Never to Keep (Accepting Fate #1) (42 page)

I jumped in the back of the ambulance and held on to her hand tightly. “You can’t die. I love you.” More truthful words had never passed through my lips. “I’m so in love with you. I have been since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

“She’s going into shock!” one of the paramedics yelled so the others in the front could hear. “Sir,” he said to me, “you need to back up.”

“You have to help her. I love her.” I heard one of the medics in the front relaying her information to the hospital over the radio.

The large man placed a mask attached to a bag over her nose and mouth and began squeezing it in a steady rhythm. “Pulse is thready.” He parted her robe as much as he could without disturbing the knife. “She’s bleeding into her abdomen!”

“
O.R. three is ready. Head directly to the surgical suite upon arrival
,” a male voice said over the radio.

“You need to fight, baby. Fight for Peyton, fight for the baby, fight for us,” I begged as I felt my cheeks dampen.

The ambulance jerked to a halt outside the hospital. I jumped from the truck as soon as Madison was out. I raced to keep up with them as they wheeled her through the hospital.

“Sir, are you family?” a nurse asked.

“I… I’m…”

“She’s twenty-six weeks pregnant; he’s the baby’s father,” Ethan said from beside me. I hadn’t noticed him before. “I’ll take care of the registration paperwork later,” he said.

“Does she have any allergies or medical conditions?” the nurse asked me as Madison was wheeled through double doors and out of sight.

“I…don’t know.”

“No allergies. Only prior surgery is tonsillectomy,” Ethan answered. “I have medical power of attorney.”

“Sir, you’re going to need to wait here,” she said calmly.

“Please, save her,” I begged.

“We’ll do everything we can,” she said before disappearing through the double doors.

I grabbed Ethan’s arm before he could follow her. “You have to save Madison. Do whatever you have to do to save her. She has to live, even if it means the baby doesn’t. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” he said. “The best doctors in the state are in there with her right now. The top trauma surgeon from the main campus of the university hospital was here giving a lecture today. When we got the call from dispatch, we called and asked for his help. We also called in our entire staff of surgeons, obstetricians, and emergency physicians.” I’d never seen Ethan so pale. “They won’t let me help, so I’m going to watch from the gallery. Go over to the waiting area, and I’ll keep you updated.”

“Remember what I said. Do whatever it takes to save her,” I said. Ethan nodded and then rushed through the doors to where the love of my life was fighting to survive.

I made my way to the uncomfortable waiting room chair and began making calls. The first call was to Nana to see if she would keep Peyton longer than expected.

My second call was to Madison’s father. “David, this is Sawyer,” I said when he answered.

“What the fuck do you want?” he asked in an ominous tone. I’d forgotten that he thought of me as the jerk that had broken his little girl’s heart.

I explained the attack and told him about Madison’s condition. “She’s going to need all the support she can get when she gets through this.” I refused to consider any other outcome. “Will you help me?”

“I’ll do anything for my baby girl. When she pulls through, you need to respect her wishes. If she doesn’t want you around, you need to leave.”

“Agreed,” I said. There was no way I’d ever leave Madison again, but I didn’t have time to argue with her father. I asked David for some information and then disconnected. I made a few more calls and then sat and waited for my first update from Ethan.

Almost an hour passed before my phone buzzed with a text message.

Ethan:
They are still working. She’s fighting.

My stomach clenched. Those words were too similar to ones he’d said about Olivia.

The wait was unbearable. I’d told the police everything I knew and then went back to sitting in silence for a while. I needed a distraction, so I called Marina to fill her in on the situation.

“I’ll be on the next flight out,” she said.

“I appreciate it. Madison and Peyton are going to need friendly faces.”

“So do you. You need support, and it sounds like you don’t have much right now.”

“All I want is for her to be okay and for the bastard who did this to her to rot in hell. I need to borrow your private investigator.”

“No problem. I’ll text you his info as soon as we hang up.”

“Oh, one more thing, I need to you stop and pick something up for me in the city after you land.”

“Sure, just text me the info.”

A text with the name and number of the best P.I. in the business came through less than a minute after we hung up. I immediately called him and told him everything I knew about the asshole who tried to take Madison away from me.

Sawyer

“How long until she wakes up?” I asked Ethan as I stroked the dark hair away from Madison’s pale face.

“Could be minutes or days. Her heart stopped twice during surgery.” Ethan stood on the other side of her bed and took her hand. “She’s going to be in a lot of pain when she wakes up.”

“You’re going to be okay, baby. Please, be okay,” I said close to her ear.

“She’s the toughest person I’ve ever met. She’s going to be fine.” Ethan’s confidence helped to reassure me. “Where’s Peyton?”

“She’s still at Nana’s house.”

“I’ll pick her up after my shift is over. You can stay here with Madison as long as you want. I’ll let the nurses know it’s okay.”

“Thank you.”

David walked into the room as Ethan was leaving. “What did you find out?” he asked me. His angry eyes briefly softened as he glanced over at his daughter. Ethan doubled back into the room to join the conversation.

“Everything. I know more about him than he knows about himself. His name is Ronald McLaughlin, Junior,” I said.

“Fuck!” David kicked a trashcan that had been sitting to his right. “Ronny McLaughlin is the son of the terrorist who shot me. His father was murdered in prison.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck. “This must be some sort of sick revenge. He’s probably been stalking her for months.”

I was absolutely positive he was the sick fucker who attacked her outside of the club a few months ago, as well. “I know where he is. When are we going to go?” I asked, looking between the two men.

