Chapter 50
Marcus
Icould hear voices filtering in, but I couldn’t work out who it was. They all just blurred into one. Until I heard her.
My Petardo.
She’s here.
She’s smiling at me, her face wet with tears as she brushes her lips against my hand.
“Mi Tesoro.” Mama is at my other side, my Papa and Paulo at her back. Each with their hands on her shoulders as she shakes with her tears, both Papa and Paulo have tears streaming down their cheeks, but huge smiles on their faces.
“That’s the last time you scare me enough to make me cry, Diaz.” Kai appears at Lily’s back, the big idiot grinning from ear to ear with red rimmed eyes.
“You’re all here?” God, it hurts to speak. It feels like I’ve got knives in my throat. And my head fucking pounds. I can feel my heartbeat behind my eyes.
“Where else would we be, son?” My Papa stands tall behind Mama, and my mind whirls. Why are they here?
“Well, Spain?” I frown.
“You’ve been in a coma, son, for days. You think we wouldn’t be here to kick your ass for getting into a car in a storm?” Papa raises his eyebrows at me.
“I was getting something important.” Slowly, I brush my thumb over Lily’s wrist. “You still got it?” Kai nods.
“Got what?” Lily asks, her face a mask of confusion.
“Right now, you don’t need to know. Now get up here.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
My legs are in excruciating pain, my head is pounding, the lights are so bright, causing sharp shocks to strike behind my eyes, but what hurts the most is my girl being so far away from me. “Please, Petardo, I need you, it hurts,” I beg.
“Where?” She is up near my face in a matter of seconds, her stunning green eyes wide as she looks for where I hurt.
Taking my hand, which Lily has in a death grip on, I place it over my heart. “Here. It hurts here because I’m not holding you close enough.”
She giggles as her whole body relaxes before she kisses my lips gently. “You’re going soft on me, Diaz.”
“But I am yours.”
“Always.”
Staying in this drab hospital for the past few weeks has been torture for so many reasons.
I’ve been in immense pain with my legs, but it's the headaches that have been causing me so much agony. I’ve been woken more times than I can count with splitting headaches so severe that I’ve literally been crying out in pain.
Dr. Raven, told me that they will subside as all my scans have shown significant improvements in swelling, but fuck me, when they hit, I’m not myself.
She said once they’ve stopped or reduced so the pain is manageable I can be discharged, and today marks a week since I’ve been hit with crippling pain, making me think my skull is splitting in two.
I’m hoping she’ll sign my papers, so I can get out of here.
Watching Lily shine on the TV is a double-edged sword because she’s fantastic and I’m so unbelievably proud of her, but I don’t just want to see her smiling on screen, I want to see her smile with me.
Yes, she’s smiling when she sees me, but it's not the full, relaxed smile she gave me in Spain. It’s tighter and tinged with worry.
She has been speaking with Fiona, and I’m relieved to know she’s helping her, but something is still missing. And truthfully, it's missing with me too. We need to get our chance to be together properly. And me being laid up here isn’t giving us that chance.
The specialist has said my right leg has healed enough and the cast is okay to be removed next week, but I’ll still have to keep the cast on my left for a few more weeks, if not months, plus I’ll be needing more physio.
That one broke in multiple places, and I’ve had more metal added to my already practically bionic leg. But I can go home with those injuries.
It’s just my head.
“Afternoon, Mr. Diaz.” Dr. Raven stands at my side, and I place my crossword book down.
Please, tell me this is good news.
“You’ll be pleased to know your scans have all come back clear, and I’m happy to discharge you, but only if you have someone stay with you.”
“That’s not a problem.” I’m getting out. I’ve dodged death again, and I’m not going to waste anymore of my time sitting here when I could be with her.
“I didn’t think it would be.” Her smile is broad, and I can’t help but smile back at her.
“Look, I’ve got to get the paperwork all ready and get your medication for your pain.
But if you have any flare ups with your headaches, I want you to call me straight away.
