Broken Songbird (Vicious Games #2)

32. Chapter 32

T he absence of sound makes me stir. It’s a quiet hush, no discernible clicks or creaks that tell me where I am. Too afraid to open my eyes, I unfurl my hand flat on the surface I’m lying on, my hand trembling slightly.

The surface is smooth, soft in a nondescript way. I move my hand slightly, my fingers whispering over a familiar texture. Fabric.

I take in a slow, shallow breath through my nose, assessing the surrounding scents. Stale, stagnant air, and…disinfectant?

It’s familiar, a smell I’m accustomed to.

I peel my dry eyes open slowly, expecting it to be day, but the blurry room is dark, only a soft warm light glowing somewhere above me. I blink a few times, my vision clearing.

An I.V. pole stands next to the bed I’m on with a bag of what I’m assuming is saline attached, machine turned on. I look down at the cannula in my hand; the tubes connect to the I.V. pump.

Dread pumps through my veins as I remember the house, Adrian, the shower. Is this a hospital or one of his sick games?

I lift my head, looking around the room, and relief replaces dread. I recognise the familiar equipment on the walls and the blue divider curtains of a hospital I’ve been in before.

The divider’s drawn back to my neighbour, and I almost burst into tears. Del is sleeping peacefully in the other bed, facing me.

Her face clean and her hair in a loose bun, she’s probably showered, and she’s dressed in a black sleep T-shirt, the one with the initial ‘D’ embroidered on the left side that I got her for Christmas; she’s probably wearing the matching flowy pants under the blankets.

Her left arm lies on top of the blanket in a cast up to her elbow, and I see a bandage peeking out under the sleeve on her right.

My lip quivers. We got out.

Not without a few scrapes, or a lot, but we’re here, alive .

I close my eyes as a tear slips down my temple and over my nose, taking a moment to simply exist. The moment I take a deep inhale, an intense sharp pain pierces my right side, and I lose my breath. I forgot that I probably have at least one broken rib.

I bite back expletives to not disturb Del as I roll to lie flat on my back, clutching my side, trying to dull the pain.

“Do you need ice?” a deep, quiet voice says from my side.

My eyes fly open, meeting tired, familiar honey-brown eyes.

“Creed,” I wheeze, tears falling anew.

“Hey, baby,” he says just as softly.

He’s sitting in one of the more decent padded hospital chairs next to my head, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. His hair is down and dishevelled, like he’s been running his hands through it constantly, and he looks like he hasn’t slept comfortably, or at all, in a while.

I reach out, and he scoots forward, resting his elbows on the edge of the bed, pressing his face into my hand. I relish in his warm skin, the stubble on his face.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

He frowns at me. “What for?”

“For coming for us.”

He turns his head and kisses my palm. “Nothing would have stopped me until I found you.”

“I thought I was going to die,” I confess.

Creed traces his fingers up my arm, then wraps my hand in his. “You’re here.”

“What if I did?” I ask.

“Like I said, nothing would stop me.”

“What?” I try to sit up, but the pain in my ribs immediately makes me lie back down. “No.”

Creed leans further forward and cups my face, eyes serious. “You lean, I lean. If I have to follow you to eternal rest, I will.”

“Creed, don’t—”

“Do you remember what you said when I got you out of the tub before you passed out?”

I told him I loved him. That wasn’t a delusion.

“Yes,” I whisper.

I finally see what Del was talking about, the soft-eyes. “Words can’t express what I feel for you. You’re the reason my life has light, and I won’t live without you. So, if you’re journeying into the unknown, so am I.”

I smirk as my heart soars. “I didn’t think you were a poet.”

He snorts. “Shut up.”

“You could have just said ‘I love you, too.’”

“Well, I love you, princess,” he says sarcastically.

I lift my head, our lips meeting, that familiar static only Creed can deliver settling the parts of my soul that have been in freefall for a long time.

I pull back, touching our foreheads together with my eyes closed. “You make the dark a little less scary.”

“You make existing worth every moment,” Creed declares.

I drop my head back onto the pillow with a lazy smile across my face. “Poetic.”

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head incredulously.

Our reunion is interrupted by the door opening and a suit-clad Enzo striding in with his phone to his ear and nondescript white bags in his other hand.

Creed twines our fingers together and sits back as Enzo pockets his phone, places the bags on Del’s side table and leans over her, kissing her cheek softly.

Del inhales sharply and wakes, blinking rapidly and turning to Enzo, a little dazed. Her expression softens when she registers who he is, and she pecks him on the lips.

“I bought both of you some proper food,” he murmurs as he straightens, gesturing at the bags.

Del turns to me and beams.

“You’re awake,” she says in relief.

“Was I out that long?” I ask.

“Almost two days,” Del informs me.

My mouth pops open, and I turn to Creed. He nods, confirming Del’s information.

“Help me sit, and pass me my chart,” I instruct. “In the holder on the wall.”

Creed uses the remote attached to the bed to lift me into a more seated position and I just register I’m in one of Creed’s T-shirts, and a pair of my satin sleep shorts. Someone cleaned and dressed me while I was out. After setting the bed at the right angle, Creed then brings me my chart.

I look through the notes, recognising my dad’s writing.

Two cracked ribs on my right side, a lot of contusions, bruising all over my body, quite a few scrapes, no concussion, thankfully, and the lacerations on my thigh. My heart sinks—my dad stitched them himself.

I also had mild hypothermia when I came in, and woke up screaming, so they sedated me. That’s probably why I’ve been out for so long.

“How are you feeling?” Del asks.

