slipping her hands into her pockets as she led me out of the waiting room. I fished my phone from my pants pocket and sent a text to Bailey: He’s awake. Surgery went well. Being taken back to his room now.
“He’s just in there,” she said. I sent the room number to Bailey then stopped outside the door.
I had no idea what to expect on the other side, and I wasn’t at all sure I was prepared for what I would see.
I can do this, I told myself, and took in another breath. I can do this. Finally I pushed down on the handle. When I stepped inside and the door slowly shut behind me, I scanned the room and took a second to adjust to the low lighting, then zeroed in on the machines and IV poles full of drugs being pumped into Sean’s arm.
“Hey there, anchorman.”
My breath caught. I dragged my eyes up to Sean’s face and could barely believe what I was seeing. His glassy eyes were open, and a relaxed smile was curving his lips.
He was awake…barely.
“You really here, or—”
“I’m really here,” I said, and rushed over to him on unsteady legs.
As I reached his side, he took my hand and brought it to his lips to kiss. He whispered, “Good. Don’t leave,” and promptly passed out.
2
Sean
“MR. BAILEY? SEAN? It’s time for your labs.”
I cracked an eye and saw the lights were still low. A short woman in teal scrubs walked around the end of my bed and came up to where my arm lay on my chest. She had a little toolbox in hand, one that contained every kind of needle and about twenty vials, which made me wonder if I’d have any blood left by the end of it.
My side ached like a son of a bitch as I shifted, trying to sit up a little. As she dragged the portable table over so it hovered above my legs, I scanned the room. The clock read four—in the morning, I assumed—and when something in the corner shifted and caught my eye, I noticed someone slumped down in an uncomfortable-looking chair. Bailey?
“My name’s Win, and I’m going to be your nurse for the foreseeable future. I need to get some blood from you, okay?”
Sure, it wasn’t like I’d lost enough tonight. Or last night—right?
As she went about preparing her weapons of choice, I rubbed at my eyes, trying to clear my vision. I was still a little groggy from whatever awesome pain meds they’d been feeding me since I’d come out of surgery.
Surgery…fuck. I still couldn’t believe everything that had happened last night. Well, I couldn’t really remember anything that clearly, but I did remember the surgeon telling me that I’d been stabbed and was seriously lucky it hadn’t been a little higher, or things might’ve turned out a lot differently.
As in dead differently.
I shifted again, trying to get a more comfortable position, but when a sharp pain shot through my side, I realized that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. As Win began searching for the best possible vein to siphon my blood from, my eyes again landed on the person sitting in the corner.
“My brother?”
Win glanced over her shoulder. “No. Your brother is coming back first thing this morning. That’s Alexander Thorne. We heard you saved him tonight. You’re a hero.”
Wait, Xander? What was he doing here? He’d been through enough tonight without having to sleep in some uncomfortable chair watching over my ass.
“We couldn’t believe it at first,” Win said with a small laugh. “It’s weird, you know, seeing someone in person that you watch on the news every night.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“But he wouldn’t be moved, not even to get himself cleaned up.” Cleaned up? What was she talking about? But before I could ask, she said, “Okay, you’re going to feel a small prick in three, two, one.”
I didn’t even notice the needle, my eyes now focused on Xander sitting with his arms and legs crossed, his head resting against the wall. He looked uncomfortable as hell, and after Win finished filling the millionth vial and started packing up, I said, “Do you mind turning the lights up a fraction?”
“Are you sure? I bet if you close your eyes you’ll be able to get a couple more hours in before the next round.”
“Yeah, it’s all good. If I get sleepy, the light won’t bother me.”
“If you’re sure…”
I nodded, and as she reached behind me to turn the light up enough that