CHAPTER 28 - BRYNN
The first thing I feel is heat.
So much heat.
It’s all around me, and it’s not subtle.
Not like the warmth of a brilliant summer’s day seeping gently into your skin. No, this is more like being wrapped in aluminium foil and baked on high for forty-five minutes. It’s suffocating and uncomfortable, and I want out.
I start to struggle against whatever the hell is holding me down. Twisting my body, fighting to loosen it, just enough to allow me to breathe.
And that’s when the pain hits.
My shoulder is on fire.
It’s on fire!
I battle harder and try to scream for help, but when I open my mouth, no noise comes out. I can’t escape the burning, the stabbing, the—
“Brynn, stop. It’s okay.”
I gasp at the low rumble of his voice, inhaling a long, shaky breath.
It’s familiar, it’s comforting.
It’s home.
“Brynn, open your eyes.”
Grizz.
A large hand cradles my cheek, his thumb swiping tears from my face.
Where is he? I need to find him, I need to get to him.
The pain is pulsing and throbbing, and the faster my heart races, the more intense it becomes. I have to find Grizz. He’ll make it better, make it go away, but my eyelids feel like lead doors—impossible to force open on my own.
“Me and Jon Bon are here baby,” he murmurs and a smaller hand slips into mine.
“Mom?” The sound of Jovie’s voice and her tiny sniffle almost breaks me. “I really miss you, but if you’re not ready to come back yet and want to rest some more, that’s okay too.”
No.
No, I want to be with her.
I want to be with them.
I grit my teeth, willing my eyes to cooperate, fighting the numbing darkness that’s eager to drag me back under. I don’t want to be there. I want to be home.
I want to be with Jovie and Grizz.
And I’ll claw my way out of these shadows if I must. If that’s what I have to do to get back to my family. The people that may not have been there forever, but that have been there when it matters the most. Like right now.
My eyelids flicker, letting in a little flash of light.
That’s it, a little more, a little further.
“We’re right here,” Grizz whispers, his breath grazing my forehead. “Whenever you’re ready, we’ll be right here.”
Another flash of light stabs at my eyes. It’s bright and cold, and even though I wince, I keep pushing, forcing the lead doors open until I’m finally able to make out a blur of colors and shapes. Faces, even!
I furiously blink away the tears that are plaguing my vision, and Jovie’s face is the first thing I see, leaning over me, her smile bright and her eyes puffy and bloodshot.
“Hey you,” I manage to whisper, though it doesn’t sound anything like me.
My voice is scratched and raspy, and the instant the words are out I start coughing, my throat and mouth far too dry. Unfortunately, the coughing jerks my shoulder, bringing back the burning sensation, along with a new stabbing pain in the back of my head.
“Grab Mom’s water, Jon Bon,” Grizz says and Jovie quickly rushes around the bed to a small table, grabbing a tall glass with a straw in it.
She inches closer to the bed, carefully leaning in and holding it out for me.
I manage to force a smile, and sip a couple of times on the straw, my body relaxing as the cool water coats what feels like the Sahara Desert within my throat.
“Good work, Mom!” Jovie praises, stepping back with a triumphant smile. “Do you feel better?”
“A little,” I murmur, sounding a little more like myself.
“Why don’t you go let the nurses know Mom’s awake. I think she might need some more painkillers,” Grizz suggests and Jovie nods sharply, heading straight for the door, marching like she’s on a special mission.
When the door swings closed behind her, I finally turn my attention toward Grizz, my cheek settling on a small wet patch on the pillow. My tears.
“Hey,” he whispers when our eyes meet, his voice cracking so sharply, I swear I can feel it in my chest. “There she is.”
He’s hunched forward in an old chair, his body dwarfing it and the room around us. I wiggle my fingers and he forces a smile before reaching for my hand, brushing this thumb back and forth over my knuckles in slow, steady strokes that feel oddly familiar.
Like he’s been doing the same thing for hours.
Or days.
“Hey,” I say simply, not sure I’ll be able to get much more out without breaking down. Instead, I squeeze his hand reassuringly.
“You scared me,” Grizz whispers, and for the first time, I focus in on his bloodshot eyes and the red rim around the edges—as if he hasn’t slept in days. His long hair is twisted into a mess on the top of his head, with stray pieces whipping around as he shakes his head. “You…”
He stops, clearing his throat and choking out a broken laugh.
“You were hypothermic, and you’d lost a lot of blood,” he continues to explain, though I can tell it’s hard. “The doctors said—”
“Doesn’t matter,” I croak out, refusing to let him relive those moments when I’m right here, in front of him, alive and breathing.
There isn’t any need to think of what if’s.
“It does matter,” he rasps, his expression hardening for a moment. “Because this is my fault. Sarah did this because of me.”
This time, the pain I feel in my chest, I know is not real. This time, it’s my heart crying out for Grizz and the look of pure devastation and anger on his face.
“No.” I clear my throat lightly and lick my lips, determined to say what I need to before he talks himself into some ridiculous scenario where he’s at fault for someone else’s actions. “No. No way. She's sick. It’s not on you. It’s on her… and Victoria.”
Grizz shakes his head, strands of hair falling loose around his face.
“I should have—”
“No,” I repeat again. “Her family should have done something a long time ago. All you did was show kindness to a person who needed it. And that’s not something to regret.”
