Bella immediately sits up in her bed. Her eyes fill with big tears that spill over. “I need to find her,” she says, trying to get out of bed. “I have to be there with her.” She is sobbing and trying to get out from under the covers I’m sitting on.
“Angel, she is going to be okay.” As soon as I say those words, her body stills. “She lost a lot of blood and her spleen, but other than that, she is fine. I swear to you, angel, she’s okay.”
She looks at me as the tears continue rolling down her beautiful face, the emotions of the day—fear, loss, relief—clearly playing out on it.
“I have to see her,” she whispers to me. “Please, take me to her.”
“I don’t know if I can make that happen, angel. You have to rest.”
She shakes her head insistently. “I need to see her.” She pushes the emergency button by her bed about fifteen times before a nurse races in the room.
Once she sees everything is all right, she jokes, “Where’s the fire, hot stuff?”
Bella squares her shoulders, preparing to battle. “I called you.” She sits up a bit taller, her voice stronger. “I need to go and see another patient here in the hospital.”
The nurse looks at her like she has grown a second head. “You do realize you just suffered a trauma?” she asks while she walks over to the IV machine to check the bags.
“I have to see Brenda Barette. She came in earlier,” Bella starts out loud but ends on a whisper. “Please.”
The change of tone coming out of Bella causes the nurse to pause. “I’ll be right back,” she tells us and leaves the room.
“Jackson, you need to bust me out of this joint.” She points at me. “You have a badge. You need to use it and tell them you are taking me.”
I can’t hold back my laughter. She is totally serious. The funny thing is I would do whatever she wanted me to do.
I don’t have time to answer because the door opens and the nurse comes in pushing a wheelchair.
“Okay, this can totally get me fired, but I know if I don’t do it, that hunk of a man will find a way to take you there without me,” the nurse says while taking the IV bags off the stand to help Bella move off the bed.
“You do realize he’s my boyfriend, right?” Bella tells her as she literally kicks me off the bed.
“Ouch!” I say as I rub the spot on my back where she landed her kick.
“Is that so? You and him are dating? It’s not like I could tell from the loving looks of adoration he aims in your direction whenever he looks at you. Besides, my girlfriend, Sherry, is the one watching Brenda. So technically, you’re doing me a favor,” she says with a wink at Bella.
Bella is speechless. Her mouth is opening and closing, but no words are coming out. Never one to admit when she’s wrong, she glares at me. “This is your fault. If you weren’t such a hunky man, I wouldn’t have to keep staking my claim over here.”
I throw my head back with the force of one of the biggest belly laughs I’ve ever had. It is in this moment I know for certain my girl is going to be fine. She is fine. The thought I could have lost her again almost broke me. But even more upsetting, thoughts of what she could have—what she would have—endured will haunt me for quite a while.
Chapter Fifty-One
Bella
I settle into the wheelchair and ask Jackson to put Lilah on my lap. The nurse wheels me down a couple of hallways and stops at a room with the door closed.
I look at Jackson. “Can you take Lilah and let me go in alone for a few minutes?”
There are things I need to say, and I don’t think I could do it with Lilah on my lap.
“Come here, princess. We’re going to let Momma go see Ms. Brenda first. Then if she is up to it, we can go in after.” Lilah wraps herself around him, laying her head in the crook of Jackson’s neck.
The door opens, and on the bed in the middle of the room lies the woman who has been my rock since the first day she laid her eyes on me.
She is hooked up to so many different machines, I’m almost afraid to even touch her hand.
When I finally do reach for her hand and grasp it with mine, I see how pale it is, I feel how cold it is, and I am overwhelmed with how much this woman has been through for me. For us.
The minute I bring her hand to my lips, the sob I was holding comes rushing out.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry. I can’t begin to thank you.” My tears fall, hot and fast, landing on her hand. “You were so brave, and it was your strength in those hellish moments that got me through it. It was because of you I found the courage to do what needed to be done to keep Lilah safe. I’m just so sorry my courage and Lilah’s safety came at such a high price for you.” Another sob breaks free from me, making it hard to continue, but I take a few deep breaths, and I continue on. It’s the least I can do.