I close my eyes and take a deep breath to get myself under control. This isn’t Anna’s fault, and she’s just as scared as me. Yelling at her isn’t going to help Millie, either. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just a little freaked out right now.”
“It’s okay. What do we do?”
“I don’t know.” She’s breathing and her heart is beating, but she still isn’t opening her eyes.
“Millie, baby. Come back to me. Open your eyes, Daredevil.”
The only sound in the room is me begging her to open her eyes over and over again, desperate for her to wake up. As the seconds pass, I grow more and more frantic.
“She’s not waking up.”
“Don’t fucking say that. She’s going to wake up.” A roar of undiluted fear and pain leaves my chest. It feels like my insides are being ripped out. She has to be okay.She fucking has to be okay.
“Daredevil, open your eyes,” I command, my voice trembling.
She moans softly. One moan turns into two. My heart leaps into my throat.
“That’s it, baby. Open your eyes.”
I hold my breath as I watch her ever so slowly open her eyes. Her gaze is unfocused and her voice, hoarse when she asks, “What happened?”
The biggest sigh of relief leaves my chest. “You’re okay. It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” I say as I slide one arm under her shoulder and the other under her knees. “We just need to go to the hospital to get you checked out. Everything’s okay.”
“Hospital? What?” she asks, but she sounds groggy and her eyes start to close once again. I’m already on the move, carrying her out the door and to my truck.
“I’m coming with you!” Anna hollers as she scrambles to keep up with me.
I don’t care what she does.
All I care about is getting Millie to the hospital to make sure her heart is okay.
It better be okay.
She better fucking be okay.
Chapter Forty
Millie
There’s that incessant beeping sound again, the one that I love to hate. A sound I thought I would never have to hear again, but I have no such luck, I guess.
“Are you hurting?” I hear him ask softly. It’s close to three in the morning, I think. I’m surprised he’s still up.
“No, I’m okay,” I reassure him. He’s been so worried and honestly terrified that Lucy’s stunt hurt my heart that he’s asked if I’m okay every few minutes since we got to the hospital, which was hours ago.
“I thought maybe because you were groaning—”
Oh.I hadn’t realized I was making a sound at all, let alone one of discomfort. “Sorry. I was just—”
“Just what, baby?” he asks patiently, still holding my hand. He has barely let go of me, and I’m not sure if it’s more for his benefit or mine. Either way, I’m not complaining.
I shake my head. “It’s silly that it even bothers me. But I hate that sound.”
He tilts his head in confusion, so I continue.
“The sound that says my heart is beating. I shouldn’t hate it. Rather, I should be happy and grateful for it.” I shift in the bed, turning to face him better. “It feels like nails on a chalkboard when I hear it.”
He chuckles softly, “It is pretty annoying. I could understand why you grew to dislike it. I think I would be ready to throw the little machine out the window if I had to sit here day after day and listen to it.”
