"Anytime."
I stared at her face, finding comfort in her curved cheeks and pale skin. "I"m so glad you"re okay."
"I"m glad you"re okay too."
I slowly moved my hand to her hip, resting it where I usually did. "You"re a bada.s.s," I blurted.
She smirked. "No one messes with my man and gets away with it."
"You proved that pretty well."
Her fingers moved into my hair and ma.s.saged the strands.
"I"m so sorry you were involved at all."
Her hand stopped. "Don"t apologize, Liam. It wasn"t your fault."
"I shouldn"t have asked you to pick me up."
"Stop," she said firmly. "Only one person is responsible for this. And it"s not me or you." Her hand started to move again.
"You saved my life."
Her eyes filled with emotion. She blinked a few times, masking her tears. "Just like you saved mine."
My eyes softened while I took a deep breath. "What day is it?"
"Wednesday."
Last time I checked it was Wednesday. "So, how many hours has it been since I got here?"
"Um, too many to count."
I c.o.c.ked an eyebrow.
"You"ve been here for a week."
My hand squeezed her hip. "A week?"
She nodded. "When they got you to the hospital, they knew you had a punctured lung. That was why you couldn"t breathe. And you had swelling of the brain. In order to reduce the pressure, they put you in a coma. One of your ribs was broken, and you had a few other cuts and bruises. Your rib has been repaired and so has your lung. Everything else will heal in time."
My mind was boggled. It took me several minutes to process what she said. "Am I going to be okay?"
"Yes." She gave me an encouraging smile. "In a few weeks, you"ll be back in the ring."
"Did you suffer any injuries...?" I would die if she said yes.
"No. I was too quick for them."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
She leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Everything is going to be fine. You can go home in a few days."
I rested my head on the pillow and tried to relax. "I still can"t believe that happened."
"Well, Crow is an idiot. The police took care of him."
"That guy is a f.u.c.king psychopath."
"But he can"t touch us now." Her hand moved to my shoulder and rubbed it. "You"re safe."
"I know, baby."
She stared at me silently, ma.s.saging different parts of my body and giving me gentle kisses.
"Do my parents know?"
"No. I wasn"t sure if you wanted me to call them."
"No," I said immediately. "I don"t want them to worry for no reason. My mom will cry for days and then I"ll have to tell them what I do for a living."
"You should tell them anyway."
"Yeah, but not like this."
"The guys are in the visitors lounge."
"They are?"
She nodded. "They"ve been here all week."
I was touched. "They are good guys."
"They are."
"I"d like to see them, Scotty especially."
"You got it." She gave me another kiss before she left my room. When I was alone, I let the anxiety wash off of me. Keira was okay and didn"t have a scratch on her. That was something I was grateful for. The injuries I had were painful, but that burden was nothing compared to the thought of someone striking her.
The door opened and the guys came in.
Scotty came to my side first, concern in his eyes. "You look better than the last time I saw you. But you still look like s.h.i.t."
"Thanks," I said with a light laugh.
He placed his hand on mine. "I"m glad you"re okay, man."
"Me too. Thanks for taking care of Keira."
He smirked. "She didn"t need my help, actually."
"She saved my a.s.s."
"Yeah, she did." He gave his cousin a fond look before he turned back to me. "It looks like you guys are always saving each other."
"We"re a team," I whispered.
He patted my shoulder. "Is there something I can get you?"
"A beer."
He laughed. "I can"t get you that, man. Sorry."
"It was worth the shot."
He stepped aside and let Bran come to me.
Bran was holding a boutique of flowers. They were white and purple. "Uh, I didn"t know what else to get you..."
"So you get me flowers?" I asked incredulously.
He shrugged. "My mom always used to bring them to my grandma."
"Do I look like an old lady?" I demanded.
"Well, actually you do..."
I glared at him. "You"re lucky I can"t kick your a.s.s right now."
Keira grabbed the flowers from Bran. "They are beautiful and we love them."
"You can put them in that garden of yours," Bran said. "Because you"re a girl and all."
I laughed. "You got me there."
"So...you okay?" The worry was etched all over his body.
"Yeah, I"m okay, man."
"I"m sorry we left you like that..."
"It wasn"t your fault," I said immediately. "Don"t do that."
"I"m still sorry anyway." He stepped aside and let Tony come near.
"Well, for what its worth, I did get one of those girls into bed."
I laughed. "I"m glad something good came from this tragedy."
"And she was awesome in the sack."
"Even better."
Tony laughed then grew serious. "I"m glad you"re okay."
"Me too."
"If I ever needed a protector, I"m going to hire Keira," he teased.
"My lady is a bada.s.s."
"That she is." He nodded. "I know Scotty won"t bring you a beer but I can."
"No beer," Keira said firmly.
"Never mind," Tony said. "The wife said no."
"And what the wife says is what goes." I patted his arm. "Thanks for stopping by."
"Stopping by?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "We"ve been living at this hospital for the past week."
"And we want recognition for that," Bran said.
"It"s acknowledged and greatly appreciated," Keira said. "But now it"s time to go. Liam needs to rest."
"Okay," Tony said. "We"ll stop by later."
"And when you"re allowed to have beer, we"ll get the good stuff," Scotty added.
Keira held the door open and chauffeured them out. After she shut the door, she pulled the chair next to my bed and sat down.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Sitting next to you."
"Lay with me." I pulled the blankets back.
She eyed my body. "I could lay with anyone else but you. You take up the whole bed."
"That"s why you lay on top of me. Now come on."
"I really shouldn"t."
"Please." I"d beg if I had to. "It"s what I want right now."
She saw the desperation in my eyes. "Okay."