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The doctor headed for the door, but stopped short, looking back. “Oh, and there’s a visitor here for you. Ready for her?”
“Her?” He hadn’t a clue who’d be visiting him. Only George knew he was even there. He lifted his cast on his left wrist. “Yeah… sure, Doc.”
Dr. Ravenna opened the door wide—and there she stood.
“What… what the… Kelsey?”
The neurosurgeon stepped outside. The door closed behind Kelsey as she came into the room.
She looked… well, she looked about like he felt. But she was never more beautiful.
“Max?” Her eyes were welling. “Max? Can I… come sit by you?”
“Come here,” he whispered, a lump in his throat already aching. “Come over here, sweet girl.”
She rushed to him then, and plastered herself to him, leaning over the rail of the bed and hugging him fiercely.
Her eyes were pouring tears when she finally looked up at him. “Max, I’m… I’m so sorry. Please… please forgive me.”
“For what?” He knew, of course, but as soon as he saw her standing there, he didn’t care. None of it mattered. He was alive.
And she’s here!
“I was… so fucking stupid.” She pulled a chair over so she could sit, the feet screeching on the polished tile. “I… I was afraid. My dad… I thought he—”
“Shh,” he said, trying to grasp her arm with his bad hand, and hissing at the sharp pain clawing into him as he moved it too quickly. “Your dad and me… we’ll have to figure things out. A lot to talk about. I don’t know what’s going to happen… but we’ll figure it out. Just, for now… just be still, and listen to me. Can you do that?”
“Y-yes.” A glistening tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Why you left… what happened… who did what… who said what. I don’t care.” He touched her cheek, clumsily wiping that tear away with his thumb despite his cast. “All I care about is you. That you’re here. Now.” He took a deep breath, willing himself not to choke up. It was no time for that. “I need to tell you something. When I woke up, the paramedics were pulling me out of the wreck. They told me I was raving. I don’t remember that though. Even though it felt like someone had caved in my damned head, I have a very clear memory of what I was trying to say. They said it was mostly gibberish. Except for one word, over and over.” He touched her cheek, caressing her, loving the feel of her against his fingers. Something he genuinely feared he’d never get to experience again. “They said they could only make out one word. Care to guess? That word was… Kelsey.”
She began to weep then, and though his heart broke seeing it, his cock began to harden, too. Her tears would never not have that effect on him, no matter how wrong and evil that might make him.
“Max… I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you! If I hadn’t left, maybe you wouldn’t have—”
He pressed a finger to her lips, her tears glistening there now, too. “Shh, just be still, sweetie. It’s okay.”
She nodded, squeezing his other hand feverishly.
“I thought I was probably going to die. I had weird shooting pain down my legs, my jaw was numb, I was seeing double, and I had the worst headache I’d ever had in my life—not to mention the sprained ankle and broken wrist. I was a hurting unit, sweet girl. But all I could think of, all I wanted to say was… tell Kelsey that I love her.”
And it was true. Even in mortal fear of death, it far outweighed any other consideration, that one last thing.
The most important thing.
That he’d fallen in love with his Kelsey girl.
She began to cry openly now. “Oh, Max, I’m here! I’m not going away, not ever again. I belong here, and I know I should never have left.” She pressed her lips to his, the sweetest, wettest, and longest kiss she’d ever given him. Then she smiled again, her welling eyes locked with his. “And I get to tell my sweet man, today—and every day from here on—how much he means to me. And that I love him so much. Max, I love you. Please say you forgive me. Please!”
She hugged him again, and though it hurt almost every part of his body, he squeezed her tight, his voice thick, just on the edge of breaking. “I forgive you, Kels. Oh, God, I forgive you.”
Kelsey beamed then, her face awash in tears. “Now, let me nurse you back to health. I’m here now, Uncle Max. I’ll take care of you.”
“Won’t get any argument here.” He brought her close, pressing his lips to her forehead, a long, lingering—and possessive—kiss. “No better way on this earth to heal what ails me, than the love of my girl.”
Chapter 29
She was true to her word. They’d spent another three nights at the hospital, until the CT showed complete clearing of the subdural hematoma.
