45. Felicity
felicity
Pain lances through me as my eyes flutter open, the bright lights of the room making it hard to understand what I’m looking at, but the beeping tells me I’m in a hospital.
I try to move my limbs out, feeling every ache and pain. It isn’t as bad as I expected, but there is some definite tightness in my shoulder and side area.
“Oh, you’re awake,” someone says, and I turn my head to find a nurse standing there. He is tall with a nice smile on his face. Coming over to me, he checks the machines by my side. “I’m Colin, your nurse for the day.”
“Nice to meet you, Colin.” I clear my scratchy throat, blinking. “I’m Felicity. What time is it?” I ask, squinting toward the closed window. There is a faint glow, but I can’t tell the time.
“It’s nearly six in the morning,” he replies chirpily for the God-awful hour.
“Six?” I squint, my head aching. “What day is it?”
“Saturday.”
I blink, shocked. “I’ve been here a day?”
“Hmm, let’s see.” He goes over to a wall, where there is a whiteboard that has my first name written on it. Pulling out a chart, he nods. “Looks like you came in yesterday evening, had surgery that went on quite longer than was expected. Now you’re already awake, which is great news.”
“Where’s, um…” I shake my head a little, wondering where everyone is.
“Your security is just outside the door. Would you like me to get him?”
My security? Ezra.
“Yes, please.”
“I will do that and go grab the doctor who will be in to tell you about the surgery as well.”
“Thanks, Colin.” I manage before my head flops back onto my pillows. I let out a deep sigh and let myself take in the emotions that hit me over the crazy events that happened over the last few days.
My door opens again, and Ezra marches in, taking one look at me before a breath wooshes from his lungs. “Fuck’s sake, Felicity. I leave for three days, and you go and get kidnapped.”
I crack a grin. “Just trying to keep you on your toes, Ez.” Squinting, I ask, “How’s your mom doing?”
He runs his hand through his hair, which has started graying at the temples. I fear I caused that, but it adds to the guy’s charm. “My mom’s fine. A lot better than you, so please don’t worry about anyone else.”
“What? I love your mom.” She makes these peppermint cookie things for me every year that are actually ridiculous and make me feel loved.
“She loves you,” Ezra says, then shakes his head. “I need to call Jax. He wanted to know the minute you got up.”
My heart lurches in my chest at the thought of seeing him, and I blink. “Is Lawson okay?”
Ezra nods, coming over and patting my leg. “He’s good. Thea brought him to the hospital to see Jax last night, and I’ve never seen a baby relax more around a person in my life. It was fascinating to watch.”
“He loves Jax,” I whisper, my head growing more and more achy.
“The feeling is definitely mutual. I sent them home though so he could get some rest. So both of them could. I’m pretty sure your entire family, including your future in-laws, crashed at your house last night to stay close.”
I smile, loving the thought of my home being filled with the people I love. “Sad I missed it.”
“Give me a minute to call Jax. I need to fill you both in on what happened.”
I barely get the word “okay” out before I drift back to sleep.
Some time later, I wake up to a light brushing of something on my lips, and my eyes blink open to see Jax’s blurry form above me. “Hey, baby.” His whispered words bring immediate tears to my eyes, and I have to close them against the onslaught of emotion.
“Shh.” He shushes me, pulling us together. My hands cling to his arms, afraid to let him go. I have no idea where these emotions are coming from, but if I had to guess, I would say that somewhere between getting kidnapped, shot, and landing in a hospital, something has finally caught up to me.
“I’ve got you.” His strong arms wrap around me, taking care of my injuries, and I couldn’t care less if he hurt me right now. I just want to stay right here in his arms for as long as he lets me be here. “I’ve got you. I’m so sorry.”
Sniffling, I pull back and squint at him. “Why are you sorry?”
Jax’s expression betrays the calm demeanor he was trying to hold on to, switching to bewilderment.
“Why am I sorry? My father hurt you, Felicity.” He bites his lip, sitting on the edge of my bed, his eyes tracking my body.
“I can’t even fathom what I would do without you, what I would have done to him had the cops not shown up. ”
“Hey.” I grab his hand, pulling him close. “Sometimes you get to be the big bad guy and save me, but sometimes you need to just let things be. Your dad must be in jail or something, right?”
Jax clenches his eyes shut. “Yes, he is. So are his fucking goonies.”
I crack a smile. “Justice then.”
“We’ll see,” Jax says, his eyes landing on mine again, and like he can’t stop himself, he leans forward and takes my lips with his own.
His kiss relays the desperation he must have been feeling over the last two days, from me not showing back up at home to finding out I was missing to finding me and seeing me get shot.
I can’t imagine how that must have felt.
I reach up with my right arm gingerly, threading my fingers through his hair and pulling him into me, sipping at his lips and wishing, like anything, we were at home, where we could lie in bed and just breathe each other in.
Jax presses another kiss to my lips, his hand gently caressing my jaw, and I flutter my eyes open, staring at the man that I’ve loved for the last thirteen years and have no intention of not loving for the rest of my life.
I smile at him, so grateful he and Lawson are okay, that we are all safe. “Where’s Law?”
Jax seems to breathe a relieved breath and says, “At home with our moms. They both wanted to come see you, but I convinced them to let me come first.”
“I’m sure they don’t mind the extra time with Lawson. Is he really okay?” I never expected my first time overnight away from my son would be under the circumstances they were.
