Page 114 of Ruthless Savior
Dawn is breaking over the horizon when I get back to the hospital. The doctor meets me outside of Leila’s room, stopping me before I can go in. I can see her through the window, small and fragile and pale in the hospital bed, and every part of me is screaming to go to her.
"The surgery went well," the doctor says, and I feel my legs nearly give out with relief. "We removed all the fragments and repaired the internal damage. She's stable."
I can feel my heart hammering against my ribs. "And the baby?"
“The pregnancy is stable as well, and the prognosis is encouraging. The trauma to your wife was significant, but..." She pauses, choosing her words carefully. "She’s strong. She fought hard to stay alive, and I feel confident in saying she’ll remain so.”
My throat feels tight. "Can I see her?"
"She's unconscious. The anesthesia, combined with the blood loss..." The doctor softens slightly. "She'll wake up, Mr. O'Malley. But it might be a few hours. You can sit with her, but I wouldn’t expect a response."
The room is quiet except for the steady beep of monitors. Leila looks impossibly small in the hospital bed, her face pale against the white pillows, tubes and wires connecting her to more machines than I can guess at what they’re for. I take her hand—careful not to disturb the IV line—and sink into the chair beside her bed.
"It's over," I tell her quietly, hearing the exhaustion in my voice. "Rocco is dead. He can't hurt you anymore. You're safe now. You're both safe."
Her fingers are warm in mine, and I imagine I feel them tighten slightly.
"I killed him for Siobhan, for the child I had before, but more than anything, I killed him for you. For us." My voice cracks slightly. "To make sure that when you wake up, you wake up in a world that’s safer for you than it was before. A world where this won’t happen to you again. Whatever I have to do, I willneverlet this happen to you again.”
I press her hand to my lips, breathing in the antiseptic smell that can't quite mask her familiar scent. "Wake up for me. Please. Wake up and tell me we can figure this out together. Tell me there's a way to keep you safe without losing you. Tell me..." I close my eyes, leaning my forehead against our joined hands. "Tell me you love me, even after everything that's happened because of who I am."
“I love you,” I whisper, looking at her pale, still face. “I love you, and I should have told you before. Wake up, so I can tell you. So I can say it for the first time.”
All I need is for her to wake up.
All I need is another chance to get this right.
29
RONAN
Imust have dozed in the uncomfortable hospital chair, because I woke to the feeling of fingers brushing against mine. For a moment, I think I'm dreaming—that my desperate need to feel her touch again has manifested in my sleep-addled mind. But then I hear the sound of her voice, and I’m instantly awake.
"Ronan."
My eyes fly open as I lean forward, seeing her looking at me, tired but awake at last.
“Hi,” I whisper, my throat tight. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got shot." Her attempt at a smile is weak, but it’s there. "But alive.”
It feels like a hundred emotions surge through me all at once. I lift her hand to my lips, pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "God, Leila, I thought I'd lost you. I thought I'd lost both of you."
She swallows thickly. "The baby?—"
"Is okay. The doctor says the baby is okay." The relief in my own voice is palpable. My worst nightmare has dissipated, and all I can think about is making sure that this never happens again. That Leila and our child are safe, always, no matter what I have to do to ensure that.
I don’t want to let her out of my sight ever again. And I hope that she doesn’t want to go, despite everything.
“Oh my god.” She looks at me, smiling with a look of utter relief on her own face. “Oh god, I was so scared. But we’re both okay.”
I nod, my fingers lacing with hers. “Yes. And I’m going to keep it that way.”
She lays her head back, her expression softening. "I heard you talking to me,” she whispers. “While I was drifting off… after. I thought I heard you say you loved me."
My chest tightens with a surge of emotion. “I do,” I say without hesitation. I’m not going to lose the chance to tell her again. I look at my wife, the woman that I almost lost, and I say the words that I’ve never spoken aloud before.
“I love you, Leila. I should have told you before. I knew… but I couldn’t find a way to say it. I was terrified to say it, and I was a fool. Nothing could ever be as frightening as almost losing you. And I should never have been such a coward.”
