Page 63 of Hutch (Minnesota Raptors #2)

I’m already starting to feel some twinges of pain. I don’t like pain, but I don’t like pain medication either. What to do?

“We’ve got you this far, Miss Canton, let us get you home.”

I sigh, which makes me cough, which sets off pain. Severe pain in my lungs. If he’s telling me it’ll be worse than this, maybe a few days of pain medicine won’t hurt.

Just a few days , I mouth at him, my voice gone. He understands and nods solemnly.

I need to tell him about my hearing.

Can’t hear too good , I mouth at him and he frowns, stepping closer. It’s not like I can write it down with both hands in casts.

“What was that?”

Ears. Can’t hear well.

“Your ears?” he asks.

I nod.

“You’re having problems hearing?”

I nod vigorously.

He frowns and comes closer, pulling something from the wall and shining it in my ears.

“How did we miss this?” He’s muttering and I just barely hear him. “Looks like both your ear drums are ruptured.”

“What?” Dr. Sturgis comes over and looks into my ears as well. “We both missed it. There was so much swelling in and around her head.”

“Compared to all your other injuries, this is going to be simple. Nothing to worry about,” Dr. Briney assures me.

“Ruptured ear drums typically heal on their own within a few weeks. You’re already on high does antibiotics, but I’m going to add antibiotic ear drops as a precaution.

It’s nothing to worry about. We’ll watch it closely while you’re here. ”

It doesn’t feel like nothing to worry about.

“You’re going to be fine, Miss Canton. Now, I’m going to tell that young man of yours he can come back inside. He’s probably pitching holy hell out there.”

That sounds like him. He’s a bulldog when it comes to me.

The other two doctors assure me they’ll check on me a little later after I’ve had new scans. Cora smiles and comes over to check my bandages.

I look down at the mess on my stomach when she pulls the gown aside. I’m one big bruise.

“There are several incisions that I need to change the dressing for,” she explains as she starts pulling tape and removing the bandages. “It might hurt, so I’m sorry for that, but we can’t let it get infected. Hutch would kill me.”

I look up at his name and frown. They called him my fiancé earlier. He is not my fiancé. I think I would remember that.

“That boy has not left your side since you’ve been here,” Cora goes on.

“He’s stunk up the room to the point a few nurses started to complain.

That’s when I had Collin get him a change of clothes and made him shower.

His clothes were bloody and that odor is not great.

” She starts cleaning the wounds and the sting is enough to make me gasp.

“Sorry. Just so you know, we had him shower earlier. You did not need to wake up to BO.”

I frown and try to reach for her, but the pain is swift and severe.

“What is it honey?” she asks, concerned.

“H..h..o.cc…key.”

“Are you worried about him not showing up?”

I nod.

“Don’t worry about that. The Raptors are a family. They’ll take care of Hutch while he takes care of you. All you need to worry about right now is getting better.”

There is something else I’m worried about, but before I can ask, Hutch, Collin, and Robbie all barrel back in the room. Hutch’s eyes seek mine and there’s relief there, like he was afraid something would happen while he was out of the room.

“Well, you finally went and did it,” Robbie says. “You’ve been threatening for years to put me on mute and you found a way to do it.”

Not funny.

“Too soon?” he asks.

I nod, but this time, there’s pain. Not a lot, just a twinge.

The meds are wearing off. I had serious brain surgery with a severe concussion.

I haven’t really felt the extent of my injuries yet, but everything is starting to hurt.

Yeah, those pain meds are probably the way to go even if they terrify me.

“We’re going to need to take her for a scan in a few minutes,” Cora says.

“I need to get back to the hotel for a bit.” Robbie leans down and kisses my forehead.

“I’ll be back in a while. I’d bring you back actual food, but the doc says your throat is fucked and I don’t want to cause you any more pain than necessary.

It’s good to see you awake. We’ll catch up when I get back. Love you, Sis.”

When did Robbie get here? He’s not supposed to be here until Christmas.

