Chapter 51 Dare
Chapter Fifty-One
DARE
I have terrible dreams about blood and iron, knives flashing at me, gunshots whizzing by my head. Then I dream of Isla, her looking up at me, the way I’d been so angry with her, pushed her away.
“Need to tell you I’m sorry, a ghrá.”
“Dare, don’t try to talk.”
A hand brushes my hair back from my face.
My eyelids must have weights on them when I try to open them, but I push through and as I finally make some progress, my vision blurs and doubles as I look at Isla’s beautiful face.
“A ghrá? You’re here?”
“Where else would I be, silly?” She smiles, sitting on a chair beside my bed and gripping my hand.
I squeeze it, love and regret all mixed together rushing through me. I feel more emotional than I ever have. Must be the meds. Or maybe it’s just Isla.
“What happened?”
“You let yourself get stabbed in the liver, you idiot,” Liam pipes in.
Cillian snorts out a laugh, followed by a cough.
Liam chuckles. “Like you can talk, Cill.”
I look to the side and Cill is lying on the bed next to mine, Isla holding both our hands as she sits in between our beds.
“Hey, at least I didn’t have a gun when I was stabbed.”
Then, it comes to me. stabbing two men, shooting another.
God, I took a life. Why would Isla ever want me now?
My breath starts coming short, and my incision stings and aches, the alarms starting to go off.
Isla’s hazel eyes widen with worry, and she cups my face.
“Listen to me, Dare. You did what you had to do. You saved me and the baby. You all did.”
I take a deep breath, or as deep as I can, given my wound, and the alarms stop beeping.
I look at Isla, my vision finally not blurred.
“Who… who did that to your face?”
“Reese.” Cillian spits out the word. “He’s dead.”
I am quiet for a moment. “Good.”
I don’t feel a single drop of sympathy for Reese. He hurt Isla, put her in danger. I hope he died screaming.
Suddenly, my throat tightens.
“The baby?”
Isla blinks at me. “I thought you didn't care.”
I scoff. “I care too much. That’s why I was so angry. I’m so sorry, a ghrá.” I hold her hand in both of mine.
She smiles at me. “Nothing to apologize for.”
“I have plenty to apologize for. First and foremost, for making you doubt how much I love you and the baby, no matter what.”
“You love me and the baby?” Tears spring to her eyes.
I kiss the knuckles on the hand I’m holding. “More than my life.”
Liam scoffs. “Took you long enough to tell her.”
“Bet I still beat you to the punch.”
Isla huffs out a breath. “Are you boys still fighting?”
Liam grins. “No, we’re family now, aren’t we? Family argues.”
Isla looks at him with a beaming smile, and a stab of jealousy rushes through me.
“What are we gonna do now? The cops are going to show up.” I bring it up mostly to keep Isla from making goo-goo eyes at Liam.
I guess jealousy never really goes away.
Liam waves a hand. “I’ve got a few of them in my pocket. I’ll use my resources and get you discharged. We’ll get to Doc and see what kind of long-term care you need.”
“And after that?” Isla bites her lower lip.
“After that, we disappear.”
Cillian balks. “We can’t go, Liam, not with your father in the condition he’s in.”
Liam turns to him, a pained expression on his face.
“As much as I’d love to help him, I’m ready to leave this life, and he’ll never accept that, not for me, but especially not for himself.
So, what will you have me do, brother? Give up my happiness for what should be a few more years, risk my life, our lives, while he is alive? Then what?”
Cillian lowers his eyes.
Liam sighs. “I won’t abandon him; I’ll just support him from afar, distance myself from this life I never wanted.
A life I know you never wanted either. Besides, he has an at-home nurse, and I’ll make sure we always have someone close to him we trust. He’ll be fine.
And the truth is, we are doing more for him, even after we leave, than he ever did for us.
He only ever saw us as tools. You know that. ”
Cillian looks lost in thought for a moment, and then he nods. “You’re right, boss.”
Liam lays a hand on Cill’s shoulder. “I’m not your boss. Never was. You have always been my brother.”
Cillian looks up at him, shocked, but then a half-smile appears on his face.
“Where will we go?” I ask.
Isla’s touch, even if it is just her hand on mine, is healing, makes me forget about the pain.
I try to adjust my position in bed, and pain shoots through me. I grit my teeth not to cry out, but I can’t avoid the wince.
Liam frowns. “I’ll call for more pain meds. You’ll both need them since we’re leaving soon.”
“So soon after surgery?” Isla’s voice is low and worried.
I give her a smile, but it’s probably weak. “I’m all right, a ghrá.”
Cillian’s hand tightens on hers when she looks at him. “So am I.”
Liam heads to the nurse’s station, and thirty minutes later, they come in.
Cillian waves them off him, and they head my way with a shot that makes the world feel happy and warm.
My eyelids start drooping.
Cillian’s voice comes from the end of a tunnel. “Where will we go?”
Liam chuckles. “Anywhere we want, aye? We have enough money pooled among the three of us to go anywhere. I can run my business long-distance, and you two have a hell of a nest egg.”
Isla’s musical voice joins in. “As long as Dare and Cill can get medical care, I don’t care where we go.”
My chest swells with love and pride, my head spinning from the medication.
I fight the bliss long enough to ask, “What are we going to do about all this jealousy?”
“We’ll talk through it,” Cillian pipes in, and I’m surprised to hear from him. He’s usually so quiet, especially in tense conversations.
“Aye,” Liam says easily. “As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter.”
