Chapter 5
Five
Fuck, his body hurt.
Right? That was the sensation he was feeling. Or not really feeling. Shit, everything felt so strange. Disconnected. How bad had the mission gone that he’d gotten so fucked up?
A cave. Dark. Empty. That’s where he was.
Where he had to be. Stone tried to reach for the light he had on his belt.
Standard issue. The guys should be turning theirs on too.
Only… his body wasn’t responding. What the hell?
He could hear sounds, voices all around him.
Murmurs, like he was on one side of a thick door, and everyone else was on the other.
What the fuck was that beeping noise… Was it all a dream?
He could wake up.
He needed to wake up.
Instead, the darkness pulled him back.
“You better wake up, man. I have about ten thousand questions for you, and you are going to answer them. So if you’re being a stubborn idiot just to get out of talking to me, you can knock it off.
The doctors here already told us we have to treat you like you’re made of glass when you finally stop being so damn dramatic and wake up. ”
Phoenix.
“Listen. I know you think I’ll be mad about you and Mae, but I’m not.
My best friend, the guy I’ve watched put his life on the line for people he doesn’t even know, loves my little sister?
Someone I’m terrified of on the best of days?
Dude, I’m not thrilled that you broke her heart.
I’m not sure what the fuck you were thinking there, but you can wake up and figure it out. ”
He broke Mae’s heart? No, that couldn’t be right.
They were just at Nash’s wedding, weren’t they?
Stone tried to sift through the disheveled memories in his mind.
Everything was foggy, but he was certain that the last thing he remembered was their wedding day.
The guys had sat with Lacy as she talked to the lawyers.
They were at dinner… Lacy’s allergy. Oh shit.
Was she okay? Was that why he could hear beeping in the background?
He was asleep in her hospital room? Why would Hawk be there and not Nash?
“Any change?”
Mae. She was there. Why couldn’t he open his eyes?
“Nothing. You should go back to the apartment with Rhett and Mrs. L. You’re still looking like shit.”
The beeping got louder as he heard his mom’s name. And his brother was there, too?
“Thanks. But I can’t do another night away. I hated it.”
“I didn’t mean that in a mean way. I’m worried, Sissy…”
“Don’t call me that. It’s always something bad happening when you call me that.”
Warmth covered Stone’s hand. Citrus and sugared vanilla wrapped around him.
Mae must be holding it. What was going on?
Stone tried to take inventory of his body, but it felt like he was suspended in mud.
He wanted to move his legs, his arms, fuck, even his fingers, but nothing would work.
His brain couldn’t get his body to respond.
“Besides, I took a break in the cafeteria. Lacy forced me to eat some chocolate pudding and I almost kept it down.”
“All the more reason you should go. Actually sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. That’s not the first time you’ve gotten sick.”
What did that mean?
“It’s just the stress. I’m like Mom. Can’t eat or drink or sleep or anything else until I know everything will be okay. So, I need to be here. I need to get him to wake up.”
“It’s been almost a week. You heard the doctors. We’re just waiting on Stone to be ready to wake up. And he’s just being stubborn.”
A week? He’d been sleeping for almost a week? Why did that feel wrong? The numbness in his chest and his body had to mean something… but he couldn’t remember what.
“But what if he’s not?”
“He’s going to be fine. He’s tough. Not as tough as me, but still.”
“You’re not funny.” She sniffled. Why the fuck was she crying? “Being shot twice, barely making it through surgery, his head… what if he doesn’t come back to us?”
Being shot? No, no. He needed his body to listen to his mind. Wake up! Wake up! Mae fucking needed him and he couldn’t wake the fuck up!
“Do you hear that?” Mae’s voice held an edge of panic.
“Yeah, his heart rate just picked up.”
“Should I get a nurse, or a doctor?”
“Talk to him, Mae. I think he’s responding to your voice.”
Pressure landed against his hip and hand.
“Hey, Sully. I know it probably feels so good to sleep, but I need you to wake up, okay? I need you to come back to me. I don’t want the way we left things to be the way things are always left.
Don’t do that to me. I won’t ever be able to watch Dr. Quinn again if you leave before we finish watching it together again.
Don’t leave me here without being able to watch my favorite show, okay? ”
He could hear the tears in her chuckle, the emotions packed in her teasing crushing him beneath the weight of clarity in his confusion.
The beeping increased again, but the darkness was back, swirling around in the shadows of his mind. Pulling. Tugging. Willing him to go back. And he wasn’t strong enough to fight against it yet.
But he would be.
“Please, Stone. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
It’s been over a week. You’re healing. It’s time for you to come back to me.
Please.” Mae’s beautiful voice was tight and tired.
Had it really been that long? The darkness made it feel like time didn’t exist. “Your mom and brother came with me today. They’ve been looking after me.
Forcing me to leave. I don’t want to though.
I want to make sure I’m here for when you wake up.
I know there’s not an ‘us’ right now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to come back to me.
” Mae sighed. “Anyway. I’m letting them stay at the apartment.
Sara and Rhett are in the guest room, and your mom is in our bed. ”
He could hear the tears before he even heard her sniffle. No. He didn’t want her to be sad. The darkness was comfortable. Calm. Except for the beeping. The beeping was starting to irritate him.
“I’m sorry I can’t stay there again. I know that makes me weak, but I just can’t. Not with the way we left things… not with the way things are right now. The thought of trying to eat or sleep there another time… without you… ”
What did that mean? The way they’d left things?
“Oh my god, don’t worry, though.” Her hand slid over his, the pressure feather light and warm. “I packed all our… toys…. up so your mom wouldn’t find them. And that little outfit I wore for you a few weeks ago. The one with the ruffles. Can you imagine your mom coming across that in the laundry?”
She laughed, and the beeping sound in the background picked up. What the hell was that?
“Sully, I swear to god, if me talking about sex toys in the Intensive Care Unit is the thing that gets you to actually wake up…”
Yes! Keep talking! For the first time, Stone could feel the edge of the darkness pull away.
“Please, come back to me… I don’t…” Mae groaned, the warmth wrapped around his hand disappearing as her voice grew distant. “God, I don’t feel good. I should have eaten something.”
Pressure hit by his hip. Her head. She was laying her head on the bed. Stone tried to pull free from the foggy tendrils that were starting to call him back into the darkness.
“I’m okay. It’s going to be okay,” she groaned.
“I’m staying tonight, Sully. But I need…
I need a break. I told Sebastian I’d be starting to work a few hours each day.
Everything has been shut down trying to figure out who did this to you, and I don’t want to be away, but for my mental health, I just need to spend some time at the office.
I’m sorry I’m not stronger. I’ll come back with Rhett and Sara, but I…
God, I just need something to feel normal again. ”
Fuck. He needed to move his hand. To stroke her hair. To hold her in his arms again. To feel the weight of her body against his. To kiss her…
But the darkness was powerful. It was sticky. And tight. And no matter how much his mind fought against the chains pulling him under, Stone was no match for it.