Page 121 of Saving the Rain
Raine showed me I could trust myself. That I was strong enough to do something on my own, and he wanted to be there to see me do it.
I absently rub over the center of my chest as my footsteps lead me back to the room he’s laid up in. As I reach the doorway, a low voice pierces my awareness. Blood drains from my face; at first, I think it’s Raine, and I’m riddled with guilt for not being at his side the moment he woke up. But in the next frantic heartbeat, I realize it’s not his voice. It’s not him at all. On reaching the doorway, I stop dead in my tracks.
“...you looked after him when I wasn’t there. For that, I’m forever in your debt.”
“Dad?”
Colton Wilder. My dad. He’s here. There’s no possible way he’s here in this hospital, when he’s supposed to be damn near on the other side of the world. With jet lag and sleeplessness clinging to his expression, his broad frame strides over to me without pause. He encircles me in a fierce hug.
I fucking lose it. I’m shaking, leaving sodden tracks of silent tears on his shoulder.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I croak. With my head turned to the side, through the wetness clinging to my lashes, I take in Raine’s figure where he lies dreadfully still. Unmoving. Machines surrounding him, monitoring his vitals.
“Hayes got in contact. I got on the first flight I could.”
“You didn’t have to.” But as I say the words, it hits me like a landslide that I’m so unbelievably grateful he did.
“There has been so much of your life I haven’t been there for. Times when I should’ve been a parent and wasn’t.” He rubs one palm back and forth between my shoulder blades and cradles the back of my head with the other. “I’m gonna be there for every fucking thing you need, son. And I know it might be too little too late, but tell me what I can do, whenever, and I’ll bethere.”
Chapter 49
The first thing I see when my eyes creak open is blond hair set against the stark, utilitarian hospital sheet. Kayce’s scruffy, mussed strands rest on the edge of my bed. His face is ashen, creased heavily with sleep, or maybe lack thereof. He’s leaning forward in the chair at my bedside and must have drifted off while resting alongside my arm.
When I try to move my hand, to stroke his face, I realize his fingers are hooked through mine.
He’s here.
Apparently, I’m still here, too.
“Hey, snowflake.” My voice is rusty. A faint rasp.
Those big blue orbs fly open, blinking rapidly. His eyes are red, with deep purple shadows framing his wild gaze, as he stares back at me in disbelief.
“Oh my god.” His words come out hoarse, still addled with sleep, but he launches out of his chair and softly grabs my face in both hands. “You ever do something like that again...” The rest doesn’t come out. It’s a broken, raw thing that he struggles to put words to as his breathing hitches.
Wetting my lips, I stare up at him, still foggy but it doesn’t matter.Nothing else matters. Because all I want right now is him filling my vision.
“You saved me,” I croak.
All I want is Kayce filling my entire life. No matter what I have to do to make that happen.
His fingers trace my face, gingerly mapping across my brow, my cheeks, my beard, and he bends forward on a shaky exhale to drop the softest of kisses against my lips. He’s so warm, so soft, I know he’s being careful to avoid all the tubes and shit attached to me. I can’t exactly feel any pain, but I also don’t feel like I can move either.
Kayce shakes his head, letting his nose ever so gently bump against mine. “No. You savedme. In so many ways. You turned my life inside out, and I’ve never been so scared about losing anyone... someone...you.” Hearing him, feeling him, and getting a second chance at having those whispered words brushing up against my lips is the best thing I’ve ever experienced.
“Are you ok?” I reach up and catch his hand. Or at least try to. I’m so fucking uncoordinated, thanks to the cocktail of painkillers I must be on. It takes me a couple of attempts before I manage to drag his fingers to my mouth so I can kiss those fingertips I don’t ever want to let go of.
“I thought I’d lost you.” Kayce’s throat dips, and his exhausted eyes glisten. “Please don’t ever fucking do that to me again. My heart won’t be able to take it.”
“He’s awake?” A loud whisper cuts across the room from the doorway. When Kayce turns, I blink a couple of times. There are a fuck load of people standing just inside the door to my room. “Oh my god. You’re awake.” Tessa waddles toward me with a look on her face that dangles somewhere between wanting to smother me with a pillow and immense relief. Wetness tracks down her cheeks as tears roll freely, and she stops on the other side of my bed.
When she bends down to give me a quick hug and kisses my forehead, I rub a thumb over the dampness there.
“You’re a fucking moron. And I’m so glad you’re ok.” She shakes her head.
“Don’t go wasting tears on me.”
“Such a grump.” She swipes at her cheeks with the heel of her palm and sniffs.