“And I’ll kill him.”
“That’s my job.” I pulled my eyes away from her pale face and looked at him instead. She’d lost so much blood and had required a blood transfusion, but somehow, she still looked pale as a ghost. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Hard not to. That’s my job.”
“Well, you’re fired.”
He chuckled. “Think about it. She’s going to wake up and see you looking like hell. You haven’t showered in days, you haven’t shaved, and you look like shit. At least go home and shower and change your clothes. I can watch her for a couple hours.”
It was like asking a parent to leave their child. It was the hardest thing to do. I knew Annabella didn’t have any family, so I was her family. There was no one else to sit by her side other than me.
Hades saw my hesitation. “It’s fine.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be here when she wakes up.”
He pulled back his sleeve and looked at the time on his watch. “Doctor said you still have twelve hours. You’ll be back long before then.”
I wasn’t comfortable in these old clothes, and I hadn’t brushed my teeth in days. I didn’t need to sleep, but the lack of hygiene was making me uncomfortable. And I definitely didn’t want her to see me at my worst. “Alright. I won’t be gone for long.” I rose to my feet and patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before I headed to the door.
“Damien?”
I turned back to Hades.
He nodded to the meal he’d just brought. “Are you going to eat that?”
I gave a slight smile. “It’s all yours.”
When I returned, I was much more comfortable in a new set of clothes and a shaved chin. Annabella was exactly as I left her, sleeping soundly. Hades stuck around for a bit and we talked, but eventually, he went home to his family.
And I stayed with mine.
She slept longer than the doctors anticipated, and it was nearly a day later before she woke up. I slept on and off in the uncomfortable armchair, and when I heard her shift in the bed, I opened my eyes and immediately scooted forward.
She started to move, her hand reaching for the ventilator that breathed on her behalf. The nurses warned me she would be agitated when she woke up because the tubing was extremely painful. I grabbed her hand so she won’t pull on it and hit the button to call for the nurse.
She opened her eyes and looked at me, and when she recognized my features, she stopped fighting. She was unable to speak, but her eyes conveyed so much. She was so happy to see me, so emotional, and she grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. Now, she stopped fighting the discomfort in her throat and focused on me.
She made my heart grow a million times in size.
The nurses removed her from the breathing tube and situated her in bed before they checked her vitals and left.
The second she was mine again, I grabbed both of her hands with mine. I looked into her hollow face because she’d been eating through a feeding tube and had already lost weight she’d never needed to lose in the first place. Her hair was oily because all she received were sponge baths, and she didn’t look her best. But to me, she was perfect.
She was always perfect.
Now that she was there with me, I was at a loss for words. I had no idea what to say because I was caught off guard by the look in her eyes. Without any warning, tears sprung to my eyes, and I finally allowed myself to celebrate the victory. She survived. She was still here. And soon enough, she would come home with me.
Even when the doctor told me she would be okay, I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. It was too good to be true. It had to be a sure thing before I dropped my guard.
Now it was.
When she saw my tears, hers started to form too. She squeezed my hands back with limited strength and breathed through the emotion in her veins.
She took that bullet for me. I never would’ve wanted that…but it meant the world to me that she had.
No one else would’ve done that. Not even Hades. What had I done to deserve a love like this? I’d hurt her so many times. I wasn’t the man she deserved.
But now, I would be.
After evaluating her, the doctors said she needed to stay in the hospital for a few days before she could be discharged. She stayed in bed the entire time, had meals when they were brought, and spent most of her time conversing with me.
For the amount of pain she was in, she was oddly delightful, even when the pain meds wore off. She was just happy to be with me, just to be alive.