Fantasized by You

by Steph Nuss

  “She wouldn’t have been in the parking garage if I hadn’t asked her to meet us at home,” Maverick said, choking on his words. Hearing his answer made me even more eager to wake up. Come on, come on, come on, wake up! I wanted him to know this wasn’t his fault. It was hers. He wasn’t to blame.

  “Maverick,” Elly sighed, and I imagined her shaking her head at him. “You are not the reason Harper was assaulted tonight. A very sick, very deranged woman did this. She waited for Imani and Harper in that parking garage, and if you and Max hadn’t pulled into the garage, she could’ve been hurt a lot worse.”

  “I know,” Maverick said, defeatedly.

  “You saved her life,” Elly continued.

  “I just wish there was something I could do for her now,” he said, rubbing circles into my skin. If he only knew how much his touch simmered all of the agony boiling through me. Whenever he touched me, whenever I heard his voice, the pain lessened.

  “You are doing something,” Elly encouraged. “You’re holding her hand. You’re talking to her. You’re being there for her, and that’s all you can do right now.”

  “I wish I could take away her pain,” he said, kissing my hand. He brushed his fingers across my cheek, making me crave more contact from him. “I hate that you’re in pain right now, baby.”

  Me too. And then the darkness swept over me again and I was out.

  *

  “She’s in custody, along with the ugly bastard who helped her.” Carter sounded satisfied. When I realized he was talking about Diana, I tried reaching out for him, but my muscles wouldn’t allow it.

  “Good,” Maverick said, running his hand up my arm. “She deserves to be put away for doing this to her and Imani. How’s she doing?”

  “She’s already tried to leave her room twice to check on Harper,” Carter said, with a hint of laughter. That sounded exactly like Imani, defying any rules that weren’t her own. “She’s doing well, though; no side effects from being tased.”

  Imani was tased?

  “I’m glad.”

  Someone cleared their throat, but I couldn’t tell who it was. “The detectives have already talked to Imani. She said they just came out of nowhere, like they were hiding in the garage waiting for them to get back. They also said the building’s security called 911.” It was Max, and he sounded upset. “They’re going to want a statement from Harper.”

  “I know,” Maverick said, annoyed. “But she’s in no condition to give a statement right now. It’ll have to wait.”

  “When she wakes up, she can tell them what happened,” Carter reassured them.

  “Can we just talk about something else?” Maverick asked, hooking his fingers through mine. “I just don’t want her to hear us talking about any of this; it could push back her recovery. Let’s talk about something happier.” He paused for a moment. “How’s Axel doing?”

  “The dog can eat,” Carter answered, covering my other hand with his. “And I don’t really know where the hell he puts it all. He’s having fun playing with Stag.”

  Maverick laughed weakly, and just hearing his laugh made me feel a little bit better. “Yeah, he eats a lot. Thanks for watching him for us.”

  “No problem.”

  And then I was dragged down again.

  *

  I smell nail polish. I couldn’t see or speak, but I could smell the distinct scent of polish.

  “You’re seriously painting her toenails?” Maverick asked, yawning.

  “Why not?” Tessa asked, and I imagined she shrugged. “What color do you think she’d want?”

  “I don’t know.” He sounded annoyed.

  “Humor me, Mav,” Tessa said. “You can go back to sleep while I’m painting her toenails and talking to her about our favorite TV show, okay?”

  “Fine. Paint them that orange color.”

  “That’s not orange. It’s peach,” Tessa corrected him.

  “Whatever. Just let me go back to sleep.”

  “Night.” Tessa tapped the bottle of polish against the palm of her hand and then lifted the blanket off my feet. “Okay, Harper, about our show. When are Emily and Jack going to hook up? Aiden is hot, but Jack named his boat after her! I think it’s a given that they have to hook up …”

  The darkness crept around me again as she went on about our show, and before I knew it, the blackness was drowning her out again. No, no, no, not yet!

