Page 70 of Mistletoe Missus
“I’ll be there in two minutes, Mr. Morgan.”
I hung up.
Shit. For two whole minutes of agony, I had to wait as I paced the lobby and couldn’t stop peering out the window. I kept checking the time until I spotted a breaking news headline, and I made the grave mistake of opening the article.
Tinsley’s sweet smile peered back at me with her as radiant as ever. The picture was from the charity event, and the sight of her made my heart break with agony. An ambulance took the woman I cared about more than anything in this world to the hospital after a suspicious explosion the police were investigating, and Morgan Estates was closed off to the public. The extent of her injuries were unknown at this time, and more details would follow.
My angel, she was my heaven on earth. She was my world. I was nothing without my wife but a grumpy man full of bitterness until she came along and brought the sunshine in, but now those rays of light clouded over. They were dark and my stone-cold side was back in full force. Tinsley had to make it. She had to.
Albert arrived at my office in two minutes as he had promised, and he sped through the streets like I had ordered him to. A speeding ticket be damned, I’d cover the charges. Hell, if the police threw Albert behind bars for careless driving, I’d have him out in less than an hour and pay him triple his rate. I’d do anything to get to my wife faster and be by her side.
I was frantic, on the verge of going insane. Tinsley was my priority, my lifeline in this lonely world, and she held the key to my heart. The crucial piece I never knew was valuable until she unlocked me and came crashing through. Her with her stubborn attitude, defiant behavior, and independence. My wife made me a better man. She made me into a person I only wished I could be. A hopeless guy in love.
But Tinsley had no idea.
Albert arrived at the hospital where paramedics took Tinsley, and I exited the car before he came to a full stop. My feet stumbled on an icy patch, and I caught my footing before I fell face first on the ground. I couldn’t move fast enough to get to her in the emergency department and raced inside to the nurses’ station, demanding to know where she was.
“Mrs. Morgan is in the farthest room to your left, but...” I didn’t wait as I pushed off the desk and ran down the hallway.
As breathless as I was, the worry building up inside made my entire body shudder in distress. I was a mess by the time I made it to her room and stopped outside the doorframe. My breath heaved as I stared in shock at the sight of Tinsley with wires hooked up to her. Her beautiful face was all dirty. My angel had cuts on her perfect skin, and I wanted to heal her, to make all her suffering go away, but I couldn’t.
The reality of Tinsley’s dire situation made me collapse against the doorframe. The adrenaline surging through me had worn off, and I was in complete shock. She didn’t move. She had kept her eyes shut, and the heart monitor beeped steadily.
Thank fucking God.
My heart ached. The organ hurt so damn badly, and I couldn’t breathe. My hands clenched my tie, and I loosened the fabric, but that didn’t help fill my lungs with air. I ripped the damn tie from my neck and stumbled toward Tinsley, looseningthe buttons on my shirt. I gasped for oxygen as I fell to my knees and my hands ended up grasping the hospital bed.
I broke down. I cried into the bed sheets and held my wife’s warm hand in mine. Her warmth made me wail louder because I was a man who almost lost everything. I nearly losther.
“I’m sorry to intrude...” a soft voice called out behind me. “Mr. Morgan?”
My head shot up. “Yes.”
I didn’t turn around. My entire self pulsated with anguish, anger, and failure, making it impossible for me to. I was so damn ashamed of my inability to protect my wife. The one person who was mine.
“I’ll need you to sign some paperwork for your wife since she’s unable to do it herself.”
I whispered, barely able to form the words, “How bad is it?”
Silence. She cannot hear me from my inability to speak up.
I clear my throat. “When will she wake up?”
“Mrs. Morgan is lucky to be alive. She’s unconscious with a traumatic brain injury. We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours,” she answered with a click of a pen and papers rustling. “I’ll leave the paperwork on the table for you to sign, but please take your time.”
She left the room with her footsteps fading into the distance, and Tinsley’s steady breathing was all I could hear. Her eyes didn’t even flutter, and I wanted so terribly for her to open those gorgeous fucking eyes. I wanted her to flash me her infectious smile and touch me with her electric spirit. I only wanted her or nothing at all.
“Tinsley? Can you hear me?” I whispered.
No answer. I’d give anything for her annoyance, her snappy remarks, or for her to utter any word at all.
“Please, angel...” I sniffled as I wiped my tears and squeezed her hand. “Please wake up.”
My pleas went unheard. Stillness was the only response Tinsley could accomplish. Her body was too frail and injured too much to bear anything more. She needed time to heal, time to rest, but I wouldn’t leave her side. Never again.
“I’m so sorry, Wife, this is all my fucking fault,” I admitted as I watched her chest rise and fall. “I’ll never take you for granted again. I love you, Tinsley Morgan, with all my damn heart and my grouchy soul.”
I laid my head against Tinsley’s chest and heard her strong heartbeat. The sound brought hope to me through the darkness as I closed my eyes and told her again how much I loved her. I didn’t care if she couldn’t hear me because I needed to hear the words out loud. I had to understand just how important my feelings were, so I’d never put her in jeopardyeveragain.
