Page 49 of Crossing Lines

“We’ll be calling in scripts for both. Pain meds and antibiotics, just in case they were in contact with something nasty in that old barn. I’m also calling for something to help with anxiety while healing. You’ll both need a follow up with Doctor McKenna or her grandfather in a day or two.”

“Ow—son of a fucking bitch!”

We all turned to look at Stella. Her free arm was over her eyes, and I could see the tears leaking. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Hang on, baby. You’ll be numb soon.”

Her grip stayed tight on mine, to the point of my hand going numb, but that didn’t matter. The orthopedist came back in after the ER doctor had her wounds cleaned and stitched. There wasno visible damage to her bone. She wouldn’t need anything else done to her leg tonight.

Watching her watch the ER doctor and the nurse give Carter the once-over again and bandage his ribs was hard. Every time he flinched or sucked in a pained breath, she jerked. It was as if each pain he had was being drawn into her body. Wayne and I both shared a few looks. It was hard for me to see her hurting, but for him to stand there and watch two of his kids lying in a hospital bed, broken and scared, I just couldn’t imagine how that was affecting him.

Thankfully, Shelby was here the entire time. She spoke to the doctors and got a real bird’s eye view of the injuries they’d sustained. She was able to decipher and put into layman’s terms what was broken and what it needed to heal. Basically, time would be their best friend.

I didn’t see the road to recovery being easy for either of them. Physically or mentally. I had a feeling, just based on the anxiety I was already seeing from Stella, that this event—let’s call it that, shall we—had done a number on her nerves. Which wasn’t good for her or the baby.

“I’m going home to Daddy’s…”

I looked down at my fiancée and smiled. I’d figured that was coming. She wanted to be with Carter. That mama bear that lived deep inside of her was getting ready to take over.

“Okay, that’s a good idea, baby.”

“That’s a good idea, princess.”

The look of relief on Wayne’s face said more than he would or could express. Today had been especially hard on him, and having his kids under one roof might be the only way to assure him that they were safe once again.

For all involved, and for the ones of us on the outside, having them together, safe and with family, was the number one priority.

“Someone needs to go get Ethan; we need him home too. He’s with Mama Jay.”

“I’ll call Dani Lynn, consider it done,” Shelby called out.

I leaned down and kissed her temple. Right now, I’d give her anything she needed or wanted.

Chapter 21

Stella

I've learneda lot over the last couple of weeks. I’d made a list that I mentally kept repeating. I was hoping I could make it all go away if I did—so far it was a no-go.

1: I wasn’t a fan of being a patient. Though to be honest, I already knew that well before now, but it’s worth noting anyway.

2: Both my dad and fiancé thought they were absolutely hysterical. They’re not, just in case you’re keeping tabs.

3: My little brother, my little man, had a crush on a girl. A girl who knocked him on his ass in front of a crowd for being a dick. I gave her props for that, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about there being more to it than that. I mean, it’s cute, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to share him with the world like that.

4: Ethan was the cutest little bundle of gas and giggles around.

5: If I didn’t get out of this house and away from the overload of testosterone, someone was going to die. Painfully. And, I might not feel bad about it later.

So I called in backup. One of the girls was on the way to liberate me and baby Ethan for the day. I was going to Dani Lynn’s so I could sit in the sun, watch the kiddos play, and hopefully be able to get my mind back where it should be. Noton the bad shit that happened that day in the barn. I could still see that day replaying over and over in my head. My brother, helpless, being beaten by two overzealous assholes. His bloody and bruised body tied to that post. It could have all ended so differently.

“Stel.” I heard Trace calling me for the umpteenth time in the last hour. I ignored him as I went back to brushing my hair. He meant well, but he was driving me bat shit crazy. I was fine. I was out of bed; dressed in actual clothes. I was eating my breakfast. The toasted bread with SunButter on it was almost gone. I could only eat so fast, after all. I put my brush down, took another bite, and chewed as I bent over, letting my hair fall forward. I gathered it up into an absolute mess of a bun and shrugged. It was what it was. I could care less if there was a nest on top of my head or not.

Using my crutches, I stood from the toilet seat, which made a great chair when the cover was down, and opened the bathroom door. I stuck the last half of the bread in my mouth and held it with my teeth as I carefully made my way to the bed. I looked down at Ethan sleeping and smiled.

I propped my crutches up against the bedside table and finished off my toast. My eyes closed as I savored the SunButter.

It had taken a bit of time to get used to the slight difference between it and peanut butter. I wasn’t a fan of changing at first, but with Lana having a peanut allergy, we had all made changes in our diets to eliminate the chance of cross-contamination. An allergy like that was not something we wanted to play with.

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