Page 66 of Fallen Heir

I stood and moved around to the side of the bed, ready to help her sit up. She didn’t stop me—but she didn’t acknowledge me either. I didn’t know if she was ashamed. Or if she was angry. Or if she’d already decided she wasn’t going to speak to me again because I’d let this happen.

The cold truth was, I couldn’t blame her either way.

Ben stood when he saw her shift, quietly excusing himself with a glance toward the hallway, giving her the privacy she deserved.

Savannah pushed to her feet slowly, cautiously, like she was relearning how to move again. I stayed close—close enough to catch her if she stumbled, but not so close that she felt caged.

She didn’t stumble.

She made it across the room, into the restroom, and back all on her own. Her steps were slow, her breaths measured, but she did it.

And I couldn’t stop the small swell of pride that rose in my chest.

After everything she’d been through—everything—she was still standing. Still fighting.

The nursemade a few notes, smiled gently, and announced that she’d be getting the discharge paperwork before stepping out of the room.

Ben reappeared a moment later, slipping back in as he’d left it. He didn’t speak, just took his seat across from us again, settling in like he planned to stay as long as she needed.

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward—not exactly—but it lingered just a few seconds longer than comfortable. The kind of silence filled with things no one quite knew how to say.

Then Savannah’s voice broke through it.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, voice raspy and raw, like it hurt just to speak.

I looked at her, brow furrowed.

Sorry?

But it was Ben who answered.

“No,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let him get that close. I knew he was there. I just… I thought you were with Jax. Until I saw you weren’t.”

His voice cracked slightly near the end, and that was when I really looked at him.

He looked exhausted.

Not just physically, but bone-deep—like the weight of failure was sitting on his shoulders just as heavily as it was on mine.

He wasn’t just tired.

He was blaming himself, too.

We both were.

Chapter 23

Savannah

The drive home was quiet. Ben sat up front with the driver while Jaxson stayed beside me in the backseat. His hand rested gently on my knee—a quiet, grounding presence—but I couldn’t bring myself to hold it. Not after what I remembered.

Alex’s words had started to return the second my head hit the hospital pillow, fragmented at first, then sharper as the fog lifted:Divorce papers. Dues. Fucking with Bruce's mind.

At the time, I thought he was bluffing, trying to throw me off balance. But now, with Jaxson sitting beside me, watching me like I might shatter again, I wasn’t so sure.

When we reached the house, Ben walked me to the door while Jaxson retrieved my bag from the car.

He planned to stay, to watch over me. That had been the plan since the first night we were together. Unless he was out of town, he’d stay with me. Keep me safe. But as I stepped inside, wrapped in silence and exhaustion, I wasn’t sure I could breathe with him so close.