A knock on the door has Jax standing up off of the bed, and I look to the door to see Ezra walk in, his face stern before he lays eyes on me, and his expression softens somewhat. At least, for him it does.
“Thanks for calling me, man,” Jax says, reaching over to shake Ezra’s hand, and I hide a smile at the reluctant friendship I see blossoming in front of me.
“Of course.” He sighs and turns to me. “I think they’re sending officers over for your statement.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“But you should probably know the whole truth.” He starts, looking back to Jax. “Your dad already gave his statement, and it held some truths in it no one was expecting.”
Jax frowns. “What do you mean?”
“He was hired to kidnap Felicity,” Ezra announces, and my breath catches in my chest as I frown at Ezra.
“What?” I breathe.
“Who the fuck did that?” Jax demands. I see his cheeks turn a flushed pink, and his fists clench by his sides.
“Well, that’s the worst part, in my opinion,” Ezra says. “Zack gave me a call yesterday after he saw it on the news.”
I gape, unbelieving. “Zack did this?”
I watch as Ezra clenches his jaw, his head shaking side to side. “Jeanette.”
Blinking in shock, I ignore the curse that flies from Jax’s lips as he starts to pace in the room.
“Jeanette?” My question is soft and quiet, the shock hitting me in the chest.
Ezra nods slowly, his anger palpable and his concern written all over his face. “She was concerned you were losing traction, so she created an opportunity to get you back in the limelight.”
I scoot up on the bed, my side pulling slightly from the injury Jax said I had there, and shake my head. “But I’m due to go on tour next month. My album is already projected to be one of my best.”
“She just had a baby!” Jax explodes, pointing at me but looking at Ezra like it’s his fault. Ezra stares Jax down, taking the anger, and I realize then that he’s doing it because he understands. “She could have been killed! Did she realize how unhinged my fucking father is?”
“How did she even get to his dad, anyway?”
Ezra shrugs. “I’m not entirely sure. I think she did some tracking down and research and found out what kind of person your dad is.” He looks at Jax, who’s sitting down and leaning over his knees. “Jax, it’s not your fault.”
“Like hell it’s not,” Jax says, his tone filled with misery. “I’m the only reason that connection was made.”
“She’s doing this because I’ve been stubborn, not because of you,” I say, trying to rein in how horrible I feel. I can’t believe any of this is happening. “You saw her on New Year’s. She was pissed I went against her wishes.”
“Which I don’t understand. You two announcing the pregnancy and getting in front of all of those people put you back in the spotlight. You’ve been the talk of the town for months.”
“Yeah, but that’s not raking in any money,” I answer Ezra’s thought. “I’ve turned down all the interviews and endorsements.”
The amount of baby companies that reached out was overwhelming, but I didn’t want to make anything a show when it came to being a mother. I wanted to keep everything normal for Law so he can grow up without the spotlight on him.
“Well, whatever it is, she’s being tracked down. They have your father’s confession,” he says to Jax and turns to me. “And I convinced Zack to come forward. The dude is clueless.”
“Did he have something to do with it? Was that why he was there?”
“According to him, she asked him to come and see you and get you away from Jax. When you agreed to come to the coffee shop, I guess she was going to ambush you there, or so that’s what Zack says. Instead, you stormed out and got taken. I’m guessing that was her real plan all along.”
“I see.” Leaning back against the bed, I take in all of this new information. It was unsettling, concerning, and frankly, a little horrifying. But I could still be grateful. I was alive, after all. “Well, hopefully they find her soon.”
“I’ve been in touch with your lawyers as well. They’ve already filed the termination of her and are looking for someone else for you.”
“Maybe I don’t need a manager.” I think it would take a lot to get someone I could trust at this point. I don’t want anyone near me for a while.
“Well, Jeanette’s a cog in the machine. You have a lot of people on your team that can help get everything ready for the tour still.”
I shake my head, going to lift my left arm to brush my hair out of my face, and wince. “Yeah, I think I might need to worry about my health first.”
“You’re damn right,” Jax interjects, standing and coming back to my side. He still looks tortured, but I’m glad he hasn’t tried to do something stupid, like leave.
“Well, that’s what I know right now. I’m gonna go make some calls. You staying?” he asks Jax, who nods his head. “Cool. I’ll be here. Just call if you need me.”
He says this to Jax before squeezing my hand and leaving the room. It falls quiet as I stare at my very handsome boyfriend. “Jax.”
Finally, he turns his gaze on me, a mixture of pain and anger clearly on his face. “Yeah? You need anything?”
“I need you to stop torturing yourself, Jax.” I reach out for his hand, and he grasps it tightly. “I love you.” My voice is quiet and hoarsely breaks at the words. “I need you to be here with me, to focus on what this means for us, for Lawson.”
He nods, blinking and rubbing a hand over his face. “Of course. Yeah. Of course.”
His words agree with me, but I can tell he’s not forgiving himself just yet. We will get there.
Before I can say any more, a doctor enters. We go over everything, about how lucky I am, but that the surgery that was done to sew up my side was tricky, and I would need to be careful. Somehow, by some miracle, I wasn’t hit anywhere vital.
I have to sit and think about that for a while, wondering how I could have been so lucky, but I don’t discredit that. I just take it with grace and gratefulness.
By the time the doctors have come and gone, the police show up and take my statement. I try pumping again for the first time in two days, and a nurse brings around two trays of dinner for Jax and me. I feel ready to crash again.
Hopefully, when I wake, I will be able to get back home again.