“There,” she murmurs. “Now you know she’s okay. But you need to rest if you want to be out of here anytime soon.”
My throat closes. “Thank you,” I manage, the words rough and honest.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” she says, patting my arm before checking the monitors again. “Try to relax. The worst is over. Your family is on their way up,” she adds, like that’s supposed to prepare me for the tidal wave about to hit.
And I guess it does, because less than a minute later, the door bursts open like it’s being held back by stampeding bulls.
The Morgans. All of them.
Zane, Jace, Beck—leading the pack like they’re storming a battlefield. Ava with baby Luella on her hip, Quinn with Oliver swaddled in a blanket, and Tessa steadying Daisy. Hank is behind them all, towering and grim but with a softness in his eyes I’ve learned means he’s scared.
And behind them, trying her damned best not to cry, my mother.
Flora Dawson may be sweet, may bake cinnamon rolls like she’s feeding angels, but right now she’s a storm wrapped in a cardigan.
“Oh, my baby,” she chokes out, rushing past the brothers and getting to me first. She cups my face like she’s checking each feature for damage. “You scared me half to death. Do you hear me? Half to death.”
“I’m okay, Mom,” I whisper, even though I’m not sure that’s entirely true.
“You were blown up!” she snaps. “There’s no version of that where a mother is calm.”
I almost smile, but the ache in my ribs makes it fade fast.
Aria slips through the crowd then moves straight to my bedside. She climbs onto the chair next to me, her little hand sliding into mine without hesitation.
“Daddy,” she whispers, eyes huge and filled with tears. “You scared me.”
I bring her hand to my lips. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Miss Ella, too.” Her chin trembles. “Is she okay?”
“She will be,” I promise her. “She’s strong.”
“Are you going to hug her?” she asks gently. “When they let you?”
The question lands with a weight I can’t quite hold up.
“Yeah,” I breathe. “I am.”
Aria leans closer, resting her head on my uninjured shoulder. “Good. Because she loves you.”
The room goes silent. I swallow thickly. “How do you know?”
“Because I asked her if she was scared,” Aria murmurs, “and she said she was, but she wasn’t scared for herself. She was scared for you.”
And that… that is almost too much.
Behind my mother, the Morgan brothers linger near the foot of the bed—stiff backs, clenched jaws, the kind of restless anger that doesn’t know where to go now that the danger is gone. Before any of them can speak, the guilt that’s been sitting on my chest since the second I woke up finally breaks loose.
“This is on me,” I say quietly.
All their heads snap toward me.
“I brought Toby and Calista into your lives. I brought the mess, the danger. I should’ve seen it coming. I should’ve protected her… all of you.” My throat turns raw. “I’m sorry.”
Zane steps forward first, eyes narrowing—not in anger but disbelief. “Cole. No.”
“Yes,” I insist. “If it weren’t for me—“
