A Ruthless Game | Grayson Hawthorne x reader

21 (The Final Part)

I wait next to the hospital bed. The monitor beeping rhythmically. It had been 18 hours since the attack, and I'd finally worked up the strength to tell Oren what had happened in the tunnels and what Rebecca had told me about Skye. He urged me to let him get a warrant for her arrest, but I begged him not to. I told him that Grayson would handle it when he woke up.

Because he would wake up. He had to...

Jameson, Nash, and Xander were all in the waiting room. I was technically supposed to be there too, but after enough arguing the nurse let me back.

I floated through the rest of the day. My body was a husk of what could have been.

     Without even realizing it, I'd stayed up all night just willing Grayson to wake up.

     Finally, around 3 a.m., I decided to get some rest. I grabbed his limp hand and rested my head on the side of the hospital bed.

As I lie trying to fall asleep, I recount the events of the previous day:

Grayson laid collapsed on the cold, hard ground in a puddle of blood.

      I dropped to my knees beside him and cradled his head in my arms.

      "Grayson...please...," I cried out.

      But he wasn't moving.

      The attacker crept forward with a twisted grin on his face. "Two birds with one stone," he laughed wickedly. "You won't get away this time."

     He aimed his weapon at me. I closed my eyes. Waiting for his shot. But it never came.

Oren and his team tackled the man before he could come any closer. Now that that was taken care of, I turned my attention back to Grayson. He'd been shot once in the abdomen. The other bullet missed both of us and embedded itself in the wall.

"What happened?" Oren asked running over to us. I looked up at him, tears streaming down my face. I was too shocked to say a single word. Oren looked at his team and said, "Get him out of here. Now!"

•  •  •

     Around 7 in the morning, sunlight began pouring in the windows, waking me up. The first thing I noticed when I woke up was a slight pressure in my hand.

I shot up in a instant to look at Grayson. I watched as his eyes fluttered open.

"Grayson..." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi, beautiful," he said quietly.

I hit his arm lightly. "What the hell were you thinking? Why would you do that?" I cried out.

"I don't get a 'thanks for saving my life, Grayson'," he teased.

I lifted my head and looked into his eyes. "Thank you, Grayson. Thank you."

   "When I said I'd always protect you, I meant it."

     "I'm glad you're okay," I smiled at him.

     We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. "Do you love him? My brother?" he asked. "I've seen the way he looks at you."

    Where was this coming from? "I do," I said slowly. "But not the way I love you."

     He squeezed my hand, and I closed my eyes and let my head rest on his arm as we drifted into another comfortable silence. In that moment, I couldn't think of anything but how happy I was that he was okay.

      Suddenly, the door opened, and my head jerked up. A nurse walked in, followed by the three Hawthorne brothers. Jameson stood awkwardly in the corner.

       "How are you doing, kid?" Nash asked.

      "Peachy," Grayson replied dryly.

      I got up from the chair and said, "I'll leave you guys alone." I turned to look at Grayson. "I'll be back later. Try not to get shot again while I'm gone. It really sucked the first time."

     I went out to waiting room to find Aidan sitting in one of the chairs. He got up when he saw me. There we stood a few feet away from each other in the hospital waiting room. We hadn't seen eye to eye on many things since we'd arrived at Hawthorne House, but all  our differences faded away in an instant.

       I collapsed in his arms and sobbed. "I- I was so scared," I managed to squeak out.

     "I know, I know," he said as he held me tight. "You're safe now. You both are," he added referring to Grayson in the other room. "Don't scare me like that again though. Got that, kid? You're all I got left," he said, his voice breaking. "Promise?"

      "I promise."

•  •  •

      A week had gone by, and Grayson was finally cleared to go home.

      In that time, Grayson had ordered his mother out of the house, and Oren had identified the hit man she'd hired. Some guy named Drake just looking for some extra cash.

     We walked through the doors of Hawthorne House together.

      "It's kind of weird to be back," Grayson said.

      "Aw, look at us. We've only known each other three weeks and already, we've both gotten shot in each other's presence," I said sarcastically.

     "How charming."

     "Who knew all we needed was getting shot to bring the two of us together."

      We chuckled together as we walked up the stairs to his wing. I had his hospital bag in my left hand and his arm in my right as I helped him up the stairs.

      Something caught my eyes though. A portrait of a young man hung on the wall at the top of the stairs.

      "Who is that?" I asked.

      "My uncle, Toby," he replied.

      "He looks so familiar."

     "That's impossible. Toby died before I was born." Grayson stepped to keep walking to his room, but I stayed there. Looking at the painting. "Y/n, come on," he pleaded.

      I took a step toward the painting. I outlined the man's jawline with my fingertip. Why did his face seem so familiar? Then, it occurred to me.

     "There's no way," I whispered. "It can't be."

     "Y/n, what's wrong?" Grayson questioned. 

     "The man from the park. Harry."

•  •  •

     "Are you absolutely certain it's him?" Grayson asked me. We were sitting on the sofa together in his dimly-lit room later that night.

      "I'm sure," I assured him.

      "Then, we have to find him."

      "Are you sure you want to do that? What if you don't find the answer you're looking for?"

      "We'll find him together," Grayson suggested reaching out to grab my hand.

      "Together," I smiled.

The End.

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there may or may not be an epilogue coming your way very shortly, so be on the look out 👀