Bombshells ~ Complete

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Waking Up

I woke up to bright lights, annoying beeping noises, and a crushing hold on my hand. I looked over and smiled at Jaydon, who was snoring and drooling on my hospital bed.

Wait a second. Hospital?

When the heck did this happen?

Memories started rushing through my head at top speed, making the beeping machine to start going nuts. I couldn't feel any pain. How long had I been asleep? Had a year passed? Two years?

A nurse rushed in, waking Jaydon up.

He jumped up from his position and saw my eyes open. His smile was brighter than almost anything I'd seen. He hugged me tightly, eliciting a groan from me.

There was the pain.

"Sir, why don't you go tell your brother's she's awake?" The nurse suggested, pushing Jaydon from the room. He nodded, then sprinted off.

I could only imagine how worried they must have been.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, my voice raspy and crackling. I gulped down the water that the nurse offered. She smiled at me.

"Not too long, sweetie. About four days. The surgery really took a lot out of you." The nurse said. I nodded.

Hold up. Surgery?

What the heck?

"I'm sorry. Surgery?" I asked, feeling my nerves bundle up in an anxious manner. The nurse smiled and nodded, obviously expecting my confusion. My eyes were so wide my face was starting to hurt. She wrote something down on a clipboard.

"Yes. You were brought it in pretty bad shape. A rib had punctured your stomach, which in turn caused you to bleed into your stomach. We had to go in and repair a couple of things so you didn't choke on your own blood. You were very lucky that those brothers of yours drove as fast as they could. Ten minutes later and you would have been dead. You did flatline once before we could get you back to surgery, but, as you can tell, we got your heart pumping again." The nurse explained with a laugh.

I blinked slowly and laid my head back.

Wow. Lots to wrap my head around.

Most I could have figured out given an hour or two to think. The whole flatlining and dying thing... That was a bit new for me.

I wasn't a stranger to internal bleeding, but I hadn't ever had surgery before. I looked down my flimsy hospital gown and bit my tongue to hold in the gasp.

There was a black line of stitches going all the way from the center of my chest to my belly button.

The skin looked green and sickly and it was oozing puss. I leaned over and puked on the floor. The nurse just sighed, looking down at the pile of vomit. I looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry." I whispered. The nurse handed me another cup of water, helping me to get rid of the taste in my mouth. What I really wanted was a piece of gum.

"It's no problem, honey. I just feel bad for the person who has to clean it up." She said with a wink in my direction. I smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. My whole body was stiff and aching and I wanted to walk around to get rid of the feeling.

The door opened again, and there stood my family. No father, so even better.

I tiredly waved at them, waiting for the rush of questions to begin. Surprisingly, no one said anything. Lila walked over to the nurse.

"Is she okay?" Lila asked in a croaky voice. She had been crying? For me? Why did I suddenly feel so warm and gooey inside?

"Fine as frog's hair and twice as jumpy." The nurse said, a southern twang in her voice as she said that. Everyone just looked at her like she was crazy.

The nurse shook her head, mumbling something about Yankees. I shook with silent laughter.

"She's saying I'm fine. How have you guys been holding up?" I asked, looking over them with concern.

Lila looked at me with such a look of anger I was afraid she would smack me. I didn't know what I did wrong, but the boys shared the same expression.

"How have we been holding up? We're not in the hospital." She hissed. I mean, she kind of was. She hadn't been admitted but she was, technically, in the hospital. I thought better than to actually say that.

Then it occurred to me that she wasn't angry at me, just angry at how I was worried about everyone but myself. Her lips left their pinched, tight line. Her whole face relaxed a little.

"I'm sorry. I already know how I'm doing. I feel better than before, but not too great. I wanted to know how you were doing." I explained quietly. Lila sat on the edge of my bed, and the boys fought for the uncomfortable chairs.

"We're alright. Just tired. We've been taking shifts watching you." She told me with a slight smile.

Only then did I see the dark purple bags under her eyes. She leaned over and took my hand, careful of the IV stuck in the back of my hand.

"I'm pretty sure watching over me is what the nurses get paid to do. You should have gone home and gotten some sleep." I told her sternly. She seemed a little shocked I could use that tone of voice, but she then laughed loudly.

Gabriel shushed her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know you're right, but you're my daughter. I wasn't going to leave you at the hospital with no one with you when you woke up." Lila informed me. I could only concede.

I was pretty sure the sleeping drugs were getting into my system, because I felt my eyelids become heavy.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." I told everyone who shook their heads at me.

I looked at them with confusion. What did I do wrong this time?

"It wasn't your fault for getting mugged." Lila whispered to me. She pressed a long kiss to my forehead which gave me time to school my stunned expression.

I didn't think with all this going on that Kade, Xavier, and Kas would keep her secret. I could tell from the other's expressions that they didn't believe it was a mugging.

"Wait a second! Aren't you supposed to be on your honeymoon?" I jerked away from her grip. She burst out into laughter again.

"You think when I got the call that my daughter was in the hospital, that I was just going to stay on my honeymoon? We can go back anytime we want. But not being here for you when you woke up... I would never forgive myself for that." She explained. I didn't know how, but her soft voice and logical explanation took all the worries off my shoulders.

And for once, I fell asleep completely and totally at peace.