Chapter 24
Dylan
Bright,white light slipped painfully through my closed eyelids. I blinked them open, but somewhere above me, glaring lights beat down against them, blindingme.
Where wasI?
I tried to lift my head and felt a pull across my face, just under my nose. It felt as if a piece of tape was stuck on my upper lip. I felt the same sensation on my hands as well. I reached up to try to pull the tape off; both my hands felt strange,heavy.
My fingers touched something foreign before I could find my face.What was on my face? I traced the smooth object with the tips of my fingers, and panic set in. There were tubes all over me. Stuck to my face. I needed to rip them off.Where were my kids? Where was I? What the hell washappening?
“Dylan?” The sound of an angel’s voice called out my name. “Dylan, no. Don’t tug on that,” the voice said sternly as a warm hand coveredmine.
Once again, I tried to squint my eyes open. My temples throbbed with the effort. I was lying in an unfamiliar bed—it had rails on each side and heavy white blankets—it made my entire body achy andsore.
"Where?" my voice croaked. My throat was dry, and I had the worst case of cotton mouth ever; my mouth tasted like it was coated inshit.
“You’re in the hospital, but you’reokay.”
Hospital? What thehell?
The warm hand gently pulled my hand off the tubes. “Callie?” I asked – no, I prayed. I prayed she was the voice of the angel. If Callie was here, that meant my children were safe and I had someone to relyon.
“Yeah, Dylan. It’s me.” Her warm fingers traced the skin on my arm, sending shivers over mybody.
“Addi? Ben? Whathappened?”
My thoughts were muddled, confused. I remembered a fight somewhere. I remembered Addison screaming for me. My mind raced to figure out how it all led me to where I was. I just couldn't see what happenedclearly.
“The kids are fine. They’re safe,” she whispered, giving my arm a small squeeze. “Do you rememberanything?”
Finally, her face became more focused on me. Her skin was too pale, her eyes swollen and ringed red. I tried to lift my head again, attempted to move closer to her and find out what was wrong, but my head spun and nausea washed over me. A cold sweat sprouted across myforehead.
“What happened? Callie, are youokay?”
A stab of fear clenched deep in mystomach.
I swear to God, if anyone hurt her or caused her anypain…
A smile pulled up at one corner of her lips. "You're the one in the hospital bed, and you're asking me if I'mokay?"
She shook her head and touched her hand to my cheek. The touch filled my heart with something I hadn't felt in years: hope. Hope andlove. Whatever love she would accept from me, I wanted to give her until she could one day love me back. I could love this woman enough for both of us. I could love her for the rest of my life. My kids loved her. I wanted her, needed her.It was over between Sheri andme…
The image of Sheri in my house stopped my thoughts cold. Sheri had come home. I remembered now.She came back for some of her things she said. She brought a friend. Some guy she was messing with. Some guy who tried to…he tried to killme.
“Sheri came home. She was high,” I said through the haze of memories that were flooding mybrain.
There was blood everywhere. He hit me with a wrench. Addison was screaming for them to stop. I remembered blocking her from them. I remembered the crunch of his arm when I broke it. I remembered Sheri's face, her uncaring face when our daughter screamed forher.
Callie gently pushed me back. "Lay back. You shouldn't move too much." She sighed, and tears glazed in her eyes. "Sheri came back high, yes. She had a friend with her, and they attackedyou."
“Yeah. My wrench,right?”
She stilled, eyes fixed on mine. She didn't want to tell me, did she? Did she think I'd be embarrassed that I got my ass handed to me? I wasn't. He used my damn wrench, and I knew I broke his arm. I knew there was blood all over, and it wasn't justmine.
“You were stabbed. Multiple times with a pair of needle nosepliers.”
“What the fuck?” I looked down over my body, hidden under the hospital sheets.Was I stabbed?“No. No, he hit me with the wrench. I would know if I wasstabbed.”
