Page 28 of Shattered

God, he looked like he’d gone a dozen, bare knuckle rounds with a heavyweight fighter.

Standing beside him, gazing down at that poor, ravaged face she wanted to kiss all over, she curled her hand around his, aware of Ethan and Marisol hovering near the foot of the bed. “Sawyer? Baby, I’m here. Can you hear me?”

His eyelids twitched, a frown pulling at his eyebrows as his head slowly turned toward her. “Car…Carm?” His voice was hoarse.

Tears flooded her eyes, but a smile stretched her lips. She cupped his right cheek with her free hand, pressed his scraped and bloody knuckles to her lips. “Yeah. I’m here.”

WHATEVER THEY’D GIVEN him had knocked him on his ass and made everything fuzzy.

Sawyer tried to force his heavy, swollen eyelids apart, his face angled toward that beautiful, familiar voice. Managing to open his eyes a slit, he squinted up into Carmela’s gorgeous, worried face. “Hey.” He even attempted a smile for her.

She pressed his hand to her cheek and leaned over him, the scent of her shampoo and perfume wrapping him in comfort. “Hi. How are you feeling?”

“I’m good.” Actually, he felt like a five-ton truck had run over him. “Can still move my legs and arms.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.” There was someone standing at the foot of his bed. He squinted harder, made out Ethan’s drawn face, and Marisol beside him. “Hey, brother.”

Ethan stepped forward to clasp his hand, squeezed tight. “Good to see you, man.”

He focused on the woman at his side. “Hey, Soli.”

She shot him a relieved smile. “Hi, Sawyer. You gave us all one hell of a scare.”

“Yeah, you did,” Carmela murmured, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “God, you’re a mess.”

“Nah, I’m all right.” He cleared his throat, emotion threatening to overwhelm him. His best friend and fiancée were on either side of him, each holding one of his hands. Anchoring him in his confusion.

His family. And they would never abandon him, no matter what. He swallowed hard, trying to force his throat open. Christ, what were they pumping into him that was making him this way?

He turned his head to the left, focused on Ethan. “What happened?”

His friend’s face shuttered. “You and Schroder went back to help some wounded crewmembers, and the plane exploded.”

Sawyer didn’t remember that. There were only little snippets. The last one of Ethan’s face hovering directly over his, his expression urgent as he talked to him.Hold on, Saw. You gotta hold on for me, brother.“How’s Doc?”

Ethan’s jaw tightened and he squeezed Sawyer’s hand. “He’s still in surgery. But it… It doesn’t look good.”

Aww, shit, no. Not Doc. Not him, and not now that he had a baby on the way.

“Everybody else is waiting with Taya downstairs,” Carm said to him, her thumb gliding gently over his cheek. “We just have to stay positive, hope for the best.”

“What about you, buddy? You in pain?” Ethan asked.

“Not too bad.” He hurt fucking everywhere, but the headache was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. Even the light hurt. “Docs said I didn’t break anything, just rung my bell really good.”

“So no surgery?” Carm asked, an anxious note in her voice. He felt bad that she’d had such a scare, that she’d been so worried.

“Naw. Unless they found something bad on my scans.”

“Your poor eyes,” she whispered, kissing his forehead again.

“Hey, at least they still work. Just a little swollen, is all.” And so was his tongue, apparently, because his words sounded slurred, even to his own ears. God, what a bitch of a day, and he hoped like hell that Schroder battled through this. Everyone would be gutted if they lost him.

The realization of how close he’d come to death today settled over him like a suffocating fog. He pushed it all back and focused on the positive, so damn glad to have Carm and Ethan here.

Carmela leaned over to rest her forehead against his gently. “Baby, I’m so sorry that I pushed you about the wedding.”

---