Page 44 of His Sassy Little

“She’s in post op recovery at the moment. Someone will come get you as soon as she is moved to a room.”

“Thank you.” Finally, Tanner let himself be led to a chair. She’d be okay. She’d need extra care for a bit, but she was going to be fine.

“Can I get you anything?” Sapphire was looking at him like he might fall apart.

“A time machine so I can go back and make sure the bastard dies a painful death.”

“Sorry,” Sapphire offered a small smile, “fresh out of those.”

“Damn.”

It had taken another two hours before he was led into the room where Arabella was sleeping. She was pale, making the bruising on her skin more stark. She was hooked up to so many wires and tubes, Tanner wasn’t sure where he could or couldn’t touch her.

He took a seat by her bed and settled on holding her hand in his. “Little Hurricane, I’m so sorry I didn’t find you sooner.” He rubbed his thumb along her hand, “If we’d been any later…” He didn’t want to think about what could have happened, how close he came to losing her. “I’m so sorry I let you down, that I didn’t protect you like I said I would.”

She didn’t answer, of course, but it made his heart settle some to get the words out. Tanner sat at Arabella’s bedside for hours, keeping up a steady stream of words. The guys and Sapphire took turns coming in to lend support and check on her, but Tanner barely noticed. His complete focus was on his girl.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Arabella woke in an extreme amount of pain. For a moment, she thought she was still in that warehouse with James, but then her brain recalled all that had happened. Tanner had come for her, exactly like he said he would.

“Daddy.” Her voice was nothing more than a croak but she needed to know he was with her. A hand squeezed hers before he replied.

“I’m here, Little Hurricane. Try not to talk just yet. I need to call the nurse.” Tanner went to stand but Arabella tightened her grip on his hand. “You don’t want me to leave?” Tanner brushed a strand of hair from her face and kissed her forehead. “I’m just going right outside the door. I won’t be far.”

Arabella squeezed his hand again. She really didn’t want him out of her sight. She’d been so worried about him during her time with James and she was feeling very protective of him.

“Okay, Baby. Let me see if I can find the call button. That should call the nurse here without me having to leave the room.” Tanner started searching around the bed, being careful of all the wires and the IV. He found the button on the side of the bed and pressed it. He immediately got back in his seat and took her hand in his. It was at that moment that she noticed the tortured look on her Daddy’s face. She knew he said not to talk but she needed to know.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?”

“Besides you being here, severely hurt, having had to have surgery because of the damage that son of a bitch did to you?”

“Yes,” she had a strong feeling in her gut that wasn’t the only thing causing that look on his face.

“Oh, good! You’re awake. Let me just take note of your vitals and I’ll get you some water. I bet you're thirsty.” Arabella briefly wondered if the nurse had even taken a single breath, she said it so fast.

The next few minutes were a blur of charts, vitals, and an IV check. Then, the nurse bustled off to get some ice water. She wasn’t gone long enough for Arabella to broach the topic with Daddy again.

“Here, take a sip of this. Not too much or it might upset your stomach.” As Arabella sipped the water, the nurse continued. “How are your pain levels on a scale of one to ten?”

Arabella hated that question. It always confused her. How could someone judge pain? What if she said too high of a number? Would they think she was a baby? If she said too low, then she wouldn’t feel any better. Why couldn’t they simply ask if she was in a lot of pain? Then, she could just say yes and be done with it.

“She was groaning in pain when she woke up and since then she has consciously tried not to move.” He was so observant, but unfortunately his help wasn’t going to get her out of answering the question.

“Eight.” She had wanted to say ten but she didn’t want to be seen as too weak, and eight was close enough to get her the help she needed. She really was in an extreme amount of pain.

“I knew you’d be hurting. I am going to put this pain killer into your IV. It might make you dizzy and drowsy, but it will work quickly to get your pain under control. The doctor will be in soon to talk to you, ok?”

“Thank you.” “Thank you.” Tanner and Arabella spoke at the same time.

Once the nurse had left, Arabella tried again.

“What’s really wrong, Daddy?” She squeezed his hand again in a supportive gesture.

“I failed you.”

“Daddy! You didn’t! You came for me just like you said.” Arabella wanted to wrap herself around him and let him know that she didn’t blame him in the slightest, but she was stuck in that stupid hospital bed.

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