Page 77 of Coming Home to You
“And,” Kelsey says, her smile disappearing.“As for what Jason was doing to me.”She stops and takes a deep breath, the hand that’s still holding mine, squeezes tighter, stopping me from breathing.“I know what it looked like, Beck,” she says, her eyes never leaving mine.“But he didn’t, okay?He tried, but he couldn’t, so…”
But I don’t hear anything else as I tug her closer so she collapses onto my chest and I press a hard kiss to her mouth, ignoring the pain that’s radiating through my shoulder.
“Well, well, well, not too injured after all, huh,” a familiar voice says.“Do you need a minute to take care of your girl or…?”
Kelsey pulls back and I glance over to see a smiling Ryan standing in the doorway of my room, Erin beside him and his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
“We can give you, what, five minutes,” he says, glancing at his watch.“That’s all you need, right?”
I finally smile, gesturing for them to come in as I mutter, “Fucker,” loud enough for him to hear.
Ryan and Erin both come in and take a seat in the chair next to my bed, Ryan pulling Erin onto his lap.Kelsey and I glance at each other and smile.Kelsey stays sitting on the bed beside me, her hand still in mine as she watches me fill them in on everything that happened, jumping in when I can’t quite remember something.
Apparently Jason’s shot hadn’t been far off the mark, lodging itself in my right shoulder, close enough to my heart to be a real concern.Mine on the other hand, hadn’t missed at all.And with three bullets to the chest, the only place Jason was going next, was six feet under ground.I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
After I’d passed out in the ambulance, I’d gone straight into surgery.It was during that time that Kelsey’s cuts and bruises were treated.She’d been relatively lucky, if you could call it that, only requiring a couple of stitches to the cut above her eye.She’ll have a decent shiner for a while though, but I know it’s still going to be a long time before I stop seeing the evidence of what he did to her.
“Where’s Finn?”I finally ask, when I realize my brother isn’t around.
“He was sitting outside when we came in,” Ryan says, glancing at the door.“Want me to go get him?”
“I think he blames himself,” Kelsey says, her voice quiet.“He was pretty cut up about what happened to you.”
“What?”I ask, squeezing her hand.
“It was pretty bad, Beck,” she says, running her fingers through my hair.“For a second there, no one knew if you were going to make it.”
I exhale hard, not realizing how close it had been.My own death had never even crossed my mind, not after Kelsey had been taken.The only thought driving me for the last twenty-four hours was getting her back in one piece.Getting her back so I could make good on my promise to never leave her again.
“I’ll talk to him,” I say, looking up at her.“I’ll sort it out, don’t worry.”
After Ryan and Erin leave, I ask Kels to get my brother so I can talk to him in private.She smiles and presses a quick kiss to my mouth.I hold her against me, my good hand sliding to the back of her neck so I can deepen the kiss, the other hand sliding over her ribs, my thumb gently stroking the underside of her breast.
“Beckham O’Loughlin,” she says in a flirty voice.“You’re in no condition to even think about that sort of action.”
I smile against her mouth.“Baby, when it comes to you, I’m always ready for action.”
Kelsey laughs.“I’ll remember that,” she says, pressing another kiss to my mouth before leaving the room and sending Finn in.
“Hey,” he says as he walks in.“You okay?”
I nod, gesturing to the chair by the side of the bed.Finn walks around but doesn’t sit, so I take a deep breath and say, “I’m fine, Finn, really.How are you?”
Finn shrugs and finally takes a seat, his body all but collapsing in the chair.When I look at his face, I can see just how exhausted he is.It’s as though the last few months have all finally caught up with him and if he doesn’t take a break and get some proper sleep, he’s going to collapse in a heap.
“Finn?”I repeat.
“I don’t know, Beck,” he eventually says.“A lot of shit went down today.”
“It did,” I say, nodding in agreement.“But the main thing is, that fucker is dead and everybody is fine.MeandKelsey,” I say, stressing the point.
Finn nods but doesn’t say anything.
“Bro,” I say, waiting until he looks at me.“I’m fine, okay.Totally fine.”
Finn exhales, running a hand through his hair as he glances at my shoulder and then back at me.“Yeah, I know you are,” he says.“It’s just, for a second there, I didn’t think…” he trails off and that’s when it hits me.
I might have come back to Rockport to look after Kelsey and I might be staying in Rockport because I love Kelsey, but she’s not the only reason.Coming back here has also given me the opportunity to reconnect with my family.Get to know my brother and Pop all over again, after shutting them out for ten years.
