Page 82 of Timeless
“I’ve missed you both, too,” I said with a sincere smile.
“Besides, these beds aren’t made for someone as tall as my son, and I know he’ll stay as long as you’re here.”
I knew she was trying to distract me and playfully lighten the mood, but it didn’t erase any of the guilt weighing on my heart.
“If Jaxon keeps putting on a show, the nurses won’t want him to leave anytime soon,” Brock said with a chuckle.
Camilla shot her husband a quick, amused glance. “On that note, we’ll just be down the hall if you need anything at all,” she said, leaning down and giving us both a hug, while I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more behind her words that she wasn’t saying.
“Thank you.”
“Thanks, Mom, Dad.”
Once we were alone, Jaxon adjusted our blankets, and I tucked myself into his side as best I could with his help, grateful to be off my back as tears slipped over the bridge of my nose and onto his hospital gown.
“Just rest. Everything will work itself out and be okay, I promise.”
Even though Jaxon tried to reassure me, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that things were far from it. But with his arm wrapped around my back, holding me close, I allowed the steady sound of his heartbeat to be my lullaby. It was music for my soul as I closed my eyes and let sleep claim me, allowing myself a temporary reprieve from everything that was outside of my control.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jaxon
Lily was finally resting peacefully, curled into my side, with gentle, steady snores. Unlike the hours I spent watching her brow crease with worry while listening as her breathing shifted between silent and uneven. It was obvious her dreams were really nightmares, haunting her memories, and tightening their grip on her mind, all the while unbeknownst to her that she was safe and no longer in danger.
Finding Lily three days ago, unresponsive in the shower amidst a blazing inferno surrounding the house, was hands-down the most terrifying moment of my life. Witnessing the life nearly drained from her body was heart-stopping. I thought the worst. That I was going to lose her, but forever this time.
So for her to have woken up from this nightmare after so much fear and uncertainty had crept in, the feeling in my chest now was indescribable.
Since waking up with my hands bandaged, I’d had a lot of time to think. I remembered I had started to feel off in the ambulance, but I dismissed it as the adrenaline wearing off. I was sohyper-focused on Lily that I never suspected anything nefarious was going on. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital alone, disoriented, and in some sterile isolation room with a list of questions a mile long.
It wasn’t until later that I learned from Doctor Holt that Lily had come into contact with a poison that absorbed through her skin from something she touched, and disrupted the signals in her nervous system. The response a person would have after contact aligned with how I found her in the shower and explained how it transferred to me from skin-to-skin contact.
Luckily, I wasn’t exposed for as long and responded well to the antidote. My body bounced back relatively quickly, all things considered. I was also lucky that the cuts on my hands from the broken glass when I climbed through the window were mostly superficial lacerations and didn’t damage any nerves or tendons.
Unfortunately for Lily, her body had taken a much harder hit. The doctor warned me her recovery wouldn’t be immediate and that there might be some lingering side effects regarding her mobility that would likely require physical therapy to help her regain her full strength. While I hated hearing that for her, I was thankful to learn she hadn’t suffered any brain damage. With time and rest, she would make a full recovery, and I’d be by her side for every step of it.
The doctor also mentioned that he’d checked with Lily’s work and confirmed that no other cases had been reported, and Boden was working around the clock to get the answers I couldn’t. Once I was out of isolation, my dad took me in a wheelchair to Arizona’s bedside, where Jameson was barely holding it together. Her exposure was minimal, the same as mine, but given that she was barely out of the first trimester, the doctors were taking extra precautions with her and the baby.
We were all on edge and sharing the same worries. But after witnessing Lily’s reaction to learning I had also been hospitalized, I chose to hold off on telling her that her best friend was just down the hallway in another room a little while longer. Even though everything with the baby was looking good, Arizona was placed on early medical leave from work and would be closely monitored for the remainder of her pregnancy.
Considering everything that had happened, we were all incredibly fortunate; it could have been so much worse. It just goes to show you, the only thing promised in life was the here and now. The very present moment. We all had choices in life. We could either waste the precious little time we’re given fighting and/or worrying about things beyond our control, or we could ignore the noise and focus on what truly mattered most in life: our loved ones and being present.
“Hope I’m not intruding,” Boden spoke in a hushed voice, stepping further into the room. “How’s Lily doing?”
“She woke up a few hours ago, and man, I’ve never been so thankful to hear her voice and look into her eyes. I—” I choked up and swallowed roughly.
“That’s great news. Sounds like she’s making progress. What a relief!” he exhaled, sitting down in the chair where I’d spent so many hours camped out before.
“Do you have any updates?” I asked.
“I do. I’m happy to report an arrest has been made.”
“For real?” My whole body tingled with shock.
“Yes.”
“Tell me, who the fuck did this and why?”