“Red, don’t be doing that to me again. That brother might be able to handle it, but this brother can’t.” Collin sighs wearily. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Brother?

“We told the hospital he was your adopted brother so they wouldn’t kick him out,” Hutch explains. “And I’m your fiancé. It’s the only thing I could think of so you wouldn’t be here alone.”

That explains the fiancé comment from the doctor earlier.

“I’m going to leave you guys alone for a while and go find food. I’ll let Jenny and Christa know she’s awake, but they want her to rest before she’s bombarded with visitors.”

“Tell them to come back tomorrow and that I appreciate them constantly being here.”

Collin nods and kisses my forehead like Robbie did. “I’ll be back in a bit, Red. Don’t die on me.”

He said it half-jokingly, but there is a fear in his eyes when he says it that screams how serious he really is.

When he’s gone, it’s just me and Hutch. He looks terrified.

I lift my arm to reach for him despite the pain. A whimper escapes and he rushes over, his eyes sweeping me.

“What hurts?” he demands.

Everything hurts, but it’s bearable.

Lucy , I mouth to him.

“She’s okay. She was in the hospital for a bit, but she’s been released to her parents.

She has a severe concussion and they removed her spleen, but other than some deep bruising, that was the extent of her injuries.

The concussion is pretty nasty, though. They’re hopeful by the time basketball season starts, she’ll be good to go.

She’s going to be okay, sweetheart. She’s more worried about you than she is herself.

Will is good too. Nasty concussion, but he’ll be fine. ”

Joe?

He understands my question even if I can’t speak it.

“Asswipe is sitting in jail. The judge set his bail at three mill and his parents can’t raise the money.

He’s not getting out of it this time. It was caught on CCTV from across the street.

Everything he did in the parking garage, it’s all there in black and white.

And the security guys Barry hired to find you, they went in, subdued him and his buddy.

They’ll testify in court to what they found.

Your blood, as well as Lucy’s and Will’s, was on his clothes. He’s not getting out of it this time.”

Jail? I need him to verify what he said. Please be in jail.

He nods, reading my lips.

“He’s in jail, baby. He’s never going to hurt you again.”

A sense of relief sweeps through me. He’s in jail. He can’t make bail. I know he can’t because his dad is on disability, and his mom is a cashier at Walmart. They don’t have that kind of money.

“He doesn’t have family in law enforcement here. He’s not a star here. He has no sway.”

I close my eyes and see images of him kicking me over and over. Panic sets in, but then Hutch is there, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “Shhh, sweetheart. I got you. You’re safe.”

Safe.

He’s in jail and can’t hurt me.

He can’t hurt anyone anymore.

“The cops are going to want to take your statement, but I asked the docs to keep them away for as long as possible.”

I don’t want to talk to anyone about any of it. At least not right now. Just thinking about him makes my body start to shake.

“Shhh,” he whispers. “I got you, baby. I got you.”

And he apparently did. He did CPR to keep me from dying.

I push at him a little to try and get his attention. My biggest regret was that I never told him how I felt and even if I can’t speak, I need to let him know.

“What is it?”

I take a deep breath, scared to tell him, but needing to.

I love you.

He rears back like I slapped him when he reads my lips. Maybe the nurse was wrong. Maybe he doesn’t love me. But it doesn’t change how I feel and my need to tell him. I don’t want to live with that regret.

“You love me?” he asks stupidly.

I nod, my body language turning cautious.

He blinks rapidly and then hugs me so gently, I want to cry. He’s so very careful with my bruised and broken body.

“Oh, baby girl, you have no idea…shit, but you scared the hell out of me. You were dead when we found you. There was no pulse, you weren’t breathing.

I couldn’t think, couldn’t do shit. All I felt was my world falling out from under me and I fell helplessly, my world shattered at the thought of never seeing you again.

I’ve been paralyzed for this whole week, trapped in the thoughts of you not breathing, of you dying on me again.

I can’t handle that again, Daisy. Don’t you ever do that to me again. ”

There are tears in his voice and it shakes me to my core.

