by M. M. Crow
“I know baby. It doesn’t matter one bit to me. All that matters is that you’re here and you’re alive. You fought the good fight baby and you came out the winner. I’m so proud of you and I love you more than anything in this world other than our children.” I say to her and I mean it.
She’s whimpering and I get on the edge of the bed and lay myself down next to her. I wrap her gently into me. I don’t want to hurt her but I also know she needs to feel me next to her.
“I wasn’t strong enough to stop it?” She whimpers and it breaks my fucking heart.
“Baby you survived. You’re the strongest fucking person I know. It doesn’t matter to me baby. All that matters is that you’re here with me. Do you understand me. I’m just grateful that you are alive and awake. Those motherfuckers will never hurt you again sweetheart. You came out of this alive my love and neither of them did.” I explain to her.
She shudders a breathe and I can tell she’s in pain. I tell her she has to try and relax or she’ll cause herself more pain. I tell her that the twins will be here in a couple of hours and her daddy is on his way now. She sobs again and Thorpe comes up to us and tells her to breath with him. She and I do the breathing with him until she gets her breathing controlled. He tells her that she’ll have pain for another 4-6 weeks. Then she should be able to breath without it hurting and move around some without pain. He tells her that’s why she’ll be on complete bed rest for the next month. She tells him she understands and has snuggled somewhat into me. Zeus comes through the door like hell hounds are chasing his ass. When he sees she’s awake he breaks down crying. He comes up to her kissing her face and telling her he’s really happy to see her awake. He takes a chair and sits it down on the other side of her.
“I’ve never been so scared as I was when we couldn’t find you. The waiting while you were in surgery is an experience I never want to go through again. I called mamaw and papaw and they’re going to the school to get the twins right now. They’ll be here soon baby doll.” Her dad says to her.
“I love you. I’m happy that you found me. I might not have said it before dad but I’m proud to be your daughter.”
“I’m the one that is honored to have a daughter as strong and loving as you are.” He says as he wipes his tears.
She’s getting tired and I tell her to close her eyes and I’ll wake her when her grandparents and our babies get here. She says okay and closes her eyes and is asleep in a matter of seconds.
“It’s normal and she’ll still sleep a lot until she’s fully healed.” Thorpe tells us.
She’s been napping about 20-25 minutes when Captain, Ellie, Jess, Hound, Jasmine, and Jameson come in. They see her sleeping and I see the look on my babies faces.
“She’s just napping but she’ll wake up this time.” I tell them both.
“Your babies want to see your eyes sweetheart.” I whisper and rub her back.
“Your babies really need to see those eyes of yours. Even worse than me and your dad did.” I say to her as she opens her eyes.
I get out of the bed and Jazz and Jamie walk up to me. I move so they can see her and they both start crying. I move Jazz and Jamie onto the bed. I remind them that they have to be careful with her. They’re both crying and she has them wrapped up in her arms as best she can. She’s telling them she’s okay and she loves them both more than all the blades of grass in whole world. They continue to cry and hold on to her. I look away from my children and my woman. I see everyone else is crying from the emotions from those two little people. Hound has his arms around Jess and Captain has Zeus and Ellie wrapped up in his. I walk to the bed and wrap my arms around my whole world and promise myself right then and there nothing will ever touch them again. I hear my woman tell her babies that she wants to hug papaw and mamaw and they can get back into her arms in a few minutes after she hugs everyone else. The twins get off the bed and I sit down in a chair by the end of the bed and both kids get into my lap. I cuddle them and give them the emotional support that they need right now. If I’m being completely honest I need it from them also. Captain and Ellie give her hugs and the love she needs right now also. Jess gets into bed with Lyric and they hug and bond a little.
“She’ll be able to come home in a couple of days. She’ll be on complete bed rest for the next month.” I tell everyone.
“Don’t worry about anything. We’ll make schedules so someone is with her at the house and we’ll keep the schedule for the pickup of the twins.” Ellie and Jess both say.
“Thanks you all. I’ll shorten my hours at work and work more from home. I’ll still have to go into meetings once or twice a week but I should be able to do everything else from home.”
Captain shakes his head and agrees with me.
“We should probably start looking for someone to run the place. We’ll be on the board but won’t have to run the place on a daily basis.” I say to Captain.
“Maybe we could break it into four different positions. We could have Shadow, Sonny, Pike, and Knives run them. We could break your job into two positions and do the same with mine. That way when it comes to big decisions. There’ll be six voting on it and not a full board.”
“That’s a great idea. I like that it’ll still be family ran instead of bringing an outside person in for the positions.” I respond.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” He says to me.
“I’ll bring mamaw back tomorrow.” He says to her and then bends over and kisses her head.
“I love you baby doll.” Ellie says to her as she bends down and gives her a hug and kiss.
“I’ll see you when you get home.” Jess says and Hound gives her a light hug.
