Chapter Thirty-Three #2
My throat tightens, but I force myself into nurse mode. “He’s still in surgery. There was a complication with an arterial bleed, but so far, the splenectomy is going well. The wound on his head’s stitched, and the abrasions to his leg are superficial and should heal fine—”
“What about his kidney?” Macy interrupts immediately.
“It’s okay,” I reassure her quickly. “They checked it. His transplanted kidney is functioning normally.”
“Oh, thank God,” Hux breathes, squeezing Macy tighter against him.
“Can we see him?” Macy asks hopefully.
I shake my head gently. “Not yet. He’s still in surgery, and then he’ll go into recovery for a few hours.”
Emotion suddenly swells in my chest looking at them standing here together after all this time. These two people who loved me like family, even after I disappeared from their lives all that time ago, without a word.
Sure, Hux eventually found me and made sure I was okay financially, but he never knew the full truth. He never knew I spent weeks sleeping in my car before I found somewhere safe to stay. If he had known, he would have dragged me home himself.
And if I am honest? Maybe he should have.
“Indi.” Hux’s quiet voice pulls me from my thoughts as he steps closer.
“Yeah?”
“We love you. You know that, right?”
My eyes instantly sting with tears again.
Macy smiles softly beside him and nods.
“I love you guys too,” I whisper brokenly.
“Well then…” Hux says gently, “… you know we’d do anything for you if you needed us.
” I nod slowly. “So when Caleb wakes up…” he continues carefully, “… please take the time to actually find out what happened.” I look down at the floor while he keeps talking.
“He loves you, Indi. From the deepest part of his soul, that boy loves you.” Tears spill silently down my cheeks.
“And I know you love him too.” My chest aches painfully, hearing the certainty in his voice.
“You two need to work this out,” Hux says firmly.
“Sasha is a lunatic. And the kind of love you and Caleb have? That’s bigger than some obsessed girl trying to destroy things. ”
I wipe at my face shakily.
“Did he fuck up?” Hux asks bluntly. “Absolutely. But that boy would spend the rest of his life making it up to you if you let him.” A sob catches in my throat.
“That’s all Caleb’s ever wanted, sweetheart.
For you to be happy.” Hux sighs heavily before reaching out and brushing a tear from my cheek.
“And if he truly believed you were happier without him, he’d let you go.
But none of us is blind enough to think either of you is happy apart.
” My bottom lip trembles violently. “And honestly?” Hux gives me a pointed look.
“You’re one of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met.
” Despite everything, a watery laugh escapes me.
“You run every time something goes wrong,” he says gently.
“But relationships aren’t about running.
People screw up. Sometimes badly. That doesn’t mean you stop fighting for each other.
” His words hit me harder than anything else tonight.
“Caleb could’ve died tonight,” Hux whispers.
“Would you have been okay spending the rest of your life knowing things ended between you like this?”
My heart twists painfully. “No,” I whisper instantly. “No, I wouldn’t.” The tears come harder now. “I’ve been so stupid, Hux.”
He immediately pulls me into his arms, holding me against his chest while I cry properly for the first time in weeks.
“Shhh,” he murmurs, kissing the top of my head. “You’ve both had difficult lives. But you need to learn to go through hard things together instead of apart.”
I cling to him tightly, soaking up every ounce of comfort from the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father.
After a long moment, I finally pull back enough to look at him. “Did Caleb tell you about Sasha?” I ask quietly.
“He told me everything.” My stomach tightens nervously. “He said Sasha claimed they were sleeping together while you two were together.” Hux shakes his head firmly. “That’s just not true, Indi.”
I stare at him. “It isn’t?”
“No.” His answer comes without hesitation. “You know Caleb better than that. Yes, he slept with her that one time, and yes, he regrets it deeply. But he’s never cheated on you.”
The relief that slams into me is so overwhelming that my knees almost give out.
Fresh sobs burst from my chest while Hux tightens his grip around me to keep me upright.
