Page 32 of Blinded By Forever
“I know,” I rasp. “I scared the hell out of myself too.”
I pull her down gently, our foreheads touching. She kisses me, slow and tentative at first then deeper, more desperate and passionate. She climbs into the hospital bed, curling against my side, being careful of my wound.
We don’t say anything for a long time.
She just lays with me, her hand on my heart and my fingers tangled in her hair.
And for the first time in a long time, I let go of everything else.
Seventeen
Hayden
I tookthe first flight home after they cleared me from the hospital.
Jaclyn stayed with me the entire time, and didn't leave my side. Killian and Rowan came by but Jaclyn is the one who stayed every single second of every day I was under observation. Jaclyn and Killian barely talked. Killian made sure I was okay before he would leave the room.
I got the chance to finally catch up with Rowan since I’ve been ignoring his calls. He made a joke and said, “The only way to get you to call is if you are dying, shithead?” which I laughed at.
Jaclyn FaceTimed the kids and they were all happy to see me. Natalia and I chatted for a little bit as well.
But now I’m back in Lombardy, finally. It’s been two days since I’ve been back home and when I walked through the front door I got attacked in hugs from my kids and even though the wound ached, I had the biggest smile on my face when I saw my kids because I thought for a second I was never going to see them again.
Jaclyn did all the right things when trying to take care of me but I told her I wanted her to relax and not worry so much.
She said, “I'm just happy that I didn’t lose you.”
“You will never lose me,” I said before pressing my lips against hers.
Life has been calm and I’ve missed the calmness while I was off doing Killian’s dirty work.
But that all stops today.
I sit across from him. He didn’t offer me a drink when I showed up. Didn’t crack a joke or make a jab about my aim being off.
He just stared at me with that same unreadable expression he’d perfected over the years.
“You took a bullet,” he finally says, his voice low.
“No shit,” I mutter. “Right under your name.”
His jaw ticks. “You found the mole.”
I nod. “He’s dead.” Silence stretches between us, heavy and final. “It wasn't clean or quiet. He put one in me before I could even finish the job.”
Killian leans back in his chair and looks at me like he is doing the math in his head, weighing numbers, costs, losses.
“You’re lucky you didn’t bleed out.”
“I did bleed out,” I argue. “Just not enough to stop me from flying home in one piece.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re not here to debrief.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m done.”
His expression doesn’t show anything. Almost like he saw this coming.
“You’ve said that before, Hayden.” He looks at me knowingly.
