AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Terese moves to the opposite side of the bed, so I lean in close. “Yeah, Mom was here. A lot. Everyone was here. Jimmy tried to talk you into dumping me. Aiden and Jon sat with you a lot. Aiden even read you some chick books – he wants to know who won the fight at the end of that story.” I smile, but it’s shaky and pathetic. “He’ll be mad he has no legit reason to finish it now. I know he was into it.” I press a soft kiss to her wobbling lips. “I got to meet your dad’s friend, George. He came by when he heard. He was worried about you.”
“And Jack?”
“He was here every single day, and only left when my mom or brothers dragged him out.”
“What about Izzy? I remember now.” She shakes my hand off gently and presses fingers to her temple. “I remember she got hurt. Is she okay?”
“She’s perfect, baby. She stayed in the hospital for a couple days, had a concussion and a big headache, but she’s fine. It takes more than that to knock a Hart down. She’s all better now.”
“Okay.” She hiccups on an emotional sob. “That’s good.”
“Are you hurting, babe?”
Her eyes meet mine for a long, silent minute, as though taking stock to give me an accurate answer. “Umm, I guess. My head hurts. And my arm, too.” She looks toward it as though she forgot it was there. Her eyes widen when she stops on the cast, but I’m not sure if she’s shocked by the cast itself, or by the writing covering it completely.
Jim and Jack spent a lot of time drawing all over it, and though I don’t know for sure who did it, someone – Jack – drew dicks. He drew dicks all over his sister’s arm.
“My stomach hurts, too. And it’s hard to breathe deep. And my butt hurts from lying down. Can I get up?”
Terese shakes her head and lays her palm on Kit’s good shoulder. “No honey, you can’t get up yet. Just lay a while longer. We need to get your doctor in here first, then we’ll talk. You’ve already done all the hard work. You’ll be out of here in no time now that you’re awake.” She flits around the room, marks documents, reads reports, writes on whiteboards, but minutes later, she taps Kit’s foot on the way out and assures us the doctor will be by shortly.
The police stood by and watched Terese move around, but when she leaves, they nod and let themselves out – they’ll be back later.
“Hey, Bobby?”
I look down and brush the hair from her eyes. “Yeah baby?”
“I missed you.” Fresh tears flood her eyes. “I dreamt about you, and even in my dreams, I missed you.”
I lean in and kiss her softly; her brow, her nose, her lips. “I missed you too, baby. So much, it hurts. I swear, you scared most of my life away. I thought you were with Tink, I thought you were safe. But you weren’t, and even when they had you, I wasn’t looking for you until hours later. I just didn’t know. I’m so fucking sorry, baby.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m okay.”
“No, it’s not.” I lift my head and stare deep into her eyes. “I knew something was wrong. Ifeltit in my gut, but I ignored it. I thought it was Iz, and training, and even just exhaustion and hunger. But I knew, I knew from the moment you were scared. If I’d paid attention, I could’ve found you before you were hurt.”
“I’m okay. It’s all better now.”
“You did it all by yourself, baby. You got yourself out, and I’m so proud of you.”
She nods lazily, her heavy eyes closed more often than open, but I don’t know if she’s allowed to sleep yet. Will it be a regular sleep? Or will she stay asleep for weeks?
I don’t know what to do.
Fuck, I don’t know, but I don’t want her to go away again. Not now that she’s back. “Can you stay awake for me, baby? Until the doctor comes?”
“I’m not tired.”Yawn.“Can I see Jack?”
“I don’t want to leave you. Please stay awake for me, baby.”
“Call him. Tell him to come here.”Yawn.“I need to see him. I promise to stay awake.” Her eyes droop, and my heart races. I’m terrified that she’ll slip away again.
“Okay, baby. I’ll call him now.” Hoping the distraction will keep her awake, I take out my phone and dial Jack’s number. I study her face and stroke her fingers with mine, but when a pile of crap littering one of the visitors’ chairs begins to ring, we glance over.
She snickers softly at Jack’s failed‘call me if anything changes!’plan. Brand new tears flood my eyes at the sound of her soft laughter. I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear it again. I wasn’t sure I’d ever speak to her again.
I dial Jim’s number and lean forward to kiss my girl while I wait for him to answer. She smiles against my lips, but when her big eyes flutter closed this time, I don’t mind. Her monitors beep wildly, so I know she’s not sleeping anytime soon.
“Hello?”
