Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Harmony was floating. Free. At peace. It was a funny feeling, like being a bird.
Or an angel.
A sudden sadness washed over her at the thought. She wanted to see Damien one more time. Really, she wanted a longer life with him. But Grant Pickens won. He stole her away from Damien.
Hopefully Damien stopped him before he hurt anyone else. The man was dangerous.
A muffled noise drew Harmony’s focus away from her sadness to whatever was around her. It almost sounded like voices.
“Heaven,” she whispered.
“Sorry, beautiful, but not quite.”
Her eyes opened. It was dim, like someone had turned all the lights off. She stared at a ceiling. She never imagined heaven having ceilings.
“Can you hear me?”
Something moved next to her. Slowly, it moved in front of her. But it was blurry.
Damn, she still needed glasses in heaven.
“Hold on.”
Something else moved over her, then her vision cleared. “Damien?”
“Fuck, it’s good to hear my name on your lips. I’m going to sit you up, okay?”
He disappeared again, leaving her to stare at the ceiling. It looked like a hospital.
Her head lifted, that floating feeling spinning her brain. “Where am I?”
“Saint Nicholas Hospital,” Damien said. He was on her right, holding her hand.
“Am I dead?”
Damien chuckled. “No, sweetheart. You’re not dead. You’re alive.”
“Grant Pickens,” she whispered.
“He’s dead,” Damien said.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you everything later. Right now, you need to rest.”
“You found him.”
Damien shook his head. “No, sweetheart, I found you. I got a message that led me to you. Grant sent it, thinking it would take us longer to get to you. He wanted us all dead. He was going to escape.”
“You found me?”
Damien brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I did. As soon as I knew where you were, I came for you. I’m so fucking sorry I wasn’t there sooner. I’m so sorry you went through everything you went through.”
“Lacey? Samuel. Berkeley?”
“All safe. Grant, whose real name was Stuart, and his brother took you, then left. His brother confessed to everything.”
“So confused,” Harmony whispered.
“We have lots of time to talk about it later. Sleep now, Harmony. I’m not going anywhere.”
She nodded, then floated again.
Damien barely moved from his chair next to her bed for three days. The doctors said it was good that she was waking up, but that her body had been through hell. She needed to rest, and she was.
Jude brought Damien clothes, and he used the shower in Harmony’s room to clean up while Jude, Rhett, Eve, Berkeley, Lacey, and Claudia all took turns sitting with Harmony.
Every few hours, the doctors kicked Damien out of the room so they could examine her without him there. Her wounds were healing, and her surgery was a success, but it was going to take time for her to heal.
“Damien,” she whispered.
Damien was up immediately. “What do you need?”
“Water.”
He grabbed the cup with the straw for her, holding it to her lips to drink.
She pulled her head back when she was done, and he set the cup on the table again.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I was shot. Twice.”
Damien chuckled. “Well, it’s good you’re feeling better. Yesterday, you mentioned the broken nose, too.”
Harmony groaned. “I forgot about that. Everything fucking hurts.”
“I know, sweetheart. But you will heal.”
“I know I’m lucky.”
“It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, though.”
Harmony nodded. She’d gone through a lot of emotions in the few days. Sometimes she woke up confused, sometimes angry, sometimes sad. Through all of it, Damien knew she was processing her trauma.
“Do you want your glasses?”
“Please.”
He slid them on for her, being careful not to poke her in the eye or bump her broken nose. She looked more alert than she had in the last few days.
“When can I get out of here?”
“Oh, you’re up,” the doctor said, breezing into the room after a quick knock. “How are you today?”
“Ready to go home,” Harmony said.
Doctor Dell chuckled. “Well, until you can move around a little, and stay awake for more than ten minutes at a time, we have to keep you here.”
Harmony groaned. “I hate hospitals.”
“Everyone does,” Doctor Dell said. “Let’s see how you’re doing today.”
The doctor didn’t ask Damien to leave, so he sat in his chair and watched Harmony go through the tests the doctor gave her. When he was done, he smiled.
“Things look good. You still can’t put weight on your leg, so that’s going to be the biggest thing for us. Your chest is healing well, but it’s going to be a while before you can get back to your usual activities.”
