I swallowed past the lump in my throat as I rasped out, “You’re so bossy.” I tried to smile but stopped when my cheek flared in pain and my head hurt so bad it made me want to close my eyes again.
Jill laughed at me through her tears. “Well, it worked, didn’t it?”
I tried to laugh with her but my guts felt like they were about to shred apart. I hissed at the pain.
“Don’t. Don’t try to laugh. Tom got off a good shot and I don’t want you to fuck up anything that the surgeons fixed,” Jill reprimanded.
I looked back up at her. “I was so damn scared, Jill.”
She was openly sobbing now. “I know, babe, I know. We are just lucky your man showed up when he did.” She nodded to my left.
Turning my head ever so gently, I soaked in the scene in front of me. Both of my boys were asleep sitting on the couch next to my bed. They looked so tired it made my heart ache. It also looked like neither of them had groomed in a long week. Their hair was as rumpled as their clothes were.
Jill leaned forward and whispered. “They refused to leave you. The nurses tried to tell them they couldn’t stay because they weren’t family.” She chuckled. “You should have seen how they reacted. I’m surprised their yelling didn’t bring you out of your coma. Lindsey even tried to get them to go home just to shower, but they wouldn’t budge. She ended up going and getting them a few hygienic things and clothes from their apartment for them to use here.”
I could feel my chest swelling with the love I had for these two. When I met Heath that first night, I never would have guessed that I would be finding the loves of my life shortly after. They had no idea how much they had changed my life.
I felt the crushing weight of guilt fall on me at the thought of them never knowing how I truly felt about them. I almost left this world without telling them how special they were to me. I looked back at Jill and squeezed her hand. “I almost didn’t get to tell them, Jill,” I confessed. “I let all this time pass by and I didn’t even tell them.” I couldn’t stop the sob that ripped from my throat.
“Didn’t tell us what?” Heath asked as he woke from his sleep, Reid following right after. They both rushed to my side, kneeling beside me.
Reid smoothed my hair and looked at me with watery eyes. “Oh, God, Kate, I thought you were gone.” He gasped. “I thought that I was too late. If I had been there when I was supposed to be none of this would have happened. I am so, so sorry, baby.”
He shook with the force of his cries as he put his forehead on my shoulder. His broken voice made my heart stutter. I weakly lifted my hand and pushed my fingers into his golden locks.
His body shuddered as he soaked in my touch. “None of this is your fault, Reid. You can’t blame yourself.”
I looked up into Heath’s eyes and could tell he was barely keeping it together. He wrung his hands, wiping them down his jeans. He needed to touch me. To reassure himself that I was okay.
I pulled my hand out of Jill’s and reached for him. He latched on to me, bringing my hand to his lips. Kissing me oh so gently. “Tell us what, Kate?” he repeated with a quiet voice.
I looked at both of them with tear-soaked vision. “That I love you,” I admitted. “When I look at you both it hurts to breathe. I can’t go one day without wanting you. All I can think about is the two of you.” I paused to inhale a shaky breath. “I thought when I was young that I had actually loved Tom, but I see now that this is what love feels like. And I know you both feel the same way. Because I’ve learned to love myself because of the way you love me.”
Heath stared at me as his tears escaped down his face. “You’re right, sweetheart, we do love you. And you scared the shit out of us. All I want to do is kiss you right now. But I don’t want to hurt you,” he said with a raspy voice.
“Kiss me, please.”
Heath took his turn first, and his kiss was soft as he brushed his lips against mine. It was over before I wanted it to be and then Reid took his turn.
His kiss was a little firmer, but not as firm as I wanted it to be. When he pulled away from me, he let out a quiet shaky laugh. “You are way too fragile for any of that right now, bunny.”
I was looking up at my men with hope in my eyes. I was mainly hoping that I healed quickly so I could show them just how much I loved them.
Jill cleared her throat, breaking the moment. “Well, as touching as that was, I believe I need to get back to my room beforeNurse Ratchedmakes her rounds,” she said with a quirky smile. “I’ll check on you tomorrow, babe. Get some rest, but not too much rest. I expect you to wake up when the sun comes up tomorrow.”
She was sneaking out the door before I could come up with something smartass to say in return. After she left, Heath moved to her vacated seat, rubbing my arm in soothing motions. Reid settled on the other side of me, doing the same to my leg. I felt my eyes getting heavy as I watched them.
“It’s okay, bunny, we will be here when you wake up. Sleep,” Reid said as he tucked my hair behind my ear. I didn’t have much of a choice as I slipped off again with a smile on my face.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“You are a very lucky woman, Ms. Hart,” my silver fox of a doctor relayed to me. His name was Dr. Ian Young, and he was scrumptious. He had the most beautiful piercing blue eyes. Coupled with his slicked-back dark brown hair and a thick speckling of silver at his temples, it made him a genuine hottie.
His silver goatee that covered his strong chin made him look very distinguished. I couldn’t see past his lab coat, but I could definitely tell that he worked out. I would bet money on the fact that he had washboard abs under those scrubs.
I briefly wondered if he was also Jill’s doctor. I had to bite back my giggle at the thought of her hitting on our physician.
Reid must have been able to read my thoughts because he leaned down to whisper in my ear all of the vulgar things he was going to do to me if I didn’t stop looking at my doctor like I wanted to eat him up.