Page 141 of Echoes of You

“Please,” I pressed.

She stood, rounding the bed to my uninjured side. She moved the wires out of the way and lay down beside me. “You’re not allowed to move.”

I wanted to laugh, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t exactly feel great on the chest that had been cracked open a few days ago. I turned my head, dipping my chin so I could press my lips to Maddie’s hair. “I love you.”

Her tears came faster. “I was so scared I’d never hear you say that again.”

“You’re going to hear it every day for a long time.” The wordforeverdanced in my head. Because Maddie had always been forever to me.

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

“It would be really awkward if you didn’t.”

Her mouth curved the barest amount. “I need to ring the nurse. I need to tell your family you’re awake. They’ve been taking shifts in the waiting room.”

“Not yet.” I needed just Maddie for a few more minutes. To remind myself that she was safe. I hadn’t lost her.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I missed you. I missed my best friend.”

My chest ached with a whole new kind of pain. Maddie had been through hell in the last week. The thought had me stiffening. How had I missed Dan’s obsession? The true darkness living just below the surface. “Did Lawson get him?”

Maddie gripped the blanket but nodded. “He’s dead. And Lawson found some texts between him and Kevin. They’re the ones who sabotaged the SAR equipment. Kevin’s in lockup now.”

Relief swept through me, quickly followed by guilt that my brother had needed to take a life. He’d wear the weight of that for the rest of his days. “And Law’s okay?”

“He’s fine other than being worried out of his mind for you. The boys, too. Charlie especially.”

That guilt was back. “Are they here?”

“Not today. It’s your mom, dad, Holt, and Wren today.”

“Good, the kids shouldn’t be hanging out in a hospital. I’ll be home soon, and they can see me there.”

Maddie pulled back so that she could look into my eyes. “You’ll be home when the doctor tells you it’s safe and not a second before.”

A smile curved my lips. “I like it when you get bossy.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are incorrigible. Even in a hospital bed.”

My grin widened. “You gonna get a sexy nurse outfit for when we get home, and you have to nurse me back to health?”

Maddie’s eyes narrowed. “There will be no funny business until you are completely healed.”

I frowned at that. “How long did they say that would take?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Asking when I could get it on with my boyfriend wasn’t exactly at the top of my list of questions for the doctor.”

“It should’ve been.”

Maddie let out an exasperated sigh. “What am I going to do with you?”

I pulled her down to me, brushing my lips across hers. “You’re gonna love me.”

She melted into my good side. “I am. Every second of every day.”

I brushed the hair out of her face. “Move in with me.”

Her brows pulled together. “Isn’t that a little fast? We just started dating.”

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