Page 126 of Jax

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ronnie

It’ll take time.

He’ll wake up soon.

“Bullshit…,” I whispered, my hand running through his dark curls. It was getting long now. Long enough to wrap around my fingers and maybe even tie back. The bandages had devolved into little stick-on patches covering the burns he suffered on his face. A few of his dark tattoos had been damaged by third-degree burns, and it was unlikely he’d be able to get them tattooed over once they’d healed. There’d be scar tissue and that didn’t take well to ink – or so his brothers had told me.

Hunter sat asleep in the corner of a chair, a flask full of hot coffee Mallory had brought him propped on a table. The short redheaded girl pulled the uniform hospital blue blanket further up her man’s shoulders. He had his own wounds to nurse, a couple of third-degrees on his hands and arms from where he’d come crashing through the side of the living room wall just before the building collapsed.

He had luck or fate on his side when he’d gone on a suicide mission into that house. Mallory had still been sobbing when I had woken up two days after the fire. Hunter held her tightly in his arms, whispering in her ear and reassuring her until she had managed to calm down.

The pain and relief on her face was heartwrenching as she clung to her man. For the last two weeks, she’d been on his heels, irritating the fuck out of Hunter as she waited on him hand and foot. He didn’t say anything though; he let her be, only grumbling about wearing herself when she was out of earshot.

“I’m sorry…,” I mumbled, catching her attention.

She gave me a puzzled look, her head tilting a little to one side as she tucked her long red hair behind her ear. “Me?” She pointed at herself.

I nodded.

“What are you apologizing for?” Mallory’s surprise was genuine, frowning at my sudden words.

“Your husband. It’s my fault he got injured like that.” I gestured to sleeping hulk.

Mallory’s lips quirked in a weak smile before turning back to Hunter. The frowning man, bearing the dark circles under his eyes, looked peaceful and undisturbed as his wife turned to tweak the blanket some more. The poor thing was stretched as far as it would go across his wide chest.

“You’ll wear yourself if you apologize for things like that.” Mallory released her husband and turned back to me. She didn’t look happy despite the smile on her face. She looked resigned. “These boys will do anything for each other. Whether it’s running an errand or taking a bullet for each other. It’s just the way they are. No matter how much we want them to be safe, they won’t think twice about taking on danger for their brother.”

“Why do you put up with it?” The question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”

“No, it’s fine.” Mallory waved me off with her slender hand. “I put up with it,” Mallory answered, glancing at Jax and then at Hunter. “Because as much as I hate the idea of my children not having their dad one day, I also wouldn’t want them to have a dad who would abandon his best friend just because his wife said so.”

“It sounds complicated,” I grumbled, my eyes drifting back to Jax’s face.

Mallory’s light laughs filled the room. “Just do what you want to do,” Mallory advised. “But never let these men walk all over you. The second they think they’ve won, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Jax has been walking all over me since I was little,” I mused, my hand brushing down the soft, chiseled edges of his cheek, all the way down to his jaw and chin. “I’d happily lose if he would just wake up.”

I heard Mallory’s footsteps as she walked up beside me, the weight of her hand on my shoulder. She gave it a soft rub, looking over my shoulder at Jax’s sleeping face. “Have you tried kissing him?”

“What?” I frowned, turning to look up at her. I didn’t like the little smirk pulling on her lips, but I never would have guessed what she suggested.

“Kiss him and see if he’ll wake up.” She patted my shoulder, as if urging me. “LikeSleeping Beauty.”

“Sleeping Beauty?” I choked. “That’s a fairy tale!”

“So?” Mallory shrugged. “It’s a classic. I put the soundtrack on for Freya to fall asleep to. She loves it.”

“It’s also fictional,” I rebutted.

“Still. I know Jax is no Aurora, but he is a beauty—don’t tell him I said that—and he is sleeping.” She pointed down at the bed where Jax laid prone on the bed, chest rising and falling with soft, quiet breaths. “Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.”

I stared at her, waiting for her poker face to break and laugh at her own joke. She didn’t break.

“Come on.” Mallory became more persistent, reaching under my arm. “I’ll help you up.”

“This is so stupid,” I grumbled as Mallory helped me up out of my hospital-issued wheelchair.

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