“I’d dance naked in front of a bonfire and paint my breasts red if that would help. Hell, I’d open my veins and pour out my blood for you. I’d give my right arm for you to wake up and be all right. Can you hear me?”
Please let it work.
But the hours pass, and the time on my cell phone tells me the day is gone. He doesn’t wake up, and I can’t help fearing maybe he doesn’t want to.
I close my drawing pad and settle in for another night.
“I’d give you anything,” I say as I lean forward on the bed, propping my chin on my folded arms to gaze at his still face. I’d give up all control to you. I’d trust you in anything you want to do with me. I love you as you are. Just come back.”
Come back to me.
I’m sitting at the hospital cafeteria, my hands wrapped around a mug of tea long gone cold, my head bowed.
So tired. So empty. My heart can’t stop racing. My thoughts won’t stop spinning in useless circles.
Zane. They always return to him.
I sip at my cold tea, fighting the burning behind my brow. Just when I think I’m all out of tears, more keep coming.
Someone pulls a chair and sits across from me. Through the blurriness, I see Asher. His mouth is a thin line, and his brows are tightly knit together.
“He’s been calling out your name,” he says and just sits there, after dropping this bomb on me.
My heart bangs in my chest as I shoot to my feet. My legs tremble. “He’s awake?”
“Maybe. Not really. Not yet.” He rubs a hand over his face, his eyes dim with fatigue and worry. “I don’t know.”
I leave without another word to navigate through the maze of corridors and staircases. I’ve memorized the way to the intensive care unit, or I’d wander in here, forever lost.
Rafe is coming out of Zane’s room as I approach, and he doesn’t seem to see me until he almost plows into me.
“Dakota.” His voice is gruff.
“Is he awake?” I try to brush by, but he grabs my arm, stopping me. “I have to see him.”
“The doctors are inside with him.”
“Dammit, is he awake, Rafe? That’s all I want to know.”
He shrugs. “Not sure. He’s mumbling things. That’s a good sign, right?”
Oh God, yes, it is.
I enter the room not knowing what to expect. What I don’t expect is to find Zane looking the same—lying there, still, silent, looking like he’s asleep.
The doctors are standing by his bed, talking in hushed voices. Their gazes flick over to me, then back to their papers, and they finally nod and say the best thing I’ve heard all week. Hell, all year. “He’s waking up.”
I stumble to a chair and drop in it, my legs too weak to hold me. “Oh, thank God.”
“Is he awake now?” Ash asks from the door, and I see Rafe and the others behind him.
“He’s asleep.” The doctor looks down at Zane. “It will take him a few days to recover completely. But we’re very pleased with his progress. Now you must be patient and give him time to get back on his feet.”
I’m vaguely aware of thin arms coming around me and Audrey telling me it’s going to be okay. Asher is standing behind her, a hand on her shoulder. Erin is hugging Tyler, tears tracking down her cheeks. Dylan is leaning on the doorframe, arms folded over his chest, a grin splitting his face, and Tessa for once isn’t looking at him but at me. She winks and smiles, even though her eyes are too bright.
“You need to get out, please,” the doctors say, and a nurse bustles in to usher us out.
“I’m staying,” I whisper, and when the nurse tries to tell me to go, I say more loudly, “I’m staying.”