“I need to get up,” I said, wincing as I slowly sat up on my own.
Aurora frowned at me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I was shot in the shoulder; nothing’s wrong with my legs,” I said, just as a nurse walked in.
“Everything okay, Mr. Moreno?” she asked, putting down the empty blood vials on the small bedside table.
“I just want to stand up,” I said.
She nodded. “Let me draw your blood really quick and I’ll help you,” she said. I kept my eyes on Aurora as the nurse did her job, barely flinching when the needle touched my skin. Once she finished, she lowered the bedside rail and helped me swing my legs around to touch the floor. I fought the urge to growl in pain when I slowly stood, finally standing up straight. Aurora looked to me with wide eyes. The room spun around me for a few moments and I closed my eyes until it stopped.
“Are you okay?” Aurora asked, her voice grounding me.
“Mr. Moreno, how are you feeling standing up?” the nurse asked. I was fine as long as I had my eyes closed, which was probably further proof that the hospital was where I belonged right now. “Mr. Moreno?”
“I’m fine right now; just can’t open my eyes or else the room will spin,” I said.
“Maybe we should get you back into bed—”
“Wait. I got out of bed for a reason.” I forced myself to open my eyes, meeting Aurora’s concerned gaze as she looked at me. “I want to hold my wife for a moment.”
Something strange passed over her face before she came over to me. I wrapped my good arm around her and pulled her close to me, being careful of her own injured arm. I took in the scent of her subtle perfume, the warmth of her skin, and the fact that she was here. She was alive. She was safe. Our baby was safe. Now that this bullshit with Wilson was over, I could finally enjoy the fact that my wife was expecting. I could finally start planning for a future for my growing family, granted that I could convince Aurora to stay.
“You should get back in bed,” she murmured after a few moments, her hand running up and down my bare back. I didn’t want to let her go, but I was becoming so dizzy that it made me nauseous. I placed a soft kiss on her neck before kissing her lips, finally sitting back on the bed. The nurse helped me get comfortable and Aurora moved to the other side, climbing in bed next to me.
“Do you need anything, Mr. Moreno?” the nurse asked as she gathered her things.
“Pain medicine would be good,” I said and winced, the pain in my shoulder becoming hard to ignore.
“Of course. I’ll be right back with that as soon as I send this blood off,” she said and left the room.
Aurora cuddled into me, carefully draping her injured arm across my waist. “If this is painful for you, I’ll move.”
“I’m willing to sacrifice comfort right now,” I said. “How’s everything back home?”
“It’s a lot more calm now. Other than Giselle wanting to see Saint, everyone’s good.”
“And Brittany?”
“She’s been house hunting lately. Now that Wilson’s been captured—”
“Captured?” I interrupted. “Why the fuck isn’t he dead?”
She looked up at me. “I told you I wanted him to suffer. Plus, I wanted you to be home and well before he was actually killed. You have just as much right as I do to cause his death.”
I kissed her forehead. She could’ve killed him herself if she really wanted to, but she’d actually thought about me in her decision. That had to mean something…right?
“I appreciate that,” I murmured, my fingers running through the soft hair of her wig. “I like this.”
“Yeah, I was a little tired of the blonde,” she said with a sigh.
“I like it. It looks more like you,” I said, though it was shorter than the length of her hair before I’d cut it. It only just barely swept her shoulders.
“I’m back with the goods,” Bruce said as he entered the room. His eyes softened when he saw Aurora and I in bed together. “Should I come back?”
“Nah, you’re good. She probably needs to eat anyway,” I said.
Bruce walked over to Aurora’s side and put down a couple slices of pizza and a cup on the bedside table. “Pizza and lemonade for Baby Moreno and you,” he said to her. “And a meatball sub and coke for me.”
“And nothing for me?” I joked. Aurora grabbed a slice of pizza and held it up to me but I shook my head. “I’m kidding. I don’t have much of an appetite anyway.”
