by L. A. Casey
“Kane?”
When I spoke, it sounded more like a rasp and it hurt like fucking hell. I erupted into a fit of coughing, and each cough tore through my throat.
Oh, God.
What was wrong with me?
“Aideen, it’s okay.”
Kane?
I opened my eyes and focused them until I could see his face. He was leaning over me and it looked like he just woke up.
“Where-”
“Don’t speak, babe,” he cut me off. “You’re in the hospital.”
The hospital?
“Wh-”
“There was a fire at the school. You were trapped for a little bit, but you’re safe now. You’re safe, babydoll.”
A fire in the school?
I tried to think of a fire, but I couldn’t.
My mind drew a blank.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
“You don’t remember?” Kane questioned.
I tried to think hard, but nothing came to me so I shrugged my shoulders.
“It’ll come back to you,” Kane murmured.
I nodded my head and tried to sit up a little, but I yelped when pain shot up through my leg. I pulled the blankets off my lower half and stared down at the royal blue cast that covered my mid-thigh down to my ankle of my right leg.
What the hell?
Kane gripped my hand. “Your knee and shin bone were broken. You’ll have to wear the cast for eight weeks until the damage repairs itself.”
I blinked.
What the fuck happened to me?
I examined the rest of my body for any other signs of injury, and my eyes zeroed in on the white bandage that was wrapped around my left arm from my elbow to my wrist. I stared at it then looked up at Kane.
He frowned. “Second degree burns. You’ll need a skin graft.”
Fucking. Hell.
I checked out the rest of my body but saw nothing else, so I looked at Kane.
“You have a black eye, and a swollen jaw, but that’s it. Everything else is okay.”
I slowly nodded my head.
“Are you in pain?”
Surprisingly no.
It hurt when I tried to talk, but other than that I was okay.
I shook my head.
“Good,” Kane said. “Pain meds and some fluids are in the IV drip. They’ve had you on it since you came in last night. You’ve been here for sixteen hours now.”
I’ve been here for sixteen hours?
“Are you okay?” Kane asked me.
I instantly shook my head.
I didn’t know what happened to me, or why I was so busted up. It made me feel like a stranger in my own body. I didn’t like it.
I looked down to my hands and stared hard at them. I tried so hard to think about what happened to me. I could remember going to school for detention. I had one kid to look after. One kid. My classroom. On our own.
One second things were misty and dark, and the next images flooded my mind.
Philip.
Fire.
Smoke.
Caleb.
My baby.
I widened my eyes to the point of pain. “Baby,” I rasped then fell into a fit of coughing.
“Easy, darling,” Kane soothed and got me some water to drink. “Small sips, swallowing will hurt.”
I whimpered in pain when I swallowed the little bit of water I had in my mouth. It felt like lava was sliding down my throat.
“There you go,” he murmured and continued to rub his hand up and down my good arm.
I blinked my eyes and lifted my arms, though it was difficult because my body felt so tired. I pressed my hands on my stomach and was relieved to feel it was still huge and hard.
I looked at Kane, my eyes wild.
“He is okay, he is still in there.”
The relief that flooded me almost caused me to throw up.
I began to cry and it upset Kane.
“Babydoll,” he breathed. “You’re both okay, I swear.”
I shook my head.
“The baby is okay. The doctors don’t know if there was any damage because of the smoke inhalation, but as far as they can tell, everything looks okay.”
My tears were fast and furious then.
What if the baby had brain damage because of the smoke cutting off my oxygen?
All sorts of horrors flooded my mind, and terror filled me completely. I couldn’t hear Kane speak. I realised why, it’s because I was wailing.
“Baby!” Kane pleaded. “He is okay, I promise, he is okay.”
“What if... brain... damage?”
“Don’t think like that,” Kane hissed. “You think positive thoughts. He is okay!”
I reached up and gripped my throat when the pain struck it.
I closed my mouth as hot tears spilled from my eyes and onto my cheeks. The pain... God, the pain. I had never felt anything like it in my entire life. It was like someone was slowly running a saw over my throat.
“I’ll get the nurse,” Kane said and jumped up off the bed. He ran out into the hall and called for help. “She’s awake and in pain. Please, hurry.”
I blinked my eyes a couple of times, and when I focused, two nurses were next to me.
“Aideen, can you hear me clearly?” the first nurse asked. “Don’t reply verbally, just nod for yes, and shake your head for no. Do you understand?”
I nodded my head.
“Good. Is your hearing okay? Does it sound like you’re in a tunnel?”
I shook my head. My hearing was fine.
“What about your chest, does it hurt when you breathe?”
I tested it out and took a deep breath, which only resulted in coughing. I quickly pointed to my throat, which was the only pain I could feel.
“Your throat?”
I nodded my head.
“Okay, do you have any chest pain?”
I shook my head.
“Good, that’s really good.”
The nurse looked at Kane then and said, “Just to be safe, we’re going to do a round of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. She will be placed inside a pressurised oxygen chamber here in the hospital. It will speed the replacement of carbon monoxide with oxygen in her blood.”
