Theirs to Keep - Maya Banks Page 0,81
want you there, man. Every damn time.”
“And I’ll be there,” Dallas said, his voice serious. “You know I will. When I can’t be at the clinic, my nurse practitioner does a crack job of keeping things flowing. It won’t be the same without you guys here where we can eat dinner together or shoot the shit at the house whenever we want. But I’ll never be further than a phone call away.”
Merrick held up his hand, and Dallas bumped his fist to Merrick’s.
“I want what’s best for you,” Dallas said sincerely. “I may not be able to fully wrap my head around this relationship you and Cade have with Elle, but I want the three of you to be happy, and I want you to succeed. You’re the best, man, and this is your time to shine.”
Merrick sighed. “If I haven’t fucked it up already.”
Dallas shrugged. “Just work harder. You’ve got four weeks. Get your shit together and then focus. If anyone can do this, you can.”
Cade leaned forward. “This isn’t just about you, Merrick. A lot of people have put a hell of a lot of time into your training. Dakota’s an asshole, but he and Cathy both have banked everything on you. Don’t let everyone down.”
A sense of purpose gripped Merrick by the throat. “Yeah, I get it.”
“Just remember that the most important person you do this for is yourself,” Dallas added.
Merrick nodded. “I’ll talk to Dakota in the morning. Tonight… Tonight I’m going to watch over Elle and try not to torture myself with all that could have happened and all that did.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
WHEN MERRICK AND CADE WALKED back into the bedroom after Dallas left for the night, Cade was surprised to see Elle awake and lying on her uninjured side.
Her face was nestled into the pillow, but her gaze was distant, and she didn’t react to their entry, which told him wherever she was, it wasn’t here.
He settled down on the edge of the bed and trailed his finger down the silky skin of her arm.
“Elle? Are you hurting, honey? Do you need something else for pain?”
For a moment, she didn’t respond. It wasn’t until Merrick crawled onto the bed behind her and sat up against the headboard so her body was flush against his that she stirred and directed her unfocused stare on Cade.
“I hurt,” she said simply. “It hurts to breathe.”
Merrick made a sound behind Elle that could be rage, or it could be grief. Then he carefully lifted the hem of her loose pajama top they’d put on her so that he and Cade could see the extent of her bruising. The ER nurse had wrapped her ribs, but Elle hadn’t been able to bear the discomfort of the tight encasing, so they’d reluctantly allowed her to remove it.
Merrick sucked in his breath when the now-blackened flesh came into view. Cade had to swallow back the growl that boiled in his throat.
With a shaking hand, Cade reached out to carefully touch the injured skin. Merrick leaned his head down and pressed a gentle kiss to her ribcage.
“Let me get you some medicine, honey,” Cade said in a low voice.
“Want to talk to you,” she murmured.
He kissed her on the forehead as he rose to get the prescription bottle. “We’ll talk when you’re more comfortable, okay?”
She nodded, and he went to the dresser and shook out a pill and then reached into the minibar to get a bottle of water. When he returned, he frowned to see Elle struggling to sit up while Merrick was doing his best to keep her down.
“Let me sit up please,” she pleaded. “I’m so tired of lying on my side, and I can’t lie on the other side because it hurts. If I could just sit up and prop some pillows behind me, I think it would be heaven.”
“Just be careful,” Merrick cautioned. He glanced up at Cade. “Pick her up, and I’ll arrange the pillows.”
Cade put the pill and water on the nightstand and then reached for Elle, pulling her into his arms and up against his chest. After Merrick propped a mound of pillows against the headboard, Cade eased her down until she settled on the mattress and leaned back against the pillows.
When he was convinced she was comfortable enough, he turned and took the pill and the water to hand to her. She swallowed it down and chugged thirstily at the liquid before handing it back to Cade. Then she sagged against the pillows and