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When the nurse does come in, I hate that it takes a few threats from Desmond for me to be allowed to go in and see him. As I’m not legally his next of kin, I’m not even supposed to be in the room. I’m just thankful Desmond has allowed me to be.

The nurse opens the door to his room, and the first thing I see as I walk in is Evan’s cocky smile. It appears as soon as his emerald eyes catch sight of me. He seems to breathe the same sigh of relief that I do.

I take a moment to drag my gaze over what I can see of him. The hospital bed looks ridiculously small, with his muscular frame taking up so much of it. There’s some tubes coming out from under the blanket, and he’s got wires attached to him all over. There’s a tube giving him blood, while another gives him fluids.

One wire is doing his blood pressure, the others his heart rate. He has oxygen tubing running under his nose, hooking over his ears. The beeping from the machines is steady, and instantly, that eases my worry.

He’s battered and bruised, looking a lot more pale than he normally does, but the way he looks at me is still the same. His lips tip up into a smile.

“Hey, Angel. I’ve missed you,” he says, his voice deep and raspy, no doubt from where the breathing tube has been during his surgery.

As he shuffles to get comfy, he winces, and the beeping on the machines increases. I rush forward, hands outstretched as I look for any way I can help him. He waves me off, motioning for me to take a seat in the chair next to the bed.

As I sit down, he laces his fingers with mine, grabbing my hand tightly. A tear trickles down my cheek, and he reaches up to wipe it away. “Don’t cry, Angel. I’m okay.”

“I thought I was going to lose you,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

“And I was worried I’d lose you, too. When I passed out, I wasn’t sure if you’d been hit or not, and that scared the shit out of me,” he explains.

“I wasn’t hit. I shouldn’t have rushed in the way I did. It’s all my fault, and I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry you got shot because of me.” The words tumble from my lips frantically as tears stream down my face.

Evan reaches up and lays a hand on my cheek. “Don’t cry, Angel. I would take a million bullets for you. I will never regret putting myself between you and harm’s way. I love you, and I will always protect you.”

The three little words I’ve been waiting to say to him roll off his tongue with ease, like we never stopped telling each other. I can’t keep the grin from my face. “You love me?”

He chuckles, that gorgeous dimple appearing when he smirks at me. “I don’t think I ever stopped loving you, Tee. Even when I wanted to hate you, I loved you. I think I was born to fall in love with you.”

“I was born to love you too, Evan,” I reply, before leaning over and capturing his lips with mine.

It’s supposed to be a short, searing kiss, but as soon as we taste each other, neither can pull away. I press my mouth to his, my tongue sweeping across his lower lip to demand entry. He devours me with as much passion as I show him, and we only spring apart when the beeping on his monitor begins to alarm, indicating his heart rate is more elevated than it should be.

A nurse rushes into the room. She takes one look at my bee-stung lips and his flushed cheeks, and gives us a disapproving glare.

“Enough of that. If his heart rate gets elevated again, I will kick you out.” Her stern tone leaves no room for arguments, and as soon as she’s left the room, slamming the door behind her, we both break into fits of laughter.

When we calm down, both of us catching our breath, we just sit for a while, happy in the moment as we cling to each other’s hand. After a few minutes, Evan looks over at me, and I can tell he’s reluctant to say whatever he’s about to say.

“How is my family? Did we all make it out?” I can tell by the way he says the last part, there are parts he remembers.

“Evan…are you sure you want to do this now?” I ask him, knowing that he won’t take this news well.

“I need to know.”

I let out a sigh. “Liam was injured—badly. He’s been in surgery since they took you in, but we’ve had no word since. His heart stopped a few times on the ambulance ride over here, and doctors have told Bree to prepare for the worst. Even if he does survive, his brain may have been starved of oxygen for too long. He may never wake up. We just don’t know.”

A sob rips through Evan as he lets out a strangled cry, tears rolling down his face. “I have to get up. I have to see my family,” he says desperately, trying to pull at the blankets on top of him to get out of the bed.

I quickly jump to my feet and push him so he’s laying down, trying to make him calm down, but he’s frantic with worry, and the pain begins to consume him.

“Please, Evan. You have to stay in bed. You’ve just got out of surgery. As soon as they know anything about Liam, they will let us know. You have to look after yourself.”

“I can’t. I can’t. He’s my little brother. I have to help!” Evan shouts, the sobs making his movements frantic as the machines around him begin to alarm.

I can tell he’s in pain, as he holds the operation wound on his side, but he doesn’t stop. He continues shuffling to try and climb out of the bed. His grimacing gets worse, but he seems to be ignoring the pain in his side, focusing instead on the agony in his heart.

The nurse rushes in, followed quickly behind another nurse and a doctor. They hear Evan shouting hysterically about needing to get to his brother. They see me struggling to restrain him, and the pain on his face tells them everything they need to know. Blood is seeping through the bandage on his side, no doubt from where he’s pulled some of his stitches, and one IV lines has been pulled out of his arm, clear liquid now dripping on the floor.

“We need to sedate him,” the doctor shouts, as he begins reeling off instructions for the nurse to draw up the medication.