I look up from my chart and give her a small smile. “Like someone kicked me in the ribs, but apart from that, fine. How about you?”

She lifts her cast. “Dislocated.”

“No breaks?”

“Not even a hairline.”

I nod. “Good.”

“Now that you’re awake,” Enzo interjects as he pulls out his phone. “I will contact Michael.”

“The priest?” I ask. “What for?”

“We need two witnesses for the paperwork,” he says, continuing to type on his phone.

Witnesses? Paperwork?

“What paperwork?” Del asks.

Enzo lifts his eyes to her. “Our marriage license.”

“What?” I chirp, jerking up and dropping straight back down when my ribs scream in agony. “No, you—”

“Absolutely not,” Del announces. “I’m not getting married right now .”

Enzo frowns, lowering his phone. “Yes, we are.”

“ No, we aren’t,” she counters.

“I won’t wait another day.”

“If you want me to be your wife, you will.”

“Delphine.”

“Lorenzo.”

They stare intensely at each other, the battle of wills pulsing through the room. I squeeze Creed’s hand, captivated to see who will win.

Pride soars through my chest as Enzo sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Pick a date. Now.”

Del looks at me, the ghost of a prideful grin on her face. “Can you work with the last day of August?”

“With Enzo’s money and Stacey’s tenacity, absolutely,” I confirm. My mind starts making lists. It’s the end of April, so that gives me and Stacey four months to pull this together.

Challenge accepted.

“End of August is too long,” Enzo says.

She turns back to Enzo. “If you didn’t notice, my ring hand is in a cast. Doc said it’ll take three months before it can come off, then a shit load of physiotherapy and potentially a brace. I’m not dealing with it at my wedding.”

“Okay—”

“Plus,” Del says, cutting off Enzo spectacularly. “Scar needs about six weeks to heal her leg and her ribs, and we need to coordinate vendors. Also, can you imagine the rumours that would circulate if we eloped? That shit is already circling, given our age difference, so I don’t need it to be spurred on further.”

For someone who didn’t want a wedding, Del is absolutely gunning for this wedding to happen.

“I’m only doing this once,” she says.

“Damn straight,” Enzo comments.

She rolls her eyes. “Marriage once, yes, but I meant the ceremony. I’m not doing any renewal shit. One and done, so let’s do it right.”

“Fine,” Enzo sighs and taps at his phone again. He reads something, then turns to me. “Last Saturday of August.”

“Done.”

“Now that’s sorted,” Del says, grinning at Enzo. “What’s in the bags?”

Enzo shakes his head incredulously as he pulls the food table closer to Del and picks up the bags.

My bladder decides to make itself known at that moment. I turn to Creed. “Help me out of the bed. Bathroom break.”

He nods and pulls back my blankets. My eyes immediately go to my bandaged thigh and my face drops.

“Did you find him?” I ask, and everyone in the room goes quiet.

I peek up at Creed. The angry frustration on his face says it all. Adrian escaped again.

“I have the best team after him,” Enzo says. “He won’t be a problem for long.”

I trust him.

I nod, and then rotate on the bed, careful not to tweak my ribs or my leg. Once I’ve detached myself from the I.V., Creed comes up to my left and takes all of my weight as I stand. I’m not in too much pain, mainly stiff from laying down for so long, but we take it slow.

Creed walks me into the bathroom, then leaves me to it as I have the help of the various handrails. He must have stood just outside the door because the moment he hears the water flow out of the sink tap, he’s in the bathroom again, hovering.

I regard him in the mirror as I wash my hands, his exhaustion evident. “Have you slept?”

He shakes his head with a lazy smile. “Maybe a nap or two. Hospital chairs are uncomfortable.”

I frown, turning off the water, and he hands me a small towel. “Have you left the hospital?”

“Not since we got here.”

My face softens. “You’ve watched over me, and I’m good. Now you need to look after yourself.”

“I’m—”

“Exhausted. Go home, shower, sleep .”

“I don’t—”

“Creed,” I admonish, turning to face him. He knows I’m right.

He sighs, curling his arms around me, avoiding putting pressure on my ribs. “Okay, fine, but I’ll be back in four hours.”

I rest my chin on his chest, looking up at him sweetly. “At least ten.”

“Five.”

“Eight.”

“Six is my highest.”

I grin. “See you in seven hours.”

He smirks and leans down, kissing my nose. “So demanding.”

“You love it.”

“I do.” He kisses me sweetly on the mouth and then moves to my left. “I’m leaving Phantom here until I get back. He’ll be in the waiting room.”

“He doesn’t need to stay,” I say.

“Trust me, he’ll want to. The other brothers get antsy with this kind of thing.”

“The others stayed too?” I ask.

Creed nods. “They all rotated watch over the last couple of days.”

I hold in the sudden tears stinging my eyes.

“Phantom likes the watch because he can read on the job,” Creed continues.

I grin as I limp out of the bathroom. “I fully support this, then.”

Creed breathes out a laugh, careful not to jostle me. We make it back to the bed and Creed helps me get comfortable as Del walks over and sits on the end, followed by Enzo wheeling over a table filled with containers of Thai food.

Creed moves the other table between us and Enzo sets the table next to the bed, then leans down and kisses Del on the temple.

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning, sweetheart,” he says quietly.

She smiles at him. “Thanks for the food.”

“Make sure you take your medication,” he says, waiting for her to roll her eyes and nod. He straightens, then looks at me and Creed, gives us a nod, and leaves.

Creed’s hand cups the back of my neck, drawing my attention, and he kisses me deeply. “See you in six hours.”

“Seven,” I say as he backs out of the room.