“If she doesn’t, I’m telling her,” I told him. I’d made up my mind. No way was I keeping anything from her again. If she could find it in her heart to forgive me, I wanted to give her no reason to find out I’d hidden something again.
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“Probably not, but if she remembers later and realizes we didn’t tell her, she'll for sure never speak to us again. Right now, I'm living with the hope she’ll one day forgive me. I might be eighty, but I don’t care. I'll wait until she does, and the second she forgives me, I’m marrying her.”
He chuckled. “Hell, I’ll be dead by then. Good idea.” I gave him the finger. He sobered up. “Yeah, I think you’re right. We should tell her. It’s both our faults. I knew you were having him dig into Mercer and I told you to do it. I could have stopped you or told her. Ilara said we were both dumbasses. She wasn’t happy with me when I told her. She said I was old enough to know better.”
“We were and we’ll have to remember that. Did the stuff get put away at the house? Did Ilara say?” Even though she was unconscious and we had no idea if she’d ever wake up, I didn’t stop the moving company from moving her stuff to the compound. She’d already gotten it scheduled and paid for, so I let them bring her stuff. I wasn’t sure what she wanted, so I had them put her stuff, including her furniture, in the townhome. The club had planned to furnish them, but we hadn’t had time before Tarin and I started to move in. Ilara, the guys, and the other old ladies had all volunteered to unpack and set it up. I was hopeful she’d wake up and forgive me.
“She said they got it all done, and it’s ready as soon as she can come home. I know you’re still worried she won’t forgive you, but don’t give up. If she doesn’t, you and I will keep after her until we prove to her that we love her and won’t do that shit again. I can’t lose her, Outlaw. I just found my daughter and I’m not letting something like this get between us. I do want her to tell us what exactly he did to her. I could fucking kill Carol for keeping her secret from me. She could have told her and hired someone to find me.”
“I pray fifty times a day she’ll forgive us. I do love her. More than I can ever tell you.”
“I know, son. I know. Let’s go tell the rest of them what’s the latest then we can wait for her to get back.” I followed him to the waiting room. My stomach churned with nerves.
Tarin:
I strained to remember the accident as they put me through the PET scan and a bunch of other tests. It was all a blur. I could vaguely remember pain and a loud noise. When they wheeled me back into my room, Dad and Outlaw were waiting for me. I was so happy to see them. Both of them looked like they hadn’t slept in days. I thought they looked like they had lost weight. The look of relief on their faces was startling to see. They both came over to me as soon as I was situated. Dad let Outlaw kiss me first, which I thought was cute. When they were done, I frowned at them.
“Have you two left since I got here? You look like you’re worn out.”
“No, we didn’t leave. No way were we leaving you here without us. We had the club bring us clothes, and we took turns sleeping in this chair,” Outlaw said as he pointed to the one that reclined.
“You shouldn’t have! It’s too much. And Dad, you have Ilara and Hope at home. You need to keep your strength up for them. Has she had another treatment? What did the doctor say at Ilara’s appointment?” I recalled Ilara had one.
“She said the doctor said everything was fine. Jocelyn went with her. Hope had her treatment last week. She’s getting back her energy.”
“You didn’t go to the baby’s appointment! Dad, you can’t do that. It’s important for you to be there for her. I was here with a bunch of doctors and nurses. Outlaw was here. You promise you won’t do that again,” I chastised him.
He smiled. “I won’t need to if you don’t do anything like this again. How’re you feeling?”
“Sore as hell. My ribs hurt, my incision itches, and my leg throbs. Otherwise, I'm fine. I wish I could take this damn tube out of my nose. The IV I can handle, but this feels weird.” I touched it. Outlaw took my hand away from it and kissed my knuckles.
“Leave it. That’s how they kept you fed. You can’t risk losing those curves I love,” he growled as he gave me another kiss.
Dad made a gagging noise then he sobered up. “Did they say how soon they would have all your results back from those tests?”
“A couple of hours, why?”
“There’s something we want to discuss with you, but not until you’re better. Do you wanna see Ilara? They won’t let Hope in here. We have her masked up, anyway.”
“Shit, I forgot. She shouldn’t be in here with all the germs. Yeah, let me see Ilara then they need to go home.” He nodded and went to go get her. When he left, Outlaw sat on the edge of my bed.
He traced his fingers along my mouth, my chin, and my nose. “I was so damn scared, Tarin. I thought you might never wake up. You can’t ever scare me like that again. I love you and I can’t fucking live without you, my jewel.”
I touched his face. “I love you too, Damian. I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know why I wrecked. Did the police say why?” He opened his mouth, but there was a knock, then Ilara and Dad came into the room. Ilara rushed over and gave me a gentle hug.
“Hi, sweetheart, I’m so damn happy to see you with your eyes open. I thought we’d have to shoot your dad and Outlaw soon. They’ve been driving the staff crazy. I’m pretty sure I heard a couple of the nurses plotting to do them in,” she teased. I laughed which made me wince. “Sorry, no laughing, got it. Are you ready to get out of here yet?”
“God, please, can you spring me? Sneak me out in a garbage can or something. I know they want me to eat, but I know what hospital food tastes like. I think tube feeding is better, at least I can’t taste it.” I groaned.
We chatted for several minutes. When the doctor came in to see me, Ilara gave me a hug and kiss and left. She told Dad she’d be in the waiting room. My doctor looked down at the chart in his hands. “Well, we got back your test results. It looks like your brain is healing nicely. We’ll be doing a few more cognitive tests, but those will be questions to see how you’re processing mentally. The x-rays and blood work all look good. Your incision is healing. You have the cast on your leg for another four weeks. The ribs will take longer to heal. We’re going to start you on clear liquids for dinner, then if you tolerate that, we’ll give you some toast and applesauce. Things that are easy on your stomach.”
“How long do I have to stay here?” I asked him impatiently.
“Well, if you continue to do well, I’d say three or four days, maybe a week. Are you tired of us already?” He smiled.
“Don’t take this wrong, but yeah. I want to be home in my own bed, not in this damn thing.” My butt was feeling numb.