The nurse came in and walked over to my IV pole with a syringe. “Mr. Moreno, I have a little bit of dilaudid for you,” she said as she took my line into her hands. I only nodded as she connected the syringe to my IV line and pushed the medicine, flushing it with saline. I closed my eyes as the rush of the medicine washed over me, making me feel warm all over until the pain was only a dull ache. “You okay there, Mr. Moreno?”
“Never been better,” I mused, though I felt loopy.
“I stopped by to check on Saint,” Bruce said and bit into a sandwich. “Still no change.”
“I hope he makes it through,” Aurora said with a sigh before taking a bite of her pizza.
“How bad was it for him?” I asked.
“Bullet lacerated his liver and damaged his spleen. Lots of blood loss. He had surgery to remove the damaged part of his liver and they removed his spleen. Had issues with bleeding, but I think they have him stable for now. They have him in a medically induced coma too so that he can heal,” Bruce said with a sigh.
“Damn. My shoulder injury is tiny compared to his,” I murmured.
Aurora shook her head. “You’re not all that hot yourself. Even though you had surgery, they couldn’t get all the fragments out without damaging nerves. Not to mention, it nicked a major artery, which took them forever to stop bleeding and you had to get many blood transfusions too. That’s why we were worried about you still feeling weak. Saint is a lot worse, but your injury isn’t minor either.”
I looked at my bandaged shoulder, my whole arm in a sling. Right now, I didn’t feel much of anything with the pain medicine, which I was grateful for. I settled back against the pillows and closed my eyes, listening to Aurora and Bruce talk amongst themselves until I finally dozed off.
I jumped awake when the IV machine beeped next to me. A new nurse gave me a sympathetic smile as she continued replacing the empty saline bag.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
I looked around the room and saw that Aurora and Bruce weren’t here anymore. “Where’d they go?” I mumbled.
“They’ve gone home for the night,” the nurse said. “Visiting hours are over.” She finished stringing up the new saline bag and then settled her gaze on me. “Do you need anything? How are you feeling?”
I shook my head and closed my eyes again. “I’m fine.” The phone on my nightstand rang, immediately setting me on edge. “Who knows that I’m here?”
The nurse looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Only your family?” she said. “Do you want me to get that?”
“Yeah,” I said cautiously. She picked up the phone and handed to me. I put it to my ear. “Who is this?”
“Hi, Uncle Benny!”
The tension in my body immediately melted at the sound of Giselle’s voice. “Hi, little dove,” I said and settled back into my pillows.
“Are you feeling better yet?” she asked, excitement filling her voice.
“Almost. What are you doing?”
“I’m having a sleepover party in your room with Aurora!” Aurora said something in the background that made Giselle giggle. “And we have a lot of snacks!”
“That sounds like fun. Make sure you keep Aurora company for me until I get back. She might get lonely and sad.”
“Okay! Is my daddy awake, too?” she asked.
My heart slightly broke. I could hear the hope in her voice, wanting to talk to her daddy but couldn’t because he was still in a coma. “Not yet, little
dove. He still needs to get some more rest so that he can be strong when he wakes up,” I finally said.
“Okay,” she said sadly. It killed me that I couldn’t make her happy, that I couldn’t change Saint’s situation. It wasn’t even a guarantee that he’d wake up anytime soon depending on the true extent of his injury. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I didn’t want to make her sad either.
“Don’t be sad, little dove,” I murmured. “Your dad is the toughest man I know.”
“I know. He beats up the monsters that scare me under my bed,” she stated matter-of-factly. I chuckled.
“He does. But now he has to rest so that he can fight more monsters for you.”
“Okay,” she said and the phone rustled for a moment. “Well, I’m gonna eat popcorn, okay?”
I smiled. “Okay, little dove,” I said. The phone rustled for a moment, Giselle saying something excitedly.
“Hey,” Aurora said when she got the phone.
