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There it is.
“Shannon is fine,” I said, trying to soothe him, sinking down on the edge of his bed as I gently pinned his hands to his chest to stop him from hurting himself. “She’s being well looked after upstairs, okay?”
“Yeah, but she needs to see me,” he tried to argue, voice croaky and raw. “You don’t get it. I need to be there when she wakes up. She’ll be scared. She won’t know what to say. I need to check on her.”
“Joe.” Cupping his face between my hands, I leaned in close and forced him to look at me. “I promise you that Shannon is fine.” Pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, I avoided stitches on his swollen bottom lip and mentally willed him to stop thinking about everyone else. “You trust me, don’t you?”
He nodded slowly.
“Good.” I smoothed his hair back and kissed him again. “Then trust me when I tell you that the best thing you can do for Shan is to rest up and heal.”
“Joey?” Marie’s sorrowful voice came from behind the curtain, causing us both to stiffen. “Can I speak to you?”
“No, no, no,” he croaked out, snatching my hand up in his. “I can’t deal with her.”
“It’s okay,” I whispered, nuzzling his good cheek with mine. “I’m here, Joe. I’ve got your back.”
“Fuck.” Blowing out a pained breath, he relented with a stiff nod. “Okay.”
“Come in, Marie.”
The curtain was drawn back, and his mother appeared, looking every bit as small and frail as the last time I’d laid eyes on her.
“Joey.” Her eyes were sunken in her head, clearly swollen from crying, as she took an uncertain step toward us. “Aoife.”
“Marie,” I acknowledged coolly. My gaze flicked to the tall, dark-haired man standing behind her. The suit he was wearing looked too flashy to belong to a social worker, so I pegged him for a solicitor.
God knew she needed one.
“Oh, Joey, baby.” Sniffling, his mother moved for his bed, but stopped when she realized that I had no intention of getting out of her way.
I couldn’t if I wanted to.
Joey had a death grip on my hand.
“How are you feeling?” Marie asked him. “Your poor face.”
My boyfriend didn’t respond. He didn’t move a muscle. His face was void of all emotion as he continued to stare at the man standing behind his mother.
“Hey, kid,” the man said, tone thick with emotion, as he stared straight past me, attention riveted on my boyfriend. “It’s been a while.”
It’s been a while?
Brow furrowing, I swung my gaze on the man and studied his familiar face.
High cheekbones.
Dark-brown hair.
Puffy, swollen lips.
Eyes the color of midnight blue.
“Crap,” I strangled out, quickly putting two and two together and coming up with a big fat Darren. “It’s you.”
His attention flicked to me, and I watched as a flicker of recognition flashed in his blue eyes. “And it’s you.”
I frowned, knowing full well that I had never met this man before in my life. “What?”
