Shadow’s Heart (Devil’s Inferno MC #3)

Chapter Twenty-One

Wreck

W aking up this time around is so much more pleasant. There’s no commotion taking place in my hospital room; just Shadow curled up next to me asleep. He feels so right there. Like, that’s where he’s meant to be. I know that’s wishful thinking on my part, just like the dream I had of his lips brushing against mine. There’s no chance he actually kissed me as I was falling asleep. It’s just my mind running away with itself. Showing me the thing I want most, the thing I will never have. I need to shut these thoughts down; they aren’t going to do me any good. They’re just going to make me want what I can’t have even more than I already do. If that’s even possible.

Looking down, I see his eyes fluttering open. His beautiful brown eyes are still looking sleepy, but I can’t help but notice he looks a hell of a lot less exhausted than he did earlier. That certainly makes me happy.

“Hey. Feeling better?” I ask.

“Yeah definitely. I needed that more than I realized.” He replies, but there’s a look in his eyes I don’t understand, and I don’t have a chance to ask him about it as my hospital door opens and a doctor steps through. Ah, it’s time for me to be poked and prodded. Oh yay. Can’t they just accept I’m fine now and release me? No. Guess one can only dream of such things.

The doctor isn’t alone though; there’s a nurse with him who holds up supplies and signals to Shadow to come over to her so she can clean up his hands. Thinking about it now, he probably should have cleaned them up before we fell asleep. Hopefully not cleaning them before now isn’t going to cause him any issues.

* * *

Once the doctor has finished poking and prodding me and the nurse has cleaned and dressed Shadow’s hands, they leave. According to my doctor’s latest checks, I should be able to go home tomorrow. They just want to monitor me for one more day because of how long I remained unconscious after I arrived. Yeah. Yeah. I get it; being unconscious for so long isn’t a good thing. They’re also a little bit lost as to why my injuries aren’t a hell of a lot worse as they could tell I’d been put through the ringer. Well, they aren’t the only ones. I was convinced I was dying at some points during my torture, so the fact that I managed to walk away with only a minor concussion and bruised ribs instead of cracked and broken ones as my internal injuries has me at a loss. I’m not going to complain though; I’m in enough pain with the injuries I do have.

I can’t wait until I get released from here. I want to put all this behind me and move on with my life. I’ve got a feeling it’s not going to be as easy as I want, but I’ll deal with whatever life throws my way. I didn’t think I would get to carry on living my life, and I’m determined to make the most of every minute now.

Despite feeling ready to put all this behind me and get on with my life, I couldn’t have been fucking happier when Shadow told me that I’ll be staying with him when I’m released. I can admit to myself that I’m not ready to be on my own; I spent enough time alone during my time away. I know I won’t cope well yet, and I’m not going to complain about spending more time with Shadow. There’s no one I’d rather spend time with more than him.

There’s a knock on my hospital door, which draws both of our attention. We watch as it opens, revealing Sera and Blade. Fuck if I’m not happy to see Sera. She looks good, just tired. So I know my plan definitely worked and she was safe. I have to laugh when she launches herself across the room to my bedside, immediately wrapping me in a loose hug as she leans over the bed.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re okay.” She whispers in my ear.

“Me too. I’m glad you’re okay too.”

“I am thanks to you.” She says as she pulls back, tears in her eyes.

“Hey, none of that. There’s no need for tears.”

She swipes under her eyes, giving me a smile in the process. “I can’t help it; my hormones are so out of whack.”

Glancing to where Shadow was sitting next to my bed, I realize while I’ve been distracted with Sera, he’s got up and moved across the room to talk to Blade.

“I can imagine so. Everything’s okay with the little one?” I say quietly, I don’t know who knows she’s pregnant, and I don’t want to be the one to let the cat out of the bag.

“Yeah. You don’t have to keep your voice down, Shadow knows. Wrath told him when he wanted to know why you didn’t hide with me.” She explains.

Ah, that makes a hell of a lot of sense to me. There’s no way he wouldn’t have asked a million and one questions after he learned I didn’t hide away with Sera. He’d have wanted all the facts so he could wrap his head around what happened and why.

Looking over at him, I see him lost in conversation with Blade, but his eyes are still on me. He gives me a small smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes like it normally would. I don’t like that. His smile is one of the best things; it shouldn’t be dimmed the way it is right now. I’m going to have to do something to get his smile back; it’s one of the things I wanted to see more than anything while Rex had me. Fuck if I’m not going to get to see it again now I’m home.

“When will they release you?” Sera asks, drawing my attention back to her.

“Tomorrow hopefully.”

“That’s good. You’ll feel better once you’re out of here. Hospitals aren’t exactly the place to get a decent rest.”

“Nope, they’re not, but for now it’s where I need to be, even if I’d rather they just release me. I know they’re taking precautions because of my injuries and shit. I’m just fucking happy I’m not in a worse state if I’m honest.”

“You’re not the only one.” She says, patting my hand.