“You love me?” he asks hoarsely, his face buried in my hair.

“I have loved you for so long and was just afraid to tell you. I was scared it would make you run. I fucking love you so much, Daisy. So fucking much I thought I was going to die myself when I thought you were dead. Never again do that to me. You can’t die on me. ”

I can’t even hug him back. Or speak and it’s killing me to hear him this torn up, in this much pain. I knew he cared. It’s hard not to when he’s shown me through his actions how much he cared, but I had no idea it went this deep. That it affected him this much.

He moves so that his forehead is against mine and all I see are his eyes.

“I wanted to go stomp asswipe’s head in, but my only thought was you.

You were lying there bloody and broken, and you weren’t fucking breathing.

I breathed for you until the ambulance arrived.

Dylan and Collin kept your heart beating.

We weren’t going to let you die. I refused to let you die. Please don’t ever die on me.”

I wish I could promise that, but I can’t. He knows that, but in the moment, I get why he’s demanding that. I wish I could give him that reassurance.

Instead of saying anything, I tilt my head up and kiss him.

He doesn’t move.

I pull back look up into terrified gray eyes.

“I could hurt you.”

I shake my head ever so slightly, aware of how much it’s starting to hurt when I do that. He’s not going to hurt me any more than I’m already hurting.

“I…what if it messes with your head injuries?”

I tilt my head and pain slices through it this time.

“See? You had major brain surgery. No kissing until the neurologist clears it.”

I want to laugh at his expression of vindication, but if I do, it’ll only hurt worse. Instead, I settle for a grumpy glare.

“Nope, Red, I almost lost you. I’m not going to do anything that might set you back.” He hugs me again, kissing my cheek. “When the bandages come off your head from brain surgery, then we’ll discuss kissing again.”

Bandages on my head? I try to lift my hand to check and moan in pain. I keep forgetting to not move.

“They had to repair two brain bleeds and then they had to relieve pressure from swelling by drilling holes in your head. While it might not be as intensive as some brain surgery, it’s still major brain surgery. You have a hell of a concussion on top of that. You need to take it easy.”

“He’s right.” The same nurse that was here before comes in. “You need to take it easy and rest. Your body is still healing from major injuries. The best thing you can do is sleep.”

“Sleep?” Hutch mutters. “She’s been sleeping for a week.”

“Yes, but that was medically induced,” the nurse explains. “Her body’s natural instinct is going to be to sleep, and we need to let her. The more she rests, the faster she’ll heal.”

“See? You need to rest and not be thinking of kissing.”

The nurse laughs. “Normally, I’d say kiss all day, but we need you resting right now more than anything else. Once you’re feeling better, then kiss him all you want.”

Hutch looks even more vindicated.

I stick my tongue out at him.

“I need to take you for scans and x-rays. Hutch, you go find food, she’s going to be a while. And don’t give me any sass. She’s awake, alert, and breathing . Go eat before you fall down.”

He’s not been eating?

The nurse seems to understand my confusion. “If it wasn’t for my husband, he’d have starved.”

“Cora is Shaw Chandler’s wife.”

That means nothing to me.

“Shaw is member of the Raptors hockey team.”

Ah.

“He’s been here as much as he can making sure this one at least eats once a day. I texted him earlier to let him know you were awake, so he may come and introduce himself at some point. But right now, we need to get you to radiology, and this one needs to go eat.”

He doesn’t look happy, but he steps back as she unhooks me and moves the bed out into the hallway to take me radiology.

“Nothing’s going to hurt,” she assures me as another nurse helps her to maneuver the bed into the elevator. “In fact, you’ll probably sleep through it. As I said, sleep is your friend right now. So relax, and if you need to sleep, do that.”

My first instinct is to fight sleep out of fear. But Joe is in jail. He can’t get to me. This is not West Virginia where he has friends and family to come at me. I’m safe.

So I do what she says and close my eyes. I am really, really tired. I let myself fall asleep, knowing that no one can hurt me.

Hutch made it safe for me.

Joe’s in jail.

I’m safe.