her life? She'd kissed him and said she loved him. Had that been a mirage from the medication? His head hurt from all the questions and concerns.

"How bad am I?" He closed his eyes again. The stress was keeping him awake, but barely.

"Bad. The knife wound took your spleen and some of your large intestine. Barely missed your kidneys. You lost a ton of blood."

His mind was clearing a bit. He remembered the fight now. With Peter. Hays had killed him. He felt regret even though the man would've killed him. Too many deaths. Too much death. All he wanted was Liz.

Please, Father, he prayed.

"How long have I been under?"

"Five days."

"Five days." That popped his tired eyes open. He tried to sit up and agony ripped through his abdomen.

Jagger pinned his shoulders. "Don't. Come on, don't be an idiot. Let yourself heal."

"I have to get to her."

"Dude. She's hiding from everyone."

"Not me."

The look in Jagger's eyes said Hays was lying to himself.

No!

He'd prove his friend wrong. As soon as he could clear his mind, sit up in bed, and get out of this hospital.

His eyes closed and the black fog swirled.

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