Page 118 of Ruthless Vengeance
I blink hard, trying to pull myself together, when the door to the waiting room swings open, and a doctor in a surgical gown walks over to us.
Lila is on her feet before he even speaks, her entire body trembling.
The doctor offers her a reassuring smile. “He’s stable. We managed to stop the bleeding, and the bullet just missed any of his major organs.”
Lila’s body almost deflates. “Oh, thank god.”
Marco steps up to her side and wraps a comforting arm around her shoulders. “So, what now?”
“He lost a lot of blood, so he’s going to need time to recover, but he’s strong. I have no doubt he’ll make a full recovery.”
My knees almost give out, and I let out a shaky breath I didn’t even realize I was holding. Relief rushes through me so fast that my body sways as I fight to keep upright.
“Your husband was incredibly lucky.” The doctor pats Lila’s arm. “Would you like to see him? He’s still sedated but he should wake up from the anesthesia soon.”
“Y-yes,” Lila chokes on a sob, and that sets off Holly, who starts crying at the top of her lungs.
“Let me take Holly.” Rosa reaches for the crying toddler.
Holly only screams louder, her little hands gripping onto her mother.
Lila hesitates, looking at Marco. “Maybe you should go.”
He shakes his head. “You’re the first person he’ll want to see when he wakes up.”
His words are enough to send the tears flowing down my cheeks.
Lila nods before peeling Holly off of herself and handing her over to Rosa.
“Shh, it’s okay,” Rosa soothes as Holly tries to reach for her mother.
None of us speaks until the doors close behind Lila, and we all collectively exhale with relief.
Holly is inconsolable, so Rosa straps her into her stroller and starts walking her up and down the corridor, giving Marco and me a chance to be alone.
The silence that hangs between us feels strangely intimate, weighed down by everything we’ve been through, everything we’vesurvived.
I go to speak, but before I can even form the words, Marco wraps his arms around me and pulls Zoe and me tight against his chest.
I rest my head against him, letting the soft thud of his heart ground me.
All of a sudden, he pulls away.
My eyes widen as he drops to one knee in front of me. “What are you doing?”
My heart starts to pound in my chest.
Is he doing what I think he’s doing? Here? In the middle of the hospital waiting room?
Marco’s face is a picture of determination, his dark eyes looking up at me with such intensity that I forget how to breathe.
“I’ve spent too many nights thinking there will be a perfect time, that I should wait for everything to be just right.” His voice is low and rough. “But after tonight? After seeing my brother on the floor, nearly bleeding out…” His throat bobs as he tries to keep a lid on his emotions. His shoulders straighten. “Well, after tonight, I say fuck that.”
Emotion clogs my throat as I look at Marco.
The beeping of the hospital monitors close by and the voices filtering through from the overhead speakers suddenly fade away.
Right now, there’s just me, Marco, and Zoe.
