Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

brADEN

"What the fuck is taking so long?!" I wailed, yanking at my hair as I sat, helpless, in the hospital waiting room. "Why won't they tell me something? Anything ?!"

I'd been here for fucking hours , and no one had told me a damn thing about Dani. The police had come and gone, getting a statement from me and informing me that the shot Leo had fired had ripped through Vicki's aorta and killed her within less than a minute. And now all I could do was stare at the ugly-ass flowery wallpaper and disgusting carpet as I waited to hear whether the love of my life was alive or dead.

I should have felt something hearing the news about Vicki. Shock. Sadness. Anger. Something . But I didn't feel anything at all. I was just numb. A robot. Unable to think about anything at all other than the soul-crushing terror over the very real possibility that I might lose the only woman I'd ever loved.

Kyler sat down next to me and slid her arm around me, giving me a squeeze.

"I know this is terrifying," she sniffled quietly. "But she's alive. If she wasn't, the doctor would have come out and told you."

"You don't know that," I choked out. "Maybe they just haven't said anything because I'm not her family. Maybe they won't release information to me."

"They will," Ian murmured, taking a seat on my other side and putting a hand on my shoulder. "They gave me information about Ky when she was in the hospital after Max hurt her. She's gonna be okay, man. She has to be."

"He's right. Dani's too damn stubborn to die on us," Morgan said, letting out a weak, watery chuckle as she and Malachi sat down on a bench chair across from me.

I tried to focus on that. Tried to focus on anything other than the vision of Dani's blood seeping through my fingers, her unfocused eyes trying to find me while she made me promise to care for our son.

I thought about this morning. Waking up next to her. The way she'd felt beneath my fingers as I'd worshiped every single inch of her. How our bodies just seemed to meld together perfectly, like we were made for each other. Her cries of pleasure as we'd reached that pinnacle and tumbled into oblivion together.

What if that was all I would get? What if I never got to see her again? Never got to kiss her? Never got to make love to her? Never got to tell her how much I loved her and how much she'd changed me?

What if I had to raise Isaac alone, living with a constant reminder of the best fucking three weeks of my life? Constantly wondering if I was doing it right, if I was caring for him the way both of his mothers would have wanted?

"Fuck!" A strangled sob forced its way out of my throat.

"Family of Daniela Ramos?" a woman called.

My head popped up as I sprang from my chair, whirling around to find a copper-skinned woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties wearing a doctor's coat standing there with a tired smile on her face.

A smile.

That was good, right?

That had to be good.

I cleared the distance in three long strides. "I'm her partner. Please say she's okay. Please."

"She did great," she assured me. "She lost a lot of blood, and we did have to give her a transfusion. Due to the compound fractures in her clavicle and scapula, we were unable to remove the bullet, but we were able to repair the fractures with pins. She also has significant soft tissue and tendon damage, and it will take three to four months and a lot of physical and occupational therapy, but she'll make a full recovery."

My legs started to give out from under me, and I gripped the back of a chair in an effort to stay on my feet as blissful relief washed over me like a tidal wave.

Dani was okay. The rest was just details. I didn't care how long the recovery was or how much help I had to hire to make sure Isaac was still being cared for adequately when I left for training camp in a few weeks. I'd drain every last cent in my bank account if I had to.

She was okay, and the danger was finally behind us.

"Do you know when she can come home?" I asked.

"We're going to be keeping her here for about a week to keep an eye on her and administer antibiotics to fight any possible infections she may have picked up, but after that, she should be able to continue her recovery at home."

Suddenly, something occurred to me. Something heartbreaking.

"We have a three-month-old son," I sniffed. "How long until she can hold him again?"

She gave me a sad smile. "Her left arm is in a shoulder stabilizer, and she won't be able to lift or hold anything at all – including a baby – with that arm for a while. But if someone places him in her right arm, she can hold him with just that arm as soon as she feels strong enough."

Thank fuck. It was going to kill Dani enough not to be able to do much of anything to care for Isaac while she was recovering. Not even being able to hold him would have destroyed her.

