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Max released an exhausted breath before replying, “Could you put that in layman’s terms, Maddie? What does it mean?” Running a frustrated hand from his forehead to his jaw, he looked at his sister, unable to hide his pleading expression. He wanted someone to tell him that Mia was going to be okay. Anything else was just not acceptable.
“It means when she smashed her head into the cement, it scrambled her brain around inside of her skull and screwed up some of the tiny cells that exist inside the brain. She’s fine, Max. Really. There’s nothing significant on her MRI. The headache and dizziness will eventually subside and her memory should come back.” She removed her hand from his as Sam entered the room with a cardboard holder filled with foam cups of coffee, silently handing both him and Maddie a cup before taking one for himself and plopping beside his wife.
Max knew he should feel some sort of relief from hearing the words Maddie was saying, but every time he saw the vulnerability on Mia’s face, it made him want to kill someone. Problem was, he had no ideawhoto hurt for what had happened to his wife. Hell, he didn’t even knowwhathad happened to her. Most of the time, he didn’t dare question the fact that she was back and whole. But he couldn’t help having a few moments of doubt, wondering where in the hell she’d been, what she’d gone through during the last few years. He was a man of reason, and nothing was making sense.
As though reading his mind, Sam commented slowly but dangerously, “We’ll figure out what happened, Max.”
Max could hear in Sam’s tone the words he didn’t say aloud…and the bastard or bastards responsible will pay if they hurt her.Max looked across his sister and saw Sam’s expression. As the two men’s eyes connected, Sam nodded once at Max, letting him know he meant business. Max inclined his head slightly, acknowledging Sam’s support, so damn glad that someone understood his irritation and frustration, his raw male need to get revenge for whatever had happened to Mia. Yeah, he wasn’t sure she had even been hurt, but someone had taken her away, and he wanted that person’s head right now.
“You need to sleep, Max. You’ve been here for two days straight. Go home and get some rest. Mia can go home in the morning.” Maddie’s voice was pleading, her eyes troubled.
Oh, hell no.They’d need an entire damn army to drag him away from Mia. She was confused and scared, and though Maddie didn’t know it, that was a rarity for Mia. He needed to be here with her. His wife was back, and nothing was taking her away from him again. With the uncertainty of what exactly had occurred, why she had disappeared, there was no way he was leaving her. “I’m staying. I’ll sleep when we go home,” he answered stubbornly, pulling the lid from his coffee and taking a healthy gulp. “You two need to take off. I’ll be fine here.” Shit, he wanted to get up and dance because his wife had been returned to him. He probably would if he wasn’t so damn tired and worried.
Kade and Travis had left for the day, but Maddie and Sam had stayed behind, Maddie hunting down the doctors to get the whole story after getting Mia’s permission to do so. Thank God his sister was a physician. Max needed to hear what was happening from someone he trusted, and in a language he understood.
Sam stood and clasped his wife’s hand, pulling her to her feet.
“I don’t want to leave you alone here tonight, Max,” Maddie said softly, her sympathetic gaze running over her brother and his disheveled appearance.
Max looked up at her, his heart warming from her sisterly concern. Putting his coffee on the table beside him, he stood up and pulled her into a bear hug. Sam plucked the coffee from his wife’s hand deftly as Max swept Maddie into his arms and squeezed her tightly. “Thank you for being here when I needed you, but I’m not alone anymore. Mia’s here. I’m exactly where I should be.” His voice was hoarse, his emotions getting closer to the surface with exhaustion.
Releasing Maddie, he told Sam, “Take her home. She’s pregnant with my nephew.”
Sam snorted. “You mean my daughter?” He raised a brow at Max.
Max rolled his eyes. “My nephew,” he argued good-naturedly. He knew Sam didn’t care whether Maddie had a boy or girl, as long as the baby was healthy. But since he’d learned that Sam was dreaming of a little girl cousin for Simon’s soon-to-arrive baby girl, Max immediately had to be contrary. It just wouldn’t be naturalnotto argue with Sam.
Sam took Maddie’s hand and slapped Max on the back. “Now you can have one of your own, buddy. See you tomorrow.” Sam exited the waiting room with Maddie, his parting words still echoing in Max’s brain.
Max had barely started to dare to believe Mia was alive, back in his life again. It was too early to start thinking about kids, but it didn’t stop the longing when he thought about the fact that he might have something other than a bleak future. His heart racing, he exited the waiting room, striding quickly toward Mia’s room.
His wife had been in the hospital for two days, yet he’d barely had a chance to talk to her. Someone was always taking her away for tests or exams, and when she was in her room, someone was always visiting. He wanted some time alone with her, needed it.
He didn’t knock. The door was ajar and he pushed it open gently with his shoulder, his eyes immediately drawn to the bed. Max didn’t know what he had been expecting, but he exhaled hard, expelling the breath of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Maybe he was afraid he was delusional, or that she’d be gone. But she was there, her head down and looking at the screen of her laptop, her teeth worrying her lower lip as she tapped on the keyboard.
She’s scared. I know that worried expression.
Her hair was still short, but it was blonde again, the color that she’d used apparently temporary. Most of it had washed out after the nurse had helped her shower. Max couldn’t deny that he wanted to know why she had wanted to cover her blonde locks, why she’d cut her beautiful hair short, but he pushed the questions away. He wasn’t getting any answers—not right now anyway. Instead, he just stared at the short curly locks that framed her beautiful face. Dressed in a pink pastel nightgown with fuzzy slippers, she looked much younger than her actual twenty-nine years.
I missed two of her birthdays. We missed two anniversaries.
No matter. Max planned on making up for every moment they’d lost. Never again would he tell himself he had time, that he had years to enjoy life with Miaafterhe’d created his empire, and especiallyonce he’d learnedto control the intensity of his emotions around her. The latter was the primary reason he’d focused on his business. The way he’d felt about her was too intense, too raw, too hard to hide. She’d been his one vulnerability, a major crack in his Hamilton control, and he’d had a very hard time keeping his possessive instincts in check. Now, he couldn’t care less whether he was in control or not. Everything had stopped mattering to him the moment he had lost her.
Learned your lessons, dumbass?
Oh yeah, he definitely had. Life was short, and nothing really mattered except the people you cared about.
“What are you doing?” he asked curiously as he moved into the room, letting the door click closed behind him.
Her luminous blue eyes looked up from the computer, her lips curling into a happy smile as she saw him. The look was so familiar that it nearly brought him to his knees.
“Research. I’m trying to find out more about what happened to me and why I can’t remember.” She closed the laptop and gave him her full attention, a familiar action that had always disconcerted him and fascinated him at the same time. Now, he found it enchanting and seductive, something that helped quench a deep-seated need.
He sat in the chair next to the bed, unable to tear his eyes away from her face. “And what did you find out, Madame Detective?”
“Not much. Nothing the doctors haven’t already told me. I did find it a little spooky reading about my own supposed death.” She sighed and rested against the pillows behind her back before continuing, “Losing over two years of my life is scary. It seems like just yesterday that we were attending the Bannister Charity Dinner, but I can feel the hole in my life, that everything’s changed.” She paused and whispered softly, “I’ve changed.”
“We’ll figure it all out, sweetheart. I swear. Everything will be okay,” Max answered, taking her hand in his and scooting the chair closer to the bed.