“No, here.” I point to the bed and the space I make for her. My whole body aches but fuck if I won’t drag her to me.
Tentatively, she steps closer and lowers the railings on the bed, gently climbing in beside me and avoiding the wires and tubes still attached to me.
When she’s close enough I take hold, pulling her until her head is on my chest and my arm is around her waist, my other hand cradling the side of her face so I can manipulate her into looking up at me. I touch her forehead, checking for a fever and then run my thumb under her eyes as if I can somehow wipe away the dark circles of exhaustion.
“You’ve not been looking after yourself,” I accuse gently.
She shakes her head, “I haven’t left.” She cringes, “I really need to shower.”
My hand trails down the side of her face, toward her mouth and then my thumb is tracing across her bottom lip, the plump flesh yielding to me.
“How long?” I ask.
“Three days,” She whispers, voice wobbling. My thumbs capture the fresh tears that leak from her eyes. “I didn’t know if you would ever wake up.”
“I’ll always find my way back to you,” I vow, “I was coming back for you.”
Her lashes flutter, more tears falling from her pretty eyes, “I’m so sorry, Kolt.”
“Don’t be,” I whisper, “I understand.”
She shakes her head, “You shouldn’t forgive me.” Her eyes flutter closed as if she’s trying to contain her emotion, hide it from me, “I pushed you away. I was scared.”
“Look at me,” I order gently. She shakes her head softly, burying her face into my neck beneath my chin. I move and curl a finger beneath her chin, forcing her to look at me.
Big, watery eyes swimming with tears stare at my face.
“I was coming back for you,” I tell her, “I would have continued to battle that ocean for you, Ness. I lost but I was still coming. I’ll fight for you.”
“You were hurt because I sent you away.” She sniffs.
I chuckle lightly, “No, I was hurt because I decided to try to fight a storm. We all knew that I was never going to win. I understood you needed space, I expected it to happen.” I tell her honestly, “But I wasn’t going to let fear stop us from being together. We’re new, this is all new and it takes time. It’s okay to need that space, Ness. We are it, trouble and nothing will stop me from taking it.”
Her lips press tenderly to the base of my throat.
“You’re the mother of my child, Ness and the woman I’ve loved since I met you on the beach all those years ago. We have nothing but time now.”
“Are you sure?” She whispers.
“Am I sure about what?”
“Wanting this with me? After I panicked like that, I was sure you wouldn’t want to deal with me anymore.”
I laugh, “I’ve never wanted anything more than the way I want you.” I assure her, “I will fight to come back to you every time.”
“I was so scared,” She tells me, “I didn’t want to say goodbye to you. I never want to say goodbye.”
“There won’t be any goodbyes, Ness. Only see you soon, you hear me? We don’t say goodbye.”
“Promise?”
“Always, trouble.”
I finally managed to convince Ness to go back to the hotel with Imogen and Shawn to grab a shower and a nap. It took a lot, but she eventually agreed, having left over two hours ago now.
I’ve spent the time lying in bed, chatting with the doctor again hoping I’d be able to convince him to let me go earlier. He’d refused and then told me my brothers were on the way before he left. I hated being in here while everyone comes to me, hated that they’d been here for days waiting for me.
There’s a gentle tap on the door before it opens, showing Torin and then Rett, both of them alone.
