“She will, Dom,” Collin said. He seemed so far away, his voice a mere whisper in the room. “I stopped the morphine. Just give her time.”
“It’s been days!” Zevon hissed. Was he the one holding my hand?
“She lost a lot of blood,” Collin said. “Go get food, you two.”
“I’ll keep watch over her,” Peyton said from somewhere in the room.
Then, it was quiet again as the two men no longer touched me.
With a deep breath in, I gritted my teeth.
With a pained groan, I rolled over to my good side and pulled my knees up to my chest. It felt like I was burning alive from the inside out, starting with the stabbing pain in my side.
“Scarlett?” Zevon asked, his breath ghosting across my face. With way too much effort, I forced my eyes open. His blue eyes were filled with relief and despair.
“Hey, pretty sad girl,” he said, reaching out and brushing a stray hair off my face. I closed my eyes at the gentle touch. I couldn’t decide if I wanted him to touch me or to get as far away as possible. “You scared the hell out of me.”
I opened my eyes back up, giving him a look that said I didn’t really care either way.
“You scared all of us, actually,” he went on, not moving his hand from the top of my head. It was then that I noticed part of his face was colored yellow from a fading bruise.
Slowly, I was able to get my arm to move. I let the pads of my fingers trace the outside of the bruise. He closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them and giving me a sad smile.
“You have worse battle wounds,” he said as I dropped my hand. “Do you remember what happened?”
“No.” My voice was scratchy.
“Probably a good thing,” he said, letting his hand fall from my head and back between us. “One of Pops’ men thought he could have some fun.” He paused, his eyes misting with unshed tears. “I’m fucking sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. I had no clue. I…I…”
“Hey,” I said, reaching for his hand. He held onto me like I was his lifeline.
“I killed him. God, did I want to make that man suffer, but I couldn’t. I could only see you covered in blood. I thought he’d killed you, Scarlett,” he said, finally letting tears fall.
“Zevon.” His tears sprung like my own as his name was a sob on my lips. He pressed his forehead to mine and gently wrapped one arm around me, bringing me as close as he dared to his own body. I was nearly back asleep when Dominic’s voice startled both of us. Zevon jumped away, putting a good foot between us.
“Hey, Scarlett,” he said, giving me a sad smile. His hair was wet, drops dripping down his gray shirt.
“I’ll go tell everyone you’re awake,” Zevon said when the tension in the room grew awkward.
I watched as Dominic stopped Zevon with a touch on the lower arm and whispered something to him. Once he was gone, he sat gently on the bed next to me, looking me over from head to toe.
“Don’t ever do that again to me,” he said.
“Do what?”
“Almost die on me,” he said, lying down beside me. “God. Never again. Please. I didn’t think I’d ever have to worry like that. I was so fucking helpless, Scarlett. The entire time I’ve…I’ve been lost.”
“I’ll be okay,” I sighed, letting my eyes close in exhaustion. I wasn’t sure I ever would be.
“I’ll do everything to make sure you are,” he promised, pressing a kiss to my head. “I’m not leaving your side till you wake again.”
“I am awake,” I muttered through a yawn.
“What do you mean? There’s no way she’s able to be relocated right now, and you know it!” Peyton seethed. His voice was hard.
I peeled my eyes open, fighting against the blurriness for a moment before I could actually see. Peyton stood just outside the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. I couldn’t see his face, but I assumed whomever he was talking to was getting one heck of a glare.
“The Cartel is closing in. It’s only a matter of days, son. She needs to be moved. Like, yesterday.”
