Page 263 of Wrath

I laugh, because this Vance guy is seriously…not like I thought a pastor’s spouse would be. Luke shrugs from where he’s standing, bouncing Eden over by the recliner. “If you’ve got it, use it.”

Vance shakes his head. “Shameless,” he whispers.

“But isn’t that your surname now, too?”

He laughs, biting on his lower lip, and I see why Luke McDowell likes him. While Luke himself has a quiet, strong, steady energy, Vance seems fun-loving and open. Like he loves to rag on people, but he’s also serious and caring.

Vance lifts a brow. “Move off him,” he tells me softly. I try to ease myself off Ezra, and he opens his eyes. His gaze moves around the room. When he sees Vance, he looks calmer. Then his eyes find mine, and he winces. “Mills?”

“What’s the matter, angel?”

He shuts his eyes. “Don’t let go.”

Vance is looking downright smug, with one brow popped up. I give him a protest look, and he motions with his hand like I should get this show on the road.

“You want me to get up beside you in the bed?” I ask Ezra, stroking his cheek so he’ll open his eyes.

His voice is rough and hoarse as he says, “Yeah,” and in a tone like “no shit.” His eyes are still shut as he lifts an arm up off the mattress, sort of like he’s asking me to come up under it.

“C’mon, Mr. Miller,” Luke says. “V will help you settle in there, and I’ll go talk to your nurse about it.”

It’s strange how sedated Ezra still seems as I climb up into the bed beside him. He doesn’t move at all, and I don’t mess with any of his blankets. I lie on my side, hesitating for a second before wrapping my arm over his chest.

God, it feels so good to hold him. I’m giving him a big grin when he opens his eyes. He blinks a few times, wraps his arm around me, and we settle like that. Vance leaves the room and returns with one of those heated hospital blankets, which he drapes over me.

Then Luke’s back from the nurse’s station, with the baby sleeping on his arm. He sets a cup with a straw on the rolling table by the bed and pushes it closer to me with a little reassuring smile. I smile up at him and Vance, feeling equal parts grateful and awkward here, all cuddled up to Ezra. I decide I’m more grateful than awkward.

Vance is looking around the room with a thoughtful expression, and it hits me that they must know all the tips and tricks. They spent some time in the hospital a while back, in an incident that got a ton of media attention.

Vance steps closer to my bedside. “You need anything?” he asks softly.

I shake my head.

“We’re gonna go to a hotel across the street, and one of us will text you in about three hours.”

“That’s when she’ll be up again,” Luke explains, stepping behind Vance so I can see him without moving too much.

“Thank you. You don’t have to do that…if you’re busy or something.”

“We’re glad to,” Vance says, at the same time Luke says, “We want to.”

“Thank you.”

Ezra shifts his shoulders, and I lighten my arm’s weight on his chest. His heavy eyelids open, and he gives Luke and Vance a little smile before hugging me against him.

Once the room is empty and we’re wrapped together, Ezra sleeps for a long time. There’s some kind of thing on his good leg that blows itself up like a blood pressure cuff every so often, and it wakes me a few times, but Ezzie is deep in dreamland. Vance texts at 2:30 a.m., and I tell him we’re good.

Ez gets restless around sunrise—about the same time the nurses change shifts and a doctor from orthopedics comes into our room to check him over. He’s awake for that, but he seems…not himself. He seems like he’s trying to act normal, but he’s on edge, while also being fuzzy from the pain meds. The doctor unwraps the bandages on his leg, and Ez presses his face against my hair and holds me tighter with his arm that’s wrapped around my shoulders.

“Everything looks good,” the doctor tells us when he’s finished. He tells us Ez will need to check in with an ortho group in Alabama within two days of discharge, and I promise we’ll do it.

For a while, the room is quiet. I’m debating how much longer I can go without a trip to the restroom when Ezra’s arm around my back shifts a little, and his hand starts stroking my spine.

“You been in the bed all night?” he asks, his voice gruff from sleep.

I smile up at him. “Maybe.”

“You need to pee?”

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