“How long is a while? I have to finish my thesis.”
“When is it due?”
“Less than a month.”
The doctor winced. “Unless you just have to submit it, you’re not likely to make that.”
“No! I can’t miss it. It has to be turned in, or I’m not going to graduate this summer.”
“Can you ask for an extension?”
Harmony glared at the doctor. “It’ll be another year before I can defend my thesis if I don’t do it this summer.”
“You’ll definitely be healed by then.”
Harmony growled at the man.
“We’ll talk about it later. Thank you, Doctor,” Damien said.
Doctor Dell took the hint and left the room.
“I can’t wait another year,” Harmony whined. “I can’t afford to wait another year. I need to finish, and I need to start working.”
“Then we’ll make it happen,” Damien said. “You need to rest, but I know how important this is to you. What can I do to help?”
“You’d help me?”
“Harmony, I love you. I would do anything for you.”
She made a move like she was going to get up, but he put a hand on her good shoulder.
“You need to rest. You can’t get out of bed. But as soon as you’re cleared to go home, we will make a plan and get your thesis done.”
“Home. How in the hell am I going to do the stairs?”
“You’re going to stay with me,” Damien said, wondering why she thought she’d be anywhere else.
“What? But Grant Pickens is dead. His brother is in custody. I don’t have to stay with you.”
Damien brushed the hair back from her face. “No, you don’t have to. But I want you to. I want you to move in with me. Stay with me forever. This was never temporary for me. It was never about you being in danger. I love you.”
Tears filled her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you still feel the same.”
“I do,” she said with a watery laugh. “I do love you. I… No one’s ever chosen me before.”
“I will always choose you.”
“Thank you.”
Harmony had hated hospitals for years. Sitting in the chair next to her father as he died was the most painful time of her life. She did nothing but sit there and wait for her father to die.
Being a patient wasn’t any better, but after two full weeks in the hospital, she was finally let go.
She’d been in touch with Doctor Griffiths about the thesis.
Her options were to turn everything in on time or delay graduation.
Damien was angry on her behalf, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
The panel was only together once a year because they only had a few graduates each year.
This year, she would have been one of six.
If she could get her paper done.
The nurse wheeled Harmony out of the hospital to where Damien was waiting with his SUV.
He had the backdoor open since she couldn’t bend her leg for another month.
The bullet missed the bone, but it tore through muscles and other tissue and left her weak.
Her body needed to heal before she could put it through the stress of something as basic as walking.
“All set?” the nurse asked Harmony.
Harmony nodded as she slid across the seat to prop her leg up in front of her. Damien waited until she was in far enough to close the back door, then waved to the nurse and walked around the SUV to get in behind the wheel again.
“Are you comfortable?”
Harmony snorted.
“As comfortable as you can be?”
“Yes,” she said.
“I love you,” Damien said before he put the SUV in gear.
“I love you.” Damien was the best thing for her recovery. He knew what she was going through, and he was equal parts encouraging and sympathetic. When she needed a kick in the butt, he gently delivered it. When she needed a moment to feel sorry for herself, he allowed that, too.
But now, they were leaving the hospital. The real work was going to start. He would see her relentless passion for her work. Her drive to get her thesis done.
She hoped he didn’t hate her for it.
Damien parked his SUV outside so Harmony had plenty of space to get out of the backseat. He helped her out, making sure she was stable on her crutches before he unlocked the door. He held it open for her, and she walked inside.
“What did you do?” she gasped.
“Lacey and Claudia helped. They moved all of your stuff from your apartment here. If you want to move back out when you’re recovered, I will help you, but I wanted you to feel comfortable here.”
She looked around his living room, seeing bits and pieces of her life scattered all over. She was touched until she saw what he had in the corner of the living room.
“Is that…?”
Damien held her gaze and nodded. “It is. I had it restored for you. I knew that record player meant more to you than any other one would. Some of it had to be replaced, but it’s mostly the same one your dad had. The same one he played records on when you were growing up.”
“Thank you,” Harmony whispered, her throat squeezing around the words. “That means… That means the world to me.”
“You mean the world to me, Harmony. I’m sorry I couldn’t save all his records, but I replaced the ones that were broken. And had the others turned into something.” He pointed behind her.