The twins have made their way back into her bed and she’s giving them the cuddles and kisses they need.
“You two will see your momma again tomorrow.” I say to them.
Jess and Hound get the children ready to leave.
“I’ll be home soon and I’ll read you your bedtime stories. I love you both very much.”
They give me kisses and leave with Jess. I get back into bed and she snuggles into me and falls back to sleep. Zeus stays with me until I have to leave. As we are walking out the room we see a prospect is stationed next to her door.
“Did you put the prospect here?” I ask Zeus.
He shakes his head and pulls out his and calls Hound. Zeus puts his phone on speaker.
“I just don’t want to take a chance know that she’s awake. I’ll have someone stationed at her door until she comes home.” Hound says to us with conviction in his voice.
I can’t say that I don’t agree with him. I’m thankful that he decided to make the call for her protection. She’ll have this protection for the rest of her life. Zeus and I thank him.
“Nothing or no one will ever fucking hurt her again” Hound says to us.
“That means a lot to us brother. We’re leaving now and we’ll see ya in a bit.”
Chapter 35
Lyric
When I was waking up and I heard Dean whispering into my stomach I thought I was dead and was in heaven. That lasted just a second and then the pain came when I lifted my hand to put it on his head. When he moved I felt it through my whole body. He saw me trying to open my eyes and told me to wait a minute. My mouth and throat were so dry and my tongue sticky. I tried to tell him I wanted something to drink and he called the nurse. I realized in that moment that I did survive my kidnaping. What I thought were hallucinations of him crawling under the porch was real after all. I look at Dean and he’s looking in my eyes. I look into those green eyes and I see the minute he breaks and starts crying. He tells me that he’s so happy to see my beautiful eyes and to never scare him like that again. He bends over and kisses my face and lips. He keeps telling me that he loves me and I have been so brave a strong and he’s proud of me. I have tears that start to come out of my eyes and he kisses the tears away. Thorpe and another doctor come in and He introduces himself as Dr. Atkins. Sis and another nurse
check me over and Sis gives me some ice chips to suck on and me and my mouth are thankful for them. I’m sucking away on them because they are so cold and wet. The liquid is running down my throat soothing it.
“Do you know what year it is? Who’s the President? Do you remember your name? Do you remember his name? Do you have children? What are their names?” Dr. Atkins asks.
I answer all his questions correctly.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” He asks
“I remember everything.” I tell him and everyone else.
I let them know what I remember. Dr. Atkins ask me about my pain and I tell them I’m in pain but it’s mostly manageable.
“You’ll be here for a couple of days and when you do go home you’ll still be on bed rest for another month or so.” He tells me.
“You were six weeks pregnant when you were brought in and the baby survived the initial trauma.” Dean says to me.
I start to cry because I know he wanted a baby with me and I don’t know how much damage was done. Can I even have another baby now? I hear him talking and I start listening to him again.
“You’ve been in a coma for five weeks and you and the baby are doing exceptional.” I hear him say to me.
“The baby’s really okay?” I ask with tears streaming down my face.
“The baby is doing great babe.” He says as he kisses the side of my forehead at the hairline.
“You know don’t you?” I ask knowing the answer to my question already.
I start whimpering because I didn’t want him to find out. I knew he would but part of me wanted to hide that dirty little truth away. I wish I could’ve fought better or attacked sooner. I wish it had never happened and I feel so dirty because of it. He gets on the edge of the bed and lays himself down next to me and wraps his arms gently around me. He doesn’t want to hurt me but he also knows I need to feel him next to me.
“I wasn’t strong enough to stop him. I was hurt so bad.” I tell him ashamed with myself.
“Baby it doesn’t matter to me and I know that you fought and did the best you could. They’ll never hurt you again because you came out of this alive and neither of them did.” He says to me.
I shudder a breathe and I’m in more pain now.
“Breath with me Lyric.” Thorpe says as he walks up to my bed.
I do and so does Dean and we do the breathing until I’m not causing myself pain and can breathe somewhat normal.
“You’ll have pain for another 4-6 weeks and then you should be able to breath without it hurting and move around some without pain. This is why you’ll be on complete bed rest for the next month.” Thorpe explains to me.
I tell him I understand and I snuggle somewhat into my man. Daddy comes through the door in a hurry and when he sees that I’m awake he starts to cry. Daddy comes up to me kissing my face and rubbing my hair and touching my face.
“I’m really happy to see you awake.” Daddy says to me with tears running down his face.
