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Gideon nodded. “Okay. Why don’t you and Penn go, and I’ll meet you there after Rita leaves to take the twins to school.”

“Sounds good.” I freshened up and met Penn by the door.

We weren’t allowed to go anywhere alone and now instead of the buddy system, Gideon had two extra guys with us at all times.

When we arrived at the hospital, I saw two of Gideon’s guys, Seth and Theo, sitting in the waiting room. They rose as we walked over.

“Hey,” Seth greeted us.

“Any action?” I asked.

Theo shook his head. “Nah, we’ve been here for a few hours.”

“Alex and I are going to see if we can go in to visit. Why don’t the two of you get a bite or something?”

“Yeah, okay, thanks, Penn.” Seth left with Theo on his heels. I was sure they were happy to get out of the hospital. It was soul sucking.

We approached the nurse’s station, and the woman behind the counter smiled. “Good morning, how may I help you?”

“We were told we could see Danny Brooks in the ICU today.” I figured if I just stated it as fact she’d let us go, but I was wrong.

“Well, there’s only one person permitted in the ICU with a patient at a time, and before I let you in, I do need to reach out to the on-call doctor.”

“How long will that take?” Penn was acting calmer than I was. I wanted to snap at her to just let us in.

“Shouldn’t be too long. Have a seat.”

It took fifteen minutes for her to call us back up. “The doctor will allow one person at a time for twenty minutes.”

“You go.” Penn nudged me.

I wasn’t going to argue. “Okay.”

The nurse grinned. “I’ll walk you there so you know the way.”

As I followed the nurse, my stomach was in knots. Whenever I closed my eyes, all I saw was Danny lying on the pavement in briefs that were dirty and a body covered in blood and bruises. In the light of day, I’d be able to understand the true extent of his injuries, and I wasn’t sure I could see him like that. But I would because this was Danny and even banged up, I needed to know he was alive.

“Here we are.” She motioned to a medical bay that had glass doors, but the curtain was drawn so I couldn’t view anything inside. “Melody was just washing him up and changing linens.”

I nodded and slid the door open; then I did the same with the curtain. There was a petite woman who was just cleaning up as I entered. But I couldn’t focus on her because Danny was right in front of me.

He had a bandage around his head, and the blanket was resting on his lap, exposing the cuts and black and blues that painted his gorgeous ivory skin. His eyes were closed but swollen, and I wasn’t sure if that had gotten better, but right now it looked horrible.

“He’s doing pretty good today,” Melody offered.

“Is he?”

She had that demeanor so many nurses had. The one where they had infinite kindness and patience. “He’s a fighter.”

Danny was a tough motherfucker. I didn’t need to see him all beat up to know whoever was on the other side of his fists was worse off.

“Can I?” I gestured to the chair beside his bed.

“Absolutely. You can hold his hand too, and I encourage you to talk to him.” She left us alone after that but explained that the curtains needed to be opened, so the nurses and doctors could observe him. It was fine—they wouldn’t be able to hear me.

I took the seat and stared at his hand resting there. He had a small bandage on this one and an IV in the other one. Tentatively I reached out, gently took his hand in mine, and held on.

“You’ve never been quiet this long, and I’ve decided I hate it.” That was how I started. “I’ve also come to the conclusion that you should never be this still. Even when you sleep, there’s always part of you moving.”