I'm still here. I'm still fighting. I'm coming back to you.
It was enough. It had to be.
CHAPTER 10
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The steady rhythm of the heart monitor was the first thing Lily became aware of as consciousness slowly returned. The second was a deep, throbbing pain in her abdomen and shoulder that even the fog of medication couldn't completely mask.
The third was the warm weight of someone holding her hand.
She struggled to open her eyes, her lids feeling impossibly heavy. When she finally managed it, the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room sent spikes of pain through her skull, forcing her to close them again immediately.
"Lily?" A gruff, familiar voice. Blade's voice. "Baby girl, can you hear me?"
She tried to respond, but her throat was parched, raw. All that emerged was a dry croak.
"Here, ice chips." The sensation of something cold against her lips. "Just a few. Doctor's orders."
She accepted the ice gratefully, the cool moisture a blessed relief to her parched mouth. When she tried again to open her eyes, she did so more cautiously, squinting against the light until her vision adjusted.
Blade's face slowly came into focus above her. He was a mess; haggard, unshaven, dark circles beneath his eyes suggesting he hadn't slept in days. But his eyes... his eyes were alight with relief, with a desperate kind of hope as they met hers.
"Hey," she managed, her voice a raspy whisper.
"Hey yourself," he replied, a tremulous smile breaking through his exhausted expression. "Welcome back."
She tried to take stock of her situation. Hospital room. Monitors. IV lines. The distinct heaviness of bandages on her shoulder and abdomen. Memories began to filter back. The quarry, Jose, the exchange gone wrong. Gunfire. Pain. Darkness.
"Marcus?" she asked, the name taking significant effort to produce.
"He's okay," Blade assured her. "Recovering well. Thanks to you."
The last part was said with a complex mix of pride and something like fear.
"Everyone else?" Her tongue felt clumsy, unwilling to cooperate fully.
"All our people made it," Blade told her. "Some injuries, but nothing life-threatening." He paused, his hand tightening slightly around hers. "Except you."
The gravity in his tone told her how close it had been. "Bad?"
He nodded, swallowing hard. "Two gunshot wounds. The shoulder was clean through and through. But the abdominal shot... it nicked your liver, causing significant internal bleeding. You were in surgery for six hours."
Six hours. No wonder he looked like he hadn't slept. "How long...?"
"Three days," he supplied, correctly interpreting her fragmented question. "You've been in and out of consciousness, mostly out. This is the first time you've been truly lucid."
Three days of her life, gone. Three days of Blade sitting beside her, waiting, hoping.
"Sorry," she whispered, though she wasn't entirely sure what she was apologizing for. For scaring him? For getting shot? For not being more careful?
He shook his head firmly. "No. Don't apologize. Not for being brave. Not for saving Marcus. Not for any of it."
“Guess you aren’t going to spank my ass for endangering my life?” she teased.
“Oh, you still have the one coming you earned previously. But not for this. We gave you permission. Never again. Never fucking again. You’ll never be in danger again as long as I live.”
She tried to smile, though it felt more like a grimace. "Jose?"
