Page 109 of The Gift
“Nah,” Koda mumbles, his voice is already thick with his need to rest, “Reno, you did fucking amazing, you know that, right? Same as you, Ashton.” He raises his head and pins him down with one of Koda’s infamous looks until Reno tips his head, acknowledging the statement once before he leaves. “Hen, don’t start pacing. Ashton needs to rest and you always make him anxious when you won’t settle down.”
I don’t need to be asked twice. I climb up on the bed, taking a protective position at Ashton’s back, while Koda takes Bailey’s side. The five of us, slightly battered and bruised both emotionally and physically back together again, even with Reno dashing out of the room.
Sleep shouldn’t come easy, but it does, and it sweeps me up in what feels like an instant.
Bailey
Iwake up and nearly die of fright, coming face to face with an oversized floppy eared rabbit. It’s the googly eyes that get me, like they’re lined up with mine so they’re the only thing I see.
The inexplicable rush of adrenaline is like pulling the pin out of a grenade, and I whimper as pain chases the fear through my body. Parts of me feel like they’re getting squeezed by a vice lined with biting fire ants.
“Bailey girl,” Ashton’s voice is all of a sudden in my ear, helping to guide me through the rush of shock. And then I’m swamped in the comforting smell of warm open fires and denim letting me know that Koda is somewhere here too. Taking a fairly dramatic exhale, to steady the crush of sights, sounds and feelings it’s disorienting. A clamping hand on my leg brings more semblance of balance, and without opening my eyes I know it’s Henley’s.
“Where’s Reno?” I try to say, though it comes out sounding like I’ve been drinking all night, my words all slurring together. I try again, purposely being slower, trying to open my lips wider so they understand what I need. He pops into vision and everything falls into place.
I watch him, following the way he takes in a series of large in and out breaths until the rush settles and everything makes better sense.
“You know where we are?” he asks gently, after a few more inhales and exhales and I guess I take too long to answer, because he repeats the question before getting chewed out by Henley. I follow their interaction, like I’m half submerged under water but it’s a million times better than the panic of waking up to the rabbit. The very gorgeous, pink rabbit.
Reno smiles and leans in with a drink for me but Mr. Cautious doesn’t let me have nearly enough. I track the glass as it gets passed over to Koda. And when I find him, I take the opportunity to survey every inch of his face, and then I twist around to find Ashton, holding my snuggle bunny, finally searching for Henley. My brain seems satisfied and lets me think semi-logically again.
“I need more drugs, and a shower. And don’t do that on a scale to one to ten what is your pain bullshit, just the drugs.”
Strange noises that sound like relieved chuckles but aren’t really float between us.
“I can do drugs easy, but no shower. A bath when we get home is okay,” Reno says in his stoic practicality.
“With pizza, and you’ve got yourself a deal.” My speech is a sloppy mess but these guys are getting good at understanding Bailey talk. “I’m not going to break, kisses please.”
Ashton all but kills my fluffy bunny on his way to give me a thousand butterfly kisses on my cheek before making his way to my lips, not even worrying about smelly breath or chapped lips.
Reno is there next, starting on my forehead and dropping another on my nose before a sweet, soft kiss on my lips. Koda starts with a kiss on my ring finger, and I pull my hand away, using it as a stop for everyone before my eyes start leaking, and my chest starts hurting.
“Thought I was doing so well for a second there,” I murmur, wiping away one of the sneaky tears, before nabbing Koda’s shirt and dragging him in for one of his spell binding, soul destroying kisses.
“Bails,” is all he says before the flood gates nearly breach open. I squeeze the damn life out of him, with one arm. When he steps back, Henley stands at the foot of my bed looking like a statue, everything about him hard and cold.
Thankfully, he moves when I reach for him. As soon as he is close, I wrap myself around him, as best I can with one arm. The loud rumble of a purr out of his chest is like a shot of morphine. He follows me back, laying me back against the pillows before taking a seat where my legs were.
“What happened?” I say, looking over at my shoulder, half knowing or remembering without really knowing. And then I am distracted by the biggest bunch of flowers I have ever seen, in the most beautiful soft colours too. The four of them are quiet, letting me take the bouquet in for however long I need, and I need a second—the emotions threatening to re-explode are huge.
When I look down at my lap, the matching blanket in all the same colours is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back, except the tears spilling over my cheeks are without a noise falling from me. I am so damn fucking touched, and in so much fucking pain, it’s momentous. And yes, I’m being over the top dramatic, but my guys are so damn perfect. Which my brain gets stuck on, the “my” part, which is the point where I sob loudly and bawl ugly.
“You know, crying after general anaesthetic a very common side effect. That’s all,” Ashton states factually, using a damp washer someone hands over to wipe my face before he throws it over his shoulder and gets all snuggly with me and my squishy.
“A rabbit?” I croak out, along with giving them both a wobbly smile.
“With matching fuzzy socks, Bailey girl. We don’t do anything by halves.”
“True,” I hiccup, staring at the ceiling and trying the breathing exercises from before. “Reno, please, I need something for my shoulder.”
I barely finish speaking and I feel better. Looking down, I see him pulling out a syringe from the canula in my hand that I missed earlier. Then the pain stops squeezing my brain and I see the room for what it is: a hospital room.
“Can you roll me over, Ash? My butt has pins and needles.” It’s all hands on deck as I get turned on my good side, my squishy becomes a pillow and Reno gets a chance to give me a run-down of why my shoulder hurts so much. I mean, I knew I was injured but I didn’t remember the detail. The more he explains the more my memories come back online.
My fingers flutter to my throat as I remember, and I am so very grateful I didn’t imagine or hallucinate what Henley did. I guess I drift a little bit, the hit of the drugs flooding my system seems to do more than remove my pain. My eyes close with my fingers digging under the bandage.
When I wake up the next time, the bandage is gone and the pain is starting to crest again, but I also have better recall as to how I got here and what’s going on. Instead of my bunny, I have Koda’s big brown eyes to wake up to, and Henley’s body blanketing me from behind. And they spoil me with their scent, pumping me full of the good stuff. I think I get scent-whacked. My head spins happily, and I silently will my core to throb once so I at least know it’s only my shoulder that got injured.
