Page 53 of Cali: Sacrificed (Angels Halo MC Next Gen)

Another half an hour passed before the next text came in. “They just took her into recovery,” I choked out. I was still holding on to Lis, and she curled her arm around my neck, letting out a small, relieved laugh.

“It’s over?” she said with a tiny whimper.

“Her surgery is,” I confirmed. “Now we wait until we can see her.”

“But she’s okay, right?” Lis asked, lifting her head. Her blue eyes drilled into mine, begging—demanding—that I give her an affirmative answer.

“There was no news of any complications,” I said instead, not wanting to give her false information in case something happened between Justice going into the recovery ward and us seeing our baby again.

“Time to eat,” Mom said with a smile.

Without hesitation, Lis took the wrap from Mom and ate it a little quicker than she had the first one, before swallowing it down with a fresh mug of soup. Guzman still hadn’t joined us, and I was getting curious as to where the hell he was, but I wasn’t about to leave Lis to go find him.

Another hour passed, and a new text message with it. “She’s starting to come out from the sedation,” I announced. “But they seem to be having issues with her pain level. The cardiologist has been with her the entire time, but he will be out to speak to us soon.”

“What does that mean?” Nova asked from beside me where she was eating the orange she’d just peeled.

“I don’t know, except she’s in a lot of pain.”

“I don’t like this,” Lis whispered, turning on my lap. “Does it say when we can see her?”

“No, babe. It just gave an update. Don’t worry. The doc will give us a detailed report soon.” She bit her lip and laid her head on my shoulder. I kissed her brow, to comfort myself just as much as her. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” she murmured unsteadily.

It wasn’t much longer before the door opened, and the cardiologist came in. He wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t look upset either, so I had to take that as a good sign. I started to stand with Lis, but he waved me back into the chair and walked over to join us.

“Everything went as well as I could have hoped for during surgery,” he informed us. “She remained stable throughout the entire procedure. The opening was slightly bigger than anticipated, but it was easy to close.”

“That’s all good news,” Lis murmured, almost to herself, and I rubbed my hand up and down her back.

“Once the sedation started wearing off, Justice quickly let us know that she was in pain. Her vitals became unstable, and we’ve been working to keep her comfortable to avoid any more issues.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and into his hair before squeezing the back of his neck. “She’s stable now, but the next few days are going to be critical. We will have to ensure her pain is consistently under control, while also watching to make sure she doesn’t encounter complications such as hypoglycemia or hypocalcemia. We will also monitor her closely for any signs of infection.”

“Wh-what can I do to help her?” Lis rasped.

“Everything that you’ve been doing prior to surgery. Getting her the nutrition she needs. Physical contact, although you can’t do the skin-to-skin for a brief time as her chest heals. Stay as calm as you can while visiting with her. Keeping her as stress-free as possible is key at the moment.”

“Okay.” She nodded in acceptance. “We will do whatever Justice needs us to do. When can I see her?”

“She’s going to be in the recovery unit overnight. I’ll be there with her, personally monitoring her round-the-clock. If she becomes distressed, I can handle it immediately. Tomorrow, if she’s showing signs that her pain levels aren’t as intense, we can move her back to the NICU, and you can see her then.”

“No,” Lis growled. “That’s unacceptable. She needs to know we’re here, that we didn’t leave her.”

The doctor patted her on the arm. “I assure you, dear, she isn’t aware of anything other than when she’s in pain. I realize your instinct as her mother is to be with her, but you need to put your faith in me to treat her during this critical time. I promise that I will treat your baby as my own child.”

“I’ve been that child who was supposed to have people treat her as if she were their own. That shit didn’t end well.” Lis shifted, getting into the doctor’s personal space, turning into the dangerous momma bear that only wanted to protect her cub. “I’m her mother. I’ll know if she’s in pain or not. Just let me see her. Let me touch her hand, her foot. Anything!”

Her plea was agony to hear, but I wrapped her in my arms and rocked her as the doctor told us he would keep us informed as the day went on, but that we should think about going home to rest. I barely noticed his exit from the waiting room.

“No!” Lis cried, her nails biting through the material of my shirt and slicing the skin on my chest. But I didn’t feel the discomfort of the scrapes. My heart was too heavy, too full of fear for my child, to feel anything. All I wanted to do was take away the pain that Justice was experiencing. “I can’t leave her. Even if I can’t be with her, I can’t leave. Not now. Not this time. She’s in pain, Garret.”

“We won’t,” I vowed, kissing the top of her head. “I promise, baby. We’ll stay here all night. We won’t leave Justice.”

She curled into a ball on my lap again, needing me to make it all better. To protect her and our baby girl. But as much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn’t protect Justice from what she was going through at that moment. “We can’t leave her,” she whispered brokenly.

“We won’t.” I kissed her brow, her cheek, the top of her head again. “We will stay right here until the end of time, if that’s what it takes. No one will move us until we have seen Justice again.”

“P-promise?” she sobbed into my chest.

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