“Is that safe?” Kane questioned. “She is pregnant.”
The nurse nodded her head. “It’s highly recommended for pregnant women who’re exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Unborn babies are more susceptible to damage so this will be good for both mother and baby.”
I wanted to do it. If it would eliminate any damage to the baby, I was completely on board.
I nodded my head.
Kane focused on me. “You want to do it?”
Again, I nodded my head.
“She wants to do it.”
The nurse looked at me. “Okay, Aideen, we’ll get the chamber prepared. We’ll come get you in twenty to thirty minutes if you’re able. Is that okay?”
I nodded my head.
The nurse pressed a button then and it caused the top half of my bed to rise. She raised it enough until I was still lying, but in a more upright position. She leaned into me then and adjusted the oxygen mask on my face.
“Keep this on your face, sweetie,” she said and fluffed the pillow under my head. “It’ll make breathin’ easier.”
I nodded my head then looked at the door when it opened and in piled person after person. I gave a closed mouthed smile to my family when they gathered around the bed. My little brother was the first person who quickly leaned in and hugged me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered into my ear.
I leaned my head against his and nodded my head.
Gavin squeezed me tightly, kissed my cheek, and pulled back. He quickly wiped his eyes, and it only heightened the need for me to console him.
“I’m... fine,” I rasped.
“No talking,” the nurse chastised.
I ignored her and focused on Gavin, giving him a knowing look. He nodded his head to me a
nd moved aside so my other brothers could hug and kiss me.
My father, along with James, stepped outside to ask the nurse some questions. I smiled when Keela shoved her way through Alec and Nico and almost climbed onto the bed to grab hold of me.
“I was so scared,” Keela cried into my neck. “I thought you were gone when Kane called and told us what happened.”
I tiredly lifted my good arm and put it around Keela. “I’m okay,” I rasped.
“If you don’t stop talking, I’ll telling your dad,” Kane warned me.
Keela laughed through her tears and I smiled.
She kissed me a bunch of times on the cheek, and then climbed off the bed. I hugged Kane’s brothers and the girls. Alannah was shaken up pretty bad. She was worried about the baby, but Kane assured her that everything was okay.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered to me when she gave me a cuddle.
I smiled at her when she pulled back. I looked at Nico when he murmured to Kane, “No sign of him.”
Kane’s body tensed. “Keep looking.”
I focused on Kane. “Need... to... talk to... you.”
“We’ll have words, babydoll. Just rest your voice for a bit.” I needed to have a real talk with him about Philip. The man tried to kill me and my baby. I wanted to know what was happening.
Nico nodded his head once to Kane then looked at me and winked. “The kid that helped you is doing good. He is here in the hospital for another twenty-four hours as a precaution.”
Thank God.
The news that Caleb was okay relieved me greatly. He was a little soldier, and without him, I think I would have died in that classroom. Images of Philip’s flashing grin and flames entered my mind.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“What’s wrong?” my brother, Harley, asked me.
I swallowed and winced in pain. “I see his face,” I rasped.
Harley leaned into me and said, “Kane told us what went down, and we’re goin’ to get the bastard. Do you hear me?”
I nodded my head.
Harley smiled at me and wiped the tears from under my eyes with his thumbs. Everyone in the room sat down—the girls on the lads’ laps or on the windowsill. I leaned my head back and looked up at the ceiling.
I gasped when I felt movement inside me.
Once again, I burst into tears as I placed my hands on my stomach. I looked at Kane when he placed his hand on my belly and felt her move, too. I knew he was trying to keep my spirits up by telling me that she was okay, but I saw the relief that crossed his face when he felt her move under his palms.
“Thank God,” he breathed and leaned down to me.
He kissed my mouth, then my cheeks and forehead.
“I love you so much.”
I pressed my face against his. He stayed pressed against me for a few minutes, but when he pulled back, he sat back down and kept his hands on my stomach.
“He’s wide awake,” Kane murmured, looking at my stomach as she turned inside me.
You could see the shape of her elbow or knee poke out as she turned.
“That is freakin’ me the fuck out,” Dante’s voice said from my right.
I looked at my brother and found his eyes, and everyone else’s, on my stomach.
I smiled and shook my head.
He was such a man.
“I think it looks cool,” Bronagh commented.
I smiled at her and found her staring at my stomach like it was the most interesting thing she had ever come across in her life. I frowned then when her face paled, and she suddenly jumped up from Nico’s lap. She ran for the sink in the room and vomited into it. Nico was right up after her, rubbing her back with his hand.
I looked at Kane who looked at me and smiled.
That exact same thing happened to me about twenty odd weeks ago.
“I’m fine, just nauseous,” Bronagh murmured and gargled some water, then wiped her face dry with some tissue Nico handed her.
They sat back down and Nico cuddled her to his body.
“Are you coming down with something?” he asked.
She swallowed and shook her head.
I smiled at her, and she glared at me.
She knew I knew.
“Don’t look at me like that, Collins,” she grunted at me.
I flashed my teeth at her and it pissed her off.