“And what about the paternity of the baby?” My eyes are fighting with all their might to close again.
Liam scoffs. “It doesn’t matter either, does it? She’s ours, and the baby, and any others that come after this, will be, too.”
Others?
But I’m distracted by the doctor coming in to check on Cill and my incision, worried about infection.
I clear my throat when he’s done. “I need an AMA document.”
Cill nods. “I need one too.”
The doctor blinks. “You want to leave after major surgery?”
I shrug. “Have things to do.”
“What he said.”
The doctor frowns. “I would really recommend you stay for at least three days.”
“Can’t do it, doc.”
He sighs. “All right, I’ll have someone bring you both the paperwork.”
Once everything’s signed and sealed, IVs out, Liam pushes Cillian and Isla pushes me in wheelchairs to the car.
Stupid hospital policy, but I’m secretly grateful, because I’m still in a world of pain. The meds help with some of the pain, but it’s still there.
Once we’re in the car, Isla sits in the back seat with me, leaning against my shoulder. I keep a hand over my incision for a while, but slowly, the pain ebbs until it’s just a bearable ache.
“How are you feeling?” she asks.
I grin. “The drugs help.”
She laughs. “I bet they do. What about you, Cill?”
“Just peachy.”
“When I was at Cormac’s, a medic came to check on me. His name is Sam, and he had a way to make me trust him. Maybe we can find him and see if he has some heavy painkillers for you?”
Liam frowns. “Sam? Was he young?”
“Yes, why?”
“I think I know who that is. He is a good kid. Too bad he is mixed up with that clan.”
“I don’t think he was happy about that either.”
“All right, let’s see if we can go to him.” Liam drives carefully so he doesn’t jostle the car.
After about forty-five minutes, we arrive at a house in the middle of nowhere.
This guy lives off of five miles of dirt road, and the bumps nearly kill me as the meds start to wear off.
I cry out, and Isla clutches my hand, lying her head on my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Dare.”
“It’s all right, a ghrá. I’m tough.” I give her a weak smile, but she still frowns, tears welling in her eyes.
Her left hand finds Cill’s shoulder. “And how are you holding up?”
“Don’t worry about me, mo chuisle.”
But I pick up on the tension in his voice, the gritted teeth. He isn’t faring much better than I am.
Liam looks at Isla through the rearview mirror. “If this Sam is the kind of person you think, he’ll take care of them.”
A young man meets us on the porch.
“Isla goes to him and shakes his hand. “Thank you so much for taking care of me. Can you please help my friends?”
He frowns.
“They won’t hurt you; they are nothing like Cormac or his men. We just need something for the pain, and you’ll never have to see us again if you don’t want to.”
Still frowning, he nods and opens the front door so we can step inside.
Liam helps me, and Isla helps Cillian, who doesn’t seem to need as much support as I do, the bastard. Liam lies me down on the couch, and I groan at the movement.
Isla helps Cillian to an armchair.
He grunts.
Sam looks at the both of us. “Pain on a scale of one to ten?”
I look over at Isla and then Liam, hoping he understands I don’t want Isla to see this.
Liam takes Isla out on the porch even though she protests, cursing him for all he is worth.
I can’t help but chuckle.
My strong girl. She’s as stubborn as a mule until she’s in the bedroom, and then she’s an obedient little thing.
My dick stirs just thinking about it, but I tamp it down, focusing on the pain in my side.
“A ten,” I admit.
“About a seven for me.”
Sam approaches me, looking at my incision. “Jesus, what did they do?”
“Something about my liver,” I say weakly, and Sam curses.
“That’s bad.”
“I know. Can I handle this without a hospital?”
“Depends on what I’ve got in my pharmacy.”
Then he turns to Cill. “What about you?”
“A few broken ribs and some bullets taken out. No major organs for me.”
He nods and steps out of the room. When he gets back, he hands something to Cill and brings me two small white pills.
“Be careful. These are addictive.”
“We’ll have Liam dole them out. He’s a bear about a schedule, anyway.” I shift on the couch, uncomfortable.
I swallow them dry, hoping they work soon.
Cill throws back his too.
“They should kick in soon. You’ll both need antibiotics, too. Especially you, Dare, is it?”
I nod. “Do you have those?"
He scoffs. “Of course, I do. What kind of medic do you think I am?”
The meds kick in just as we’re leaving, thank God.
My head swims.
I can see why people get addicted to these, but I don’t like feeling so emotional, so I doubt I’ll be asking Liam for extras.
“Where are we going now?” Isla asks when we’re in the car.
“Safehouse,” Liam tells her, smiling at her in the rearview mirror.
I rarely see a genuine smile on Liam’s face, but it's genuine now.
“Not the same as before. Out of state, so Cormac can’t find us. Just for tonight. We’ll figure out where to go from there.”
The future is so uncertain, and maybe it’s the drugs, but I’m not worried. It doesn’t matter. We’re all going to be together, and that’s what’s important.
I nuzzle against Isla’s neck again, kissing and biting there, and she moans.
“Don’t make that sound,” Liam murmurs. “Makes me hard.”
“Me too.” Cill glares at us from the front seat. “And I’m in no condition to do anything about it.”
Isla playfully swats at my hand as I cup her breast. “You’re high as a kite.”
“Maybe. But I still want you.”
“We’re almost there, you maniac,” Liam says, but it’s not a bark of jealousy like usual, more amused than anything.
When I finally lie down on the safehouse’s bed, sleep takes me easily, and I dream of Isla in a wedding dress, swollen with our baby.