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Melina turned to Jacee, her tone much kinder than before. “We’re going to stabilize him, and we may have to remove his spleen and a kidney if they don’t heal. Nick and Calla will go with you back to the waiting room, and we’ll come talk to you as soon as we can.”
“Thank you.” Jacee’s voice was barely a whisper. “So much.”
As Nick and his mate accompanied Jacee from the room, she glanced back at Micah. Stay strong. Keep making your way back to me. I’m not going anywhere. I love you.
There was no answer, but she was patient. As long as he was still in the world, she could wait.
The next two hours seemed like forever, but at last the waiting room door opened. Rowan, drained from crying, was asleep on the sofa with her head in Aric’s lap when Mac and Melina came into the room. Aric shook his mate awake, and when she saw the doctors, she bolted upright, rubbing her eyes.
Jacee stood, ready to face whatever they had to say. She knew her mate was alive—the bond was still humming and strengthening every minute.
“Micah’s going to recover,” Melina said, giving them a rare smile. “That man is one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank God,” Rowan said. Aric took her hand. “What about the surgery?”
“We had to take his spleen and appendix. They were too damaged to heal properly, even with the vampire blood. The kidney repaired itself, however, as did the gashes and other cuts, abrasions, and broken bones.”
Jacee sighed with relief. “Is he in a room? Can I stay with him?”
“They’re moving him now. Shouldn’t be too long. Noah will come get you, okay?”
“All right.”
Nick and Calla stayed until Noah showed up and then excused themselves. “Family first,” Nick said, in spite of the others’ protests that they were family. “We’ll come tomorrow, after everyone’s rested.”
The blond nurse took Jacee, Rowan, and Aric to Micah’s room. Jacee took a seat on one side of his bed and held his hand. It was warmer, but she’d feel better when he woke up. At least he was breathing on his own now.
“You can’t do this to me anymore,” she ordered him. “My heart can’t take it. This is it—do you understand?”
“I second that, little brother.” Rowan’s expression was as exhausted and relieved as Jacee felt.
They watched him for a while, talking in quiet tones, until finally Aric insisted Rowan go home with him and get some sleep.
“We need to give Jacee some time alone with her mate, too,” he pointed out. That made the other woman relent, and after she gave her brother and then Jacee a kiss on the cheek, they were both gone.
As much as Jacee was coming to love them all, she was glad to finally have some privacy. The horrid hours of grief, believing she’d lost her love, caught up to her, and she wept, burying her face in her hands. She meant what she’d told him—she couldn’t take this again.
How was she going to handle him going on missions and fighting all sorts of monsters? Never knowing if he’d come home alive or in a body bag? But what else was he supposed to do for a living? As far as the world was concerned, Micah Chase, U.S. Navy SEAL, was MIA and presumed dead.
She worried it in her head until she was so tired she couldn’t think anymore. One thing was for sure: she could never ask him to give up his Pack brothers. This place and these people were more than just a job. They were family.
Asking him to leave here would be like ripping off one of his limbs. She couldn’t do it.
After checking on him one more time, she settled herself on the sofa close to his bed. Noah had thoughtfully provided a pillow and a blanket, and she soon dropped headfirst into the sleep of the stone-dead exhausted.
But tired or not, she had the most wonderful dream. . . .
* * *
She and Micah were taking a walk through their new home: their dream cabin in the forest not far from the compound, but just far enough for privacy.
Surrounded by trees, situated on the pretty plot of land he’d shown her that day, months ago, it was perfect. With four bedrooms, three baths, a media room, a den, and a pool and hot tub out back, it would be perfect for the two of them and for when friends or family stayed.
And for when they began having kids. Seeing other mated couples at the compound starting their families had her excited about a future she never dreamed possible. Kalen and Mac had their precious son, Kai, and Nick and Calla were expecting. Jax and Kira were trying and hadn’t given up.
Maybe she and Micah would be next?
Hand in hand, they discussed what kind of furniture to get, where to place it, but in truth she couldn’t have cared less as long as she was with him. The man who was the other half of her heart.
