"He was protecting you the only way he knew how," Jake whispered. "It's what he does. What we're trained to do."
"Even if it kills him?"
"Especially then."
I studied Jake's face, seeing echoes of James in his serious expression, his protective stance. "Will you keep me informed? About the business, about what he was working on?"
"Of course. And Princess?" He hesitated, then continued. "James spoke about you often. Whatever mistakes he made, whatever happened between you both, he never stopped loving you. That love drove him to see this through, to make sure you'd be safe even if he couldn't be there to protect you."
Tears threatened again, but I held them back. "Thank you for telling me."
Jake nodded and turned to leave, then paused. "He's going to wake up. James Banks is too stubborn to let something like this beat him. And he has too much to live for."
As he walked away, I turned back toward James's room, Jake's words echoing in my mind. Too much to live for. I could only hope that included me, and the future we might still have if he would just open his eyes.
I settled back into my chair beside his bed. I took his hand in mine, and told him everything Jake had shared. About Harrison's betrayal, about the evidence James had gathered, about the safety he'd secured for me at such a terrible cost.
"You magnificent, impossible man," I whispered, leaning closer to his still face. "I was wrong to be angry. Wrong to push you away when you were trying to protect me. I should have fought for us instead of letting pride win."
The monitors continued their steady rhythm, but I pressed on, needing him to hear this.
"I love you, James. I've loved you since that first day in Bellavista when you judged me without knowing me and I wanted to prove you wrong. I loved you when you taught me self-defense and when you made me feel safe in a world that suddenly seemed dangerous. I loved you when you walked away, even when I hated you for it."
My voice broke, but I forced myself to continue. "Please don't leave me. Not now, when I finally understand what you sacrificed. Not when I'm ready to fight for us, to choose us over everything else. Please, James. Come back to me."
For a moment, nothing changed. Then—so subtle I almost missed it—his fingers twitched against mine.
My heart stopped. "James?"
Another twitch, stronger this time. Then his eyelids fluttered, and slowly, agonizingly slowly, his eyes opened. Unfocused at first, blinking against the light, then gradually finding my face.
The brain swelling caused the doctors to intubate James. Making it impossible for him to speak, but he could blink and squeeze my hand. James was conscious, and I could not ask for anything else; he had come back to me. I watched his eyes wandering around the sterile room, landing on the machines. I had now learned the rhythm of the song that they sang next to his bedside. Confusion swept across them, as if he wasn't sure where he was or what had happened.
I started crying again, relief flooding through me. "You're awake. The doctors said, you're going to be okay."
He tried to speak again but winced, realising he had a tube in his throat. He squeezed my hand weakly. I could see the disorientation in his eyes, the way he was struggling to piece together recent events.
I tried to compose myself in order to tell him everything was under control. Clearing my throat between my falling tears. I gripped his hand and whispered, "We handled the events in the ballroom, and we are dealing with Harrison and Mikhail."
James again squeezed my hand, blinking slowly.
"I whispered, leaning down to kiss his forehead gently. "You saved me. You saved my mother. Now you need to rest and heal".
His eyes drifted closed again, but his fingers remained wrapped around mine. The doctors would need to examine him, run tests, but he was fighting his way back to me. That was enough for now.
"Don't go anywhere, do you hear me? " I am not moving from here; we are in this together, remember." I mumbled, my voice barely audible as I tried to control my emotions.
“I will never leave you. I meant what I said the day you left. Loving you is like slow dancing on a landmine. I will always take the risk.
Settling back into my chair not taking my eyes off of James, I whispered. "I'm not going anywhere. We have all the time in the world to figure out what comes next."
His grip on my hand tightened just slightly, and I knew he'd heard me. He was coming back to me, one breath at a time, one heartbeat at a time.
And this time, I wasn't letting him go.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
James
