Page 89 of Riot

His eyes widen, and he glances from me to her before he ducks out of the room, rushing away. “I’ll kill him later,” I say since I’m trapped in bed. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

“I am.” She sighs sleepily, and within moments, her breathing deepens again.

I know I should rest, but I just watch her. I thought I’d never see her again. I was always determined to live my life with her to the fullest, but now, I’ll never waste a second.

I fight the exhaustion until it finally pulls me under.

My last image is the love of my life.

I spend a week in the hospital. The doctors mean well, but they are annoying, and Fallon has taken it upon herself to ensure I receive not only the best care, but that I also follow their orders, which means no sleeping with her in my arms or fucking her senseless despite my insistence. She’s firm, keeping me in check, and I’ll admit I’m brooding—or sulking, as she calls it.

I want our home, our bed, and my girl under me, but from the determined glint in her eyes, I know that won’t happen yet.

“Doctor, repeat that again,” I order him.

He sighs, no doubt regretting his choice to become a doctor because of me. “You are safe to go home.”

“And repeat the second bit,” Fallon demands, glaring at me, refusing to back down.

“As long as you get plenty of rest. Your body needs to heal,” he grumbles. “Like I have said thirteen times. It hasn’t changed. We’ll process the release papers right now, and you will be given all the medication you need. We’ll also provide checkups in person to ensure you’re healing.”

“See? I’m free.” I smirk.

“To rest,” she points out.

“Semantics.” I wink. “Doc, how long before I can have sex?”

I swear the old doctor’s face couldn’t turn more purple, and for a moment, he looks at the ceiling as if praying for help.

“Strenuous activity is not advisable for the near future. We’ll sign off on it once you are completely healthy.”

“What if it isn’t strenuous? What if she’s on top and I do nothing?” I ask seriously.

He coughs, glancing at Fallon, who simply rolls her eyes. “Um, I would say no.”

My frown is dark, and he swallows hard.

“I’ll go process those papers now.” As he hurries to the door, I swear I hear him mutter, “I should have become a dentist.”

I look at Fallon, pouting. “At least take me home.”

“Fine, but to rest,” she snaps as she stands.

“Will you be my nurse?” I run my eyes down her body. “In a little outfit?”

“I’ll be your fucking jailer,” she warns as she leans in, brushing her lips across mine. “And I won’t touch you until every single fucking doctor in this hospital has signed off on you being okay.”

“Don’t challenge me, Fallon. We both know I’ll win.” I’ll get a fucking contract for all of them if I need to. Nobody keeps me from touching my girl, not even her.

Smirking, she leans back. “I’ll pack your things. Let’s go home.”

FORTY-FIVE

It doesn’t surprise me that the press is congregated around my house when we arrive. Elijah has been fielding more requests for a statement or interviews than any other assistant ever has. We ignore them as we drive through. They slap the car, shouting questions, but Kage’s guards force a path through them, and the gate shuts behind us. They will probably scale the wall to get a picture, so when I get out, I tug down my sunglasses and help Kage out. I take his hand and let him lean on me, but it looks like we are just walking together. He would hate to appear weak in front of them.

It doesn’t matter that the cameras captured everything—my sobbing confessions and songs to him, his declaration of love for me as he was dying—I won’t give them more. This part of our life is ours, not theirs.

By the time we make it inside, he’s breathing heavily and wobbling. “Can you make it upstairs?”

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