“You’re lucky you’re pregnant and injured.”
I continued to smile.
“Stop!” she snapped.
Kane laughed then groaned, “I’m dreading your hormones. I can barely tolerate Aideen’s.”
Bronagh glared at Kane then looked at Nico when he tensed underneath her.
“Bronagh?”
Bronagh stood up and turned to face him. “I was goin’ to tell you, but you’ve been goin’ on about your stupid fight all week and I didn’t want to distract you.”
Branna was leaning against the door. “Tell him what?”
Bronagh looked at her sister and said, “I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Alec shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “Is everyone going to have kids before me?”
My brothers laughed at Alec while I watched Nico. He was looking up at Bronagh with a look of love and admiration mixed into one. He stood up and stepped towards her. She looked at him and began to play with her fingers. “Are you mad?”
Nico said nothing.
Bronagh groaned, “Please, Dominic, say somethin’.”
He did.
He said, “I love you.”
“Aww,” Alannah cooed from the windowsill making Kane snicker.
“You... You aren’t mad?”
Nico put his arms around Bronagh. “Mad?” he questioned. “We’ve been trying for a while now. I’m happier than you could ever imagine. We’re going to have a baby, pretty girl.”
I started crying again.
Kane looked at me and smiled as he stroked his thumb over my hand.
“How long have you known?” Branna asked her sister.
Bronagh looked at her and said, “About a week.”
Branna’s face fell. “And you never told me?”
“I didn’t tell anyone apart from Alannah because she was in the house when I took the test, Bran.”
Branna nodded her head, but I could tell she was hurt.
“She’s fine,” Ryder said to Bronagh, who looked guilt-ridden as she looked at her sister. “She’ll get over it.”
Branna looked at Ryder, and I saw the moment her heart broke.
She looked at me then, her eyes filled with tears and said, “I’m sorry, Aideen. I’m glad you’re okay, babe, but I have to leave.”
I barely got a chance to nod my head to show her I understood before she opened the door and fled from the room. Ryder shook his head but made no attempt to go after her. Bronagh, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate, she paused at Ryder and kicked him in the shin.
“Bronagh!” he snapped and grabbed his leg.
She pointed her finger at him and said, “That’s for being an arsehole. Would it fuckin’ kill you to be nice to her?”
Ryder set his jaw. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Bronagh shook her head. “When she plucks up the courage to leave you, and finds someone who truly loves and cares for her, you’ll finally realise how incredible she really is and it’ll be too late. Be a man and fight for her, she is worth it!”
With that said, Bronagh left the room with an annoyed Nico in tow.
Ryder had waited about twenty seconds before he left, too. Alannah sighed from the windowsill and pushed herself to her feet. “I’m goin’ to get some food, anyone comin’ with me?”
My brothers, Keela, and Alec all answered ‘yes’ in unison. They told Kane they would grab him something then they all left the room. It was just me and Kane again.
“Our families are crazy.”
I nodded my head. “Damien is the only normal one.”
K
ane snorted. “Dominic called and told him last night what happened.”
I frowned. “You shouldn't have worried him.”
I looked at Kane's face then. I noticed his face looked so good compared to how pale and sullen it was weeks ago without his insulin.
I widened my eyes then.
“Injections,” I rasped.
Kane took my hand in his and smiled. “I did it myself.”
I blinked in astonishment.
“I know,” he chuckled. “When you were still asleep this morning I knew I’d needed it or I would be no good to you when you woke up. I didn’t want my diabetes fighting against me when I needed to fight for you, so I bit the bullet and injected the insulin myself. I wasn’t scared... I’m not scared. Not anymore. I'll never be scared of something so mundane again, not when I experienced almost losing you.”
Tears welled in my eyes and I reached my hands out for him. He smiled and leaned into me, kissing my cheek and snaking his arm around my body.
“I love you,” he whispered.
I hugged him tighter.
“Philip,” I whispered gently, “told me things.
Kane pulled back and swallowed. “What did he tell you?”
“He was watchin’ me for weeks,” I whispered. “I met him in the hospital and in the p-pub without realisin’. He was the one who bought me the flowers that were sent to my classroom.”
Kane’s face hardened. “He must have seen you with me and wanted to know who you were.”
I nodded my head. “He told me about your whippin’s and the shock treatment.”
Kane closed his eyes. “The bastard.”
I waited for him to open his eyes and look at me.
“You didn’t need to know those things, babydoll. No one needs to know any of what I was put through. No good comes from it.”
I agreed so I nodded my head.
“He told me you killed his son,” I painfully swallowed. “He said he was goin’ to kill me and the baby the same way to make you wish you were dead.”
Veins bulged in Kane’s neck.
“He will die for this. I promise you.”
I blinked. “Did you kill his son?”
Kane held my gaze. “Yes, I did.”
Oh, God.
“Why?”
Kane swallowed. “Big Phil’s son, Colin, wasn’t a nice kid. He was sixteen at the time… and I caught him doing something really, really wrong.”
I didn’t want to know, but I didn’t stop Kane from speaking.