44. Chapter 44 #3
There were so many wires, so many monitors, so many pieces of him covered in bandages and braces that it was hard to know where to look.
His leg was elevated and wrapped in layers of surgical padding, held completely still by a rigid brace.
His face was bruised, a thin line of Steri?Strips running along his cheekbone where the visor had cut him. A gnarly bruise surrounded it too.
He looked nothing like the man who’d been laughing with me two days ago.
“You scared me,” I said, and my voice cracked before I could stop it. “You fucking scared me, dude.”
Tears escaped. Hot, fast, impossible to blink back. I wiped at them with the back of my hand, but more followed, slipping down my face before I could catch them.
I leaned forward a little, watching his chest rising in slow, steady breaths, careful not to disturb anything, and rested my hand on the edge of the mattress near him.
“You’re not allowed to be hurt,” I said quietly. “Not after everything. Not after you were the first person who made this place feel like home.”
My throat tightened, and I had to swallow hard to get the next words out.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Too many people need you. Cai, Seren, your parents, the team…” I sniffed at that. “You’d fucking hate how dramatic I’m being right now. But you need to wake up, okay?”
The machines kept beeping.
“Especially since I’m in love with your sister, and you haven’t had the chance to give me shit about it yet.”
I huffed out a breath that was more of a sob, wiping my face again. “You still owe me hell for that man, so wake up and give it to me.”
A low, rough exhale caught my attention.
“Nate?” I whispered, leaning forward.
His eyelids twitched, fingers shifting under the blanket, barely there, but enough to send my heart slamming against my ribs.
“Hey,” I said shakily. “Hey, I’m right here.”
His eyes cracked open, unfocused and glassy, drifting around the room before landing somewhere near my shoulder. He tried to speak, but it came out as a dry rasp, nothing more than air.
“Hang on,” I said quickly. “I’ll get someone.”
I reached for the call button, pressing it with too much force. A nurse appeared in the doorway within seconds, her expression shifting the moment she saw his eyes open. I stood watching, folding my arms together over my chest.
“Well, hello sleeping beauty,” she said to Nate softly, stepping in.
She checked his vitals, adjusted something on the monitor, then turned to me. “He’s going to be groggy for a while.”
He made another sound, like a grumble I’d heard a million times, and she smiled in reassurance.
“I know,” she said. “I’ll get you some water.”
I hovered, not sure if I should move or not. He was waking up, and I was unsure what to do next.
She returned with a small cup and a sponge?tipped swab, brushing it carefully along his lips. He blinked slowly, the tension in his face easing as the dryness faded.
“Don’t force anything,” she reminded him. “Just small movements. Talking might hurt a little, remember? You were intubated. The doctor is on the way to see you.”
Ignoring her completely, his eyes dragged back to me with the determination of a man who had one mission, and one mission only.
He swallowed, then forced out a hoarse whisper.
“Kill…you.”
I frowned, mouth opening and closing. I looked at the nurse, wide?eyed. “Did he just—?”
She raised her eyebrows, amused. “He’s probably trying to say something else. They’re groggy after anesthesia.”
Nate’s eyes narrowed, but it was hard to tell because of the swelling, and he tried again, voice shredded but unmistakable.
“Kill. You.”
I snorted an awkward laugh. “Kill me?”
I side-eyed the nurse, whose face was frozen with her mouth agape.
“Do I need to be worried?” she asked. “He’s glaring at you like you’re some kinda evil spirit.”
I laughed, but it came out more like a weird sigh. “Nate, do you know where you are?”
He nodded, though it was accompanied by a grimace.
“Dude, don’t move. You got thrown off a fucking motorcycle, nodding your head with all this trauma is dumb.”
“Seren,” he said plainly.
“She’s getting some fresh air. We’ve been here taking shifts with you. Cai has been here on and off, between Derek and your parents too.”
Nate visibly paled, which was wild, because he was pretty pale anyway in his current state. “You love her,” he croaked.
Oh. Realization dawned on me that he might’ve actually heard me talking to him while I thought he was sleeping.
“Is that what woke you up? When I told you I was in love with your sister?”
He made a noise that might’ve been a laugh if it hadn’t sounded like sandpaper. Then he tried to lift his hand—failed—and settled for glaring at me with one eye half?open.
Nate’s mouth twitched, before he added, barely audible:
“Idiot.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Then his eyes drifted shut again, exhaustion pulling him under, but not before he managed one last, slurred, judgmental masterpiece:
“’Bout…time.”
I was almost sure he didn’t want to kill me now. But going by what I think I understood, he would kill me if I hurt her. At least that’s what I was taking from this whole thing.
A laugh slipped out of me, cracked and wet just as the doctor stepped into the room.
He was awake. He was going to be okay.
I backed toward the door, phone in hand, ready to tell Seren the best news.