Chapter 31
“Whoa, take it easy, Em.” Sebastian rushed into her hospital room and gently held her waist, careful that his hand didn’t brush against her stab wound.
“I’m fine, Seb. I just need to get dressed so I can sign the discharge papers and get out of here.” It had been five days since the majority of Emma’s memories came back, and Sebastian still heard the tortured scream she’d let out that night every time he looked at her.
“Do you want me to go get Daisy?”
“No, I don’t know why anyone is even here. I’m fine to leave on my own.”
“Em, they’re here because they love you. This is a big step, getting to go home.”
“But I’m not going home, am I?”
He understood. His place didn’t feel like hers. When he’d spoken to Declan the day before, they were still a few days out from having everything done at the bakery, and that meant a few more days before her apartment would be ready. He was secretly grateful for that. The home nurse he’d hired would help ease some of his anxiety now that she was being released from the hospital, but having her in his apartment, in his bed, while Marco was still out there, gave him a little more peace.
“I have everything set up at the apartment.”
“Your apartment, Seb. My home burned down, remember?”
Maybe they could stop by on the way to his place? Would she feel better knowing that she could return to her home once Marco was caught?
She’d been lashing out since she woke up from her sedation after they all found out who Marco really was. It was horrible, knowing that Natalie was able to integrate so seamlessly into Emma’s life because of him. He couldn’t even begin to think about what Emma was feeling, knowing someone who had become a close friend had been a part of taking away the most precious thing in her life.
“It’s only temporary, Sprinkles. I mean, I know I’d love for you to move in and never leave, but just think of my apartment as the place where you can rest and recuperate before going home. You’ll be able to go back to your apartment in no time.”
“That reminds me that I need to call the insurance company and see how things are moving along with my claim. Could you hand me my—” she raised her arm and gasped, nearly falling over before Seb’s steady hands reached for her.
“Sit. Now.”
“I’m fine.” She groaned, hand pressed to the wound still healing on her belly.
“You’re not fine. You’re pushing yourself too much. Maybe we need to talk to the doctor again. Make sure that leaving is really the right choice.” The fire that burned in her eyes as she looked at him in disbelief could have taken out the entire hospital. He’d already delayed her leaving twice, the last time being the day before when the doctor insisted she was fine to recuperate at home. He didn’t care. She’d still looked pale, and he would pay whatever it cost to keep her there until he was certain she would be fine in his care. “Or, we can just keep getting ready for you to break out of here.”
“Right. Now hand me that shirt and help me out of this robe.”
Sebastian untied the robe, not shy about letting his gaze linger over her beautiful body.
“Don’t look at me like that, I know it’s grotesque,” she whispered, her head turned away from him. He placed his hand on her chin and tipped her face back so that he was looking directly in her eyes.
“You will never say that about yourself again. This body is amazing Emma, and I’m trying really hard to remember that you need to rest, not deal with certain body parts of mine that can’t seem to remember I’m not a horny sixteen year old. You’ve always driven me wild, from the first time I saw you in your floral apron with your hair all done up in a messy bun, to right now. You. Drive. Me. Wild.” He sealed his words with a kiss on her hand. Then he moved up her arm, kissing each of the marks that were healing better than anyone had expected. By the time he made it to her lips, they were salty with the tears she was crying.
“Don’t cry, Sprinkles. Everything is going to be just fine,” he smiled. “Now, let’s get you home.”
“I-I’m not wearing any pants.” She let out a soggy laugh.
“The good news just keeps rolling in,” he winked.
* * *
Sebastian was sitting in his office, begging the minutes to pass by as quickly as possible so he could get back upstairs to Emma. She’d banished him to work early that morning and been more than pissed on the three occasions he’d found his way back to the apartment. She made it clear that under no circumstance was he to go back to the apartment before dinner. It was killing him, but thankfully the nurse he’d hired to watch over her was sending him regular updates.
And then, an hour ago, Gage had come in with the most amazing news. They had found them. Natalie made the mistake of shopping at a store with up-to-date security cameras in their building. Thanks to Tracker’s not so legal hacking skills and a computer program he’d been working on, they’d traced their movements through a small suburb of Dallas and had the location of where they were staying in less than an hour. As much as Sebastian wanted to go, he couldn’t leave Emma. So instead, he’d notified Agent Wilson and sent the guys to intercept them.
Sebastian walked to the elevator and pressed the button for his apartment. His stomach churned, knowing he was about to keep Emma in the dark. It was only her second day home, after all. Better to make sure everything went smoothly and Addie was on her way to Emma, safe and sound before he got her hopes up. And fuck, he was praying with every fiber of his being that by morning, Emma would be holding her daughter in her arms.
“Emma?” The bedroom was empty and Sebastian felt his chest tighten. Had something happened?
He turned to Eileen, the in-home nurse he’d hired, who was busy working in his living room.
“Where is she?”
“She hasn’t come out of there today,” she said, eyes wide at the aggressive tone Sebastian had questioned her with.
He turned back into the room, and that’s when he heard it. A sob coming from the bathroom. He knocked on the door and tested the handle.
The sight froze him in place. Emma was there, standing at the sink in the robe he’d gotten her, scissors in hand, cutting off her beautiful hair. Tears streamed down her pale face.
“Sprinkles? What are you doing?” He held her hand, gently turning her towards him. Her hazel eyes were red-rimmed from crying.
“I r—remembered how h-he touched my hair. I c-can’t do anything about how he marked my body, but I don’t want his touch on me a-anymore.”
“Okay. We’ll take care of your hair.” He brushed his hand across her forehead. “Em, you feel warm. You’re not supposed to be up like this yet. Let’s get you back to bed.”
“No, Seb. I want it gone.” He felt her whole body shiver, and the pit in Sebastian’s stomach grew.
