She hadn’t wanted Zoann to be disappointed in her, in any area of her life. She’d even been afraid of what Kendall would say. Laying in a hospital bed, she got it. They were living their lives without apology.
Fee needed to live hers.
The opening door interrupted her introspection. She attempted to lift her head, but fell back in pain.
“Fee?”
A warm glow filled her as the tall, muscled man approached her bedside. Circles ringed his beautiful, blue eyes. “Cash,” she croaked, the sound rough, the rawness of her throat increasing her pain. She frowned at the continued glare of the sun.
Cash glanced in the direction of the blinds. “Who the fuck opened the blinds?”
Fee shrugged, unsure.
“Maybe, Outlaw. He came to see you earlier.” Cash bent and kissed her lips. His scent invaded her being. Puckering her lips, she returned his kiss, not caring about her oxygen tubes.
“You want to kiss?” he murmured, caressing her cheek, his fingers hot against her skin.
She nodded.
“Some other time,” he promised.
After they talked and she told him what she’d decided. Cash made her forget her name. To enjoy his kisses again, they’d need to come to a meeting of the minds.
She blinked and Cash left her side. A moment later, the bright sunlight disappeared.
At her side again, he kissed her once more. Enjoying his attention, she smiled.
“Fuck, Fee. I thought I’d lost you. If Stretch hadn’t gone to Noah’s house…Outlaw’s beyond furious. Can you tell me what happened?”
Remembering Noah’s viciousness, Fee shivered. Kendall’s call had prompted the attack. Retaliating Daphne’s death—thanks to Kendall’s tip—and gaining Christopher’s attention had been Noah’s goal. What would happen if he found out Fee had survived? Would he go after anyone else?
She grunted, wanting to say so much.
“Never mind. Focus on recovering right now.”
She laid her hand against the thick neck bandages. Her throat hurt. Then, she realized something. She’d talked. It might’ve been painful, but Noah hadn’t stolen her ability to speak.
“I-I t-talk.” Sounding like CJ made her want to smile.
Cash nodded. “Yeah, Fee. He missed your larynx, pharynx, carotid artery, and jugular vein. Everything vital. Has the doctor or a nurse seen you since you awakened?”
“N-not sure.”
“No more talking. You have to heal after your attack night before last. You were so bad off. Slit throat. Other stab wounds over various parts of your body. Severe beating.”
Standing, Cash raised a small remote-control-like device, attached to a thick wire that ran over the rails of her bed, leading to an unknown destination. “This is attached to a pump with a pain med,” he explained. “The dosage is controlled.” He held it out to her.
Fingers trembling, she took the device and pushed. “Hurts.”
“I’m sure it does. How bad?”
“B-bad—”
“Shhh.”
She glared at him and he chuckled.
“I need to shut the fuck up and stop asking questions if I don’t want you to talk.” He bent and kissed her lips. “Right, baby?”
Another question. She nodded, unable to stop her small smile.
“Fuck, Fee, I never thought I’d see that from you again.”
Before she answered, her door opened again, and Stretch and Christopher walked in. As her brother paused and stared at Cash, he dropped his hand from her hair.
Unreadable green eyes stared at Cash. “Lemme talk to you, motherfucker. Stretch, sit with Fee a fuckin’ minute.”
“N-no, w-wait,” Fee choked out.
All three of them ignored her. Stretch hobbled toward the chair, his gaze traveling from Fee to Outlaw, his concern obvious. When he looked at Cash, though, he flushed.
“Motherfuck me,” Christopher said with a sigh.
“Outlaw, there’s nothing going on. I’m here as Fee’s friend and nothing more,” Cash snapped, disappointing Fee.
Her small, lingering hope that his kisses kindled, disintegrated.
The opening door prevented Christopher’s response.
It took Fee a moment to recognize the emblems on the stranger’s cut. At the same time she gasped, his colors registered with Cash and Christopher.
The man sprinted into the hallway, while her brother took off after him, Cash hot on his heels. Stretch drew his gun, then hopped to the door, as shocked as the rest of them that a member of the Torpedoes MC had walked into her room.
Cash raced behind the Torpedo motherfucker, ignoring the screams and squeals of patients, visitors, physicians, and nurses, not caring that he sent a food server sprawling, along with the tray she held. Fee’s image rose in his head. Bandaged and helpless in that fucking hospital bed, she touched a place deep within him, that only Stretch had ever reached.