Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

Xavier

Waking up to a ventilator tube shoved down my throat wasn’t as bad as it was getting it forcibly removed by two nurses—one pulling and the other on standby with a bucket under my chin, ready to catch whatever vomit or mucus, or both, that I ended up coughing up as soon as the tube was free from my body.

I choked while gripping the side of the bucket, all but drooling into it as my body fought to pull in oxygen with my own muscles around the heaving coughing fits that wracked my body.

Fuck, was that a bitch and a half.

One of the nurses was slapping me on the back a few times, breaking up whatever had settled in my lungs as I choked it up while the other one was cheerfully giving Gage the rundown on aftercare.

The sad part about all of this wasn’t that I could’ve damaged my lungs permanently by being an idiot and running into a burning building. No, it was that I didn’t regret a damn thing. Saving those people had been worth it to me, despite it costing me a few days being unconscious and right now, a bit of my dignity.

Spitting out the last of it, I grabbed the towels that were handed over to me and lifted my hand out to Gage who was hovering nearby, an anxious look etched onto his face.

He took my hand quickly, squeezing it tight just like he had to wake me up. While I felt bad that he’d flown all the way over here in order to be by my side during all of this, I was damn happy that he’d come all this way just for me .

Him missing his Christmas with the twins was unfair, yet at the same time I was selfishly glad I had my partner with me, or else I’d probably be losing my damn mind right about now.

“We’ll go inform the doctors that you’re awake,” one of the nurses said, flashing a smile at me. “They’ll want to run your levels again, but so far, you’re looking really good.”

Well, that was a relief at least.

“Thank you,” Gage told them on my behalf.

When they left, he blew out a long breath and then collapsed down onto the edge of the bed. I tugged him over toward me using our laced hands, letting him fall into my shoulder and sag against me completely until he was closer to jello than human man.

I brushed my lips over his temple while I breathed him in. I could actually cry right now, I was so damn happy.

“Merry Christmas,” he said, laughing softly.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered back.

My throat was still incredibly raw from the tube, making it hard to say anything above a whisper. Gage could hear me all the same though, turning slightly to press his nose against the underside of my jaw.

He breathed out slowly again, his fingers flexing around mine.

I knew this side of him well. His anxiety was finally crashing and now all that was left was relief and exhaustion. If I could offer him more room on this bed to pass out on, I would. Unfortunately, we were both fully grown large men and these beds were only meant to fit medium sized people at best.

“The boys wanted me to wish you a Merry Christmas on their behalf,” he mumbled.

I pressed another kiss against his head. Too bad they hadn’t come with him. I understood why, of course, especially with how long I was out for.

Still, that didn’t make it any less bittersweet.

“Dexter and his mom and stepdad were here this morning,” Gage went on. “They didn’t want to leave in case you woke up, but I told them they should go celebrate their day together. It’s Dexter’s last Christmas with them, most likely, so I didn’t want them missing that. Sorry for sending them away, I really thought you’d be under still.”

I shook my head. “S’okay.”

He’d made the right call. Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve loved to wake up with him and Dexter both at my side, however making Dexter sit in a hospital room all day when he should be enjoying the holiday just as Gage had said was a much better option in my opinion.

Was I upset I was also missing the holiday with him?

Absolutely. Gage was, too, so at least we were together on that front.

“The boys...” I mumbled.

“Oh, don’t worry. They already ripped through all their gifts and sent me photos and videos.” He chuckled. “I swear, I gave them the okay and not even a minute later, I was receiving updates on what they got.”

That was good to hear. At least the boys would be at Gage’s until New Years Day. Gage would get a little holiday time with them before they were back out in the world.

“You know...” When he lifted himself up, he shifted around until he was facing me, his side resting against the back of the bed. He kept our fingers entangled in a tight grip. “Since we’re both missing Christmas, we should do something for New Years.”

I raised a brow and mouthed, “Together?”

He nodded. “Yeah, why not? Unless you have some other hot date I don’t know about.”

Funny , I wanted to say, settling for a look instead. He was lucky I couldn’t talk and was too stiff to tug him over to kiss those jealous thoughts right out of him.

Instead, I settled on lifting his hand up to my lips and pressing a kiss against it. His smile was radiant, eyes soft despite the dark circles under them.

When I was finally discharged from this place, we were going to go back to my place and I was going to force this man into my bed to actually sleep, regardless of the inevitable begging to take care of me.

“Is that a yes? The station pushed back the date for the Christmas party. I guess they were too worried about what was going on with you to be in the mood to throw a holiday party. So now it’s going to be a joint Christmas/New Years extravaganza.”

That was sweet. I knew how much Gage was looking forward to the party. Now, instead of him having to go stag, I’d get to accompany him. Turning him down the first time had killed me, even more so when that hopeful look in his eyes had faded and was replaced by abject sadness.

I nodded firmly, showing him my decision to the question.

When he grinned, I couldn’t help mirroring it with my own. “Okay, awesome. I’ll let the gang know. They’re so excited to meet you. I may have been bragging about how handsome you are, so if you get stared at a lot, that’s totally my bad.”

I held back a snort, kissing his hand again.

Meeting Gage’s crew would certainly be interesting.

He’d talked about them enough over the past year and a half, that at this point, I felt like I practically already knew them, too. I was glad to hear that they were eager to meet me—it made things a lot easier when bringing a newbie into such a tight-knit work environment.

Especially, if one day I did end up moving out there and needed to find a job. I wouldn’t mind setting my roots down at Station Twenty-One for as long as they’d have me.

I wouldn’t mind setting my roots down in Baton Rouge for as long as Gage would have me.

He sunk back into my side, resting his head against my shoulder, his eyes slowly sliding shut. There was a content smile on his lips that I wished I could take a picture of to immortalize forever.

This man had been through hell and back with me so many times since we’d met, all without a single damn complaint. And I’m sure he’d do it a hundred more times if I ever asked.

Glancing down at our laced fingers, I brushed my thumb down along the bridge of his hand, an idea occurring to me.

Before we took off for Baton Rouge, I needed to swing by Keeton’s.