Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
We leaned on each other, both taking comfort in what the other was offering. I took a long slow breath, blew it out, and then made the hardest phone call I’ve ever had to make. I made a statement to the officer that asked me what happened, and he gave me a ride to the hospital since I knew that Alpha didn’t have the ability to ride on my bike.
One thing I was sure of, and that was that she was alive. She was a fighter, and I wouldn’t accept anything different.
ɸ
Payton’s parents were sitting in the corner of the ER with solemn faces. I was completely unsure what to do. I didn’t want to upset them. Seeing me might remind them that I didn’t watch over their daughter as I’d promised just a few days ago when I came to see them on my own.
They took the choice out of my hands however, when they both got up out of their seats and charged toward us. Alpha leaned into my leg, letting his entire body weight lean against me, and we watched their approach. I readied myself for the inevitable right hook to the face, but one never came.
Instead, arms circled around my midsection, and I was pulled into their embrace. It’d been years since I was hugged like this. My body stayed stiff, my mind told me that I didn’t deserve a damn thing from these people. I’d let their daughter go out by herself, and she’d nearly been killed.
“Oh, Max. Come sit down with us, you look about ready to keel over. The doctor came out a little while ago and told us she was stable and awake.” Jessie said.
When I’d gone to visit them for the first time, Payton’s mom had answered the door. She gave me the once over, and immediately decreed that I would call her Jessie. Payton’s dad had been a harder sale, but after an hour of assuring him that I would watch over his daughter at the cost of my life, he finally relented, agreed that I could marry his baby, and told me to call him Tony.
Tony sat on one side of me, Jessie on the other, Alpha at our feet, and we waited. Over the next hour, Ember and Gabe came in, followed by Sam and Cheyenne. James, Jack, and Elliott were next. Blaine stayed to watch the brood of kids that were now so much a part of all of my friends and loved one’s life. I was grateful that they were here; I just didn’t have anything left to spare them. I was running on empty.
“Payton Alvarez?” A young doctor called from the front of the waiting room.
My eyes snapped open, and I was on my feet instantly in front of him. Smith, M.D. was monogrammed on his shirt. Payton’s parents still flanked my sides, and we all waited to hear what he had to say.
“Are you the husband that she keeps asking for?” Dr. Smith asked.
“Yes.” I said without hesitation.
“Good, you can come with me, as well as her parents. She was fully awake when she arrived at the ER. The firefighter who was on scene reported no injuries besides a mild case of smoke inhalation, and we concurred. She’s on a small amount of oxygen as of right now, and we’ll probably want to keep her over night just for observation, but she’s looking good besides that. She was extremely lucky.” Dr. Smith told us as he led us through the hallways to room five that had only a curtain surrounding it.
Payton was curled into a ball in the middle of the bed. Her nose had a nasal cannula in it allowing her lungs the oxygen they needed. Alpha slipped in between my legs, and jumped up to curl his body beside hers.
“That dog can’t be up there!” A nurse said as she entered the room.
“If you try to take my dog, I’ll beat you like the bitch you are.” Payton rasped.
Everyone laughed, relieved that we still had Payton here to give us those witty remarks.
“So you decided to burn your apartment down, PP?” Bennett asked as he entered the room.
She raised up on her arm, and glared at the newest addition to the room. “Did you know that Max thinks he’s going to call me Pet when we get married?”
Accusing eyes turned to me and I held up my hands in capitulation. “Those will be her initials!”
Laughter filled the room, and I felt something ease inside my chest. Something gave way, and I felt emotion hit me full force. I hadn’t realized I was holding it all in until this moment. When I’m in an interrogation room with someone, I can’t afford to show emotion, or feel sympathy for someone. That’s the quickest way to lose ground. When they see that something they’ve said has affected you, they don’t have that same basal fear anymore.
That’s what I’d been doing since Payton’s phone call, suppressing everything, making myself function the same as I normally would. Now that I knew she was going to be all right, I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
I dropped down to my knees beside her bed and buried my head into the soft flesh of her stomach. I took deep breaths to keep the tears at bay. I haven’t cried since the night I found out my parents had died, but in this instance, I was close to totally losing it.
“It’ll be okay, Max. I’ll never leave you either.” She whispered.
Chapter 9
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
-The Princess Bride
Payton
“If you don’t leave me the hell alone, I’ll geld you with a rusty damn spoon!” I said to Max as he inserted himself up my ass.
It wasn’t in a good way either. He hadn’t left me alone in two damn weeks. Constantly stuck to my side. When he wasn’t at work, he was right at my side, and that included when I was at work! Several of his friends had spoken with him about his obsessiveness, but it hadn’t stopped him one bit.