Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
HAYES
Istood off to the side in the hospital room as Rory, Eden, Nona, and Gypsy fawned over my woman, each of them batting away tears as they talked over each other.
I turned my head as Trick entered the room. He looked from the gaggle of women to me and gave his head a little shake before moving in my direction.
“See the girl posse’s taken over,” he said, humor laced into his tone.
I looked back to Tempie as she smiled and laughed at something one of the women just said. How she could laugh at the ordeal she’d just lived through was beyond me, but there you had it, my strong, unbeatable woman.
All things considered, she’d come out of that horror relatively unscathed. She had a dislocated shoulder and a nasty gash on her forehead, but it was because of the concussion that the doctors were forcing her to stay in the hospital overnight.
“How’s she doin’?” he asked, pulling my focus back to him.
“Physically, she’s just fine. But that’s not what I’m worried about.”
He read my meaning and nodded. “You’re worried about what this is gonna do to her head.”
That vicious knot in my stomach came back with a vengeance. “He kidnapped her, killed a man in front of her, and chased her through the goddamn woods. I don’t think it’s possible for her to come out of that free of demons.”
Trick turned his eyes to Tempie and studied her before speaking again.
“I was right beside you that whole time, brother. You were in your head, didn’t notice a single thing but your girl, but I saw her face the moment she busted into that clearing.
The second she laid eyes on you, she knew it was gonna be all right.
” He shifted his body around to face me as he continued.
“A look like that? Means there isn’t a single doubt in her mind that you can help her fight off every single one of those demons.
Far as she’s concerned, as long as she’s got you, everything’s gonna be just fine.
So the next question is, are you gonna be okay? ”
I gave that some thought. Then I looked back to that bed.
As if feeling my gaze on her, Tempie turned, and those blue eyes hit me like the brightest, warmest ray of sunlight.
Nona said something that made Eden and Gypsy crack up.
Tempie’s lips curled up in a smile, and she rolled her eyes to the ceiling, giving her head a little shake like she thought her friends were adorably ridiculous.
Then she blew me a kiss and rejoined the conversation.
“I have her,” I told Trick, watching the light of my life as she laughed and smiled with her friends. “I have her and she’s safe. Might take a while, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be just fine.”
With that, he clapped me on the shoulder, turned, and headed out of the hospital room, leaving me with a sense of contentment that settled into my very soul.
“Honey,” Tempie whispered into the dark hospital room.
The arm I had around her clenched as I murmured, “Right here, angel.”
Visiting hours were technically over, her girls had all gone, and it was finally just the two of us.
When the nurses tried to make me leave earlier, I’d given them a look that said loud and clear, Just try and move me out of this room and see what happens. Tempie offered them an apology, and they eventually left us be.
When I’d tried to get comfortable in the shitty recliner, she’d scooted to the side and demanded that if I insisted on staying the night with her—which I did—I get into the bed with her.
So there I was, curled up on a paper-thin mattress in a bed big enough for one small person, and there wasn’t anywhere else on earth I’d rather be.
“Is Marco going to be okay?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, he’s gonna be just fine.
” From what the crime lab found, it looked like he’d laced the coleslaw with an animal tranquilizer.
According to the doctors, it wasn’t enough to cause any harm, but was potent enough to put a man as big as Marco on his ass.
“He’s already back at home. Pissed as hell he let that asshole get the jump on him, but totally healthy. ”
“He couldn’t have known,” she defended.
“You’re right. None of us knew. Marco knows that, but far’s he’s concerned, you were hurt on his watch.”
I felt her chest rise with a heavy breath. “Maybe I should talk to him. You know, after the dust settles. Let him know I don’t hold him responsible.”
“He knows that too, angel. But a man like Marco, something like this happens, it’s a hit to his pride. Just give it time. He’ll be okay.”
It took her a while, but she eventually relented and we lapsed back into silence so long I thought she’d fallen back to sleep, that was, until she spoke again.
“And Carl’s really dead?”
There was no question about that. When he raised his arm to stab her, I’d emptied my entire fucking clip into him. As had Trick, and Lincoln, and every single cop by my side in those woods. “He’s really dead. You never have to worry about him again.”
“That’s good.” There was another beat of silence before she spoke again, her voice wobbly with emotion. “Perry was so scared. For as long as I live, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that look in his eyes.”
I knew exactly how she felt, because for as long as I lived, I’d never forget the sound of her scream, or the way her body hit the ground when Carl tackled her. That image would be burned into the backs of my eyelids for the rest of my life.
“You feel the need to talk about it with me, I’m here to listen.
You think you need to see someone professionally to help you work past that memory, you say the word and I’ll make it happen.
But you aren’t alone in this, baby. I’ll help you in any way I can.
What you don’t do is bottle it up and try to deal with it on your own so it haunts you for the rest of your life. ”
The arm she had around my stomach tensed before she let it relax. “It’ll take work, I know that. But I’ll get past it.”
“Glad you think that, Tempie. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met, but somethin’ like this can—”
She squeezed me again, effectively silencing me.
“I’ll get past it because I’ve got you.” The knot in my gut loosened all of a sudden, and a pressure began to build in my chest. “The moment I saw you, I knew it was going to be okay. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind.
Not for a single second. I saw you, and just like that, everything was right. ”
Christ, she was undoing me. “I love you, angel,” I whispered, hugging her close to me. “More than you could ever imagine and with all my heart.”
“Well thank god for that,” she said on a giggle. “It would suck if I was the only one feeling it.”
And just like that, the worst day of my life suddenly didn’t seem so bad. Because as long as I had her by my side, there wasn’t a single demon I couldn’t battle.