The doctor choked out a laugh.
He got me.
“Not too soon then?” I asked.
Bones took the chair beside the bed and helped Kady down from beside me. “Just wanna check your blood pressure.” He leaned over me, lifting my arm so he could hook a cuff onto it before clicking a button on the small white machine attached.
“When can I get up?” I asked. “I need to see Jacob.”
He checked the reading on the machine and removed the cuff from my arm. “Now.”
My heart leaped, and I breathed, “Really? I expected an argument.”
“Nope,” he said, popping the P. “If Diablo or Breaker don’t mind carrying you in, you can go see him now. Word of warning, though. You’ll be meeting the parents. His folks are in with him, too.”
“Can I stay with him?” I asked. “He may wake up if I’m there, and I want to stay close in case he needs me.”
“Yep,” Bones told me. “He’s hooked up to tubes and monitors, so you gotta be careful, but you can stay in there with him.”
“Help me up?” I asked.
Bones took my elbow and gently pulled me until I was in a seated position. Once I’d had a drink of water and used the bathroom, somebody produced my short robe, and I slipped it over my PJs.
Breaker and Kady went to get Kennedy, and my stare fell on Diablo, who stood sentry at the door. His face was stoic, and his stubble was a few days more than overgrown. I could tell he’d been in the same clothes for days because of the blood stains on them, but he was still one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen.
“How do I thank you?” I croaked, blinking away the moisture welling in my eyes. “There aren’t words.”
“Guitar lessons,” he replied.
I went to chuckle, but the movement pulled at the stitches in my shoulder, so it came out more like a choke. “You’re on.” I smiled when I’d recovered. “I owe you everything.”
He hitched an eyebrow and lowered his chin. “You don’t owe me shit. We’re family, and family sticks together.”
“You’re gonna make me cry,” I whispered. “You beautiful, beautiful man.”
His cheeks flushed red, and for a second, he looked almost embarrassed by my compliment. “Don’t get all schmaltzy on me, Saint. For fuck’s sake, last time I looked, I don’t gotta vagina, so stop with the slushy shit. Did my job, though I’ll argue day and night that I was a bit late to the party. Still, you and Iceman are here, and if there’s a God, he’ll wake up soon.”
“There is a God,” I announced. “Because people like you exist.”
He flicked his hand out. “Bah. Stop with the bullshit. At this rate, you’ll make me grow a pair of tits.”
I smiled and carefully touched my fingers to my heart before touching them to my mouth and blowing a kiss his way.
He smiled, his white teeth flashing through his beard, and he shot me a wink.
“You gonna carry me to my man?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he rumbled. “But I gotta wait for Bones to give me the green light first.”
My eyes closed. “I can still see him coughing up blood, D. I can still feel the fear and the helplessness.” I opened my eyes again and they welled with tears. “If I lose him, I may as well die, too.”
Within seconds, Diablo was sitting by my side, and his arm slid around me. “He’s gonna be okay. I’m not gonna lie and say it’s not bad ‘cause he’s got a collapsed lung. Not gonna dress it up pretty for ya, Saint, ‘cause you need to prepare yourself. They lost him a few times in surgery, but he pulled through, and it’s because of you. He’s fighting to come to you.”
“They lost him?” I breathed.
God, I felt sick.
“Not gonna lie to you, woman,” he bit out. “Got too much respect, but you need to get prepared beforeyou go in that room. Once you’re in there, no tears, no whining, you be strong for him; you be the ol’ lady he needs. You lie there, whisper in his ear, and tell him to wake the fuck up. You tell him you’ll battle every demon in Hell to bring him back to you. Don’t let him fall, don’t fucking allow it. If you wanna cry, do it now and get it outta your system before we go in, ‘cause once we’re in there, it’s time to fight.”
