Page 131 of In My Heart
“I know,” I agreed, a little emotional that he would even ask me to go with them. He barely knew me, yet he cared. “Six months ago I would have bitten your hand off at such an offer, but things have changed. I’m safe with my brother, and I’m happy. I’ll be okay here,” I assured him.
“Thought that’s what you’d say, but I had to make sure. You deserve to find something good, Cara.”
“You do too. You’re a good man, Hilt,” I told him with a sniffle.
“When I get settled I’ll send you a text message. Store the number and if you ever need anything, you text me on it, okay? I’ll check the phone regularly and get back to you as soon as I can. You’re not alone in this world, kid. Remember that.” With those words he hung up and the call went silent.
“Hilt? He’s still alive?” I dropped the phone to the bed and looked up to find Cal sat on the edge of his bed, leaning towards me.
“He and his brother made it out. They’re leaving the country. He just wanted to make sure I was safe,” I explained as I swiped at my tears. “How’s your shoulder?” I asked.
“Not too bad. Is your head hurting?”
“How’d you know?”
“You’re squinting your eyes. How bad is it, gorgeous?” he pressed.
“A bad headache. I’m okay. Just aching and sore. Where did Arran go?”
“Probably to check on Dante. Hopefully, he brings coffee with him when he returns.”
“Dante’s out of surgery?” I tried to push myself up in my excitement to see him, then cried out when I pressed weight on my broken wrist.
“Stop moving!” Cal ordered, then he was beside me, having climbed out of his bed, and speedwalked over to me. He wrappedhis arm around me and lifted me easily against him, taking my weight completely from my hands.
“Cal! Set me back down! Your shoulder!” I gasped, but he ignored me, pressing me against his bare chest, supporting my weight on one arm under my butt, then carried me over to his bed, lifting me with him as he sat on it, then settled me in his lap. Fortunately, the IV which he had been hooked up to the night before, was gone now, so he didn’t rip it out in the process.
“You’ll be in so much trouble when big brother gets back,” I teased him as I relaxed against him and just allowed myself to breathe.
“I saved his life yesterday. He can’t be angry with me for at least the next month,” Cal scoffed. “Besides, he’ll know I had no choice when I tell him you were hurting yourself and aggravating your injuries.”
“I wanted to see Dante,” I pouted dramatically.
“He’s still under sedation. He was in surgery for a long time. They had to remove his spleen and repair a lot of internal damage. He has three broken ribs and his broken arm required a lengthy repair. He has a titanium rod and pins in there now.”
“Oh God!” The tears fell and it seemed my numbness had passed as I fell apart at the thought of what Dante had been through in the time we hadn’t even been searching for him! “And he hasn’t woken up yet?” I whimpered.
“He’s been sedated. When he woke up last night he flipped out and almost ripped his stitches, of which he has many. They had no choice but to knock him out with drugs. They’ve decided to keep him under sedation for now, because he has a brain bleed that needs careful monitoring, and if Dante wakes and lashes out again, he could make it worse.”
“A brain bleed? That sounds serious,” I rasped.
“It can be, but Dante’s is small for now, and likely to resolve itself, as long as he doesn’t ‘Hulkout’ and make it worse. The doctors will monitor him and the bleed very closely for now.”
“And if it doesn’t stop…o-or fix itself? He’ll need surgery? Brain surgery?”
“It’s a possibility, but unlikely. Even if it does come to that, the procedure is fairly routine nowadays. He’ll be okay, babe.”
“No he won’t. They tortured him, Cal. How can he ever be alright? We didn’t even look for him,” I squeaked out emotionally, my throat tight as more tears fell free.
“Arran’s tearing him apart with guilt for the exact same thing, Cara, but it won’t fix anything. We should have looked for Dante, and for whatever reason, we didn’t. We have to live with that, but drowning in guilt for it won’t help Dante get through this, nor will it help you. All we can do now is be there for one another, see each other through this and be grateful we’re all still breathing at the end of the day,” he explained.
“Is it really over?” I whimpered.
“Yes. I believe it truly is. Everyone from your past is gone. Daniel is gone. Rafe is getting out of the criminal side of things. We can finally start to live without looking over our shoulders quite so much.”
“But not completely?”
“You know the answer to that. I’ve heard you lecture Rafe enough on the matter. Your name will never allow you to be completely protected. Who you are will always mean there’s a threat, but with the past laid to rest, and some strategic security,I don’t see why you can’t find a normal life, whatever that looks like,” he teased, and I smiled a little.
