Sebastian (The Beck Brothers #2) (19 page)

  Bianna clung to Sebastian's arm as
they walked down the hall to Raelynn's room. Sebastian laced his fingers in
hers. He needed the support as bad as she did. He was shaking, but so was
Bianna, so he didn't feel as bad about it. They stopped just outside the open
door that led to Raelynn's room. The doors were large sliding glass ones, which
were left open. The only thing cutting off their view of her was the curtain,
which pulled across the door for some privacy.

  Bianna moved around the curtain
first, pulling Sebastian in behind her. The sight of Raelynn lying in that bed
will be forever burned into his mind. She had tubes and wires everywhere. She
was hooked up to a ventilator, so there was a tube coming out of her mouth. A
large bandage wrapped around her head, and a drainage tube stuck out from one
side of it. Monitors beeped and clicked. Sebastian could see the bandage
sticking out the top of her hospital gown. They had to open up her chest to
repair the damage the bullet caused. The thought made Sebastian sick to his
stomach.

"Jesus." Sebastian breathed,
pressing back against the wall just beyond the curtain.

Bianna turned toward him, but black spots
dotted his vision, and he couldn't see her clearly. "Sebastian? Are you alright?"
she asked, concerned.

Sebastian shook his head furiously and
pressed a hand to his chest. His heart was going to pound out of his chest and
he couldn't pull in enough air. "I can't...I can't breathe," he
gasped.

Bianna grabbed his shoulders. "You're
having a panic attack, sit down," she said softly, helping to guide him
down the wall, until he was sitting on his ass. "Pull your knees up and
drop your head between them."

He did as he was told.

"Good. Now breathe nice deep
breaths. That's right. Good," she soothed, rubbing his back.

"I'm sorry, Bianna," Sebastian
muttered from between his knees, once he could breathe again.

"It's okay, Sebastian. This just
tells me how much you care about my sister," she murmured gently. "Are
you better?"

"Yeah, thank you," he said,
lifting his head.

  Bianna gave him a tender smile
then stood and walked over to the bed. Sebastian slowly got to his feet and
made his way over to the opposite side of the bed. He took Raelynn's hand in
both of his and lifted it to kiss her knuckles. Tears welled and started
pouring down his face. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening. It
was only last night that they were making love in her bed, and now she was
fighting for her life. This had to be a nightmare that he would wake up from
soon.

  Bianna spoke softly to her sister
from the other side of the bed, while Sebastian silently cried and clutched
Raelynn's hand. She looked over at Sebastian, tears streaming down her face.

"I'll give you a minute alone with
her," Bianna whispered then headed for the door.

  Sebastian stared down at Raelynn.
How could this be happening? Was fate really this cruel? Would she really take
away the one woman that could possibly be the love of his life? All his anguish
came bubbling up to the surface and boiled over. A ragged sob escaped him.
Sebastian bent over and dropped his forehead to the back of her hand that he
has been holding.

"Please, don't leave me Rae,"
he pleaded quietly. "I couldn't handle losing you. I need you."

  Sebastian had no idea how long he
had been there. Tears continued to leak from his eyes, and he had no idea if
they would ever stop. He was still bent over, with his head now resting on her
thigh, and his face turned so that he could look up at her. He didn't even know
when the next time he'd be able to see her was. It killed him to not be
considered her family. If he were her husband, he wouldn't have this problem.

Strong hands came to rest on his
shoulders, making Sebastian start. He straightened and looked back to see Henry
standing behind him. Sebastian blinked then rubbed his eyes, not sure if he was
seeing correctly. "Henry?" he questioned.

Henry squeezed his shoulders. He wasn't
looking at Sebastian though, he was looking at Raelynn, his expression sad.

"What...what are you doing
here?" Sebastian asked in confusion.

"Jared called me,” Henry replied
quietly, still looking over her battered form.

"How'd he get your number?" Sebastian
asked.

“I’m your emergency contact,” Henry said,
finally turning his gaze to him.

  Sebastian nodded in understanding.
Jared must have had Henry's number stored in his phone for emergencies. He
couldn't thank Jared enough for today. The man was truly a great person.
Sebastian was beginning to consider him a friend, also.

"Visiting hours are over Sebastian,
it's time to go," Henry murmured apologetically.

