Damien gave me a shake. “I need you to stay awake.”
“I can’t…”
“Don’t do it for you. Do it for Sofia.”
8
Sofia
I didn’t get out of bed.
The sheets smelled just like him. If I kept my eyes closed, it was like he was still there. I stuck to his side of the bed and pretended he was there with me. His wedding ring sat on the nightstand, and I stared at it as the hours trickled by.
I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’d never needed a man in my whole life, and now I didn’t know what to do without this man.
I didn’t know how to go on.
He wasn’t just my husband, but my partner, my friend.
Everything.
Now he was gone.
A knock sounded on the door. “Sofia?” It was Damien’s voice. He was probably there to check on me.
There was nothing he could do for me.
“I’m coming in.” He opened the door and stepped inside the bedroom. He came over to the bed and didn’t care that I was just in one of Hades’s t-shirts. My privacy didn’t seem important anymore. “Sofia, are you listening to me?”
My eyes were open, but I ignored him.
“I went back to the field, and I found him.”
My eyes shifted to his. “What?” I pushed off the sheets and sat upright. He could see my underwear, but I didn’t care. “Is he…?”
“He’s alive…barely.”
I stiffened. “Where is he?”
“I took him to the hospital right away. The doctors said he needs a lot of surgery. They took him to the OR immediately.”
My hand covered my face like I was stifling my scream. My heart raced violently. Every part of my body hurt from excitement and anxiety. “So, he’s going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. No one knows right now.”
I got out of bed and reached for my jeans on the floor. “We’ve got to head over there now.”
“Sofia.”
I stilled at the seriousness of his tone. “What?”
A large frown was on his face. “He told me he doesn’t want you to see him right now.”
My jeans fell to the floor. “What? I’m his wife.”
“He just doesn’t want you to see him like that. He’s in really bad shape.”
“I don’t give a shit how he looks, he’s my husband. I’m gonna be there for him.”
Damien stepped closer to me and didn’t dare look at my legs. “I’m just the messenger, okay? This is what he wants, and I’ll let you know when he’s ready to see you.”
I knew Maddox must have hurt him badly, and Hades didn’t want me to witness the horrible brutality. He didn’t want me to witness the cruelty he experienced. He was just trying to protect me. The moment I looked at him, I knew I would feel guilty. He’d paid for my life with his own evisceration. “So, what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and wait?”
“I’ll give you updates as soon as I get them.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. Then I yanked it from my scalp. “He’s my husband. I should be taking care of him.”
“You will when he’s ready.” Both of his hands moved to my shoulders. “I know this is hard, but let’s just be happy he is alive.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I absorbed that blessing. Regardless of how he’d changed, Hades was still here. If he’d survived whatever Maddox put him through, he would survive this. He was the strongest man I knew. And I knew he was too proud to let himself appear weak in front of me, especially in a hospital bed.
“There’s nothing you can do for him anyway. Nothing anyone can do. He needs to survive these surgeries and rest. He’s a strong guy, so I’m sure he’ll heal.” Damien’s hands dropped from my shoulders, and he brought me in for a hug. “We just have to be patient.”
I sat on the balcony with my dinner in front of me. Helena had made me my favorite supper, but I wasn’t hungry.
I was never hungry.
My phone sat beside me, and I constantly waited for it to ring. Damien gave me updates regularly, and so far, Hades had been unconscious most of the time. He’d had his left arm broken in several places, his ribs were cracked, and his right leg was fractured. Not to mention his other internal injuries.
Helena stepped onto the patio. “You need to eat sometime.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just not hungry.”
“Well, Mr. Lombardi would like you to eat.”
She was right about that.
“Would company make you feel better?”
The only person I wanted to talk to was my husband.
“Ash is standing outside. Is it okay if I let him in?”
I forgot Ash was in the area. Damien had told me he’d come down to help, but I’d forgotten that information the second I heard it. “Sure.”
Ash walked in a moment later, wearing a dark green shirt with a black jacket on top. He approached the table and looked down at me with a sad expression. His hand reached to my shoulder, and he gave me a gentle squeeze. “You doin’ okay?”