The burn of tears in my throat starts to build, and I sniffle and clear my throat, trying to fight them off. At least until I can get out the words I need to say.
The words he needs to hear.
“Since we stumbled into Hallowed Springs, you’ve protected me and Jovie,” I whisper, looking down to where our fingers are linked. “First, when we showed up with nothing. Then again with the fire. The storm. Now this. We are here because of you.”
He drops his head, pressing his lips to my hand.
“And because of you,” I continue, “Jovie feels safe. She feels like she belongs somewhere and has a family… a very masculine, leather wearing family. But she feels more love than I could have ever imagined for her.”
He lifts his eyes first, and I move my hand to his face, my nails gently scratching across the overgrown stubble decorating his jawline. It’s rough and unkempt, but kind of damn sexy.
“What about you?” he asks, leaning into my touch. “What have you got out of this other than pain and worry?”
I can’t stop the chuckle that bubbles up from my chest, the gentle shaking tugging at my shoulder and making me flinch and suck in a sharp breath.
Grizz practically leaps to his feet. “You want me to get the doctor?”
“Sit down, damn it,” I curse with a smile, and shake my head as he begrudgingly sits back in the uncomfortable looking armchair. “You found me, Grizz.”
His shoulders slump and he lifts his hands up, linking his fingers and resting them on top of his head. “I thought—” He stops, clearing his throat and refusing to look at me. “I uh… I thought I was too late.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be,” I whisper, drawing his eyes back to meet mine—his brows raised in surprise.
“Jovie and I showing up in Hallowed Springs on the day you needed a new staff member to do a job I’ve been doing for years…
that’s not a coincidence. That’s the universe bringing us together.
And I know that it doesn’t matter if I’m on the road to nowhere, or it’s snowing a blizzard, or if things are on fire, or if I’m lost in the dark… We’ll always find each other.”
Grizz reaches out, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again,” he swears quietly.
I smile, feeling as though the air around us is a lot lighter—easier to breathe.
“That’s good,” I say with a sigh. “Because I wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.”
He narrows his gaze. “Or ever…”
“Or ever…” I repeat, my smile growing wider.
A soft knock on the door has Grizz straightening, but his body relaxes the moment Jovie peeks around the corner. She grins at the sight of me and rushes in, two nurses behind her.
“See! I told you she wasn’t going to stay asleep forever,” Jovie announces proudly, and Grizz gets up from his chair, stepping back so the nurses can get close and take some vitals.
He lifts Jovie into his arms, both of them watching on. “Yeah, you called it Jon Bon.”
“How long was I out?” I ask, looking to the nurse on my right side with a frown.
“About three days,” she answers as she scribbles on her chart. “The doctor wanted to make sure you got a lot of rest.”
The other, much older nurse, tears off the blood pressure machine and puts it to the side. “And it’s been so lovely to see so many family members come in and sit with you. You’re very lucky to have so much love and support to help out when you head home.”
So many family members?
So much love and support to help out?
“Your vitals look good,” the older nurse comments with a warm smile. “We’ll let the doctor know and he will come in and do some more checks a little later.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, feeling the tears building again.
“Would you like us to let the visitors out in the waiting room know that they can come in?” The younger nurse asks as she pauses by the door.
Grizz nods. “Yeah, that’d be good.”
When she disappears into the hall, I glance over at Grizz with raised brows. “The boys have hung around?”
Jovie wriggles out of his arms, slipping to the floor.
“Yes! Me and Axel formed an…” She pauses and looks to Grizz.
“Alliance,” he offers with a smirk.
Jovie nods. “Yeah, me and Axel formed an alliance with the lady who runs the cafeteria downstairs, and now she gives us free chocolate milk when we help clear off the tables for her.”
“Damn right she does,” Axel confirms as he walks through the door, holding his hand up for a high five.
Jovie slaps it and grins.
“The rest of us have just got real good at board games,” Hades says, strolling in behind and stretching his arms up over his head. “It’s good to see you come out this side, and not the other side.”
I smile and nod. “I don’t think I’d do too well down there where it’s hot. I’ve started to grow fond of the cold.”
A few more of the boys file in behind, slowly filling the already tiny room, but when Kev walks in holding a large dish in his hands, my mouth instantly begins to water, and my stomach growls so loudly, everyone in the room chuckles at the sound.
I’m not even ashamed.
I haven’t eaten for three days, apparently.
“Is that…”
“My famous lasagna?” Kev grins and nods. “I’ve been stockpiling dishes and putting them in Grizz’s freezer so you don’t have to think about cooking for a while.”
My heart.
“And Mac and Blaze went out and got a Christmas tree, so you don’t have to do anything either,” Alex insists, scrubbing his hand over Jovie’s hair. “The kid decorated it and the cabin.”
“And I’m gonna start on the clubhouse next,” Jovie says loudly, the boys instantly up in arms. She giggles to herself, leaving them to argue and running over to my side.
We watch them silently. These large, loud, intimidating men in denim, leather—and one still in his chef’s jacket—discuss whether they should cover the clubhouse bar in tinsel and baubles.
It’s almost hilarious.
But mostly, it’s the closest thing I’ve ever felt to a real family in my entire life.
Jovie takes my hand, leaning into me gently and whispering, “we have a pretty cool family, right?”
My breath catches, my eyes meeting Grizz’s across the room as I squeeze Jovie’s hand tight.
“Yeah, we really do.”