Page 98 of Her Marine
“Welcome back.”
Killian turned his attention to find Slate sitting in a chair across from him; he looked around the room, the hospital bed he was lying in. The events that landed him there came rushing back to him, and he was going to kill Collins if he wasn’t already dead. He opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue felt heavy, his throat like sandpaper.
“I’m going to go see if I can find your doctor or a nurse,” Slate stated, exiting the room.
He turned his attention back to Journee, watching her as she slept for a moment before allowing his attention to look back over the space. There was a cot in the corner of the room that was folded closed. A small suitcase lay on the floor beside it.
“Mr. Stoll,” the doctor stated as she walked in.
“Sshh,” Killian managed to push out.
The doctor looked at Journee and smiled before nodding. “She’s sleeping. That’s good. She needs some rest,” she stated in a quieter tone than she’d entered with. “I brought you some water, and I’m going to check your vitals.”
She poured some water from the pitcher into the cup and opened a straw placing it in. Slate took it from her, going to the other side of the bed. He stood beside Journee and held it out for Killian to drink.
Five minutes later, the doctor told him his vitals looked good and that he could eat in a few hours. She would send a nurse in to check on him before then. Killian nodded as she left.
After his third cup of water, his throat felt like it wouldn’t dissolve if he tried to speak, and for that, he was grateful.
“What day is it?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“It’s Thursday. You’ve been out almost a month,” Slate responded.
“It’s April?”
“With May quickly approaching.”
“Shit,” he cursed as his attention went to Journee. He was more than thankful that he hadn’t gone with his first decision and left her a note, that he’d woken her up and talked to her before he’d left that night.
“She’s been here the entire time,” Slate informed him. “She hasn’t left this room.”
Killian wasn’t surprised by that fact. There was a reason he’d fallen for her, chanced an actual relationship with her when he’d always kept things in the past casual. His Tigress was special, and the fact that she’d stayed by his side made Killian’s chest tighten. Every part of him knew that none of his past casual relationships, had he chanced a real one with them, would have done the same, visited him, possibly. Stay with him the entire time, no, which was why his relationship with Journee was different.
“You should wake her up,” Slate stated.
“No. Not yet. I get the feeling she hasn’t slept much.” Killian looked at his wrist in the sling. “Where’s my bracelet?”
“If you had it on when they got you to the other hospital, it’s probably with your things in the drawer.”
Killian watched Slate open the small drawer beside the bed before rummaging through it, coming out with his bracelet a few seconds later. He hadn’t been without it since she’d given it to him and motioned for Slate to slide it on his wrist. He wasn’t sure why he was wearing the sling but knew someone would tell him eventually.
“I’m going to go call your parents and Ziggy. Let them know that you’re awake.”
His attention went to Journee, and even though he’d told Slate he didn’t want to wake her up yet, he figured he had to. He knew his parents and sister would show up pretty quickly after Slate’s call. They’d likely be noisy, and that wasn’t how he wanted Journee to wake up to him being awake.
He admired her for a few seconds. She was so enticingly beautiful, and it didn’t matter how long he’d gone without seeing her; it always felt like the first time he’d been graced with a look at her beautiful face. This time, he felt it even more in the current situation.
Killian worked his hand out of hers, and she stirred a bit but didn’t wake up. He moved his arm and hand around some, trying to remove the numbness from it, and he wasn’t sure if that was due to him being unconscious for the past month or from her sleeping on it.
He rubbed his knuckles over her cheek. After a few seconds, she swatted at his hand, and he chuckled, knowing she was still asleep. Killian pinched her cheek lightly.
“Wake up, Tigress.”
“Yeah, okay. I’m up. I’m—”
She cut herself off as her eyes snapped open, and her head snapped up. They widened as she looked at him, and he didn’t miss the way they began to water before she surged into him, half of her body on the bed.
“Fuck, Tigress,” he groaned, a painful soreness in his side making itself known.
