Ham stared at the white-blonde hair and pale face lying against the pillow. Her eyes fluttered open, and she turned to him.
“You stayed,” she whispered. He kissed her forehead again, nodding.
“I told you I’m not going anywhere. We’re a team. Ham and Sadie,” he grinned.
“Ham and Sadie,” she repeated. “We’re friends, right?”
“I think we’re more than friends, or at least I hope we are, but that will be up to you when you’re well. But no matter what, we are the best of friends, and I will always be here for you.”
“I think I’m ready to see my family now,” she said. Ham nodded, opening the recovery room door and waving the group toward him. Wes and Virginia entered first, then Jazz, Mary, and Angel, followed by the others.
“I’m not sure this room is big enough,” smiled Sadie.
“Sadie,” whispered Virginia, kissing her forehead. “You’re going to be okay now. Everything is going to be okay.”
“It’s going to take time, Mom. It was my fault. It was all my fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Sadie,” said Gray. “I told you this. Miscarriages don’t happen just because you want them to. You were under stress. You’d had a spell cast on you. You had fibroid tumors, endometriosis. There were a lot of reasons this happened. It just wasn’t your time, but you will have an opportunity for another time.”
“Will I?” she asked, staring at the group. “Who would want a broken, damaged woman who is half-mad?”
“You’re not half-mad,” said Ham. “You’re the sanest woman I know. And you’re not broken. You’re sad and hurt, that’s all. I should know because believe me, I’ve been fucking broken my entire life.”
Ham knelt beside the bed, taking her hand between his own, kissing the back of it. He brushed back her hair, then squeezed her hand again, smiling at her.
“You are not broken, and you are not mad. And as for damaged, we’re all a little damaged, Sadie. All of us. Look at me, Sadie. Look at me. I’m here. I’m right in front of you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you. I’m here for as long as you’ll let me stay.”
Wes squeezed his wife’s hand, smiling at the young man kneeling next to their daughter. She might not be ready to see it, but Ham wasn’t going anywhere because he was in love with their little girl.
Sadie nodded, resting her hand on his head.
“I like the hair longer, but you need a shower,” she smiled, ruffling his hair. Ham laughed, shaking his head.
“Well, I’d be happy to get a shower if I could get you healthy and back on your feet.”
“Go, Ham,” smiled Marc. “We’re not going anywhere. You go shower and get some clean clothes, and we’ll make sure she’s okay.”
Ham kissed the top of Sadie’s head, then started to walk out the door. But he couldn’t move when Virginia, Gray, and Mary all stopped him, hugging him tightly.
“Thank you, Ham. Thank you for bringing us our girl back.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
No matter how many times Sadie was offered a cottage, she refused, saying that the island mansion was the place she could heal. Ham was fine either way, although he was worried about how this might affect his work with VG.
“Hey, do you guys have a minute?” he asked the leadership team.
“Of course, Ham. Come on in,” said Luke. “I hear our girl is healing and doing well.”
“Yea, Gray said she’ll be fine in a few days. I’m taking her back out to the island mansion this afternoon. That’s where she wants to be for the foreseeable future. She just doesn’t want to be surrounded by everyone.”
“We can understand that,” said Hex. “Is she seeing the counseling team?”
“She’s actually with Bree now,” he said, nodding at them. “But I want to be sure that all this is okay.”
“What do you mean?” asked Eric.
“I want to work for Voodoo Guardians more than anything in the world, but I won’t ignore Sadie and what she needs. If I lose my job, I’ll still want to stay and get her well, and then I’ll leave.”