“
We
are not going. This is my fault—I need to do this on my own,” David replied firmly.

“There’s no way we aren’t going to get a piece of him,” Ethan said.

“I have powerful connections. I can get the ultimate justice for Maddie and have the mess cleaned up behind me.” He looked over at Madison before continuing, “I already have blood on my hands; I wouldn’t wish that on either one of you. It changes a person, and not for the better.” He drew his eyes back to me. “I need to do this for my little girl, and you need to stay here in case she wakes up.”

David took another long look at Madison and then stormed out of the room, hell bent on revenge.

*

Marina rushed into Madison’s room a few hours after David left. I hugged her tightly for several minutes. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see the woman standing behind her. “Mom!” I ditched my sister and pulled my mother into my arms. “I’m so happy to see you. What are you doing here?”

“Your sister called to tell me what happened. I couldn’t sit at home knowing my kids needed help.”

“Your kids? Are Thomas and Finn here?” I looked around the room to make sure I hadn’t missed anyone.

“Marina and Madison are my daughters,” she said as if I should have known. I was ecstatic that Mom accepted Madison into the family after spending so little time with her. “Now, where’s Peyton? I need to get to know my granddaughter.”

“We can pick up Peyton and then go to Sawyer’s house,” Marina offered. “Call us if you need anything. We’ll stay with Peyton today and come back to visit tomorrow.”

“Thank you both so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.” I hugged them both.

“Oh, yeah, I picked up that thing for you,” Marina said with a huge smile. She handed me a small, black velvet box. “You did good, brother,” she said and then left with my mother.

Sawyer

“Hey there, beautiful,” I whispered as Madison’s eyes tried to flutter open.

“What happened?” she said through the gravel in her throat. I grabbed a cup of water from the table and held it to her mouth. She drained the cup dry before she tried to speak again. “Why am I in a hospital bed?”

“How much do you remember?”

Her eyes tracked back and forth as she searched her memories. “I remember Ronny… Oh God, the baby.” I held her shoulders down when she tried to sit up.

“The baby is fine. In fact, he’s been trying to wake you up for the past few hours.” I was careful to avoid her wound when I moved my hand to her stomach. “After they took you back to surgery, I realized I’d never felt him kick. I was so scared I’d never get the chance.”

“Thank God,” she said. “How long have I been here?”

“The attack was three days ago.”

“Peyton must be scared. I need to see her.” Her voice was barely audible as her eyes fell closed.

“It’s three in the morning. She’ll come see you as soon as she wakes up. Do you remember much else that happened?”

She shook her head, letting me know she was still with me.

“I’d like to remind you of a few things in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Don’t want to think about the pain.”

“That not what I wanted to talk about. I want to make sure you remember that I love you. I’m stupidly, insanely in love with you.” I fought the tears pricking my eyes. “You are the love of my life, and I can’t live without you.”

She reached for my hand and finally noticed what I’d placed on her finger two days earlier. She opened her eyes and pulled her left hand up to look at it.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“What does it look like?” I answered with a grin.

“I know what it looks like. I’m just not sure what it’s doing on my hand.”

“Oh, you must not remember agreeing to marry me before you passed out.”

“I think I would remember something like that.”

I laughed and slipped the ring off of her finger. I pushed my chair away from the bed carefully, so I wouldn’t dislodge any of the tubes and wires connected to her and then dropped to one knee. I took a deep breath and looked into the eyes of the woman who owned my heart.

“Madison Miller, you are the love of my life. I want to fall asleep with you every night and wake up next to you every morning. I want to raise our family together and grow old and gray with you. I will cherish you every moment of every day for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her silence was making me nervous.

“‘Yes’ and ‘yes’ are both acceptable answers,” I said.

“Yes,” she said. It was the most beautiful syllable I’d ever heard.

I climbed into the bed and slid the ring back on her finger. I carefully placed my lips on hers in an attempt to show her just how much I truly loved her.

“I didn’t realize costume jewelry was this heavy,” she said after we snuggled up together to go to sleep.

“It’s real,” I said. Her eyes widened slightly. “Sorry, I know it’s not nearly big enough.” I was a little disappointed that she didn’t seem to like it, but I’d get her anything she wanted.

“It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, but you need to take it back. There’s no way you can afford it.”

I finally felt safe enough to tell her my biggest secret. “I’ve been keeping something from you.” I studied her tired expression to feel out her reaction. “I’m loaded. Marina inherited millions of dollars from our biological mother. She gave me what was left over, which was over fifty million.”

Her head tilted slightly to the left as she took a minute to process my words. “You’re a fucking multi-millionaire, yet you argued with me over supporting the kids?”

“I told you I would take care of them. I was afraid to tell you about the money. I wanted to make sure you were with me for me.”

She flinched as she drew in a big yawn. “This conversation isn’t over, mister,” she said. She repositioned herself a little bit and then fell into a deep sleep.

Madison

“
Despierta
Emilia.” I didn’t want to wake up. My mother’s fingers gently stroking my hair was one of my favorite dreams, and it would all be gone the moment I opened my eyes.

“Come on, Madison.” Sawyer’s voice sounded so beautiful saying my name. I thought about the dream I’d had where Sawyer proposed—I wanted to enjoy it a little while longer.

“Go away… Good dream,” I mumbled.

“It’s not a dream.” Sawyer’s voice sounded so real.

“Yes, it is…
Mami
is in Spain…”

“I’m scared, Mama. Please, wake up.” Peyton’s tiny voice was the only thing that could pull me from my amazing dream.