CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Nova
HARD VOICES. NOT ANGER BUT FRUSTRATION.
My brain tried to place them—the owners of the voices, what the words they were saying meant.
“You need to go home. You’ve been here for ten days straight.” Male voice. Something inside me said Dex.
“You’re starting to smell.” Maverick’s voice.
“I showered this morning, asshole.” That voice. It reached something deep inside me because I knew it like no other. Yet it lacked emotion, despite the biting rebuttal. A deadening.
“Come on, man. This isn’t good for you,” Dex said, his voice gentling.
“I’m not leaving her,” the other voice growled. “I wasn’t there when she needed me.” His voice cracked. “I’m not leaving her again.”
Kol. The voice was my Kol. I battled against the heaviness of my eyelids. I needed to get to him. Tell him it was okay.
“You know this wasn’t your fault, Kol,” Maverick said carefully. “You didn’t know.”
“I shouldn’t have risked leaving her.”
The vehemence in Kol’s voice, the self-hatred … they had me fighting harder.
My eyes fluttered the barest amount. Tiny glimmers of light pierced my vision. They hurt, like little ice picks to the brain, but I kept fighting. Even as Dex and Kol went back and forth.
“Uh, guys,” Mav cut in.
“What?” Kol snarled.
“I think Supernova is waking up.”
“Get the nurse,” Kol barked.
And then hands were curling around mine.
“Phoenix?” he whispered. “That’s it. I’m here. I’m right here. Just waiting for you to open those eyes so I can see that silver.”
I took on more of the light, letting it burn me, and then climbed out of the ashes and into pure beauty. Kol’s face was there. So close to mine. Those dark-hazel eyes. The deep forest and the pure gold.
“Hi,” I rasped.
Kol’s eyes filled then, his massive shoulders shaking as the tears began to fall.
My big, beautiful warrior was crying. Weeping. And I could feel it all. The pain, the relief, the love.
“Come. Here,” I choked out.
He shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” My side ached, and my throat was raw, but all I wanted was to feel Kol around me.
So carefully and gracefully you would’ve thought he’d been a ballet dancer in another life, Kol climbed onto the bed. He slid one arm under my neck while gently cocooning me with the other. “You’re alive. You’re breathing,” he whispered against my temple.
“I’m alive, and I’m breathing. Because of you.”
Kol shook his head. “I fucked up. I wasn’t there.”
“You were. Every step of the way. Because you reminded me that I could be strong. You taught me to live again.”
“Phoenix.”
“I gave you a warning, Boss. I’m never letting go. So you don’t even get a choice in the matter.”
Kol’s big body shook, but this time, I knew it was a mixture of laughter and tears. “I love you.”
“Convenient. Because I love the crap out of you,” I said.
He pulled back, his knuckles skimming my cheekbone. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.” I swallowed hard. “Piper?”
“They found her. No serious injuries, and she’s home and recovering.”
Relief swept through me, but it battled the tension still living there. “Cora and Reese?”
“Reese is alive. He’s a couple of doors down. It was touch and go, but they think he’s going to make it.”
“Cora?” I pressed. I knew it wasn’t fair for me to make Kol talk about her, not after everything we’d been through. But I needed to know.
“She died on the scene. I killed her.”
There was an emptiness to Kol’s voice, but I wove my fingers through his and squeezed with all my strength. “You saved me,” I whispered. “There’s a difference.”
He nodded, the movement a little jerky, but his head came to rest against mine, and we simply breathed. I knew this wouldn’t be something he’d be able to let go of easily. That wasn’t the sort of man Kol was. But I would be with him every step of the way.
“Kol Archer. What are you doing in my patient’s hospital bed?” a female voice demanded, but a hint of humor laced her words.
Kol winced as he pulled back. “Sorry, Zuri.”
“You should be,” she clucked as she headed my way with a tablet.
“Don’t make him go,” I pleaded.
Her expression softened, and lines formed in the dark skin around her eyes as she gave me a gentle smile. “I’ll pretend I don’t see him climbing back up there after I’m done checking you over.”
My own mouth curved. “Thank you.”
“How’s your pain on a scale of one to ten? One being a walk in the park, and ten being the worst you’ve ever felt?”
“Four?” I hedged.
Zuri arched a brow. “Now I know you’re lyin’ at least a little.”
“Six,” I grumbled. “Can I have water?”
Kol was already moving, pouring me a cup and putting a straw in it.
“Little bits at a time,” Zuri instructed. “We need to see how your stomach does.”
The cool water was a balm to my throat, and I had to fight not to gulp it down. But the last thing I wanted was to throw up.
Zuri moved around the bed, checking the machines and then peeking at a dressing on my abdomen. “You’re healing nicely. Your lung collapsed, but it’s staying inflated now. Took you a bit longer to wake up than we usually like, but everything’s looking good now.”
“She always has run late,” a new voice said from the doorway.
My gaze cut to Brae, but she was already rushing toward my bed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
My breath hiccupped as I struggled for control. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”
“You should be,” Brae clipped, wiping beneath her eyes. “But you’re here now.”
She moved in closer, bending to hug me but waiting to make sure that was okay. I closed the distance, ignoring the slight flicker of pain. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise me?” Brae asked, holding on gently.
I released her and looked between the two of them. Brae and Kol. The people who meant the most to me in the world. “You’re both stuck with me forever.”