“Sounds like you guys are having a party,” I said.
“Yeah. She’s been pretty sad, so I thought doing something every night before bed would cheer her up.” She was quiet for a moment. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m good. How about you?”
“I’m fine. We ate dinner, I gave Giselle a bath, and now we’re sitting in bed to watch Frozen 2 for the fourth night in a row.”
I couldn’t help but think of her doing the same for our child one day. “Thanks for looking after her,” I said.
“I promised Saint that I would,” she murmured.
“Aurora, the movie is starting!” Giselle protested in the background.
“Well, that’s my cue. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said with a light sigh.
“Good night, gorgeous.”
“Good night, Bennett,” she replied.
“Good night, Uncle Benny! Sweet dreams!” Giselle shouted in the background.
I chuckled. “Good night, little dove,” I said and gave the phone back to the nurse, who still stood next to the bed. She put the phone back on the table and smiled at me.
“How old is your daughter?” she asked.
“She’s the daughter of my good friend,” I answered. “My wife is looking after her.”
“That’s nice of her. Do you two have children of your own?”
“She’s pregnant with our first,” I murmured.
“That’s sweet. I bet this is an exciting time for you both,” she said with a dreamy sigh. “Well, let me know if you need anything, okay? I’ll move your call button a little closer to you.” She moved the remote with the call button on it a little closer to me before heading toward the door.
“One second,” I said suddenly. She paused and looked at me. “How many times has she been up here?”
“Your wife?” she asked. I nodded. “She’s been here every day that you’ve been here. You have a very caring wife. I can’t tell you the number of times some spouses don’t have visitors for days at a time or at all.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. “That was all I wanted.”
She nodded and left me alone in my thoughts. Maybe things could work between us after all.
AURORA
“But I don’t hear anything,” Giselle said with a frown. She pressed her ear against my belly. “I don’t hear a heartbeat in there.”
“You have to have a special machine to hear it,” I said, stroking her hair. She looked up at me with bright brown eyes.
“Can we go get it?”
“Only the doctor has it. He’ll be here again in a few days and you’ll be able to hear it,” I promised. She clasped her little hands together.
“Yay!” she exclaimed. “Are we going to see Uncle Benny today?”
I nodded, giggling when she bounced off the bed. It was amazing how much energy children had first thing in the morning. I’d always thought kids were further down the road for me when I was creating my life’s plan. The only thing I’d been focused on at the time was building my company. But after everything that happened, maybe having an innocent baby would finally lift the dark cloud from this place. Having Giselle running around the house already made it so much brighter; I couldn’t wait to see what our own baby would do.
We’d visited Bennett for the past week, even stopping by to see Saint. Though he was still asleep, his condition was finally improving, which was promising. I’d been there for him ever since he came out of surgery, my feelings conflicted. A part of me wanted to take the opportunity and leave as soon as I was able to. But whether or not I liked it, I’d started growing unintentional roots here. As this baby grew inside of me, my desire to leave lessened.
“Don’t worry. When it’s time to leave, I’ll make sure we do,” my darker alter hissed in the corners of my mind.
“Aurora, are we going?” Giselle asked, pushing her curly hair from her eyes.
“Yes. We just have to get dressed and have breakfast first,” I said, finally throwing the blankets off of my legs. Brittany had gotten her so many adorable outfits lately; it was like dressing up my own living doll. My arm was a bit sore this morning, but I grit through the pain. Being pregnant made it harder to take the medicines that would work better for pain, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I ran my hand along my growing belly, a small smile on my lips. As Giselle excitedly pointed at what she wanted to wear, a part of me hoped that I’d have a little girl. Watching my daughter have Bennett wrapped around her finger would be the best karma he could get at this point.
“Can I wear this one? Please, please, please? I like Hello Kitty on it!” she exclaimed. It was a purple Hello Kitty t-shirt with white leggings.
“I think that’s a great choice,” I said. “What shoes to you want to wear?”
