Page 82 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
He walks up to me. "I’ve called the doctor to come see you. I thought you might not want to travel all the way to the hospital.
A private visit is definitely better than being in the hospital. "Thank you."
"I'll go check on the girls," Charlie says. "They should be waking up now."
"Could you take them to school? And tell them I'm sick. I don't want them to see me like this."
Charlie nods and then brushes a kiss against my forehead. "I'll take care of it."
And with another kiss on my lips, he leaves, with Wiley following him.
Mitch still paces at the doorway looking pissed.
"Don’t be so hard on Wes," I tell him.
"He never shouldn't have endangered you."
"He wasn't trying to. I'm the one who asked to go on thebike with him and he drove very carefully. If they hadn't showed up..."
Suddenly Mitch explodes.
"Jesus Patty you don't even realize how badly he fucked up. Those men are really dangerous, and they could have hurt you. If he wanted to take you on the Mountain, we should have been there!" The breath rushes out of him. "If anything, had happened to you Patty, I don't know..." The words don't continue and the emotion twists his face.
He cares about me. A lot.
Although I knew it before, I didn't understand just how much. The realization hits me right in the face.
And from Mitch's shocked expression, he just realized it too.
CHAPTER 28
Mitch
Much later, as the sun creeps higher into the sky, I finally sigh and unlock the knot from my shoulders.
It still doesn't completely eliminate my tension. For the past few hours, all I could think about was the story Wes told me, about how one of those bastards attacked Patty. Hit her. I kept seeing her fall to the ground, her face twisted in pain and each time the loop replayed, a murderous rage would surge and I would feel like hitting something.
Even after the doctor confirmed that Patty was fine, and merely needed painkillers, the rage wouldn't leave me. And once Patty fell asleep, after being given some Ibuprofen that the doctor left us with, I stayed by her side, unable to make myself leave.
I have to make sure she's okay.
It wasn't a rational thought. She wasn't in any danger anymore according to the doctor. But I still couldn't make myself leave, somehow feeling like I did, then her eyes may remain shut forever.
So I paced and paced, and once I was done with that, I pulled a chair by the bed and simply watched her.
Now, I smooth the strands of hair back from her forehead, noting that she still doesn't have a temperature and doesn't wince when I touch the small knot on her head either.
I finally allow relief to slowly leak, pushing back the anxiety.
Seeing Patty like that destabilized me in ways I wasn't prepared for. I’m still furious, and a beast is riding me to go and find whoever did this to her and make them pay.
But an even bigger part of me doesn't want to leave her, not even for a second.
The possessive beast in my mind that has kept me in this room tells me that no one else can care for her as I can, and I shouldn't even let them try. Letting other people take charge of her well-being was what led to this mess. Trying to avoid her, trying to pretend I wasn't a part of whatever relationship she'd started with my brothers. I thought that would somehow protect me from feeling something for her. But all it's led to is her being hurt.
It’s your fault for not paying attention. It’s your fault for not seeing this coming, for denying your feelings for her. It's your fault she's hurt.
Again, I understand deep down that my thoughts are not rational. But at this moment, they feel like the truest thing in the world. I wonder, if I’d admitted how I truly felt about her, admitted that it terrified me to think of her hurt, would she have gone on a bike ride with Wes? No, because I would have outright forbidden it. I would have a claim over her, and she would be mine to protect.