“Sweetheart,” he says softly, stroking my hair. “You two being apart over this is ridiculous. It shouldn’t take a horrific accident for you both to realize what matters.”
All this time… I’ve been wrong.
Yes, Caleb made a terrible decision sleeping with Sasha, but I should have listened to him. I should have trusted him enough to let him explain. And now he’s lying upstairs recovering from emergency surgery after drink driving because we were both too broken and stubborn to fix things sooner.
“Thanks for everything, Hux,” I whisper shakily once I calm slightly. “You’ve always been more of a father to me than my own dad ever was.”
Hux gently sits me down beside him in one of the chairs.
“Indi,” he says warmly. “You’re the daughter I never had.
” My throat tightens instantly. “And one day…” he adds with a soft smile, “… I hope you’ll be my daughter-in-law.
” Tears immediately spring back into my eyes.
“That’s how much I believe in you and Caleb. ”
I swallow around the lump in my throat, completely overwhelmed.
Hux smiles. “So when they tell us he’s waking up… I want you to go in first.”
I widen my eyes in shock. “Me?”
He nods like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
That’s when I glance toward Macy. “Shouldn’t you guys be the first people he sees when he wakes up?”
Macy smiles and reaches over to squeeze my hand. “No, sweetheart,” she says softly. “You should.”
I blink at her in shock.
“You two need to talk properly,” she continues gently. “As long as Caleb’s medically okay, then your face is exactly who he should wake up to.”
Emotion clogs my throat completely. “Thank you,” I whisper. “That means so much to me.”
Hux nudges lightly against my shoulder. “Just don’t break his heart again, all right? I don’t think the poor kid could survive it another time.”
“I won’t,” I promise instantly. “I swear.”
Then all we can do is wait.
Four and a half exhausting hours crawl by. Colt, Lia, Annie, Aston, Chad, and Ella eventually arrive after Hux calls them. Everyone’s exhausted, sprawled around the waiting room, half asleep while the sky slowly lightens outside.
Kenzi finally went home after her shift ended. She’d wanted to stay, but once she saw me surrounded by Caleb’s family, she smiled and told me I already had exactly who I needed.
It’s just after eight-thirty in the morning when a gentle hand settles onto my shoulder. “Indi.”
Blinking sleepily, I look up to find Dr. Hamden standing beside me.
“Daniel,” I whisper immediately. “How is he?”
“He’s in recovery now. You can go see him if you’d like.”
Suddenly, nerves slam into me.
What if he doesn’t want me there?
What if he’s angry?
What if I’ve already ruined everything too badly to fix?
But none of that matters.
I need to see him.
Standing carefully, I notice Hux waking nearby.
“He’s in recovery,” I whisper. “I’m just going in.”
“Take your time, sweetheart,” he murmurs sleepily.
I nod before heading down the hallway toward recovery.
Every heartbeat feels painfully loud in my chest. Seeing Caleb broken and bleeding earlier shook me in ways I still can’t process.
He’s always so perfectly put together. So clean-cut and handsome and polished.
Seeing him covered in bruises, cuts, and blood felt deeply wrong somehow.
And now he’ll have a giant scar across his torso from the emergency surgery. Normally, a splenectomy would have been laparoscopic, but they needed to move quickly because of the trauma.
Pushing open the recovery room door, I finally see him lying there quietly asleep. And suddenly, the full reality hits me all over again.
I could have lost him tonight.
Actually lost him forever.
Tears immediately fill my eyes as I walk slowly over to his bedside.
Pulling a chair closer, I sit down and carefully take his hand in both of mine.
My gaze drifts over the large gauze dressing across his torso, the cuts scattered over his chest and arms, the stitched wound near his forehead, and the tiny nick on his perfect face.
Emotion crashes through me so violently that it steals my breath. Hot tears pour silently down my cheeks while I lower my head carefully onto his chest and cry for the broken man I almost lost.