"Okay," I sighed in relief. "Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded. "She's awake, but she's still coming out of the anesthesia, so she might not be very coherent. She's in room 242."

"Thank you," I breathed.

Turning around, I headed back toward Ian, Kyler, Melissa, Morgan, and Malachi, who were all sitting there with anxious expressions.

"Doc said her shoulder's a mess. Compound fractures and muscle and tendon damage. She's gotta stay here for about a week, and it's going to take a few months and a lot of PT, but she'll be okay," I announced.

"Oh, thank God," Morgan murmured, sniffling quietly as she leaned into Malachi's arms.

"She's awake, so I'm going to go see her," I told them. "Morgan, can you do me a favor and update Lina? Tell her I'll be back at the hotel in a little while to get Isaac?"

She nodded and grabbed her purse, retrieving her phone and starting to tap on the screen.

Kyler got up and came to hug me. "We've got a few days before we have to leave. Let us know when Dani's up for visitors?"

I smiled and gave her a squeeze. "I will. I'm gonna go see my girl now, though."

"Get out of here, man," Ian chuckled weakly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Go be with Dani. We'll see you later."

He didn't need to tell me that twice. Spinning on my heel, I made a beeline for the elevator and rode up to the second floor, then walked as fast as my feet would carry me toward room 242.

When I walked in, I found Dani lying there with her left arm in a huge stabilizing contraption, an IV port in her right arm with a tube attached to it, and all kinds of wires and leads adhered to her. Her eyes were closed, and I focused on the gentle rise and fall of her chest, a reminder that she was still breathing, as I went to grab a chair and pulled it over to sit on her right side.

Taking her hand in mine, I raised it and brushed my lips over her knuckles. And immediately, those gorgeous brown eyes I loved so much popped open and an exhausted smile spread across her face.

"Hey, beautiful," I whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got shot," she mumbled.

I narrowed my eyes at her. That wasn't even remotely funny. Not when I'd had her blood all over my hands mere hours ago as I'd fought with everything I had to keep her alive.

"Too soon?" she said with a soft chuckle.

"To say the least," I sighed. "Fuck, sweetheart. I think I've aged twenty years in the past few hours. Please don't ever scare me like that again."

Dani swallowed hard as a tear started to trail down her cheek, and I reached over to swipe it away, keeping my hand on her face and stroking her cheek with my thumb. Awkwardly, she reached her good hand over to cover it, turning her head to kiss my palm.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not," she sniffled. "I'm not sorry for trying to protect you. I love you too much to let anything happen to you."

Fuck.

"Don't you get it, Dani?" I choked out, my voice thick with the thousand different emotions that were currently warring inside me. "Don't you get that you're part of me? That if your heart stopped beating, mine would too? Don't you understand that you're my whole fucking world? God, what the hell were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that you're part of me too," she murmured. "I was thinking that I couldn't watch the other half of my soul die. Not when I could do something about it."

I blew out a long breath as bone-deep exhaustion set in. I wanted to be mad at her. I wanted to be absolutely fucking furious that she'd put herself in harm's way like that. But I couldn't be. Not when she was lying here in front of me, alive and…well, well-ish. On the mend, at least.

"No more jumping in front of bullets," was all I could manage as I pinned her with a sharp glare.

She snorted. "Deal."

"Listen, I need to go pick up Isaac from the hotel. Lina's had him almost a full twenty-four hours," I sighed. "And I think we both need to be with him right now. I'll be back soon, okay?"

Dani nodded, her nostrils flaring a little like she was trying to hold back more tears.

Standing, I leaned down to claim her lips in a soft kiss. "Te amo, hermosa." I love you, beautiful.

"Te amo también," she whispered. I love you too.

As I brought my lips back to hers, I sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god was listening for saving her life. Because she had saved my life. She'd come crashing into it when I wasn't looking, getting under my skin, turning my whole world upside-down, and making me question everything I thought I knew. Filling an empty space inside me that I hadn't even known existed and showing me that real strength meant letting myself be vulnerable. I'd had no choice but to love her.

And no matter what else life had in store for us, I'd never stop loving her. Fiercely. Wildly. Passionately. Unashamedly. For the rest of our lives.