“Yeah, well,” he wheezed. “Feels more like two now. Three, max.” He plopped onto the wheelchair and released a breath. “Fuuuuck, he got me good.”
Sean cast him a sideways glance. “I’d say you got him better, deadeye.”
Jordan snorted. He did what he had to do, and he’d do it a thousand times over to protect Vanessa, but it wasn’t another notch he’d happily added to his belt.
“Come on,” Sean said. “Let’s get you to the lobby before Vanessa sends up an SOS. She doesn’t do so great being apart from you for long.”
It was true. Vanessa had barely left his side since he’d woken up. Maybe five hours total. They’d even brought a second bed to the room so she could finally get decent sleep.
Not that he minded. She’d been his favorite nurse.
But today, he’d asked his brother to help him change into real clothes and get ready to go home. Being the weakest one in the room was humbling enough. Needing help to pull on his sweatpants? That was his rock bottom.
“Thanks for this,” he grumbled from his chair.
“Don’t worry about it. Besides, we both know I owe you a few times over.”
He knew Sean was referring to the night years ago, when Jordan took the fall and went to prison in his place. Sean had always been the good one, the one with a shot at more. When their mom got sick, money got tight, and desperation took hold, Sean had made a bad call. But Jordan had made worse, way worse, so stepping in hadn’t seemed like a sacrifice. It was justice, long overdue.
In the end, it all led him to Vanessa, so he wouldn’t have changed a thing. “You owe me nothing, and that’s the end of it, okay.” He turned to glare up at his baby brother, who stood behind him. “I love you. There’s nothing left to say but that.”
Sean gave a tight nod, eyes shining, but jaw firm. He pushed the wheelchair out of the room and toward the elevator.
Normal was still a way off, but at least he was heading back to Portland. Having friends in high places helped. He doubted the doctors would have cleared his release if he weren’t flying home on a private jet with a doctor on board. Something only Joel could make happen.
In a few hours, he’d be home, where he could focus on healing and building something real with Vanessa. They’dspent a lot of time talking over the last few days, being honest about their feelings, their goals, and how this whole situation changed both of their perspectives on what they wanted in life.
Landon was dead. That nightmare was over, but they both still had a lot to process. Being home together would be the perfect space to do that.
“You know,” Sean said when they entered the elevator. “I think this might have been the best thing that ever happened to you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Sean flicked the back of his head. “You know what I mean. This tough shit makes everything but the important stuff fade to the back. Seeing you and Vanessa together, man, it makes me teary-eyed.”
Jordan craned his neck. “You crying over me, brother? Sure it’s not the fact you had to help me pull my underwear up?”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’m glad to see you finally get the happiness you deserve.”
When the elevator doors pinged open on the main floor, the entire Morgan and Barone family greeted him. Including Ivy and Nana Harrington.
He hadn’t expected it, and the pang in his chest wasn’t from the bullet wound this time.
Only his brother shared his blood, but these people had all shown up for him. His family. They came when it counted, when it was hard, when it was scary. They came the distance, and not only one, but all.
When his mom died, and Sean moved away, he hadn’t just been trapped in a jail cell. He’d been buried in a loneliness so deep it hurt. For a long time, he believed he deserved it. Even when he reconciled with his brother andmoved to Portland, he kept to himself, stayed out of the way, not daring to hope for more.
But somehow, connections had found him anyway. Connections and…love. Real love. Now he found himself surrounded by more family than he could ever have imagined back in the rough Chicago neighborhood his dad had dreamed of escaping.
He had all of this. And, fuck, he couldn’t even blame the pain meds for the sting in his eyes.
Vanessa noticed it instantly and sauntered over, all sass and confidence. “See this, Zeus?” She waved a hand around. “Guess I’m not the only one who loves you.”
“I thought you said you hated me,” he said through a tight throat.
“Only sometimes,” she whispered, bending to brush a kiss across his lips. “Most of the time, I love you, and you better get used to it.” She moved behind the wheelchair, taking over from Sean. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
EPILOGUE
