Chapter 49 Kaeli
Forty Nine
Kaeli
It hurts.
My body aches everywhere.
I feel like a truck rolled over me again and again until my bones were crushed.
A sterile smell floods my senses, making me wonder where I am. My eyes flutter open, and I release a groan of pain when the light pricks my eyes, too heavy for my brain to bear.
I give it one more try, squinting at my surroundings. I’m in a hospital, I discover. Then I remember why. John, Jodi, kidnapping, and the shooting. Too many memories assault my brain at once, running in a loop of events.
So, I try to focus on one thing. I survived. I’m alive. I didn’t die.
The rhythmic beeping of the machine pulls me from my thoughts, and my gaze instantly falls on the mop of dark hair on my bed.
Ezra sits beside me as he dozes off with his head on my bed. His unshaved face looks so tired, and dark circles encompass his beautiful eyes.
My heart beats again at the sight of him, and a breath I didn’t know I was holding escapes my mouth.
I raise my hand attached to several tubes and ever so gently caress his face. His eyes snap open at the barest of touches.
My breath hitches as he sits straight with slow movements. It feels like a lifetime has passed since we last saw each other.
I wait for him to say something as he continues to silently stare at me with his intense ocean eyes. When he doesn’t, my insides churn. “Ezra…” I speak, but my voice sounds so groggy as if I have forgotten how to speak.
That spurs him into action, and he makes me sit up a little and hands me a glass of water with a straw. I grab the glass and greedily sip on it, not realizing how parched my throat was until now.
I take a deep breath as he places the glass back. “Ezra–” I try again, but he cuts me off.
“Don’t you fucking dare scare me again,” he grits, the vein in his neck fluttering. “I thought…” his breath stutters. “I thought I lost you. I thought you died.” He swipes away an angry tear that falls without his permission.
“I’m sorry.” I open my palm for him to place his hand on.
He grabs my hand and kisses my knuckles, caressing them with the pad of his thumb. “I know, I’m sorry for not protecting you. I should’ve been there.” Guilt and regret reflect in his eyes.
I squeeze his hand. “You did protect me. If not for you, I may not be alive.”
He places a finger on my lips. “Shhh. Don’t talk about dying when I just got you back.”
A smile forms on my lips. “I love you,” I say.
Ezra’s eyes widen in surprise as he searches mine. “You do?”
I roll my eyes at him. “Of course, you fool. I love you.” Telling him how I really feel is like a weight off my chest, a weight that has been eating at me for hiding my feelings.
He releases a sigh of relief, his head falling forward. I pat my bed and beckon him beside me.
“Are you sure I won’t hurt you?” He asks, hesitant to get in with me.
“You’d never hurt me.”
A bashful smile stretches across his lips.
I shift to the side and wince when I think I pull on a stitch. Ezra sees that and starts panicking. “Nurse. Nurse, where are you?” He starts shouting.
“Oh shut up! It’s fine. I’m fine. But I won’t be if you don’t come here.” His eyes say he doesn’t believe me, but he gives in to my pouty face.
Climbing in beside me, he wraps his arms around me as I bury my face in his chest, soaking up the warmth that he exudes.
For some time, I truly believed I wouldn’t get to hold him ever again. That I’ll never see love directed from those beautiful eyes at me, or get to bask in his warmth that he hides from the world.
He presses a kiss on my head. “I love you,” he mumbles.
“I love you, too,” I say, my voice muffled in his chest.
“Thank God for that miracle.”
* * *
After a quick nap, which I didn’t realize I slipped into, I find my hospital room filled with the people who love me. My parents Cricinfo their hearts out, and Roman and Ezra trying to formulate a plan to beat up John, even when he was locked up.
I gave my statement when the cops came, and that sent both John and Jodi into the lock-up for a long time.
I still couldn’t believe that Jodi was hiding so much of how she really felt about me, when all I ever wanted was to befriend her.
When Seb found out that Jodi aided John because of how she perceived Seb as hers and didn’t like our interaction, Seb was so traumatized and apologized profusely when he couldn’t do a damn thing.
What came as a surprise to me, and like a warm hug, was the fact that the entire team helped Ezra find me and came to my aid; they risked their lives for their captain and me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
These people, and a set of friends, were the ones I had been missing all my life. And to know that yes, there are people who love me and care about me is humbling and overwhelming in all the best ways.
