AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I groaned and parted my lips, deepening our kiss., making love to her with my mouth. Her small moan was all the reward I fucking needed.
Despite it all, she didn’t hate me. It was a goddamn miracle.
I brushed my nose with hers when we parted. “Your doctor says you’ve been doing really good,” I commented. “You make me so fucking proud, baby. You’re my little warrior.”
She smiled, her eyes brightening. Shit hit me like a punch to the gut.
Her pretty ass smile would always be my fucking undoing.
She made a cradling motion with her arms. I frowned, my gut churning. Was she asking about Kira?
I wasn’t sure if mentioning her name would send her over the edge, and I was terrified to find out.
She frowned at me and then pretended like she was burping a baby. I swallowed thickly. “Kira?” I asked, hoping and praying that the sound of our little girl’s name wouldn’t undo the progress she’d made.
She smiled at me and nodded. I blew out a soft breath, relaxing again. She seemed okay. “She’s good, baby girl. Your brother has her right now.”
She nodded, still smiling. Then, she surprised me by opening her mouth and speaking. Her voice was hoarse, but it brought tears to my eyes.
“Miss . . . her,” she whispered.
She fucking spoke.
I cupped the back of her neck in my hand and dragged her lips to mine, kissing her deeply and thoroughly. “Weallmiss you, baby girl—Kira included,” I promised her.
The doctor stepped into the room, and I knew my time was up. None of us got long with her—five minutes at the most—because the doctor didn’t want to overwhelm Bailey. Bailey looked up at her with a frown. “Baby,” she managed to utter.
The doctor beamed at Bailey. “Soon, Bailey,” the doctor promised her. “Tell Seth goodbye. It’s time for lunch and your medication.”
Bailey stood up at the same time I did, and she hugged me tightly. I wound my arms tight around her and buried my face in her sweet-smelling hair. This was home.
I leaned back and gently cupped her cheek, brushing my thumb over her lips. “I love you, baby girl. Continue blossoming, you hear me? Stephen and I willalwaysbe waiting on you,” I promised her.
She smiled up at me with tears in her eyes before she walked to a nurse that appeared and left the room with one more longing look back at me.
And for the first time since she’d been admitted, I felt like I could breathe normally again.
18
Bailey
It took a good month for my speech to return. I went through a fuck ton of speech therapy as well as writing exercises and small art classes.
I felt like a child learning how to write all over again, like a toddler learning its first words.
But I knew Seth, Stephen, my brother, and my parents were all on the outside rooting for me.
And my daughter was waiting for me to get better, to learn how to cope so I could be with her and so I could be everything she needed me to be.
I was a broken mess right now, but I was determined to be a good mom.
Dr. Masley sat in front of me, a kind smile on her face, just like always. Today, we were going to try going through our first therapy session about my feelings and working through them since my speech was mostly back to normal. I still had to pause every once in a while to think of words and how to form them, but for the most part, my speech was okay.
“I want to start from the beginning, Bailey,” she told me. “Tell me when you had yourfirstanxiety attack.”
I would never forget that day. How the fuck could I? Trent had been bleeding out in front of me.
I swallowed nervously. “Trent tried killing himself,” I said quietly. “He . . .” my voice trailed off. I blinked back tears, feeling overwhelmed.
