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“Thanks.” I reached under Chase and hefted him a little higher on my chest and reached out to shake his hand then decided on a side hug and was rewarded with a grin.
I turned and hurried toward the guys while tears flowed freely down my face.
THREE
PAUL
I fought my way out of sedation. It wasn’t the first time I’d forced my way out of that darkness, but this time I had a reason to come back from the other side.
My fingers moved first. Good. They work. My toes were next, then I shifted my knees. Okay, that’s a plus. I’m not paralyzed. I swallowed hard in relief. I tried to open my eyes. That took a lot more brain power, but after a few tries, I managed it. I let out a groan as the light found my pupils and quickly shut them again.
I dared blink again, and my vision slowly cleared. A familiar face stared at me from above.
“How bad?” I whispered.
“Better than we expected."
I slowly raised a hand and felt around my chest. There were only bandages but no pain. “Feels numb. John said something about stab wounds?” He took his glasses off and looked away. “Daniel, please, give it to me straight." I needed to know.
“You got knifed a couple times, yes, but they didn’t hit any organs or major arteries. You were beaten up pretty bad, but nothing that you haven’t been through before. It’ll heal in a week or so. They drugged you pretty good too.”
“That’s explains the throbbing head."
“That and a mild concussion.”
“My son?” I flinched as I tried to sit up and the pain ignited like a match. Daniel clicked something on my IV, and before I could register what he’d done, my eyes grew heavy.
“He’s on his way back to you,” he promised as I fought back the darkness and lost.
Time was just a word when you were healing from an injury. It came and went like breathing. You simply lost track of it. I didn’t even have to speak when the pain became too bad. I’d simply move a little, and someone would click my IV. I’d barely registered the light smell of salt and vinegar chips as the pain faded again. John.
One moment of clarity, I heard his words. “It’s been two days, buddy. Don’t worry. They’re on the way.” He was my brother; he knew what I needed to hear. I slipped back down. I may have been oblivious to the world, but my brain flashed from one memory to the next, until Talya’s face drifted up and everything went soft as I heard her.
“Hi,” she whispered from where she sat on my balcony with a cup of something dark between her fingers. Dressed in only a t-shirt and panties, she looked good enough to eat. “I wondered if you were ever going to wake up.”
I grinned. “After the night I just spent with you, I’m shocked I can still walk.”
“Well,” she pulled back her long dark hair as she stood in front of me, “walking is overrated.” She kissed my lips gently, and I wrapped my arms around her waist so I could feel more of her body against mine. “I love you, Eric.” My grip on her suddenly fell away. It should have been one of the best moments of my life, but it wasn’t. She was in love with an illusion. Someone I didn’t want to be but was forced to. She didn’t love the real me; she loved the monster I pretended to be. She turned into liquid as I reached for her again, then she flowed like water through my hands.
“What is it? Paul, open your eyes.” His voice came to me on the wind like I was caught in a storm.
My eyes popped open, and the room came into focus immediately. Frank and Daniel both appeared at my bedside.
“Welcome back.” Daniel smiled, and when I tried to sit up, he leaned down to press the button on the side of the bed to raise it. Thank God the meds seemed to be subsiding. My head felt almost normal.
“How long have I been here?”
“Rounding on four days.” Daniel beeped for the nurse. “And before you ask, Nicole and Chase are about four hours out.”
“You think you can get up?” Frank interrupted and ignored Daniel’s expression.
I pushed back the blanket. “Don’t know ’til we try.”
“I don’t think that’s a wise idea, son,” Daniel warned. “Let’s not forget you’ve been stabbed twice.”
I tried to make light of the situation. “In the chest, not the legs.”
Just as I was about to try to push to my feet, the nurse came in and clucked her tongue at me.
