Five Days Later
Over the past few days, Colt has kept his promise not to touch me.
We’ve made out—God, have we made out—but the second I try to push things further, he pulls away, firm and unshakable. He’s adamant that he won’t touch me again until he’s sure it won’t hurt me. And after that night, after seeing how much I made him blame himself, I haven’t forced the issue.
Today is a great day. I’m finally getting this bloody cast off my leg, and I’m going to get rid of those ridiculous crutches. It’s been nine weeks since the accident, and the orthopedic surgeon said my leg is healing well enough for us to take off the cast and for me to start my physiotherapy.
Colt is coming with me to my appointment, and I’m thankful.
“You ready, my little invalid?” Colt teases as I hobble toward the front door.
I scoff, and he winks at me. “I won’t be an invalid for much longer. So watch what you say because I’ll be chasing you around the manor later on.”
“Doubtful, but I love it when you talk all threatening. It turns me on,” Colt says, grabbing his crotch.
I laugh and shake my head before I head outside toward the car. Getting in the car, we drive to the hospital for what feels like a huge milestone. After a check-up with the surgeon and a quick removal of the cast, they have me walk around to test the strength of my now-healed leg.
It’s a little smaller than it was before the accident—the muscle has shrunk, and the skin is peeling in places—but it doesn’t hurt.It is, however, a little weak as I move cautiously around the room.
Colt knows I’m self-conscious about my leg’s appearance, but he doesn’t say a word. He just grins, watching me walk, his eyes lighting up like I’ve won an Olympic medal. He’s happy to see me up and moving again, which is great.
They give me the all-clear to head home, and I make an appointment with a physiotherapist for weekly sessions for the foreseeable future. Annoying but necessary. And if it means having a healthy, strong leg again, I’ll do it.
Since I’m mostly healed, I told Colt it’s time he gets back to the band, and I’ve organized a surprise to kickstart that. If everything goes according to plan, the whole band should be at our manor by the time we arrive home. The whole crew hasn’t been together since the accident, and honestly, I’m excited to have everyone in the same room again.
It feels like a fresh start.
When we pull up the driveway, Colt’s gaze shifts to me, noticing all the cars lined up outside our home. He smiles, raising an eyebrow, clearly catching on.
“Surprise,” I say, and he chuckles.
“Who’s here?” Colt asks, pulling the car to a stop and turning off the engine.
“The band, and Rob Luxley. I thought it was time you started getting the band back on track.”
He smiles brightly. I know he’s missed the guys, even though we’ve seen Johnny a lot lately discussing surrogacy, but he misses his brother and Dingo. I think he even misses bossy Sia.
“When did you organize this?” he asks, hot-footing it around to my door.
“Yesterday. I saw you playing the guitar in the music room and figured it was time. I’m pretty much all better now, sothere’s no need to keep putting the band on hold,” I say as we move slowly to the front door.
Walking without crutches is incredible, but my leg is weak, so I feel a little unstable.
We step through the door and head to the kitchen, where I can hear everyone. When we enter, they all look up and cheer.
“She’s finally out of the cast. Welcome back to the land of the walking, Little Bean,” Dingo calls out.
I giggle. It’s so good to see him. I have even missed his stupid jokes.
Sia walks over and hugs me. “Thank you so much for this, Dee. Dingo is driving me up the wall at home. He needs to be with his boys ’cause I sure as hell don’t appreciate his damn fart jokes,” she shares, and I can’t help but chuckle at that.
Colt steps inside and immediately hugs his brother, who’s still throwing me dirty looks. The last time we saw each other, things didn’t end well. He was furious at me for how badly I treated Colt, and honestly, he had every right to be. But I’ve been trying harder ever since, especially now that we know we’re going to have a baby with Anna’s help.
My depression and panic attacks have all but disappeared, and every day, I feel more like myself again. I hope Hux can see that too.
As Sia lets me go, Anna comes over, cradling baby Aston in her arms. I smile down at him, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his tiny head.
“How’s the leg feeling?” she asks, then kisses my cheek.
