Page 74 of Be My Vengeance

I didn’t know if he could hear me or if this was all crazy talk from nurses to convince us that our voices helped them heal or wake up.

“I watched the video of them taking you so many times and each time I do, I wish you’d been with me or me with you and this never happened. Fuck, is this my fault? I never should have gone off half-cocked. You all warned me to stop.”

I lowered my head and pressed my lips to his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Danny

I remembered a lot of pain. The punches and kicks that had never ended, feeling my skin tearing and my eyes swelled shut to the point I couldn’t see. I’d had no choice but to kill in order to survive, and each blow I’d landed had vibrated up my bruised and broken body. I’d thought of Alex and seeing him again. There was so much I wanted to do with him, and that had shot a spark of adrenaline through me. So much so that when the last guy had fallen, I’d stood there and through the tiny window of vision I’d had, I’d managed to tell Vladimir to take me home.

I’d had no idea who’d been more shocked I was still alive, him or me, but strangely, he’d kept his word. At least I’d hoped he had because right after I’d said that, I’d passed out.

There was no white light or warmth that wrapped around me to guide me to safety. What there was, were a lot of voices, poking, and jostling.

I didn’t recognize any of them, and I was in and out of consciousness so much I didn’t understand what was being said. I was able to surmise I was at the hospital, but nothing would cooperate with me. I tried opening my eyes but they were still too swollen, and I’d slip off to sleep a minute or two later.

Everything was frustrating, and it felt as if I were losing the tenuous hold I had on my sanity…and then I heard his voice.

“You’ve never been quiet this long, and I’ve decided I hate it.”

As soon as his voice washed over me, everything calmed. I listened as he beat himself up and apologized to me like the idiot he was. I tried to push my eyes to open and words to come out of my mouth, but nothing was happening.

“I promise, if you wake up and live through this, I will always listen to you. Just please don’t leave me alone. I don’t want to be lonely anymore.”

It was killing me not to sit up, grab him, and vow to never ever leave him alone again. Once more, I willed my limbs, eyes, anything to do something and once more, they refused.

Exhaustion began to settle into my bones, and I knew I’d be asleep soon. I only hoped Alex would still be here when I woke and that my body would be more cooperative.

“His heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing indicate he’s coming out of sedation,” a woman said, and I tried to open my eyes as best I could.

“Do you have any idea how long it will take for him to completely wake up?” Alex was still here. I either hadn’t been out for very long, or I’d slept for so long, he’d left and returned.

“Unfortunately, I don’t. That’s up to Danny, but I do believe you talking to him is helping.”

“For real?”

“Yes. It wasn’t until after you arrived that we saw a jump of improvement.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll keep talking, I guess.”

I heard a whooshing sound followed by silence. A scrape of a chair, I believed, and then Alex’s hand was sliding into mine.

“Well, you heard the nurse. You have to keep listening to my pearls of wisdom. I actually have some ideas of what to talk about. Since you aren’t talking back, I think now is a good time to clear things up.”

Clear things up? Like what?

“Let’s begin. Pop-Tarts should always be frosted. Decaf isn’t real coffee. I don’t care if the toilet paper is over or under, just put it on the roll. Pepsi is better than Coke. Daylight savings is bullshit. Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man ever. Milk never goes in the bowl before the cereal. Han Solo shot first—technically he was the only one who shot, but no one ever mentions that.”

I listened as he went on and on, and it was better than any painkiller or sedative the doctors were pumping into my veins. The more he spoke, the more in love with him I became.

There was a pause followed by a sigh. “We think we found Vladimir, and I’m going to see this through to the end. I never said this to you directly, but you were right. My original plan was to take them all out, and I didn’t care if I lived or died. But now, I don’t want to die so much. I want to live in your bungalow that’s so full of life. I don’t know if I can sell my house yet; I need time with that. Danny, I never thought I’d want to live for anything but I do, I want to live for us.”

If my stupid motherfucking everything didn’t start moving soon, I was going to explode. Once more, I concentrated on Alex’s name. I was screaming it in my head over and over again. I didn’t stop and right when I was about to be defeated by exhaustion it happened, just a whisper.

“Alex.”

“Danny? Holy fuck, Danny.” The bed jostled and through a tiny slit in my eyes I saw him hovering above me. “Say it again, baby. Say my name.”