Chapter 31
Garrison
A couple of cracked ribs and a concussion later, and I’m spending one night in the hospital. Turns out, my injuries are a lot less than they should have been. I sent Katelyn home earlier with Weston, who’ll sleep on the couch and make sure she and Thomas are safe.
They caught up with Marks, and Jack said they have enough to put him away for a long time, but it’ll still take some time before I’m confident Katelyn and Thomas are safe.
She would have stayed here if it weren’t for her son.
He’d refused to leave without her, which was the final straw in her agreeing to go get some actual sleep.
Aside from some bruises on her face and injuries to her wrists and ankles where she’d been bound, Katelyn was in the clear. As I’d hoped it would, my body absorbed most of the shock from the fall.
Thank You, Lord. He saved us out there; there’s not a doubt in my mind.
There’s a soft knock at my door, and it swings open. Dressed in a hospital gown, using his IV pole for a cane, Sawyer walks into the room. He peeks behind him, then gently closes the door and crosses over toward my bed.
“You supposed to be up?” I ask him.
Without answering, he slowly lowers himself into the chair. “I hate hospitals.”
I laugh. “I’m not overly fond of them either. How are you feeling?”
“Alive. Thanks to you.” He’s quiet for a moment, something unusual for Sawyer most days. “I’m sorry, man. I tried to save her. They came up on us so fast. And then there was the gun—”
“Are you seriously apologizing?” I sit up a little straighter, hissing through clenched teeth when the movement jars my injured ribs.
“You did save her, Sawyer. She’s alive because you put yourself at risk and took the hits.
If you hadn’t been there—” I shake my head.
“I don’t know what would have happened to her. ”
“For a moment there, I really thought I was done.” He takes a deep breath and looks up at me. Behind his sarcastic exterior, Sawyer Maddox has a heart of gold.
“Katelyn says you were Mr. Optimistic.”
He snorts. “Yeah, well, can’t lose my charm even in the face of death. I have a reputation to uphold.” There’s a weight on him now that’s not typical.
“You talk to Anastasia yet?”
He shakes his head. “I told Zane to tell her I wanted to rest.”
I arch a brow. “Really?”
He shrugs. “She’s with him now, and I think it’s time I start coming to terms with it. He’s all right, I guess. And he cares for her.”
“Sawyer—”
“Nah, it’ll be fine. I’ll survive.” He forces a smile.
“After all, it’s just an infatuation, right?
I mean, if it were love, I would have already said something.
Look at you, friend-zoned for what—a week—before you did something about it?
I keep hesitating, and I think it’s because I know we’re better off as friends. ”
“You sure about that?”
He takes a deep breath. “No. But I’m going to work on getting okay with it.”
The door opens, and Rose storms in, a frustrated look on her face. “Sawyer Maddox. What do you think you’re doing out of bed?”
He winces. “Busted. I’m sorry, Rosie, I just needed a walk.
” He fakes a pout, the old Sawyer slipping back into place.
But I know him well enough to still see the heartbreak.
I’m honestly not sure how he does it. I spent three months pining after Katelyn, and most of that time, she barely knew I existed.
I couldn’t imagine seeing someone every single day. Being friends. And loving them while they loved someone else.
“Yeah, well, you can take a walk right back to your room, boy.”
“Get him, Rose,” I say with a smile.
She shakes her head as she helps Sawyer to his feet, but there’s a smile toying at the corners of her lips.
“You get some sleep, Demo,” Sawyer says. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” I reply. “And Sawyer?” He glances over his shoulder. “Give yourself more credit. You know what you feel. Don’t convince yourself it’s something else unless you’re absolutely sure. Otherwise, you’re missing out on a whole lot of life.”
He offers me a half-smile, then leaves the room, Rose right behind him.
As I settle back against the pillows and close my eyes, I think back to all that I’ve been through in the past two months.
Being stabbed and almost dying.
Getting pepper sprayed.
Falling in love.
Falling—literally—out of a helicopter.
The list is a lot longer than it should be, and yet I’m still here. All because God has a plan for me.
I just seriously hope that plan includes Katelyn and Thomas, too.
“You sit,” Katelyn orders as she locks the apartment door behind us. Since Kyle and I managed to get most of her furniture moved in before she went missing, it’s her stuff in the two-bedroom apartment while mine is next door, ready to be arranged and unpacked.
“Yes, ma’am,” I reply with a grin that only Thomas can see. His own smile widens as he takes a seat on the chair across from me.
After yet another night in the hospital, I am more than ready for an actual shower and some real sleep. So long as that sleep is here on the couch, because I have no intention of leaving Katelyn and Thomas just yet.
“How you feeling, Mr. Holt?” Thomas asks.
“Kind of like I fell out of a helicopter without a parachute.”
He snorts, his joy returning now that his mom is safe. The kid has been glued to her side ever since last night, and I absolutely love seeing it. With the two of them together, order is restored in my world.
“But I’ve had worse,” I add.
“You know, Sawyer said that same thing after he was shot. Just because you’ve had worse doesn’t negate what you’re going through now.” She hands me a cup of water. “You almost died.”
Her face is bruised, her right eye bloodshot, but she’s alive. My beautiful Katelyn. I’d happily take that fall over and over again if it meant she walked away. There’s not a hit I won’t take for her.
“Worth it.”
She shakes her head and takes a seat on the couch beside me.
“I think I’m going to go call Kyle, see if he wants to play some video games.” Thomas jumps up and rushes off to his room, leaving Katelyn and me on the couch alone.
I set the water down and turn toward her. “Hey. Did I tell you I bought you a present?”
“You did?”
I point toward the bookcase, at the brown bag sitting on the bottom shelf. “I set it there after Kyle and I finished moving everything in.”
Her brow furrows, and she gets up to cross the living room. “I didn’t even notice this. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I wanted you to open it with me, anyway.”
Katelyn carries the bag over and takes a seat on the couch beside me once more. “Can I?”
“Please.”
With a wide grin on her face, she carefully opens the brown bag and withdraws the Bible. “Oh, Garrison,” she says softly, running her fingertips over the HOLY BIBLE printed in gold on the front of the floral cover. “You bought me a Bible.”
“You said you didn’t have one anymore. I wanted to make sure you did.”
She looks over at me, tears shimmering in her eyes. “You have no idea what you’ve done for me, Garrison. From the moment we met, you’ve been healing what you didn’t break. Thank you so much. For this. For everything.”
“Baby, I wish I could take the credit, but that’s all God. He is the ultimate healer. I’m just grateful He put you in my life so I could show you what you deserve.” I reach out and run my fingertips over her cheek. “Which is everything, Katelyn.”
She smiles, and a single tear rolls down her cheek. I wipe it away with my thumb, then lower my hand. “So, listen, I also had some time to think.”
“Oh yeah?” she laughs, setting the Bible on the table in front of us. “When was that? In all your downtime over the last forty-eight hours?”
Laughing, I angle my body toward her. Pain shoots through my side at the awkward movement, but I push through it.
“I love you, Katelyn Ellis. I know it doesn’t make any sense since we haven’t known each other long, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same yet.
I just want you to know that I have fallen madly, helplessly in love with you. ”
Her eyes fill with tears, and she leans forward to press her lips to mine. “It doesn’t make any sense,” she whispers. “But I’m in love with you, too.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear. I was a bit mortified there for a second.”
She laughs, but it’s cut short when I pull her in and press my lips to hers.
The feel of her against me, her soft curves and silky hair, is so familiar even as it’s completely new.
As she pulls away and settles her head against my chest, I press a kiss to the top of her forehead and close my eyes, feeling peace settle over me for the first time in a long, long time.