Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

45. Milo

FORTY-FIVE

MILO

I paced the waiting room.

Paced and paced, my hands constantly roughing through my hair, the agitation rolling off me so intense I thought I might start pinging off the walls.

But I couldn’t sit.

Couldn’t rest.

Couldn’t do anything but pray that Tessa was fine.

That she’d pull through.

There was no other option.

The world couldn’t keep spinning without the sun.

Everyone else had gathered there, too.

Eden, Salem, and Aster.

Trent, Jud, and Logan.

Eden’s father, Gary.

The kids were with Salem’s grandmother, and the three women had burst through the door about ten minutes after Tessa had been rushed into surgery.

A black, heavy cloud covered the group.

Dread and worry.

Eden was bent over, offering up prayers, Aster rocked in a hard, plastic chair, and Salem was pacing, the same as me.

It took everything for me not to go charging through the door that read Emergency Surgery , but how the fuck did I even have the right?

I was the one who’d done this.

The one responsible for it.

And I knew tonight she’d finally seen the man I’d warned her about.

She hadn’t listened, and now she was fucking here.

Eden had forced me to get my own wounds checked out. One had been sutured, the other only needed to be cleaned and bandaged, not that I cared about my condition.

I’d already given a statement that Tessa and I had been mugged. Had no fuckin’ clue if it was going to fly, but at least the cops who’d been here had seemed satisfied with the story, though they would be back to get Tessa’s statement once she was able.

And she had to be able .

I paced some more, my fingers laced together and propped on top of my head like it could keep the anxiety at bay.

Keep the torment from flooding out.

Keep myself from completely losing it in the middle of a waiting room.

“She’s going to be fine.” Eden’s soft voice hit me from behind.

I shifted to look at her, and her face twisted up in pain when she looked at me. My hands dropped to my sides. “She has to be.”

She touched my forearm, then we all froze when a doctor finally came out the door.

“Tessa McDaniels’ family?”

Everyone in that room stood up.

“The surgery went well. She’s stable and in recovery.”

That was all it took for me to bow in half, slammed by relief. If there was only one promise I could keep, it had to be this one. Because Tessa deserved to live a beautiful life. Deserved love and joy and the freedom from this mess. She deserved everything.

Machines quietly beeped in her room, monitoring her heart rate, her breaths slowed and measured while I sat in the chair next to her.

Just watching her sleep.

Just looking at her.

Basking in her warmth.

Memorizing every inch of her gorgeous face.

Red hair spread out on her pillow, freckles kissing her cheeks and those rosebud lips soft in her sleep.

Not like her picture wasn’t going to be emblazoned on my brain for all of eternity.

This gorgeous girl who’d changed everything.

But she was battered, too, the bash on her temple now a scab, scratches all over her pale skin, the wound on her side hidden, though I would never forget it was there.

What I’d caused.

I’d warned her I’d ruin her, and I fucking hated that I was right.

Guilt constricted, then my heart rate spiked when she began to stir.

On impulse, I reached out and took her hand, needing the connection, when those ocean eyes blinked open to me.

Confused for a minute before they squeezed in a shock of painful memories. Thought I could see each of them play out through her expression, like she was coming to the acceptance of the horrors that had come to pass.

“Milo.” My name was thick on her dried tongue, and I rushed to grab the cup of water that sat on the table and brought the straw to her lips.

“There you go,” I murmured as she sucked, probably a little too fast because she began to cough. “Careful. Slow,” I encouraged, taking it away for a beat before I returned it to her mouth, every part of me wanting to take care of her but knowing I didn’t have the right.

When she stopped drinking, I set it aside, staring at the spot where I’d placed it for too long. A bluster of discomfort dampening the air.

All this shit that had come between us that I wanted to erase.

But I didn’t know how.

Didn’t know how when it went so deep.

Finally, I forced myself to look back at her. “How are you feeling?”

Her mouth tweaked at the side, and she lifted her hand with the IV in her wrist. “I’m guessing a little too good for what happened. I’m thinking they’re giving me the good stuff.”

A rough scrape of a sound left my mouth. “I think they probably are.”

Her expression dimmed. “Was it bad?”

“You were lucky.” It ground from between my teeth. How close it’d been.

Warily, she glanced around like she was terrified of the answer. “Is he…”

“Gone.”

She nodded, both in relief and fear.

The rage I’d been holding on to pulsed in my veins, and I leaned forward, gripping her hand in both of mine. “Did he…did he hurt you while he had you?”

Her throat bobbed when she swallowed. “No. I mean, I tried to fight them when they took me, and someone bashed me on the head to shut me up. Other than that, no.”

At least that was a consolation. Had been terrified of what I hadn’t known. Of what she’d gone through during that day he’d held her prisoner.

“I’m so sorry,” I forced out, barely managing the words.

Distrust and confusion and something that looked like a plea flashed through her gaze, and she withdrew her hand from mine.

My heart crashed against my ribs.

Because she was looking at me the way I’d known she always would when she finally saw who I was.

With fear.

Like the monster I’d warned her I was.

She looked away for a beat before she returned her fierce gaze to me, those blue eyes flashing with intensity. “Was it you who hurt Bobby? Was it you, Milo? Tell me it wasn’t you,” she begged.

Grief cut through the atmosphere.

It hadn’t been confirmed yet, but I knew, and I was sure Tessa knew, too, that Stefan had gotten to him.

It was clear that my involvement with Tessa had led him back to her brother.

“There are some things you need to know, Tessa.”

She blinked at me when I sat there, not sure how to confess it.

“Just tell me, Milo, tell me what happened to Bobby. I need to know.”

I gathered her hand again, that nasty habit that I couldn’t shake, and I forced myself to begin.