“And I’m going to cut it for you. But you need to be taking it easy. And that means getting that beautiful body of yours back in bed so we can get the nurse to check out your temperature. No arguing.”
“Fine.” She handed him the scissors and walked gingerly out of the bathroom, her hand pressed low on her belly where her wound was. He didn’t miss how her face winced with each step, or how she gasped when she had to get back in the bed. He’d made the mistake of offering her help, only to be met with a glare full of self-determined rage.
“Why don’t you let me ask the nurse for more pain medication, too?”
“No. I’m not in that much pain. And I don’t want to be in a fog when you find Natalie and Addie. I don’t want her first time finding out I’m her mom to be when I’m looped out of my mind.”
“Okay,” he sighed. “Open your robe so I can check your stomach.”
“You don’t need to do that. It’s fine.”
“I just watched you hold on to your belly like something was about to fall out. You winced when you got into bed and you feel warm to me. I want to see it, Em. Now.”
“They discharged me from the hospital, Seb. And Eileen has been checking on me all day. I’m okay.”
“Yeah, well, I still think you should have stayed for a few more days. Now quit stalling and let me see.”
“So bossy.”
“I’m never going to let anything hurt you again. That stands for tiny germs, too.”
Emma laid back and smiled as she opened her robe. Seb washed his hands and walked back to the bed, lifting the tape holding her bandage in place. He winced at the slight redness around her incision, shouting to call the home nurse to their room.
“What’s wrong?”
“How long has this been bothering you?”
“I just figured it was because we started tapering off my pain meds.”
Eileen walked in and washed her hands.
“What can I do for you?”
“How about the fucking job I’m paying you an outrageous amount to do?” Sebastian growled, not caring about the gasp that left the nurse’s shocked face.
“Sir, I assure you?—”
“She’s in pain and her skin is red and inflamed around her wound. It looks like an infection. I expect you to call the doctor and alert him immediately.”
“Ms. Sullivan, why don’t you let me look and then I can better assess what you need?”
“Of course. Thank you.” She gave Seb a scathing look, but he didn’t care. Emma was supposed to be monitored. Surely something was off, or trending that way, earlier. The nurse missed it, and he wouldn’t let that slide.
Emma sucked in a sharp breath as the nurse pressed on her incision and Sebastian’s hands formed into fists by his side. How much more pain would she have to endure?
“Alright beautiful, how about you tell me how much of your hair you want to cut off, and once Eileen is done, I’ll do my best barber shop impression?”
Her eyes squeezed shut. “A-all of it.”
He couldn’t imagine cutting off all her beautiful hair.
“He grabbed the hair on the side of my head. It has to go. But m-maybe we can keep some on the top.”
“Sure, Sprinkles. Whatever you think. I’m imagining something punk rock and super bad ass. It’ll be perfect for you. I think we’ll need clippers though. Are you okay with that?”
“I just want it gone, Seb.”
Eileen finished looking over Emma, a fresh bandage now on her wound. “I think everything is okay, for now. No fever, the redness could just be from moving around too much. Let’s have you just stay in bed for the rest of the day. If you need to use the restroom, Mr. Montgomery will need to carry you there and back, understood?”
Panic flared in her eyes.
“I can carry you back into the bathroom to cut your hair, too.”
“Okay. C-can I take a shower after?”
“As long as you have a chair you are sitting in, I think that should be fine,” Eileen said.
“I’ll be right back.” Sebastian left Emma in the bedroom to grab a chair and his clippers, so thankful in that moment that he’d been cutting his own hair since the early days of his career in the Navy.
“Let’s go, Sprinkles.” Sebastian picked her up, loving the way she immediately melted in his arms.
He set her down gently on the chair, closing the door to reveal the full length mirror. “Shall we start with the sides?”
“Yes. Let me tie up the top.” He watched as she gathered a section of hair, wincing as she tried to tie it in place.
“Here, let me.” He slid his hands over hers, taking the hair tie and securing the section. “Look good?”
“Yes. Please start cutting, Seb.” The tears were already gathering in her eyes.
He worked for a few minutes, stopping after every stroke of the clippers to check in with her. When he moved from the first side to the other, she smiled and let out a huge sigh. His heart felt lighter than it had in days, that being the first genuine smile he’d seen from her in what felt like a lifetime.
He turned the clippers off, letting the hair on top of her head down. The way she sectioned it off, when laying flat, you almost couldn’t tell she’d cut her hair.
“You are so fucking beautiful, Sprinkles.”
“Thank you, Seb. It feels like, I don’t know. I can’t feel his touch any more.”
“Perfect. Now let’s get you in the shower and clean you up.”
Sebastian turned the water on and let the bathroom fill with warm steam before he placed Emma, chair and all, into the shower.
“If you hand me the shampoo, I can be done in just a few minutes,” she said as the water cascaded down her body. Her eyes never left him as he stepped out of his pants. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting in the shower with you. I’m going to wash your hair and then bundle you up and take you to bed.”
“You don’t need to—” Sebastian pulled his shirt over his head, and Emma gasped.
“What is that?” she pointed to the two small stars over his heart. “You got a tattoo? I thought you hated needles.”
“I do hate needles,” he said as he stepped into the shower, kneeling in front of her so she could get a better look at it. “But when you were in the hospital, I knew I never wanted to be without you. I had two stars tattooed over my heart for my two girls. One for you, and one for Addie. Because even though things are really challenging right now, and she isn’t back home yet, I know one day our family will be whole and happy. I always want a reminder with me of the two strongest women I know.”
“Our family,” she traced her fingers over the bigger star first, then the little one. “I love it, Sebastian. I’m sorry we won’t be able to add more stars to our family.”
“You are everything to me, Emma. You have always been enough.”