Page 38 of Four Times Saved

Chapter 21

Lily

Back in the hospital again, I shivered. Impatience clawed at me as the nurses and doctors checked me over. I was dizzy from the lights focused on my eyes, and when they decided I might have to stay overnight to check that I didn't have brain damage or any lasting harm to my body, I almost ran out the fucking door.

All I wanted was to go home. I'd been away two days too long. Or was it three days? It felt like forever. I wanted the most stressful thing about my day to be taking care of my mother. I wanted to go back to the previous couple of months where my men had loved my body and mind back to life.

Back to when I was falling in love.

Except I'd do things a little differently this time. Like, not going back to that house. From the start, I mean. Since I got the call about mom. I should have moved her into the shelter with me. And now? I didn't care about that house. I didn't want to see it, smell it, or be anywhere near it. If Terry Thornbread wanted it, let him have it.

I wanted the life that Ethan was offering me. I hoped it was still on offer.

I wanted to live, for real this time, damn it.

It had been close to two hours, and my men weren't here yet. How long did it take a private jet to get across the border? The tightness in my lungs left me knotted up. When yet another hand poked me with something to check my vitals, I batted it away and jumped up from the bed.

"Ma'am, please. You can't leave yet..." A nurse pleaded, but I couldn't stop myself from running. Mentally.

I'd had a shower, but I was still uneasy. My skin prickled, and it was like there were ants or critters creeping over my body. I shut my eyes, and I was back in that tight container, unable to get enough oxygen. The oxygen I did get was not enough; it wasn't fresh. Just dust and musk.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I hurried forward. I wouldn't stop having this need for escape until...until...

I was making my way to the entrance and exit doors when they flew open. Already, the flurry of reporters barking questions had me turning and ready to flee in the opposite direction. But something brought me to a body-slamming halt.

"Lily!" Ethan shouted from behind me, and my legs shook. I'd hit the ground from disbelief if I wasn't careful.

Spinning around, my feet found solid ground as one by one, my men pushed through the door. Ethan was rushing toward me, bolting down the corridor. Matt and Ryan weren't far behind him. Eric was wincing with each quick step he took, trying to catch up.

What happened to him? My heart reached out to soothe his aches, but I was scooped off the ground and into the air by Ethan. I was glad the hospital staff had insisted on not only a shower but the whole nine yards because I crashed my lips onto his.

His big arms told me loud and clear that I was safe. The warmth I'd been missing flooded my body and oozed out of me as his kisses became as hungry and desperate as mine were. This. This was what I needed.

"Lily." Matt's voice broke, and I reached over and pulled him into a kiss as well.

He took me out of Ethan's arms and let me wrap around his body like a koala. Matt pulled back and let his red eyes regard me as he ran his hand over my face, over my poofy shampooed and unstyled hair. He pushed it back off my face, and his eyes went wide at the bruise there. I'd noticed it myself in the mirror when I'd gone for a shower. He groaned, and the glass of his eyes shattered as he passed a tender kiss over the area. It was so soft, I started sobbing, burying my head into his neck and hugging him tighter.

"I didn't think I'd get out alive," I confessed.

"I heard you goading him, you psycho." He sniffled, planting kisses on my cheek. "But you're safe now." He held me as if he wouldn't mind holding me like this forever, and I was in my happy place. The feel of him washed away the dark memories for now.

Another hand moved through my hair, and I opened my eyes to see Ryan. As soon as our eyes connected, he leaned forward and kissed me. I sighed into his lips when he pressed his forehead against mine.

"I'm never letting you out of my sight again," he choked, stroking my hair and cupping my face at the same time.

I was overwhelmed, but in a good way. Like a bunch of fireworks...no, let's not go with that analogy. It was like my soul was outside my body, but I wasn't horrified. I was floating on the fluffiest, softest clouds.

Hopping out of Matt's arms, I merged my body with Ryan's. We were so mashed together, there wasn't space for anybody else. His hands moved over my body, checking to make sure I was all in one piece, but his slow and soft touch had my belly doing somersaults. I moaned into him, and he let out a breath, smiling against my cheek.

Yet another hand found my back, gliding with soothing strokes up and down my spine. That stroke was familiar. Every curve of his hand was embedded in the memory of my skin. I smiled and sobbed all at once, already knowing who it was as I turned into him.

"Damn, I missed you," I murmured into his shoulder, the scent of that cologne I loved burning through me. "Did you wear that for me?" My heart skipped as I looked up into Eric's color-changing, chameleon grayish-brown eyes with a hint of blue and green in the white light of the hospital. Hell, I forgot I was in the hospital, kissing all of my men at once. Oh, who cared what anyone thought?

"You know I did." He held my gaze captive, speaking more words than he could ever say out loud. I reached up to run my own hands over the lines of his face, his dull, matted ponytail, the drag in his eyes.

"I noticed you were in pain, what happened?" I asked, running my hand over his chest and shoulders as if there was medicine in my fingers.

"Don't worry about it." He squeezed me tighter before loosening his grip. "What about you? Are you hurting anywhere?" He mirrored my frantic hands, conducting an investigation of my body.

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