Chapter 55
Chapter Fifty-Five
Cora
“Ihave been waiting for her my entire life; I just didn’t know it. I never believed I could deserve someone to love me, let alone someone with as much light in their soul as she has.”
Is that Atlas? I try to find the source of the voice but can’t see anything. Am I dead?
“And Noah?” I think it might be Seth, but I can’t be sure.
“He’s a bonus. She’s the other half of my miserable soul. She doesn’t know it, but she saved me; they both did. I’ve killed to keep her safe, and I’ll do it as many times as I have to.”
Oh, Atlas. He always believed he wasn’t worthy of love, but he gave himself so freely to me and Noah. Wait, did he say he killed someone? Oh my God, where’s Noah?
I feel pressure on my hand and will my body to move. I can feel all of my limbs, but my brain can’t make anything work. Starting to panic, I hear a beeping sound. Is it my alarm? Am I dreaming?
“Cora!” I think it’s Atlas’ voice shouting. “Baby, open your eyes. Seth, go get a nurse.”
Keep talking, I demand silently. I’ve missed his voice so much. I feel a hand across my forehead and face. I’d know that touch anywhere. Forcing my eyes open, I immediately shut them. The room feels too bright, and a stab of pain shoots through my skull, causing me to groan.
“Come on, pretty girl. Show me those eyes. The ones I know our five babies will have,” he pleads.
“Lights,” I croak out, not recognizing my voice.
“Shit. Hold on.” I hear shuffling and then feel a hand again. “Try now, baby. Come back to me.”
Tentatively, I open my eyes again. Everything is blurry at first, but it doesn’t hurt as much as before. I turn my head to the side when I feel a hand, and Atlas’ smiling face fills my vision.
“Cora, baby. Thank God, Firefly.” He leans down, pressing kisses to my face. I faintly sense his touch, but my head feels like it’s swimming.
“Noah?” I cry. I need to know where he is.
“He’s good. He’s with Kash. You did good, baby, so good.” He kisses my hand again, tears welling in his eyes.
Nodding, my eyelids start to flutter. I’m so tired, and now that I know Noah’s okay, I can rest again.
“No, baby, wait. The doctors are coming in. Stay awake for me,” he begs, his dark eyes full of concern.
I hear more people coming in, and a nurse moves Atlas to the side, earning a glare.
“Well, he wasn’t exaggerating,” she says with a smile. “You really do have beautiful blue eyes, Cora. He’s been going on about them for a week now.”
“A week?” I mumble. What happened? “I need Noah.” I need to see he’s okay.
“I already texted Kash. He’s coming,” Atlas promises.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Care Bear.” Seth smiles sheepishly.
“Cora, I’m Dr. Chase. Can you tell me where you are?” An older man in a blue button-down under a white coat is standing in front of me.
Looking around the room, I take a wild guess. “The hospital.”
“Do you know what happened?”
The memories of the basement flood back slowly, like watching a car accident in reverse. Going shopping, my car, the basement, and Aidan and Bea. Oh my God. Bea. Did I…? No, I can’t think about that.
Tears pool in my eyes, and I don’t stop them as they flow out. “I killed Bea,” I cry. I can feel her blood pooling down over me again like a warm blanket, and I panic.
“No! Get it off me.” I start shoving the blankets away from my body and cry out when my arm catches.
“Cora, no, stop!” Atlas surges forward. “You’re okay, baby, there’s nothing on you,” he croons softly, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. “You’re okay. Shhh.”
“There was so much blood, Atlas. So much blood,” I whisper.
“I know, baby. You did what you had to. She tried to kill you and almost succeeded. You saved yourself, Cora; don’t you ever feel bad for that.” He squeezes me tighter to his chest.
Nodding, I sit back. “I’m so sorry, Atlas. I shouldn’t have blocked you out.”
“No,” he interrupts me. “We’ll talk about that later, baby, when you get out of here. We have all the time in the world. You, me, and Noah.”
“Cora?” a voice sounds from the door. We turn to see Kash standing there with Noah at his side. “You’re finally awake!” he shouts, rushing for the bed.
He climbs into my bed, and I hear Atlas shush the nurse trying to stop him. “Hey, buddy. I’m awake.” I squeeze him as tight as I can.
“I was so worried.”
The nurse tries to pull Noah away, and I level a glare at her. “Stop. He’s fine where he is.” Looking at the doctor, I ask, “What happened?”
He looks from me to Noah, and I realize it must have been bad.
“Noah, why don’t you come with me real quick, and we’ll see if we can get Cora some water?” the nurse offers. “She’s probably really thirsty.”
“Thanks, guys. That’d be great.” I give Noah a squeeze before he hops down to go with her.
“Be right back!” he shouts.
