Chapter 26
Dillon came striding down the hall, his face a grim expression as he ignored the looks of others there. He didn’t stop until he was standing in front of Crysta. Then, he pulled her up out of the chair and hugged her.
“Are you okay?” he asked when he finally let her go. She didn’t know what to say for a few seconds. She barely knew the man and he was giving her comfort.
She almost lost it. Crysta prided herself on being tough, but it took all her control not to start sobbing. “I’m fine. Sean got hit, but it was a flesh wound.”
He pulled back. “Eli?”
“He’s stable. They are going to put Eli in a room soon, and they said they’d come get me when they do. He didn’t lose much blood.”
“So, I did some checks on Rose. She bribed her way out of prison.”
She sat down and he took the seat next to her. “She was an international criminal.”
“And she had money to spare.”
“But why come after Eli? That just seems stupid.”
“He was the one person who got away. And truthfully, they aren’t sure she was right in the mind. She was raised by a grandfather who constructed bombs for the IRA, then for whoever would pay him the most. When they took her into custody, she disappeared for a couple of months.”
She sighed. “So, they probably tortured her.”
He nodded. “Not that she was completely sane to begin with but that seemed to push her over the edge. She apparently focused on Eli. It took her awhile to find him, but when she did, it wasn’t too hard to get Sam, Jr. to help her.”
“Mr. Kaheaku, the doctor said you need to be admitted,” a nurse said loudly down the hall. She looked up and found Sean ignoring the nurse as he walked down to her.
“Eli?”
“He’s stable and out of surgery. He’s going to be fine.”
He sat down on the other side of her. “That was one crazy bitch.”
She snorted but it came out as a half sob. The last two days had been hell on her nerves and now…she felt as if she couldn’t keep it together anymore.
“Oh, God,” she said as tears started to pour out of her eyes.
A look of panic moved over Sean’s face but, apparently, Conner Dillon knew what to do. He put his arm around her and said, “Go ahead, honey. Cry.”
And she did. Although, not loudly and not for long. He handed her a tissue when she had quieted.
“How did you get so good at handling women, Dillon?” she asked with a smile.
“I helped raise my sister, and I am married.”
“Ms. Miller,” someone said. She looked up and found a nurse standing in front of her. “The doctor gave you permission to be with Mr. St. John.”
She nodded and stood. “Thanks, both of you.”
Then, she followed the nurse down the corridor. When they got to his room, she stopped the nurse. “Is he awake?”
“If he is, he will make no sense. He’s drugged to the gills for pain.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. When she stepped into the room, she almost started crying again. He looked so pale, so still.
“I’m not dead you know,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.
“I know.”
She walked to the side of his bed. She pulled the bedside chair closer and sat down. He reached out for her and she took his hand.
“Sleep, Eli. I’m here.”
And then she sat there, holding his hand, thanking God that he was safe and sound.
* * *
“I’m not in the mood.”
Crysta heard Eli yell the order as she walked down the corridor to his room. She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. It hadn’t been easy dealing with him, the paperwork, and the investigation, not to mention running the ranch. With both he and Jerry out of commission, she’d been overwhelmed. But, like Joe had told her before, the Hawaiian people took care of their own. People from all the surrounding ranches had pitched in to help. If it hadn’t been for them, she wasn’t sure what she would have done.
“I think I should get out of here today.”
Now Eli sounded like a five-year-old. He’d been a pain since they’d arrived at the hospital three days ago. She walked down the hall and gave the nursing station an apologetic smile. When she reached the door, she drew in a deep breath and pushed it open.
Sean was sitting by the bed, his booted feet stacked on the mattress. Eli was giving him a look while Sean ignored him by playing on his tablet.
“I said you can go.”
Neither man had apparently realized she was there.
“Is that the kind of welcome I get?” she asked.
Eli looked over at her and his scowl softened. “Hey, babe.”
Just like that, like nothing had happened, like less than seventy-two hours earlier he hadn’t almost died.
She wanted to scream at him. Sean was more perceptive than Eli.
“Hey, Crysta, you’re looking rested.”
She smiled at her step-cousin. “I am. I’m feeling much better after a long night’s sleep.”
“I was surprised you weren’t here when I woke up,” Eli said. Again, he was back to sounding like a little boy.
She turned to Eli, who was scowling at her now. He looked better, if a little pale for her liking. Of course, he was ridiculously sexy for a man who had been clinging to life just a day earlier—not to mention dressed in a fugly hospital gown.
“I thought maybe after her being here for almost twenty-four hours straight, she needed some rest. As did the doctors.”
Sean’s calm voice—tinged with humor—seemed to irritate Eli more, but Eli just gave his new friend a nasty look. It had been funny to see the way Sean had acted after the shooting. He had stayed at the hospital, only going home to change and stop by the ranch to bring her clothes. It was as if he had adopted her as his cousin and he thought of it as his sworn duty to make sure she was taken care of until Eli recovered.
“I think you can go back home. You look tired,” she said.
“I guess I will if Eli will promise to behave while I’m gone.” The look the man in question shot Sean had her laughing.
“Go on, Sean. I’ll make sure he behaves.”
As soon as he left them alone, she wandered around the room, then settled in the chair Sean had vacated when he left. She knew if she engaged Eli, he would start a fight with her. She said nothing, but turned on the TV.
