Page 465 of The Tempted

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Anthony filled me in as we walked toward the elevators, riding it up to the twelfth floor where they were moving Lauren to an ICU recovery room. She survived surgery but her body was in a state of shock. The doctors were able to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet that missed her heart but nicked her lung, causing it to collapse. Once they had the bullet out they had to repair the damage to her lung which was why the surgery took longer than the doctors had anticipated.

She was unconscious, and like her son, she was on a respirator because her lung function was too weak. The next twenty-four to forty-eight hours would be critical for her. As we stepped off the elevator Anthony became quiet, causing me to turn around and look at him.

“What is it?”

“The doctor said if the two bullets Bones took had hit her, she would’ve died on the spot,” he said, lifting his eyes to mine. “I don’t know him but I’ll always be thankful to him,” he said, sighing heavily.

“Yeah, that makes two of us,” I said somberly.

“How’s my nephew?”

“He’s tiny but he’s going to make it. I know he is. That kid wrapped his finger around my hand, and as small and fragile as he is, he has some grip,” I replied, proudly glancing around the intensive care unit. “Where is she? I need to see her,” I demanded.

Anthony led me around the nurse’s station, stopping in front of a large glass wall. I spotted Maria first and then I let my eyes travel to Lauren. Again, I wasn’t prepared to see her like that, hooked up to several machines, lying perfectly still as the life support kept her breathing.

Maria lifted her head, made the sign of the cross, before turning around and meeting our worried gazes. She rose to her feet, bending her head to kiss her daughter’s hand before slipping out of the room. Before she could ask me any questions, I brushed past her and walked into the room, sliding the glass door closed behind me.

I stood there, my feet firmly planted on the floor as I stared at my Kitten. The sound of the machines she was hooked up to was the only noise in the room, reminding me they were keeping her here with me. Finding the courage inside of me, I moved to the side of her bed and looked at her beautiful face. I would do anything to see her smile at me, hell, she didn’t even have to smile. She just needed to open those beautiful blue eyes and I’d even welcome a snarl, or one of her snarky remarks.

I just needed to know my Kitten was going to be okay.

I tore my eyes away from the tube that ran all the way down her throat and stuck out between her lips and looked at the machine and the slinky looking thing compressing the air into her lungs.

I pulled the chair closer to the bed and sank into it as I leaned over the bed and reached for Lauren’s hand, careful not to disturb any of the wires as I interlocked my fingers with hers.

“Hey, Kitten,” I whispered, as I looked up at her, trying to make sense of all the things going on in my head, all the things I knew I needed to say, all the things I felt down in my soul.

“I’m so sorry it came down to this,” I began, hoarsely. “I’m so sorry you’re lying in this bed and not me. Every move I made, every attempt to push you out of my life was to prevent you from being exactly where you are. I thought by staying away from you I was protecting you but all I did was waste time, time I could’ve spent showing you how much I wanted you. How goddamn grateful I was that you came into my life and how excited I was for you to make me a dad. I thought the best title I’d ever hold was being one of the Satan’s Knights but it pales in comparison to being Pea’s dad. That’s the best title, the only one worth a damn,” I expressed, pausing as I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed her knuckles.

“You need to wake up, Kitten, you need to find your strength and you need to pull through because there is a little boy sitting in the NICU who needs his mommy. He’s beautiful, Lauren, so beautiful. You did such a good job, baby.”

I swiped my free hand across my face, fighting back the emotions threatening to surface. I was starting to cry more than a goddamn bitch in a soap opera but I owned that shit too, proud to cry, proud to know I was capable of some sort of feeling. Proud because every tear that threatened and every single one I exposed all meant that I was owning my feelings of how much Kitten and Pea meant to me.

Bones would be proud.

“I love him,” I whispered. “It’s the craziest thing I ever felt and nothing compares. I mean it Lauren, one look at that little boy, knowing he is ours, did something to me. He filled all the parts of me that were empty. He’s everything I never knew I wanted, everything I never knew I needed. He’s just…he’s everything,” I wiped my cheek, and switched the hand that held hers. “Thank you, Kitten. Thank you for giving me my heart.”

I gave her hand a soft squeeze before reaching up with my free hand and smoothing back her dark hair that fell over her forehead.

“Guess what else I realized?” I paused, unable to tear my eyes away from her. “God, you’re pretty. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at your face. Even when we’re old and you have lines on your face and you’re jealous because I don’t,” I teased, desperate for us to be Kitten and Tiger again.

“All kidding aside, I realized I have loved you for a long time. I love you so much more than I ever knew I was capable of loving someone. But it’s you Lauren, it’s all you, all my love is yours. I’m not a second chances kind of guy, they don’t come around that often for me but that won’t stop me from asking you for this second chance. Wake up, Kitten, give me another shot and I promise you I’ll never need another one. I’ll be the guy you deserve, I’ll be the family guy first and the motorcycle man second,” I declared, brushing my lips back and forth against her hand.

“Wake up so I can make all your dreams come true,” I murmured against her skin.

A knock sounded on the glass door causing me to look over my shoulder toward Jack who held up a bag. I looked back at Lauren, kissed her hand before gently placing it back on the bed.

“I’ll be right back,” I promised, as I stood up and slid the door open and stepped out of her room. “That my stuff?” I said, tipping my head toward the duffel bag he was holding.

“Yeah, Pipe put everything in there,” he explained, glancing over my shoulder at Lauren.

“How is she?”

“Hanging in there,” I said, taking the bag from him.

“I saw the baby, the nurse says he’s doing good,” Jack continued, before he pinned me with a sharp gaze. “I know your head is focused on your family, as it should be but I want you to know I’m taking care of this, going to make them all pay, every last motherfucker that has a dragon tattooed to their back.”

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