  *

  “Is everything okay?” Maverick sounded more concerned than usual, which heightened my sense of hearing. A door shut and footsteps got closer, and then his fingers entwined with mine, and he was by my side again. “I just stepped out for a minute to talk to a detective. What’s going on?”

  An unfamiliar female voice hushed him. “Nothing to worry about, Mr. Jones. I’m just checking in on your daughter, here.”

  “What?” Maverick asked, sucking in a breath. “M-my what?”

  Did she just say we’re having a girl!? I tried to turn my head toward her voice but failed. My head throbbed, and once again I found myself wading in a sea of darkness, yearning for consciousness.

  “Oh my gosh,” the woman said, “I’m so sorry. Were you waiting until birth to find out the sex? There wasn’t a note in your chart, so I figured you knew already.”

  Ohmigawd! Why can’t I wake up?

  “No, it’s okay,” Maverick said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. A tear landed on my cheek. “We weren’t waiting. I just wish she could’ve been awake to hear you tell us.”

  “I’ll give you three a moment.”

  Once she left the room, Maverick placed soft, sweet kisses all over my neck and face, and his rough stubble brushed my skin in that delicious way it always did whenever he kissed me.

  “We’re having a girl,” he said overjoyed, squeezing my hand. “And she’s so beautiful; I wish you could see her right now.”

  Me too! Her heartbeat sounded strong through the monitor, though, and relief flooded through me, knowing our baby girl was okay.

  “I love you, Harper,” he said, gently caressing my face. “Please, wake up. I miss you so much, baby.”

  I miss you, too.

  *

  When I was finally able to open my eyes, the quietness of the hospital room greeted me. The light was dim, and Maverick was asleep, his hand still weakly linked with mine, his head resting against my bed. My head and chest still throbbed with a dull pain, and my throat felt extremely dry.

  Curling my right hand into his left, I tightened the grip on our tangled fingers and noticed the IV hooked into the inside of my elbow. I reached over with my other hand and ran my fingers through his soft, brown hair.

  Rousing, he opened his eyes and looked up at me, and then an elated smile stretched across his beautiful face.

  “Hey,” I croaked, in desperate need of water.

  “You’re awake,” he said, utterly relieved. He leaned over me and cupped my face in his hands. “I love you. I love you so damn much.”

  “I love you, too.” I grasped his forearm and smiled up at him, weakly. He looked so tired that I regretted waking him up, but he seemed exceptionally happy to see me awake.

  “I have to kiss you,” he said, breathlessly. His lips glided over mine in a lovingly way only he could provide, making me want more of him. Breaking away, his eyes roamed my face rapidly. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

  “I’m thirsty.” I swallowed back the pain in my throat. “Could you get me some water, please?”

  “Of course,” he said, pressing another kiss to my lips. “Anything else?”

  I shook my head timidly, trying to avoid as much pain as possible, and laid back into the pillow. He grabbed a cup and left the room quietly. Moving my right leg slightly, I felt something tug between my legs and cringed. I lifted the sheet and pulled up my gown, and found a catheter hooked up to me.

  Lovely, I thought, pulling my gown back down as Maverick entered the room again.

  “Here you go, babe.” He handed th
e cup to me and guided my shaky hand to my mouth. I felt so weak holding the small, Styrofoam cup. Tilting the cup up, the cool, fresh water invaded my mouth, and I suddenly couldn’t get enough of it, soothing away the dryness of my throat.

  I relaxed back into the mattress, and he sat on the edge of my bed, smiling down at me. Placing my hand over my belly, his eyes followed.

  “So, I hear we’re having a girl,” I said, my eyes pooling with tears.

  “You heard us?” he asked, choking back tears of his own. He covered my hand with his, and his smile widened.

  I nodded, no longer able to hold back my emotions. A girl was perfectly fine with me.

  “I have a picture of her,” he said, pulling out his wallet. He unfolded the sonogram picture and handed it to me. “That’s our baby girl.” He pointed to the lemon-sized fetus, and more tears streamed down my face. “Her heartbeat is strong and normal, and she’s healthy.”

  “She’s perfect,” I cried, admiring the picture closely.