You don’t wait, you don’t pretend it hasn’t happened, you call. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now I know we’ve spoken about your past issue with painkillers, and I will only prescribe what I think you may need, but again, you slip, you call.”
“That won’t be a problem this time. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for and to live for, Doctor.”
“That you do. You’re one lucky man. Now call your girl and tell her the good news.”
Lily is fussing about the apartment, making sure I’ve got enough pillows to prop me up, food and drink within arm’s reach, my phone, the remote, literally anything I may need is surrounding me.
“Oh, and I’ve made you some dinner. It will just need popping in the microwave for a few minutes to warm back through, but I’ll be back to sort out your tea, and that will be fresh, I’ve got—”
“Lily.” I raise my voice, and she stops her rant and drops her bag on the floor in shock at my tone.
I’ve been back home for a few days, and she has been fussing around me ever since.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved having her here and loved how she wants to take care of me, but I also want to take care of her.
“Lily, I can do this. I’m good on my own, you don’t have to worry. ”
“I know.” She sighs, and I know there’s more to this.
“Come on, talk to me.” I pat the sofa next to me and she sinks down, resting her head on my shoulder as she brings her feet up to tuck them underneath her, snuggling into my side.
“I just feel like I need to make sure you won’t need anything while I’m gone.”
“Is that all?”
“No.” I wait for her to elaborate, and she gently caresses my chest with her fingers.
“I almost lost you, and that thought is unbearable to me, so if I control what I can, to make sure you are safe, I can deal with the noise in my head telling me you could still leave me. If I’ve done everything, then it’s not my fault. ”
“Petardo.” I sigh and tip her chin up so she’s looking up at me.
“None of what happened was your fault. To me, to Nelly, or to yourself. No matter what you did, those things were always going to happen, okay?” She nods, as her shoulders slump.
“Te amo.” I kiss her forehead, and she lets out a relieved sigh.
“I still hate you.”
“I know.” I grin at her, and God, do I wish I didn’t have this fucking cast on my leg.
“Why did you make me answer three questions when we were in Spain?”
“Hmm?” I brush my fingers through her curls.
“The questions, part of our deal, you made me answer the three questions. Why?”
“I wanted to learn everything about you, all the little pieces that make you who you are. What you consider pointless I consider vital. Because every piece makes up who you are, all the jagged edges, the smooth corners and the vibrant colors make up the perfect puzzle. I wanted to know all your dark and light, all your dreams and desires. Because I wanted to be the person you needed when the chaos mixes up your pieces. Be the person who can put them back together.”
“Marcus?”
“Yes, Petardo?”
She gazes up at me and I cup the back of her head. Her face is lit up with so much emotion, and I can tell she is holding back tears.
“You really have gone soft.”
“We testing that theory?” I raise my eyebrow.
“No, you need to rest.” She pauses briefly. “I love you. Thank you for holding onto me through the chaos.”
“Always.”
“I’ve got to get to this meeting.” She groans as she reluctantly pulls out of my hold.
She has a meeting with Nelly’s charity today.
She has moved the small charity football match they had originally planned to something much larger.
It will be televised, and the teams are full of ex-players, male and female, and various celebrities.
It’s going to raise so much money for her charity, and I couldn’t be prouder of her.
“I’ll be fine. Kai’s popping in later anyway.”
“Okay, well, make sure he doesn’t make you do something stupid.”
“He wouldn’t.”
“So if I didn’t come home early yesterday, what would you have been doing?”
“Nothing.” She gives me that look that makes my balls shrivel up inside my body. “Fine, I would have been probably back in hospital, having my leg reset, because he thought I would be fine to play Twister.”
“And what did we learn?”
“That you shouldn’t play Twister while recovering from two broken legs.”
“And?”
“Lily Chambers is always right,” I say in a monotone voice, knowing full well it will get the reaction I want out of her.
“With feeling, please, Diaz.”
“Lily Chambers is always right,” I say with so much sarcasm, she can’t help but chuckle.
“Good boy.”