Kash and Seth take up a small corner of the room, having a muted conversation before heading out, and Atlas has taken a seat on the edge of my bed, not letting go of my hand.
“You were in pretty bad shape when we found you, Cora,” Atlas starts. “I thought you were already gone.”
“When you came in, we had to perform emergency surgery on a few different things. Your finger was broken in two places and had to be reset. There was also a gunshot wound to your lower leg.”
I forgot that bitch shot me. My leg aches as if trying to remind me.
“The worst,” he continues, “were the injuries to your head.” Lifting my hand from Atlas’ grasp, I feel the gauze wrapped around it. Oh my God. I can’t imagine how I must look right now.
“What happened to my head?” Pulling away my trembling hand, Atlas gives it a reassuring squeeze.
“You had a concussion to start with, but then you sustained additional trauma at the base of your skull. Do you know how that happened?” the doctor asks.
My eyes squeeze shut, and I see Bea’s face looming over me. She’s slamming my head off the floor while strangling me. A shaky breath escapes me. “It was Bea. She was choking me, and when I fought back, she started to hit my head against the basement floor.”
The doctor’s face pales, and Atlas curses. “How bad was it? Is there permanent damage?”
“Time will tell, but the trauma to your skull caused a CSF, cerebrospinal fluid leak. We repaired the tear and inserted a drain to get the fluid out. The swelling has gone down, but we’ll be keeping you a bit longer for some tests and observation.”
Nodding like I understood any of that, I murmur, “Thank you.”
“I’ll be back in a while to check on you. I know you’ve just regained consciousness but try to rest. Your body has been through a great deal and needs as much rest as possible. The police might be by to get your statement today or tomorrow.”
“Statement for what? Am I going to jail?” I panic, looking at him.
“Fuck no,” Atlas growls. “They want to know what happened. Bea and Aidan kidnapped you and hurt you, baby. They just need your version of events since neither of them are around to give them.”
I nod and feel tears welling in my eyes. “I killed her,” I whisper. “I killed Bea. I stabbed her with a screwdriver I found.” I close my eyes, unable to look at him. I’ve turned into the very monster I fought so hard against becoming.
“No. Look at me, Firefly.” He grabs my chin, turning my face toward his. “You survived. You did what you had to. Fuck, she almost killed you, Cora. You were leaking brain fluid when you got here.” His voice cracks. “I could have lost you; we could have lost you.”
“I didn’t think there was a we anymore,” I admit. “I shut you out, Atlas.”
“Doesn’t matter, Cora. I only said I wasn’t his father because we hadn’t discussed it yet, and I didn’t want to presume without talking to you, but, Cora, you have to know that you and Noah are my family.
” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I have to admit something, baby,” he starts with a worried expression. “I killed Aidan.”
Well, that explains why he never came back.
“He tried to take Noah, but Rhett and I stopped him. Seth took care of him, but I tortured him, baby. I won’t apologize for it either. He said he was your uncle, but I didn’t care. He hurt you, and I couldn’t let that slide.” When he finishes speaking, he can’t meet my gaze.
“He was no family of mine. Thank you, Atlas.”
“One day, we’ll add to ours and make the most beautiful babies. Noah will be an amazing uncle.” He smiles at me, but I shake my head. “But maybe let’s not tell the cops about yours. Let them think he skipped town.”
“I can’t ask you to do that, Atlas. You deserve more than—”
“More than what? The love of my life? Waking up to you every morning and having my way with you every night?” He grins. “Helping Noah grow into the man you’ve already started raising him to be? I know what I deserve, and I’ll spend every damn day looking at it, and loving it.”
He presses his lips to mine briefly. They’re soft, warm, and full of promises.
When he pulls back, his eyes find mine. “I love you, Cora. I love you with every single beat and skip of my heart. You’re the light to my dark, the answer to all of my prayers, the reason I exist. There will only ever be you.”
Melting into his touch, I let everything else fade away. I can’t describe how much I’ve missed him. When he pulls away, I don’t even try to cover the sigh that escapes me.
Leaning forward, I lay my forehead on his chest, letting him cradle me in his arms.
“I love you, Atlas.”
He freezes and pulls back to cup my face. My head is wrapped in gauze and I’m sitting in a hospital bed, but he looks at me the same way he always does, with reverence.
“Say it again,” he demands.
“I love you. You’re what I’ve been waiting for all these years. No one ever felt right for Noah and me, but you’ve felt perfect since the start. You have such a big heart, and I promise to take care of it.” I gently press my lips to his.
“Oh, Firefly, you’re not getting rid of me, now or ever. Consider me glue, because you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Forever is a long time,” I point out.
“Not long enough.” He grabs my hand and leaves a kiss there. “You’ll wear my ring one day soon, so you better get used to the idea.”
Smiling, I meet his gaze and nod. “I can’t wait.”