CHAPTERTHREE
Stella
“Hey,” I whisper when Theo and Alex slip into Seb’s room, finding me curled up with him on the bed. Neither of them looks overly shocked by the move.
“He’s awake,” they whisper back, following my orders to tell me the second Toby came to.
It’s been a little under twenty-four hours since both of them were brought in.
Toby was wheeled straight through to surgery, and Seb was sent to be stitched up.
We all ended up on the same ward where I was after I was stabbed. A ward I’ve since discovered is totally funded by the Cirillo Family.
I don’t know why I didn’t figure that out before. The level of care I received during my first stay was incredible, so it makes total sense really.
Both of them now have private rooms to recover in, and despite the fact that Seb wanted to discharge himself the second he was able to, we’ve all managed to convince him to stay another night after ripping his stitches during his little quest to see me while I was out of it yesterday morning.
As gently as I can, I try to climb from Seb’s side.
My body aches, but I have no memory of why.
The only things I can remember are running from a dark, hooded figure, finding Seb and Toby on the ground, and then waking up in the hospital to find my dad, Calvin and Angie at my side.
Dad’s face was a welcome sight until I registered the cuts and bruises that covered him.
He refused to explain everything to me while I was laid up, but with the zombie costume and the lingering face paint, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he’d been at the party working security, and I assume he was one of the guys who went out searching for the shooter.
“Where are you going?” a deep, sleepy voice rumbles behind me as a hand grabs me around the waist.
“I’m going to see Toby. Don’t worry, I’m not running away.”
“I should fucking hope not,” he groans.
“I won’t leave you alone. You’ve got some playmates.”
Dropping a kiss to his pouty lips, I pull myself from his hold and stand up.
Thankfully, my legs—hell, my entire body—seems like it’s ready to cooperate now.
I have no idea how I managed what I did with the amount of GHB in my system, but it’s safe to say that it took a fair bit of time for the lingering effects to subside.
“You good?” Theo asks, looking a little concerned as I let go of the bed.
“Yeah.” I take a couple of steps toward the door but stop when I’m beside him. Throwing my arms around him over his shoulders, I lift up on my tiptoes and hold him tight for a few seconds.
“Thank you,” I breathe in his ear.
“Anytime, Princess.”
Dropping a kiss to his cheek, I release him before the possessive asshole in the bed starts complaining.
Shooting a look at Alex, I smirk when I find a knowing smile playing on his lips.
“I’m going. Rib him as much as you want for that. I’m pretty sure I saw the nurse with some kind of lube earlier.”
I slip out of the room before any of them can respond. Despite everything, I’ve got the biggest smile on my face as I make my way down the hall to Toby’s room.
Everything might be shit right now, but the guys I once thought I hated make all of this that little bit better. The fact that we can still have some kind of normal makes it all a little easier.