“You left me,” Danny whispered hoarsely when he finally managed to open his eyes.
“You didn’t leave me with much of a choice,” Jodi said, trying not to cry or show him just how relieved she was that he was finally awake.
“Had to,” he said, glancing around the room as she poured him a small cup of water. “Where is everyone?”
“It’s three in the morning, so I’m guessing that they’re either sleeping or getting kicked out of a buffet,” she said, earning a weak smile from him.
“Take a sip,” Jodi ordered, holding the cup in front of him with her good hand.
“Yes, ma’am,” Danny said, obediently taking a sip.
After a minute, she pulled the cup away and placed it on the tray, wishing that his father was here to help with this, but around an hour ago, Mary had finally managed to browbeat her husband into going back to the hotel and getting some sleep. Now, she was sitting here by herself, terrified that she was about to find out that Danny was paralyzed.
She should call a doctor, but instead, she found herself climbing into bed with him and curling up by his side. She needed this after everything they’d been through over the past two weeks, she needed a moment before their lives went to hell and stayed there.
“What happened?” Danny asked, pressing a kiss against the top of her head as he reached over and placed his hand carefully on her cast.
“I beat the shit out of your brothers,” she admitted with a sniffle.
He chuckled weakly as he pressed another kiss against the top of her head. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You beat the shit out of your father,” Jodi said, still regretting that she hadn’t been there to stop that. “Your brothers had to pull you off, and in the process, your back was broken and the scar tissue from your old injury and surgeries tore, pulling free and caused some internal bleeding. They were able to stop the bleeding and remove the scar tissue, but your back-”
“I had weak spots in my vertebrae from the shrapnel,” Danny said as she struggled not to cry again. “I was supposed to take it easy.”
“They broke,” she said, her voice breaking.
He was quiet for a long time before he asked, “Was my spine compromised?”
“Can you move your toes?” Jodi asked, repeating the question that they’d been asking him every time he regained consciousness and was terrified of his answer.
“Yes,” Danny said, and just to prove it, he brought his leg up slowly, bending it before he slowly returning it back to the bed and just like that, she lost it.
“Shhhh, don’t cry, Tinkerbelle. I’m fine,” he said, soothingly.
“I’m sorry,” Jodi said, trying to stop, but God help her, but she couldn’t.
He’d scared the hell out of her!
“Did you really beat up my brothers?” Danny asked, kissing her head again and obviously trying to distract her.
“Yes,” she admitted with a sniffle.
“Why?”
“Because they hurt you.”
“It was an accident,” Danny said, but she didn’t miss the amusement lacing his tone.
“I don’t care,” she muttered, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her hand. She could take one of the painkillers the doctors prescribed for her, but she’d been out of it enough over the last two weeks to last her a lifetime.
“I shouldn’t have hit him,” Danny said, sighing heavily. “He started talking and I just lost it.”
“Your father’s not mad.”
“That’s great, but that’s not really what I meant. I want to know why you left me.”
“Because you lied to me. I just couldn’t go through that again. I’m sorry, Danny. I just…I couldn’t do that with you. It hurt so much when Jerry did it and I couldn’t stomach the idea of you pulling away from me like that,” Jodi said around a small sob, and wow, did she sound pathetic.
