66. Kaos
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
KAOS
I thought time was dragging when we were locked up inside the apartment with no clue where they were keeping Camilla and Crew, but this is worse.
Every tick of the clock is excruciating as we wait for someone to tell us what’s going on, for them to tell us if she’s going to be okay, and I’m not the only one feeling it.
We sent most of our allies home except for some of the Saint James men we have stationed around the hospital as security, and now we’re sitting in a private waiting room with Elias, Wyatt, Leighton, and Chloe.
The latter is skittish as hell and I’m curious about how she and the Lombardi’s know one another, but it’s not the time to ask. I’ll leave that to Camilla once she wakes up.
If she wakes up.
I keep catching myself thinking about what we’re going to do when she gets out of the hospital, because what if that never happens? What if she doesn’t survive this?
A cup of coffee appears in front of my face, and I look up to see Leighton standing beside me, her eyes somber. “I thought you could use this. It’s been a long time since any of you have slept.”
“Thank you,” I say as softly as I can manage and watch as she moves toward Kovu to extend the other cup she’s holding to him.
We’re all dealing with this in different ways, but unsurprisingly, Kovu is taking it the worst, and I hate to think about what will happen if she doesn’t make it.
I drop my elbows to my knees and look down into the Styrofoam cup as if it holds all the answers, but the sad-looking hospital coffee doesn’t have anything that I don’t, apart from caffeine.
As I lift the cup to my lips, I spot someone step into the doorway, and I shoot to my feet, determined to protect my family before I realize it’s a doctor who looks a little nervous in our presence.
“Are you Camilla De Marco’s family?” he asks.
“We are.” Crew steps forward, his wrists bandaged and a plaster over the inside of his elbow where they gave him fluids after we arrived.
He looks around hesitantly before he nods. “Camilla is stable. It was touch and go for a while there because the blood loss was so severe, but she pulled through. The next few days will give us an indication of what her recovery will look like, but I have every faith that she will wake up, and in a few months, she’ll be able to live a full, long life.”
A choked sob tears from my throat, and I don’t bother trying to swallow it as relief overwhelms me. I was trying to be strong for the others, trying to put up a strong front so they had someone to lean on, but hearing she’s going to be okay is the best news I’ve ever heard.
Crew pats me on the back at the same time Kovu joins us. “Can we see her?”
The doctor nods. “She’s in a private ICU room, which you can visit. Normally we limit the number of people in the room to two at a time, but given your unique relationship, we can make an exception.”
Plus, the donation he knows we’ll make when we get out of here for their discretion, but I don’t bother correcting him. All that matters is seeing our girl.
“We’re going to head home for some sleep, but let us know if there’s anything you need,” Elias says as we move toward the door.
“Thanks for everything,” Bishop replies as he grasps Wyatt’s shoulder. “I mean it, what you did for us the last few days is everything.”
“Nothing you haven’t done for us,” Elias reminds him as he pulls Leighton into his side and presses a kiss to the top of her head. I used to look at them and think they were stupid for giving a woman so much power over them. But now I get it. Now I understand that Leighton is their strength just as much as she’s their weakness.
We follow the doctor down the hallway, each of us quiet as we prepare ourselves for whatever we’re going to find on the other side of the door, but when we step inside after the doctor, his hazel eyes trained on the ground as we pass him, my chest tightens.
Camilla is covered in wires and tubes. A machine beeps with every thump of her heart, and I find solace in the annoying sound. She’s pale, and when I reach for her hand, careful not to bump the IV that she’s attached to, I realize how cold she is.
“We’re here now, Princess. We’ll never let anyone hurt you again,” I whisper as I press a kiss to her forehead.
Bishop steps up on the opposite side of the bed and brushes his fingers through her matted hair. “She’s going to get real sick of our shit.” He half laughs.
“I’m telling you, she’s never leaving the compound again,” Kovu says as he takes his place beside me and takes her hand out of mine. The moment he’s touching her, some of the tension bleeds from his body, and I can’t be mad that I’ve lost contact with our girl when my best friend looks so content for the first time in days.
“I don’t agree to that,” she croaks, and we all pause, our eyes dropping to her face where her eyes are fluttering open.
“Little Menace,” Crew chokes. He brushes his fingers down her face with such care I wouldn’t have thought my uncle was capable of it, but after what they’ve been through together these last few days, I have a feeling he’ll never be the same heartless man he was before we met her.
Her eyes fall on each of us as she makes sure we’re all here, and then they slip closed again, and she relaxes into the mattress. “You all look like shit.”
A laugh tears from each of us, and it feels so out of place in a moment like this. But perhaps that’s the beauty of our relationship and the men we’ve become since she came into our lives.
“Thanks, love.” Bishop chuckles.
“Go home and shower,” she says. “Believe me when I say I’m not going anywhere.”
I shake my head, but the smile tugging at my lips remains. “We’re not leaving you, Princess. Not ever.”
Her eyes flicker open and meet mine before she pulls her hand from Kovu’s and takes mine instead. “I know you won’t.”