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If he was warm, everything would be okay.
But try as I might, it was hard to find even one patch of unmarred skin. His arms were covered in long gashes and bruises that disappeared under the short sleeves of his hospital gown. Angry red marks surrounded his entire throat. His beautiful face was so swollen and bruised that I still couldn’t find any part of his features that confirmed it was really him.
I settled for letting my fingers lightly brush his hair, which had a slightly sticky texture to it. I realized it was most likely flecks of blood.
Tears welled in my eyes. “Ash, baby, can you hear me?”
He didn’t respond and sheer panic sliced through me. It was only the steady sound of the machine tracking his heartbeat that kept me from completely losing it.
He was sleeping.
He had to be.
Any second he’d wake up and he’d tell me he was okay.
“Ash,” I whispered again as I leaned down to put my mouth close to his ear. “I’m here now, okay? I know you’re tired, baby, and you don’t need to say anything… but I need you to open those beautiful eyes for me. Just for a minute, okay? Then you can go back to sleep.” When he didn’t respond, I squeezed my eyes shut and rasped out, “Please, Ash. Please don’t do this to me.”
I heard a slight shuffling sound behind me and forced myself upright. A young woman in scrubs frowned slightly and said, “Can I help you?”
“Please, is he… is he…”
I couldn’t even bring myself to say it. I wasn’t even really sure what I was asking.
The nurse’s frown dissolved into a look of pity as she moved farther into the space. She was carrying an IV bag. “Are you family?” she asked.
I managed a shake of my head. “Please, is he—”
“He’s asleep,” she said.
The relief was instantaneous and my knees actually buckled. I managed to catch myself on the bed’s guard rail. “Why isn’t he waking up?”
“Sir,” the nurse said gently. “I’m afraid if you’re not family—”
“I love him,” I interrupted. “I love him, and I need to tell him that. I need him to wake up so he knows.”
I knew I wasn’t making sense, but it was like my mind was still trying to catch up. It was still in the damn hallway looking at that fucking apron and trying to come up with any excuse to explain why the thing was here in this terrible place.
“Are you his husband or fiancé?” the nurse asked, her voice strangely slow as she asked the question.
No, not slow.
Suggestive.
I nodded. “His fiancé,” I quickly said.
The nurse nodded in satisfaction and said, “He’s heavily sedated, Mr…”
“Vale,” I supplied.
“Mr. Vale. The pain meds he’s on will keep him under for a while.”
“What happened?” I asked. I finally settled for touching the tips of my fingers to the tips of Ash’s on his splinted arm.
“My understanding is the coffee shop he works at was robbed tonight while he was locking up. I know the injuries look bad, Mr. Vale, but fortunately none of them are life-threatening. His arm is broken, but he won’t need surgery. The doctors are waiting a couple of days for the swelling to go down before they cast it. Beyond that, it’s just a matter of keeping him comfortable while his body heals itself.”
“Robbed?” I said with a shake of my head, because it made no sense whatsoever. What kind of robber took the time to beat someone so badly, let alone break their victim’s arm? There was only one explanation for what had happened to Ash, but before I could say anything, the woman continued on her own.
“Things could have been a lot worse if his cousin hadn’t shown up and chased the robber off.”
“Cousin?” I said, completely dumbfounded.
“Between you and me, that robber didn’t stand a chance against an NFL football player, did he?” she said with a slight smile. “Your fiancé is very lucky. Mr. Flynn said he managed to get a few good punches in before the guy got away, so the cops are hoping the guy goes to a hospital to seek treatment. He might even come here…”
I couldn’t hear anything else she said over the noise in my head. I felt like a freight train had slammed into me, and I was still struggling to catch my breath when the curtain was suddenly pushed back and a familiar body filled the small space.
“Ah, Mr. Flynn, I was just telling your cousin’s fiancé about how you saved the day—”
“Aiden?”
A maelstrom of emotions went through me at the sound of Ash’s shaky voice. I had no clue how I managed it, but I was able to tear my eyes off Bomber long enough to look at Ash. His eyes were clouded with pain as they met mine. They shifted briefly to Bomber— no, Billy— and then he closed them and turned his head away.
