365 Days | Reylo 🌻🦋

Chapter 24

Rey knew she was dying, she could feel it in her soul, but she fought off the fatigue as long as she could for the survival of her child. With her eyes never leaving Ben's, she tried to tell him she loved him one last time, but the words never left her lips as her eyes unwillingly closed. The next time she woke, she felt dazed and sore as pain radiated from her chest and stomach – her vision blurry. Blinking several times to clear her vision, confusion set in as she tried to figure out where she was.

"Rey, thank God! I thought I lost you again."

"Who are you?" she asked, the male voice muted and distorted as if she were underwater.

"Rey?"

As her hearing became clearer with each passing second and her vision came into focus with each blink, Rey frowned at the large figure that stood in front of her.

"Do you not remember who I am?"

The broken way his voice cracked made her heart ache for him as her eyes focused on her husband with a watery smile. "How could I ever forget the love of my life?"

"Thank fuck. You scared me."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear or see clearly," she laughed and immediately winced in pain. "Ow, why does laughing hurt so much? Did I get hit by a truck or something?"

"You don't remember what happened? You were shot in the chest."

The memories before she lost consciousness came rushing back to her as her hands went down to her belly, tears filling her eyes at how flat it felt before a baby cooed – her eyes shifting down to the beautiful babe in Ben's arms.

"Is that Han?"

"Yes, he's our healthy baby boy. No complications and no defects, even though he was a little early. The doctors and nurses call both of you miracles around here."

"Give him to me. I want to hold our son."

"You can't, not yet. You're still recovering from your operations."

"Operations? As in plural?"

"You had..." he cleared his throat as if the words haunted him. "Your heart almost gave out after giving birth, and you had to have emergency heart surgery."

"But how? I wasn't on any list. My condition isn't... wasn't that serious to begin with."

"I got you on a donor list months ago, just in case, then did what I do best and got you to the top of that list. Good thing I did too, or else you wouldn't be here with me, with our son."

Ben turned so Rey could see their child's face as tears of joy fell from her eyes as she smiled, taking in every inch of his beautiful features that were a mixture of him and her.

"He has your eyes, Ben."

"He does, but he has your beauty."

"Well, if he grows up and turns out as handsome as you, he's going to need a stick to keep all the girls away."

"I'm sure the mama bear in you will scare any girl away."

"At least until he's 50. No one will be good enough for our baby boy."

When her smile faltered, Ben worried she was in pain. "What is it? Is the pain too much? Should I call a nurse for you?"

"I'm fine. I'm just sad I can't hold him."

Carefully maneuvering Han over his forearm and hand, Ben brought him closer to Rey, pressing Han's cheek to hers – allowing her to kiss his head – before bringing them face to face.