Page 48 of Love Shots

Teddy nodded at the doctor in thanks before retraining his eyes on the fragile form before him.

“I’ll be back later to check on her.”

Teddy didn’t look up again but heard the door close behind him. She looked so frail. So breakable. How could things go from so good to so, so bad in the span of only a few hours? And why the hell did he still not have any answers as to how they got this way?

Scooting his chair closer to her bed, he scraped along the vinyl until he couldn’t go any further. This is where he needed to be. Beside her. Holding her hand. Until she wakes up and he sees those beautiful hazel eyes, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I love you, baby; I love you so fucking much. Come back to me, okay? We’re gonna get through this.”

***

Teddy jolted awake to find Brady standing at the end of Summer’s hospital bed, frowning.

“Hey,” Teddy wheezed as he sat straighter in his chair, “what time is it?”

“Seven.” Brady cleared his throat. “Sorry, I couldn’t get here earlier, I was down at the station.”

That woke Teddy up. “You find out what happened? How my woman ended up in a damn hospital bed?”

He watched as his friend’s hand ran through his messy dark hair. He looked just as rough as Teddy felt. Clearly Brady hadn’t slept. He hadn’t even changed, still wearing a now-creased suit.

“Yeah, man, I did.” He sighed and shot Summer another look before turning his attention to Teddy. “We have her ex in custody, a Ben Davis. According to our witness statement, he was caught struggling with her in the alley next to Mickey’s.”

Teddy’s chair screeched back as he pushed up, rising to his full height. He gritted his teeth. Adrenaline spiking his blood. “Her motherfucking ex did this to her? He’s here in Bluestone?”

“Easy, man,” Brady warned, “he’s in custody. Which means as much as you want to ... you can’t beat the shit out of him. Let us handle it, okay? He’s not getting away with this. I promise you that.”

Teddy’s chest heaved. Anger coursing through his veins, and the pulse in his neck threatening to explode. He was going to kill Ben fucking Davis. Rip him limb from limb. How dare he lay a hand on Summer? How dare he scare her? Hurt her? He would make him pay. Somehow. Someway.

“He hurt her, Brady. She’s fucking unconscious. Goddamn swelling on her brain! I swear to God, unless you lock him up and throw away the key, he’s a fucking dead man.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that last bit, Teddy.” Brady placed his hands on his hips, looking every bit a cop. “Look, we got a witness. We’ll get Summer’s statement when she wakes up. And the dude has priors. Which means he’ll get jail time.”

Falling back in his seat, Teddy simply grunted and took hold of Summer’s hand again. Just as Brady went to leave, he realized there was one more thing he still hadn’t asked. “Who’s the witness?”

“Colton Brown. He got there just in time. Saw Summer hit the ground. Ben tried to run, of course, but Colt got him. Even roughed him up a little by the looks of it. Called the police and an ambulance. He did good.”

Well shit. Looks like he’d have to remove Colton Brown from his hit list.

***

It had been two days and Summer still hadn’t woken up. In forty-eight hours, Teddy had gone through every emotion under the sun. Scans had shown the swelling had, in fact, gone down with the help of whatever the hell was in her drips. That was the good news. The bad news was she still wasn’t awake. And despite doctors and nurses reassuring him, he didn’t miss the concerned glances aimed Summer’s way when they came by to check on her.

“You stink.” Ivy sat back down in her chair on the other side of Summer’s bed.

To be honest, it was a fair assessment. Other than to go to the bathroom, he hadn’t left his woman’s bedside in two days. Jake, Lily, Brady, Ali, Ace, Ivy, and Laney would come and go, bringing with them food and drinks while they nagged him to go home to shower and sleep.

“Don’t start.” Teddy sighed, scrubbing his hand across his overgrown stubble.

“I’m just saying ... if you’re trying to wake her using the power of smell, then you might want to add some deodorant to the mix.”

“Funny.”

“Seriously, though, Teddy, you need to get some rest. Some sleep in an actual bed. You know I’ll call you if anything changes.”

It was that time of the visit already. “Ivy ... I’m not having this conversation again. Until she’s awake, until I know she’s okay, I’m not going anywhere. The idea of her waking up and me not being here ... it makes me feel sick. And don’t even pretend you wouldn’t do the same thing if it was Ace lying here.”

Ivy went quiet. Finally. He thought that might do it. There was no way in hell his sister would leave her husband alone for one second if the situation was reversed.

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