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“Mel, baby.”
Liam?
I relaxed when I felt him beside me, stroking the side of my head, his hand in mine.
“Mel, I need you to open your eyes for me all right? Just for a second?”
When I tried again, my eyes snapped open and I had to shut them quickly, trying to turn away from the light blinding me.
“Ugh…” I tried to tell them to turn off the lights, but my throat felt like sandpaper on a cat’s ass.
“Thank fucking Christ.” Liam kissed the top of my head.
What is this?
Again, I opened my eyes. Everything blurred together as if I were drunk until I saw Hot Dog Breath above me. His hair was red, his eyes were brown, and he was far too close for my comfort.
“Mrs. Callahan, I’m Dr. Fortmen. Do you remember what happened?” he asked, shining a light in my eyes.
Stop it! I wanted to yell, but the only thing that came out of my mouth sounded like a grunt.
“L…iam…”
I finally managed to get out, ignoring the pain in my throat.
“Yeah—”
“Ge…ge…t…him…a…way.”
He laughed again, kissing my forehead.
“Bear with him, okay? He’s fought to bring you back from the brink of hell more than once in the last twenty-four hours.”
Is that why I feel like shit?
Closing my eyes, I tried to remember what happened…
BANG!
“Melody! Melody!”
“Shot…” I was shot. I was fucking shot!
“Can you feel this?”
He asked rubbing something cool under my feet; I jerked away. “Yes.”
“That’s good. There seems to be no initial long- or short-term brain damage.” Dr. Hotdog—Fortmen, he saved my life, I should, at least, call him by his name. “However, she’s going to be here for another two weeks and will need at least three more months of monitoring once she goes home, just to make sure there aren’t any complications with the transplant.”
My eyes widened, and beside me, the machine connected to my heart rate spiked as well. Liam squeezed my hand. “Mel relax, breathe, you’re okay…wife, you’re okay.”
“Trans…transplant?” I winced and I didn’t know what from: the pain in my chest, the pain in my throat, or the raging headache now forming.
“I’ll give you two some time,” the doctor said, and for the first time, I noticed the team of doctors behind him clearing out one by one until it was only Liam and me. He sat on the edge of the bed, his hand on mine, the corners of his lips turned up in a small smirk—but it didn’t make it to his eyes. His tie—the green tie I’d gotten him because it brought out his eyes—hung loosely off his neck. The collar of his shirt was rumpled, the sleeves rolled up to his wrists. He looked like someone had run him over and he had barely made it out alive.
“Liam?” I squeezed his hand.
“I almost lost you,” he whispered, biting the corner of his lip. Dropping his head, he just brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it not once or twice, but three times. “I thought I lost you, Mel. I couldn’t feel you. You were hurt badly and we had to find you a new heart. Thankfully Cora came through, but until then you just lay there. You stopped breathing twice and both times I was ready to join you. I died, too… Damn it, Mel. Every time I let you out of my sight, I swear it’s like you try to leave me.”
