39
The first thing I see when I peel open my eyes is the blinding white light streaming down from above me, the harshness of it burning my eyes.
It takes a second for my mind to catch up and the beeping of the machine beside me tells me I’m in a hospital. For what reason, I have no idea. I have no recollection at all of what put me in here, but whatever it was must have been bad considering the amount of tubes that are currently sticking out of me.
I reach for the oxygen mask over my face, dragging it down, and once the sound of my own breathing is gone and I sound a lot less like Darth Vader, it’s then that the most beautiful sound drifts into my ears.
My eyes follow the sound, and that’s when I see her.
Sierra has her back to me, humming away to a tune only she can hear and my dry, cracked lips stretch into a smile. She’s fiddling about with a string of fairy lights, wrapping them around the curtain pole, like she’s done with the other window beside it. She brushes a tendril of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear while the rest is pulled into a thick messy bun at the back of her head. The hem of her knee-length pastel blue dress swishing around her legs as she sways from side to side, the dress fitting her curves beautifully.
I could lie here all day and watch her, lost in a world of her own, the sweet sound of her voice literally like music to my ears, but I need to see her face.
I need to gaze into those warm hazel eyes I fell for the second mine met hers. I need to see her smile that sets my soul ablaze.
“Is it Christmas already? How long have I been asleep?” My voice comes out croakier than I expected, my throat rough and dry.
Sierra drops the rest of the lights with a clink to the floor as she whirls around, those beautiful eyes wide as she takes me in. For a moment she’s rendered speechless, her mouth gaping open, and once her brain has kicked in to action, she rushes to me.
Her arms go around me, her touch gentle and hesitant as if I’m going to suddenly shatter like glass if she presses too hard. She buries her face in my chest, her shoulders shaking gently. “Oh my God…”
I clear my throat, setting a reassuring hand on the back of her head, stroking softly. “Princess, it’s okay. I’m alright.”
“I was so scared, Alec. I… I thought—”
“Hey, look at me,” I say, and she pulls back, those hazel eyes glazed with tears. “I’m okay. I’m right here.”
I cup her cheek and she leans into my hand, a tear escaping down her cheek. “I thought I lost you.”
I shake my head. “Never. Nothing will ever tear us apart, I won’t let it.”
“Seeing you lying here, not being able to help you, I… I hated it.”
“I felt the same when you were in the hospital. The waiting felt like an eternity, not knowing if you’d make it out. It was the worst kind of torture.”
I shake the memory away, not wanting to feel anything like that ever again. I’ve known fear at numerous points in my life, but nothing anywhere close to that.
“How long have I been asleep?” I ask.
“You’ve been in an induced coma for three days, but they’ve been slowly bringing you out of it. You’ve been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past several hours.”
A coma?
I try to shift my head into a new position but the pain that radiates through my skull has me wincing. “What happened?”
She frowns. “You don’t remember?”
I try to force my mind back, but it only makes the heavy throb there even worse, but tiny flickers of images flash behind my eyelids.
The car crash. The warehouse. Austin. Then… Nothing.
“Why am I here?”
“You had a brain bleed. You collapsed at the warehouse and they think it was caused by the car accident. They took you into surgery as soon as we got you here and they managed to relieve the pressure by putting you in a coma.”
Jesus.
I let my thumb drift over her face, noting the dark circles under her eyes and the heaviness in her eyelids. “You look exhausted, baby. Have you been with me all that time?”
“Near enough. I couldn’t bring myself to leave you. Your uncle and Della forced me to go home to sleep and shower but I came straight back, even if it was just to sit with you.”
My heart expands in my chest and I reach forward, dusting my lips over hers, my skin erupting in tingles the moment our mouths connect. Her lips against mine is the best feeling in the world.
“Did you say my uncle? Ray’s here?”
She nods. “He’s been staying at the house. He’s been so worried about you. We all have.”
I try to pull myself up to sit, but I’m too weak and my arms give way beneath me.
“Don’t try to move. I’ll go find the doctor, he’ll want to know you’re awake.” She shifts off the bed and disappears out of the room, returning a few minutes later with an older gentleman in a white coat.
“Hello, Mr. McKenna, I’m Doctor Clark. How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Exhausted. Weak. My head is splitting.”
“I’ll have the nurse stop by and give you something for the pain. The rest is to be expected given everything you’ve been through.”
“How long will it take to recover?” Si asks.
“It varies from patient to patient and depends on the damage sustained from the hematoma. Some in a few days, worst cases can take years to make a full recovery, sometimes never, but there’s no indication to why you won’t recover in a week or two. We’ll keep you in the hospital for a few more days to monitor you, but so far everything seems to be in order. For now, I recommend rest and no strenuous activity, nothing that will elevate your heart rate. If you notice any changes in speech, memory, etcetera, please notify us immediately. I’ll return later on today to check on you again, but in the meantime, I can see you’re in safe hands.” The doctor’s eyes flick over to Sierra with a knowing smile before exiting the room.
“You hear that? No strenuous activity,” Sierra says with a coy smile.
I rest my head back against the pillows and huff. “Damn, there go my plans for the evening,” I joke.
Her smile widens, a devilish twinkle in her eyes. “I’m sure there’s something we can do.”
“Come here, baby.” I usher her closer, shifting across the bed as much as I can without disturbing my IV to allow her room next to me.
She climbs in carefully, her hand resting on my chest as she leans over me and takes my mouth with hers. Her lips glide effortlessly over mine, her tongue skimming the seam of my lips.
She throws her leg over mine, her knee grazing my cock and I can’t help but groan. When I think it was an accident, she does it again and I hiss.
“Keep doing that, princess and there’ll be even less room for both of us on this tiny bed,” I say, noting my growing erection.
She giggles, burying her face in my neck before laying her head on my shoulder.
“So what’s with the fairy lights?” I ask.
“I wanted to make it prettier in here for when you woke up. I remember how daunting and plain everything looked when I was in here, I wanted it to brighten the place up a little.”
“Just you being here brightens it up plenty, princess.”
We lie in a contented silence for a short while, comfortable in each others company so much that words are unnecessary.
“I felt myself dying,” I blurt out and her head snaps up, her eyes staring into mine. “I saw that light that everyone talks about when you die. It was so bright. So… Inviting. I remember walking towards it, reaching out for it, but then I heard your voice.”
“Me?”
I nod, meeting her glassy eyes. “I remember hearing you say that you loved me.”
She gasps softly.
“I stepped back from the light, rejecting the pull it had on me because I wanted to wake up and say that I love you too. Your words saved me, princess. Your love brought me back to life and as long as I have it, I’ll always be here.”
She cups my face. “Always. You’ll always have my love.” Her forehead tips forward against mine, a single tear dripping from her cheek onto mine. “God, Alec, I wanted to tell you so many times but it never felt like the right time. And then when you collapsed… I thought I’d missed the chance to tell you.”
“I’ve known how you feel for a long time, princess. I felt it. I feel it. Spoken or unspoken, it doesn’t make it any less real, but I will say it now. I love you, Sierra. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you. I knew right from that day that you were the one for me, and I’m the luckiest man on the planet to be able to be called yours.” I reach for her hand and take it in mine, bringing it to my lips.
“I love you,” she whispers, tucking herself closer to my side. “You saved me too, you know? In more ways than one and I will forever be grateful to have you in my life, I can’t imagine it without you.”
“You never have to, because this is where I’ll be, by your side. Forever.”
“Forever.”