Page 69 of It's Not Home Without You

“She was on her way to see you.” Jana’s soft voice brought me my knees. She had to be okay; this couldn’t be the end of our story. There had to be more to us. Hadn’t we suffered enough?

“I was going to win her back. I had planned to see her first thing in the morning…” I stopped talking. It was physically painful to get the words out. “I can’t lose her.”

“It’s not your fault.” Emma’s soft-spoken voice cut through my haze.

I shook my head. “If I would have gone to her, she’d be with me and not here.”

“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I told my girl to get her head out of her ass and go find you,” Eugene said as he came in, followed by Dexter’s parents. “You know our girl is strong. She’ll pull through, you hear me, son?”

Eugene held my stare, and I couldn’t help but nod back. Freya would be okay.

“Family for Freya Pratt?” A doctor came out, stopping when she noticedall of us.

“She’s my granddaughter,” Eugene answered. All of us huddled around the doctor, waiting for her to tell us Freya was okay, for the doctor to make my heart beat again.

“The accident caused a minor concussion. Thankfully, there isn’t major swelling. There was also some internal bleeding because of the impact on her lower abdomen. We had to rush her into surgery. We’ll keep you updated.”

The night wore on, but none of us moved. We were all waiting for Freya to pull through. I itched to see her with my own eyes, to confirm for myself she was fine. I had time to make everything right. When the doctor said she was stable, my heart finally took a steady beat.

“I’ll stay with her. You guys rest,” I told Russell, Jana, and Eugene. Brandon Hendrix glared at me, but I didn’t care. I knew he was related to the Newtons, but it wasn’t his place to judge me.

“Don’t you have a wedding to get to?” he asked, and all eyes came on me.

“No, the only woman I will ever marry is here.”Let’s see if that sinks into everyone’s heads.

“I can’t allow that,” he sputtered.

I stood up, glaring at him. “I don’t give a shit what you want.” I walked away, heading toward where Freya was being monitored.

“She’s my daughter,” he yelled, making me turn toward him. “I will not allow you to stay with her when you were about to marry someone else.”

Now thathe said it, I looked at him and at Dex. How come I never noticed the detective and Freya had the same colored eyes and hair. I was about to tell Brandon he wasn’t Freya’s father, but Eugene beat me to it.

“You have no right to call my Freya your daughter. You may have helped create her, but I raised her. I’m the only father she’s ever known. You are the reason my Dev isn’t here anymore. You get no claim to my Freya. If anyone is leaving, it’s you.”

I walked away, leaving them to deal with this drama. I needed to see my woman. Last I saw was Dex running out and Emma chasing after him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

What the hell happened?My head was pounding. I woke up groggy and disorientated, and my mouth felt like I had eaten a bag of cotton balls. My surroundings were a little hazy. I blinked to try toclear my vision. I heard the beeping sound of a machine; that’s when I noticed I was lying on a hospital bed.

Oh, God.

The sun was shining through my bedroom window, and there was no sign of yesterday’s rain. That was yesterday, right? I looked around the room, my eyes landing on a brown head of hair lying on my lap. With shaky hands, I poked him until he woke up.

“You’re up.” He smiled at me, and I had never been happier to see him in my life.

“Who… are… you?” I needed water ASAP, but that took a back seat at seeing Rusty’s face fall. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, and I laughed even though it caused me pain. “Oh fuck, it hurts,” I whined.

“That’s what you get, stupid, for trying to fucking scare me,” Rusty scolded me.

“You would have done the same,” I replied, and Rust didn’t disagree. I looked around the room, and I guess disappointment was in my eyes because Rusty gave me an answer.

“He went to get coffee. He’ll be back. He’s barely left your side since you got out of surgery.”

What surgery?

I had so many questions that needed answers ASAP. Was Max still getting married? Was I too late? Was he only here because I had gotten in an accident? I didn’t have the opportunity to ask because Max walked in with a coffee cup in his hand. Immediately, our eyes clashed. There was so much to say, but neither of us said a thing. We were too busy taking the other in. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. My eyes watered when I saw he was wearing a nice tux. He wasmarried, wasn’t he? Without breaking eye contact with me, he handed Rusty his coffee and walked right next to my bed. My heart sped, and I wondered if the EKG machinewould ring. That would be a buzzkill.

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