As always, Stacy was a Godsend with the way she handled everything for the Boston Bandits in my absence. It’s because of her that I could take a week off and go home after being discharged from the hospital.
Thankfully, the bullet that John fired didn’t hit any vital organs or arteries.
So, after a couple of days in the hospital, I enter my home again with Ezra supporting me all the way.
When I go to sit on the couch, he picks me up. Startled, I gasp. “What are you doing?”
He looks down at me in his hold and explains, “Taking you to your bedroom. You need to lie down and rest.”
“I can walk,” I protest, my arms wrapping around his neck nonetheless.
“You don’t need to.”
I just smile at the love he showers me with and accept his care. Gently placing me on the bed and covering me with the duvet, he stands to leave. “Where are you going?” I ask.
“Just going to bring you some warm water for your medicines.” With that, he rushes out of the room.
I shake my head fondly at him and take in my bedroom. It feels like I haven’t been here for years. Everything seems so distant after the accident. But the warmth of the walls of home I feel calms me.
Everything seems to be in its place, untouched. My eyes fall on the succulent on the windowsill, and I have no recollection of when I last watered it. So, I bite my teeth and stand up, wincing at the pain that shoots in my abdomen.
Grabbing a bowl from my bathroom, I fill it with water and head over to the plant in the pink bucket.
Just as I’m done and putting the bowl aside, Ezra enters the room. “Why are you standing?”
He rushes to my side and takes the bowl from me as he walks me back to my bed. “I can walk, you know. I’m injured, not invalid.” I roll my eyes at him.
He bites back a smile. “I know. But why would you need to do anything when you have me at your beck and call, my lady?”
His comment makes me chuckle. “What were you doing by the way?” he asks, dropping beside me as he hands me the medicines to swallow.
I gulp them down with the glass of water he brought. “Good girl,” he praises me with a smile when I hand him the glass back that he promptly keeps on the side table.
“I was just watering the plant. I couldn’t remember when I did it the last time, and I couldn’t just let it die. Stacy gifted it to me.” I answer his earlier question, resting my back against the headboard.
Ezra tries to cover the smile that slips from his face. My brows furrow at his reaction. “What happened, Ezra?” His reaction when I first told him about the succulent resurfaces in my mind. “You were upset when I first told you about it, too. Why?”
He shakes his head, feigning a smile. “It’s nothing. Don’t you worry about me.”
My eyes narrow at him, but my heart feels heavy. “I’ll never not worry about you. So, tell me what it is, darling?”
With a sigh, he answers, “Stacy never gave you that plant.”
My brows furrow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“It was I who kept it for you in the staff locker room to congratulate you for getting the job you thought you lost.”
My eyes widen while he looks at me, unsure of my reaction. “You didn’t!” My voice rises an octave, unable to believe what he said.
Ezra’s lips turn up. “I did,” he says softly.
“All these years, I thought that Stacy…But you hated me? I was so mean to you. Why would you give me a gift?” I ask incredulously, my eyes darting between his.
He slides to my side and drapes his arm over me, burrowing me in his embrace. “I told you I have always liked you.” He shrugs.
A calm unlike ever before washes over me, knowing that he has always been there for me, rooting for me from the shadows. His silent love, care, kindness, and support wrap around me like a warm blanket.
“Why do you call me Feather? I still need to know,” I ask him, nuzzling into his shoulder.
His lips tug in a grin. “Remember that time when you drank your weight in tequila and ended up in my bed?” I nod, playfully smacking his toned abs.
“Well, I found it cute that you were such a lightweight and could hardly hold your liquor. That’s when Feather struck me.
Used to tease you with it, but then the sentiments changed. ”
I would’ve never guessed that. I’m eternally grateful that I collided with him all those years ago. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad you spilled your coffee over me.”
Ezra sputters out a laugh, his head thrown back, and I join him. “Is that right?”
“Mhmm,” I nod with a smile on my face, causing him to shake his head with a rough chuckle. “I love you,” I tell him, pecking his lips.
“I love you, too, Feather.”
I promise to always protect the brilliant smile he showers me with.