“Easy, princess. I’m here. You’re not alone. You’ll never be alone again.”
“You promised,” she rasped. She couldn’t seem to open her eyes just yet. As though she was worried he would be a dream.
“Open your eyes, baby girl. I’m not a dream. I promise.”
She squinted. The lights were so bright. Whiteness filled her vision. That antiseptic smell assaulted her.
Beep-beep-beep.
And then he was there, standing over her. There was a cut on his forehead. His clothes were rumpled and bloodstained. And he looked wild. His eyes darted over her. He held himself so tightly, as though he was on the verge of exploding.
“Zeke? Are you all right?”
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “I thought I would lose you. When I woke up an
d found you weren’t there. . .” His fists tightened then relaxed. Tightened again.
“Zeke. I’m okay,” she told him quietly.
“Okay? Okay?” His voice grew loud and she glanced worriedly over at the door, grateful that she was in a private room. She didn’t want someone coming in right now. Not when her man was riding the edge of his control. “You are not fucking okay. You were in a car crash. You have a concussion and bruised rib. You have bruises from the ropes those fucking bastards tied around your arms. You are now in hospital and I could have fucking lost you!”
There it was. His terror. His fear.
“I’m alive, Zeke.”
“No thanks to me! I was supposed to protect you.”
“You did protect me.”
He gave her an incredulous look. “They were going to kill you!”
“I know. But they didn’t. Reyes came. . .”
“Reyes, fucking Reyes. Do you know how it killed me to let him go in there to save you?” He paced back and forth across the hospital room.
Zeke had been there? She remembered someone calling to her as she’d lost consciousness at the end, begging her to stay with them. She blinked back tears as she realized how terrified he must have been.
She needed to help him. “Zeke, come here.”
He grumbled something under his breath.
“Daddy, please come here.”
He turned to her. There was pain in those eyes. Agony. Zeke had grown up learning to protect what was his or it would be taken away. He hadn’t protected Elise and, even though he’d been a kid and it hadn’t been his fault, she knew how much he blamed himself. She knew that from on that she’d have to be very careful not to put herself in danger. Not that he was going to allow that.
“Come here. I need you to hold me.”
He stepped closer, staring down at her. “I’m scared I’ll hurt you.”
“You’d never hurt me. All you ever do is love me.”
He leaned over and she settled his head on her chest. Comforting him, for once. She ran her hands through his hair.
“I nearly lost you.”
“I’m here.”
“I didn’t keep you safe,” he muttered.