“So, are you going to tell me how everything is?” he asked after a few moments.
“Everything is back to normal. Not much going on, other than cleaning up.”
She played with the remote control…waiting. She knew he was still mad at her for following him, for getting “in the way” as he called it. Of course, he wouldn’t admit that he’d be dead if she hadn’t gone against his wishes.
“Are you going to pick a channel, or just go through them over and over?”
“I dunno. Might just keep checking the channels.”
He grunted.
“Dad’s going to be here today. He’s anxious to see you.”
“Your father? Anxious to see me?” he snorted. “I doubt that.”
“I think it has to do with the fact that I told him I loved you. So, seeing that you were almost killed, he’s worried about you.”
There was silence in the room and she dared not look at him. She wasn’t sure she could handle his rejection right now, even if she knew what was behind it.
“You told him you loved me?” he asked.
She looked at him and had to fight showing any kind of emotion. He was still pissed at her, pissed at himself at what he saw as a failure. Right now, he looked so dumbfounded that she would admit to their relationship.
“Of course, I did. What did you think I would do when I called him to tell him you almost died and you were in the hospital?”
He rolled his shoulders and then winced in pain.
“Feeling sorry for yourself, are you?” she asked, showing no outward reaction. Eli didn’t understand tenderness all the time, and he needed a swift kick in the ass at the moment.
“Not feeling sorry for myself.”
She turned back to the television, trying to keep her emotions in check. “Sure sounds like you are. Kind of whiney.”
“Look, woman, I’m not in the mood to deal with you.”
“Yeah? Well, whatcha gonna do about it?” she asked.
He said nothing, but she felt his glare.
“I want to know what the bloody hell you were thinking?”
She sighed. They had done this the day before and she just wasn’t in the mood. “I was thinking I shouldn’t let you die just because I am a woman.”
He said nothing for a few moments. She glanced over at him and he was staring straight ahead.
“You want to be pissed because I followed you, because I saw what was happening and I wasn’t about to let that bitch kill you? It wasn’t like I came alone. I had Sean with me, and he knew what he was doing. Get pissed, and then get over it.”
“You put yourself at risk.”
Crysta fought the need to tell him to fuck off. He was sick. He almost died. If she said those two phrases enough times, she might remember them.
“Oh, and so that explains your reason for acting like a pissy little boy?”
“I said to stay at the house. I had it under control.”
That one little comment pushed her over the edge.
“You had it under control? You?”
Unable to sit any more, she stood and started pacing the room. “I was supposed to sit at the ranch not knowing what the hell was going on, what the fuck was going to happen to you? You would have died without me. You know and I know. Oh, but I could have said I obeyed your order? I don’t think so.”
“Crysta—”
She didn’t want to hear it. She’d been through too much. After everything, she just couldn’t take this.
“You’re just going to have to get over that shit, right now. Jesus, you almost died, right there and for a second, I couldn’t find your pulse. I thought you were fucking dead, and all you can say is that I didn’t follow your orders?”
She hadn’t been paying attention and got too close to the bed. He grabbed her hand and tugged her down. “I’m sorry, Crysta.” He pulled her down for a kiss. “Please stop crying. I can’t take it when you cry.”
“I’m not crying,” she said on a sob, then she realized she was crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“How can you say that? How can you care? You would have died without me, and you just have to admit it.”
“No worries,” he said then kissed the tip of her nose.
“And I’m not leaving. I’m staying here and you just better get used to it.”
He gave her a smile. “Okay.”
“And, at some point, you’re going to have to propose or something because my father isn’t going to be happy about me living with you.”
“Sure.”
She sighed, and then she realized what she had just yelled at him.
“Okay, you don’t have to marry me, but you have to stop all the crap about me coming after you. I thought you were dead and I didn’t want to live anymore.”
“No, love, you just said we have to get married.”
“I didn’t say have to.”
She tried to move away but he held her tighter.
“You did and now I’m going to hold you to it.”
“And why would you do that?”
“You stupid woman. I love you, too.”
For a second or two, she didn’t think she heard him right.
“You love me?”
“Oh, love,” he said cupping her face and pulling her closer for a kiss. “I started to fall in love with you when I first met you. Probably even before that.”
“You don’t have to lie, Eli,” she said, trying to keep herself from believing.
“It was Joe talking about you; something you said, something you did, and I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about you. Then you were here and you have this love of life that just amazes me. You’re kind and strong, and, damn, I love a woman who likes a good spanking.”
“Yeah?” she asked as a lump rose in her throat. No man had ever said those things about her.
“Yes, and I recall telling you I loved you when I got shot.”
“That doesn’t count. I thought you said it because you thought you were dying.”
“Silly woman.” He pulled her down for a long, wet kiss. “So, what do you say, Crysta. Marry me, raise some smartass kids, and run a ranch? Does that sound like fun?”
“That sounds splendid.”
He scooted over. She could see the wince and knew he had hurt himself.
“Don’t move like that.”
He ignored her and situated himself, patting the bed next to him. She lowered the lights, slipped off her sandals and joined him in bed. He wrapped his arm around her as she settled her head on his shoulder.
“So, tell me what’s been going on at the ranch.”
And there, with the low hum of the television in the background and the morning sun peeking through the shades, they talked about nothing all that important.