Page 17 of The Saviors: Part Two
“Yes,” I whisper, covering myself the best I can.
She pulls back the curtain and sits on the edge of the tub. “No one is expecting you to be okay. But youran, Chelsea. He didn’t win this time. I know that doesn’t make what happened any easier, and I get it. If it weren’t for my guys, I wouldn’t be sitting here today. Please don’t do what I did and shut them out. They need you. I’ve never seen any of them like this, especially Axel. You brought his smile back, and we’ll be forever grateful to you for that. You’re a part of this family now, and we take care of our own.” I nod, unable to find my voice. What she said hits deep. Her eyes flash down to my chest. “Chels, you’re bleeding. Doc needs to look at that.”
I shake my head fast. “I don’t think that I can.”
“Can I?” I pull the towel down enough so she can see but still keep some modesty. “It doesn’t look like it needs stitches. I’ll get some supplies to clean it with and cover it up.” She’s up and gone before I have a chance to argue, coming back with antibiotic ointment and bandages. Once she’s done with that one, I let her look at the one on my leg, which isn’t as bad as the one on my chest. She covers that up and pats my hand. “I’ll let you get dressed.”
She gets up and leaves the bathroom. I slide on the soft pajamas and run a brush through my hair, then go in search of Sean. I find him in one of the bedrooms upstairs, which I can tell is his old room. He holds his arm out for me without a word. I climb onto the bed and snuggle into his chest.
“I missed you so damn much, Gorgeous.”
“I missed you too. I need to know what’s going on.”
He sighs and pulls me closer. He starts telling me about the wreck, him being thrown from the car, and what the doctors were saying. I look up at him, shocked, and he gives me a crooked sad smile. “Docs are saying that I could still lose the use of my legs, but the medication and physical therapy might help. It’s just a waiting game.”
“Sean,” I whisper. “This is my fault.”
He frowns. “How is it your fault?”
“Charlie and Brady are working together because of me. You would never have—”
“Stop. It would have happened because of Charlie. You can’t blame this on yourself.” He kisses me softly to take the harshness out of his words. I decide to switch tactics and talk about his therapy since he’s not going to let me blame myself.
“You’re doing this therapy.”
“Gorgeous, we can’t right now—”
“They can come to the house or something. Charlie isnottaking this from you.”
He pulls me back to his chest. “Even if I do, it might not help. We need to think about the long term if I do lose the use of my legs.”
“Long term?”
“Yeah. We need to find somewhere for me to go. I don’t want to—”
I sit up fast. “You will stay with me, Sean. Us. You aren’t leaving me. None of you are. I’ll spend my last dying breath taking care of you, and so will the guys. My house is big enough to make it fully functional for you—”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself. I’m not out of the game yet. Now will you please come here so I can hold you?”
I lay back down with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. His strong, alive heartbeat. We’ll deal with anything else thrown our way together. I listen to his breathing even out and know that he fell asleep. I pull back to see his face, and it's worried even in sleep. Reaching up, I smooth the frown line between his eyebrows, and he sighs, his face relaxing.
I lay there and watch him sleep for the longest time until I hear a commotion downstairs. One very familiar voice rises above the others. “Axel,” I gasp, climbing from the bed quietly so I don’t wake Sean and then take off downstairs.
I round the corner, and his eyes snap to mine. “Cupcake.”
I run to him and wrap my arm around him and Cole since he’s holding Axel up. “Holy shit,” I cry. “You’re back.”
“And you’re here, Ladybug.” Cole looks at me with tears in his eyes. “I feel like I can breathe again.” I squeeze them one last time, and my eyes land on Kai.
He’s standing at the back of the group, tense, wildly looking around. “Kai,” I say softly, and his eyes flash to mine.
“Dragonfly,” he says hoarsely, still looking seconds from running. “I want to hug you so bad, but I…can’t.”
Confusion washes over me. Is he disgusted since he knows Brady had me? Or of the huge bandage on my chest? My hand flies to it automatically. “It’s not you,” Cole whispers. “He just has some stuff to work through.”
I swallow the argument and nod, my eyes searching for a pair of soft brown eyes. Nolan steps out from behind Kai with a smile. “Hey, Lovie.” He opens his arms, and I’m in them in seconds. He buries his face in my hair and blows out a breath. “Fuck, I missed you.”
Everything starts slotting back into place, and I know we’ll make it through this. We all have some stuff to overcome, and we will be there for each other every step of the way.