  Maverick brushed away my tears and dried my face with his thumbs. He swallowed hard and gave me a light kiss on the lips. “How are you doing? I told a nurse you were awake when I got water, so someone will be in here any minute to check on you.”

  I sighed and laid the picture of our girl in my lap. “I ache everywhere and I kind of have to pee, but besides that I’m okay.”

  “You can pee, you know,” he said, with a knowing smile. “You have a—”

  “Yes, I know I have a catheter in,” I said, bashfully, “But I would rather not use it now that I’m awake.”

  “Okay,” he laughed. “We can get it removed and get you some more pain killers.”

  “They’ve been giving me pain killers?” I asked, alarmed.

  “Yes, but they won’t hurt the baby. I checked.”

  “Good.” I reached for his hand and swallowed hard. “What day is it?”

  “It’s Sunday night, almost Monday,” he answered.

  The door to my room opened, and a young nurse in a pair of green scrubs walked in. “Nice to have you back, Ms. Jennings.”

  “It’s good to be back,” I replied, smiling weakly at her.

  “My name is Riley, and I’d like to check your vitals before Dr. Andrews comes in to examine you.”

  “Okay.”

  Maverick scooted off of the bed and retreated to the side. “She also wants to have her catheter removed, if that’s okay.”

  “Certainly,” Riley said, smiling. “I can get that taken care of for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  She pulled a blood pressure cuff over my left bicep, pumped it up tight and then released it, studying the dial. After removing the cuff, she placed two fingers on my wrist and studied her watch, calculating my pulse. “Your blood pressure and pulse are normal. I’ll get that catheter removed, and then Dr. Andrews will be in to examine you.”

  “Okay.”

  She nodded toward Maverick, and asked, “Do you mind if he’s in here for this?”

  “It’s not like I haven’t seen her downstairs before,” Maverick laughed, smiling at the nurse. “We made a baby.”

  I laughed, which made pain surge through my chest. “No, I don’t mind. He can stay.”

  She nodded. “All right.”

  After she removed the catheter, an older man with black hair speckled with hints of gray entered the room wearing a white coat over dark blue scrubs. “Hello, Harper. I’m Dr. Andrews.”

  I smiled at his warm demeanor. “Hi.”

  “You suffered a pretty nasty blow to the head,” he said, pulling a penlight out of his coat pocket. “Let’s take a look and see how you’re doing.” He shined the light in my eyes, asking me to look in various directions, then had me follow his finger back and forth with my eyes and touch my finger to my nose, thoroughly examining all of my reflexes.

  “Everything looks good there,” he said, calmly. “Does your head hurt?”

  “A little.”

  He nodded. “Let’s take a look at your ribs.” He lifted up my gown, and I gazed up at Maverick, too nervous to look at the bruises covering my body just yet.

  Dr. Andrews gently probed each rib, and I winced every time his firm touch connected with a bruise. “None of your ribs appear to be broken or cracked, just severely bruised. I’ll prescribe some more pain medicine to ease the pain, and you should continue to rest. Everything seems to be healing properly, so depending on how you feel in the morning, we may be able to discharge you. Do you have any questions?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said, glancing up at Maverick. “At least, not right now, anyway.”

  He scribbled something down in my chart, and then handed it back to Riley. “Okay, well, if you do, don’t hesitate to ask,” he said, smiling at the two of us.

  “Thank you.”

  Dr. Andrews shook our hands and left. Maverick was on his phone, varying between texting and calling, and Riley removed my IV and brought me some water. “You’re probably really thirsty.”

  “Yes,” I sighed, picking up the water bottle. I took a sip from the straw, and it felt like diving into a pool after sitting in a hot tub: cool and refreshing. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said, smiling. “Here’s your pain medicine. If you need anything, just press this button and I’ll be right in.”

  “Okay,” I said, downing the pills as she left. Sitting up slowly, I grabbed the side of the bed and threw my legs over. Maverick hung up on whoever he was talking to and rushed over to me.

  “Babe, let me help,” he said, holding onto my arms.

