Page 136 of All Our Ghosts

He opens his eyes and smiles. The man actually smiles at me. “Sunflower.” The word comes out raspy as his eyes close again.

“Holden!” I yell, my voice is desperate and threaded this time. “Do something!” I screech at Cole who stares at me. “Cole!”

“Kade!” Dex booms. “911 is on the way. He’s gonna be okay.” I feel him crouch next to me and I look down at Holden again. His eyes are closed but I can feel his chest barely moving and as long as it’s moving he’ll be okay. I have to hold on to that. “We can’t come this far just for him to die,” I whisper.

“He won’t,” Dex whispers back, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I wince in pain and pull away from him. The adrenaline is starting to wear off and I can feel just how bad my shoulder is.

“Did you guys get Watson?” I ask looking back at Dex and Scottie. The two men look at each other with brows furrowed.

“No. We thought he was still here with you,” Dex says, looking at Cole. “He ran off?”

“We’ll find him,” Scottie chimes in. “We have to.”

I look at Cole. His face has turned green as he sits back and drops his head into his hands. I want to comfort him but any energy I have is gone. I can’t. Not until Holden is safe. Safe and alive.

HOLDEN

Everything hurts. My chest, my face, every muscle in my body feels like I was run over by a freight train. I recognize the methodical beeping of hospital machines even before my eyes open. The last thing I remember is Kadence standing over Jeremy’s body. I wanted to be the one to put him down. To have that on my conscience and not hers but the way she stood over him. The look in those green eyes had turned beautifully dangerous.

My eyes slowly open, blinded by the incandescent hospital bulbs, I squint them trying to get my bearings. I know I’m not at the clubhouse based on the smell of bleach clinging to my nostrils but there’s something else that lingers over it. Her scent. Lavender and vanilla bean forces my eyes to open further just to catch a glimpse of her.

Kadence’s long dark hair is splayed over the thin blanket at my side. Her arm is tucked under her cheek and her eyes are closed. She looks exhausted. Even though she’s asleep I can still see the dark bags under her eyes and the harsh smattering of bruises that litter her cheek. The sound of the heart rate machine startsto pick up again as anger swells in my chest. I should have gotten to her sooner, shouldn’t have let her leave the clubhouse the way I did. If I hadn’t, this would have never happened to her.

But Jeremy would still be haunting Kade.

We’d still be running from Stokes and Watson.

I lift my hand, running my fingers gingerly through her soft waves. “Sunflower,” I rasp, feeling the evidence left from a breathing tube in the soreness of my throat.

She stirs softly. That familiar mewl she makes when she doesn’t want to wake up makes me smile. My Kade is still here. My woman who fought like hell for herself, for our baby and for me. My Sunflower.

“Baby,” I rasp again and this time her head lifts. That sleepy look in her gaze catches mine and those green eyes widen when she realizes I’m awake. “Hi.” I say softly.

Kade’s eyes glisten in the light as tears gather at the corners of them. “Hi,” she whispers back so softly that if my focus wasn’t on her I would have missed it.

She stands and that’s when I see the shoulder sling on her other arm. A range of emotions flashes through me as I reach for her. My fingertips brush her stomach. “The baby?”

Kade lets out a small laugh and grabs my hand, pressing my palm gently to her stomach. “The baby is fine. Healthy as can be at six weeks.”

A rush of air leaves me and relief settles in my bones. “And you?”

“Just a bruised shoulder,” she says, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Her eyes find mine and she knows I have a million questions but judging by the look on her face she’s willing to answer them. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m alive, baby,” I whisper, trying to reassure her although I don't know why. I’m talking and breathing and she can see that.

My words have her shoulders drop and a smile forms on her face. I reach for her again and this time she leans to me as my hand wraps around the curvature of her neck pulling her closer. Our foreheads meet before I nudge her nose with mine and kiss her. Every unsaidI love you, every emotion bubbling inside of us poured into this one kiss and despite my own sling and the overwhelming aches my body feels it’s almost as if her kiss erases it all until it’s just the two of us.

Kade pulls away first and it feels like a rubber band snapping me back to reality. “There’s something you should know,” she says, chewing on her bottom lip.

My brows furrow. “What?”

“Watson disappeared.”

That familiar feeling of rage comes back when I realize what that means. That asshole is still out there somewhere, a monster hiding in plain sight. My eyes find hers and I can tell she’s gauging my reaction. If it weren’t for the drugs pumping through me, her worried eyes and our child–I would probably be off the handle right now. Gathering every man I can find in order to hunt Watson down and kill him myself. My mind wanders to Cole and images of the two of them on the ground fighting flicker through my mind.

“I can see those wheels turning,” she whispers, tangling her fingers into mine. “Talk to me.”

“Are the guys looking for him?” I ask.

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