“The sparkly ones!” she exclaimed, running over to her row of shoes. She grabbed a pair of white tennis shoes with silver glitter on the sides. “Are these good?”
“They’re perfect, doll,” I said with a smile. I could only imagine how happy this interaction made her. She’d been so used to Saint doing these things with her; I wasn’t sure if Saint had dated after her mother died, but maybe she enjoyed doing this with a woman. She always looked at me for approval, becoming sad if I didn’t seem too excited. Even if she didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought she did, I was definitely enjoying the practice.
“I’m gonna put them right here,” she said, putting the clothes on the shoes on the bed. I took her hand.
“Okay. Let’s go eat breakfast and then we can get ready to see Uncle Benny for a little while,” I said. I could hear a slight commotion downstairs as soon as I stepped out of the hallway, putting me on edge. I listened hard and noticed that people were cheering.
“What’s happening?” Giselle whispered, squeezing my hand a little tighter.
“I’m not sure. Stay right here, okay?”
She nodded and stood by the bedroom door as I walked to the start of the staircase. People were talking in excited voices as they crowded around someone in the living room. Then I saw him. He looked up at me and smiled. He still looked a little bit pale and exhausted, but he was on his feet and home.
“Hey there, gorgeous. Are you going to come down and say hi or continue staring at me?” Bennett teased. I looked to Giselle and waved her over. She cautiously walked over to me, squealing when she saw Bennett.
“Uncle Benny!” she shrieked and ran down the stairs.
“Careful, Giselle,” I called out after her. She slowed down to a quick walk and I couldn’t help but to grin.
I sound like such a mom, I thought to myself. Bennett squatted down as Giselle ran over to him, but she stopped just before she touched him.
“Are you still hurt?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Only a little bit,” he said and smiled at her. “But you can still hug me if you can be really careful.”
She smiled and walked into his arms, hugging his neck. He winced a bit but hugged her tight. When he let her go, she looked up at me.
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“We were gonna come see you!” she said. “Are you gonna eat breakfast with us?”
“Sure, little dove,” he said and looked to me, his eyes drifting down to my belly. Every time I’d visited him, I wore sweaters and loose-fitting shirts. Now I wore a fitting nightgown that showed my growing bump, a physical sign of the life growing inside of me. He walked to the foot of the stairs. “Are you gonna come here or do I have to come up there to kiss you?”
I couldn’t help the cheesy grin that pulled at my lips as I descended down the last few steps. He wrapped his good arm around me and kissed me with so much passion that it nearly knocked me off my feet. Ever since he’d woken up, he’d been unusually affectionate. I was starting to wonder if he’d also suffered a concussion along with a gunshot wound when we hit the ground.
He let go of me and placed a kiss on my belly. “I see you, buddy,” he murmured as he rubbed it.
“Well, I’m hungry. Giselle and I were just about to have breakfast,” I said, walking over to her and taking her hand.
“I want toast sticks again!” she said as she hopped alongside me.
“French toast sticks?” I corrected.
“Yeah, French toast sticks!” she said. We all walked to the dining room, where Savannah and a couple of other girls were putting breakfast on the table already. Savannah placed Giselle’s plate on the table and picked her up, putting her in her booster seat at the table. She wasted no time digging into her breakfast, humming with each bite.
“And breakfast for you and baby,” Savannah said to me, patting my belly.
“Thanks,” I said with a small smile.
“Would you like me to make you something?” Savannah asked Bennett. He shook his head, sitting down beside me.
“I’m good, thanks,” he said. He and Giselle talked as she ate, his hand rubbing circles on my belly.
“The sooner we deal with Wilson, the sooner we can get the hell out of here,” my alter said.
“After breakfast, we have some business to talk about,” Bennett whispered in my ear before he got up. I nodded to let me know I heard him, watching as he walked away with Nyxin and Bruce.
You Will Obey (Rules of Bennett Book 4) Page 20