I can see him take a deep breath and exhale it. I feel bad for scaring him like that. He takes the chair and sits it down on the side of me that Dean’s not on. He tells me that he’s never been so scared in his life as he was when they could not find me and then the waiting while I was in surgery was something he never wants to do again. He tells me that he called mamaw and papaw and they’re going to the school to get my babies right now and they will be here soon. I tell him thank you and that I love him and I’m happy that he found me in Lexington and I might not have said it before but I’m proud to be his daughter. He tells me that he’s the one that’s honored to have a daughter as strong and loving as I am. I’m starting to get tired and Dean tells me to close my eyes and he’ll wake me when my grandparents and our babies get here. I tell him okay and I close my eyes and I’m asleep in a matter of seconds.
I swear I’ve only been asleep for a couple of minutes when Dean rubs me and whispers that our babies want to see her eyes. I open my eyes and he tells me that our babies really need to see my eyes worse than he and daddy did. He gets out of the bed and Jazz and Jamie walk up to him and he moves. They look at me and they both start crying and that breaks my fucking heart. Dean moves Jazz and Jamie on the bed but tell them they have to be careful with me. They’re both crying and I wrap them up in my arms and tell them that I’m okay and I love them both more than all the blades of grass in whole world and they continue to cry and I hold them as tight as I can. They’ve never been without me and then they had to watch me lay here for five weeks without waking up. This has taken a toll on my children and I whisper to them that they’ll never have to go without me again. My man walks to the bed and wraps his arms around us and mumbles something I don’t catch. I tell my babies that I want to hug papaw, mamaw, and Jess and then they can get back into my arms. The twins get off the bed and their daddy sits down in a chair by the end of the bed and both kids get into his lap and he cuddles them. Papaw and Mamaw give come to me and hug me and tell me they love me and I realize I really needed my family here. I’ve never had a family until I moved to Harlan and know that I do have one I don’t ever want to be without one again. I’m scared that mamaw knows what her son did. I was really scared she’d blame me for him dying. I don’t think I could’ve handled her blame. I’m glad he’s dead and I wish I was the one to have killed him. I have lots of questions but right now isn’t the time to ask. I will let the questions pile up and I’ll ask my man and daddy when I get out of here. Jess gets into bed with me and we hug and talk a little. She keeps kissing my face telling me she’s missed her bestie.
“You’re never leaving me like that ever again.” Jess says to me with tears in her eyes.
“I plan to live in a bubble for a while.”
She laughs and tells me that’s a great idea. Dean tells everyone I’ll be able to go home in a couple of days but I’ll be on complete bed rest for the next month or so. Papaw and Dean start talking work and schedules.
“I’ll bring your Kindle to you and I’ll download a ton of books for you to read.” Jess says to me.
Papaw comes up to me and gives me a kiss and tells me that he’ll bring mamaw back tomorrow. Mamaw kiss me and tells me that she loves me and tell her and papaw I love them too. Jess kisses me and tells me she will see me tomorrow also. Hound gives me a light hug and tells me that he’ll see me when I get home. My babies crawl back into my bed and I give them cuddles and kisses and tell them I’ll see them tomorrow. Dean gets back into bed and I snuggle into him and tell daddy I love him and whisper to Dean I love him and I fall back to sleep.
I wake a couple hours later and I’m alone at first I’m scared that I’m back in the cabin. As I wake more I hear the beeping of the heart monitor and I remember I’m in the hospital. It still takes me a few minutes for me to get my breathing under control. A nurse opens my door and I see one of the prospects at my door. She asks me if I need anything and I tell her I don’t. I just woke up and thought I was somewhere else.
“I understand sweetheart if you want in the morning someone can come talk to me. You shouldn’t keep it bottled up.” She says and gives me a sympathetic look.
I tell her that I’ll think about it. She smiles and refills my water cup and lifts the straw to my mouth and tells me to sip. I put the straw to my lips and take a sip and it’s wet and cold and taste so good I end up drinking it all. I moan of appreciation leaves my throat.
“I love the sound of someone that takes the small stuff that’s normally taken for granted into consideration.” She says with a giggle.
“I’ve gotten my second chance at my life and I’ll no longer take the small stuff for granted.” I say to her with a smile.
She walks out the door and I call to Cage.
“Ma’am is there anything I can do for you?” He says to me as he walks in the door.
“I just don’t want to be alone in the room.”
He shakes his head okay and takes a seat next to the bed. As I’m falling back asleep I hear him
texting and I think thank goodness someone’s here with me. I feel better knowing I’m not alone in this room. I wake a couple of hours later I turn to see Cage isn’t next to me. I start to breath hard again and I try to get my breathing under control but I have tears coming down my face. Dean opens the door to my room and he sees me and rushes to me.
“What’s wrong Baby?” He says as he rushes to me.
I try to get my breathing under control.
“I woke up and Cage was gone. I don’t want to be alone.”
He gets in my bed and wraps me up as I cry.
“Cage just left and that’s probably what woke you up. You won’t be left alone again baby. Someone will be in this room until you get out the hospital. I’m sorry I was talking outside of the room with Cage. From now on someone will be in the room at all times baby.” He says to me as he gets into the bed next to me.