  “I just want to use the restroom,” I said, catching my breath. I felt extremely fragile, like taking one step would shatter my bones into a million pieces.

  “So, let me help you get there,” he said, smiling.

  I nodded, and let him help me up. Once I was standing, the dizziness I expected to cloud my vision never came, and I grew more confident about taking one step forward. Maverick walked behind me, holding me at the waist, and when we got to the bathroom, he helped me sit down on the toilet.

  I relaxed for a moment, gasping, tired from the small exertion. Maverick squatted in front of me and brushed a piece of hair behind my ear. “You’re going to be okay.”

  Swallowing hard, I nodded. “I know. I just feel so weak right now.”

  “You’ll feel stronger once you get some more rest and some food. Are you hungry?”

  “Not right now,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll eat in the morning.”

  “Okay.” He helped me stand back up after I was finished, and I made the mistake of looking in the bathroom mirror.

  “Ohmigawd,” I exclaimed, shocked by the bruised, unsightly woman staring back at me. I stepped closer to the sink and took inventory of my appearance. I had cuts and bruises on both sides of my face, and my hair was an absolute mess.

  Maverick brushed my tangled hair to one side and kissed my neck. “The bruises will fade, and the cuts will heal, but you will always be beautiful.”

  “Yeah, tell that to my hair,” I quipped.

  “A shower will take care of that,” he teased, smiling back at me in the mirror. He kissed me on the cheek gently, steering clear of my bruises, and lightly wrapped his arms around my waist. “You and our girl are perfectly fine. That’s all that matters.”

  “You’re right,” I whispered, covering his hands with mine. “I want to see my ribs though. Are they just as bad?”

  “Honestly,” he cringed, pulling up my gown. “They look worse.”

  “Oh, god.” I gaped at my appearance again, turning to the side. There were large, dark bruises covering my sides, and small red spots where blood vessels had broken and surfaced to the skin. I pulled the gown back down, too overwhelmed to look at myself anymore, and turned away from the mirror. Wrapping my arms around Maverick’s waist, I buried my head into his shoulder and started sobbing into his shirt.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” he cooed, running his hand up and down my back soothing
ly. “You’re okay.” He kissed my forehead and continued to comfort me. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you, and she can’t hurt you anymore.”

  I took deep breaths, attempting to calm myself down, and then looked him in the eye. “I want to lie back down.” He helped me back into bed, and I moved over so he could join me. “Lie with me.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked, raising his brows in concern.

  “Yes,” I insisted, patting the mattress.

  He kicked off his shoes and slid into bed with me and, for the first time since I woke up, I felt a little bit stronger. I laid my head on his shoulder and rested my arm over his muscled core. His hand greeted mine and he laced our fingers together. Smiling, I pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I’m so sorry for putting you through all of this. You must be so tired of sitting in a hospital room.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t think of a better place to be than right here next to you.” His hand brushed down my arm, comforting both of us. “I’m just so happy you’re awake.” His eyes searched my face, and I saw a glimpse of emotion wading around his chocolate irises. “I missed your smile, your eyes, and your beautiful voice. I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you, too,” I sighed, giving him another kiss. His lips responded to mine, and his breathing deepened as he opened for me and his tongue stroked over mine. Tasting him again for the first time in days felt like a godsend; nothing would ever taste as good as Maverick Jones. “So, tell me what I’ve missed in the past couple of days besides your amazing kisses.”

  He laughed and relaxed next to me. “Well, everyone’s been in to see you at least once. Bayler’s called Carter every day to check up on you, and he and Elly have been here a lot; Axel’s staying with them.”

  “Oh, I remember hearing a conversation about Axel.”

  “Fletcher brought you a big thing of flowers yesterday,” he said, pointing to a vase on the windowsill. There were lots of other flowers surrounding the large pink vase, and all of the vibrant colors made me feel grateful.

  “That was nice of him,” I said, admiring the windowsill covered in get-well wishes.

  “Cash snuck in a couple of beers for me last night.” He smiled at me and shrugged. “He thought I needed them.”