Sebastian sighed heavily. He wasn't ready
to leave. Sebastian leaned over and kissed Raelynn's forehead. "I'll come
see you as soon as I can, sweet cheeks. Promise me you'll fight to stay alive,"
he whispered to her, praying that she could hear him.

  Sebastian gathered up all the
strength he could muster and turned away. Henry put his arm around his
shoulders and led him from the room. As they passed the waiting room, Raelynn's
family was in the process of leaving, too. Sebastian went to Jared and hugged
him. He made a surprised noise, but hugged him back.

"Thank you, Jared," Sebastian
whispered.

Jared patted his back. "You're
welcome, Sebastian."

Sebastian pulled back, giving him a tight
smile before turning to leave.

"Sebastian," Jared called.

Sebastian turned back and looked at Jared
expectantly.

"Raelynn's parents put you on the
visitor’s list. You can come see Raelynn whenever you want," Jared said
softly.

  Sebastian sucked in a sharp
breath, his eyes widened slightly. Sebastian's gaze swung over to Raelynn's parents,
who were standing together a little behind Jared. They both gave him a small
but warm smile. Sebastian didn't know what to say. He was shocked, extremely
grateful, and being the pussy he was, he burst into tears. He went to her
parents and hugged them both at the same time, whispering ‘Thank you’
repeatedly. They hugged him back.

Raelynn's mom started crying because he
was crying. He didn't even know their names, but he didn't really care at the
moment. They had just done the best thing ever for him, and he planned to take
advantage of their gift. He was going to be here every day for Raelynn. He
would
will
her to get
better, and not give up without a fight. He just got her back, and they
haven't had enough time together. He wanted more, dammit, and he was going to
get it! Raelynn somehow become his world, and he would not let his world come
crashing down a second time.

Chapter
12

  Raelynn wanted out of the
darkness. She had no idea where she was or what had happened. She couldn't
remember anything, and had no idea how long she had been here. She could hear
voices every now and then, but she couldn’t decipher whose voices they were; some
were male and some were female. One male voice stood out, but she couldn’t come
up with his name. She knew he was important to her, though. Whenever she heard
him, he told her to fight, that he needed her, that he missed her. Raelynn
yearned to repeat the words to him.

  Raelynn felt the darkness slowly
fading. She could hear that male voice again, talking to her. Raelynn fought to
listen to what he was saying. She wanted to know what he was saying. The
darkness receded a little more. The man laughed; it was the kind of laugh that
she knew was rare and special coming from this man. There was a light fog around
her now.

"He's getting so big. Anyway, I was
thinking about getting another tattoo, maybe your face on the side of my
neck?" The voice chuckled. "I'm just joking. Well partially, I do
want another tattoo. Maybe something else, like St. Michael..."

  Raelynn could feel her body again.
She could feel a hand on her thigh, gently rubbing. She dragged her eyes open
as much as she could. It was only a crack; she could see only a sliver of light,
but nothing solid. She turned her head toward the voice, which had abruptly cut
off. She let out a breathy moan; she didn't want him to stop talking!

"Raelynn?" the voice asked
hesitantly.

Raelynn licked her dry lips and tried to
speak, but nothing came out.

"Holy shit! Hold on, baby! Let me
get a nurse," the voice said excitedly.

Raelynn heard him move. A beep sounded,
and then a disembodied female voice spoke. "Can I help you?"

"I think Raelynn's waking up!"
he practically shouted.

"Okay, hun, I'll be right
there," the female voice said hurriedly.

  Within seconds, the woman came
into the room and started asking Raelynn to do different things, like squeeze
her fingers, and wiggle her toes. The more Raelynn did, the more she was able
to open her eyes and think more clearly. The woman looming over her was a nurse
- going by the scrubs she was wearing. Raelynn figured she was in the hospital
for some reason, she'd find out later. Right now, she wanted to know whom the
guy was that had been talking to her.

  The nurse finally moved out of
Raelynn's line of sight. That's when she saw him - Sebastian. His hands were
laced together on top of his head as he paced back and forth at the end of her
bed. He looked anxious, relieved, and excited, all at the same time. His face
was covered in stubble as it normally was. He was wearing a long sleeved navy
blue Henley, with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His jeans were faded and
fit snuggly to his muscled thighs. He looked as gorgeous as ever.

  The nurse announced that she was
going to go find the doctor and headed out of the room. Sebastian watched her
leave, then slowly turned back to look at Raelynn. He dragged his hands down
his face, looking at her with watery eyes. Raelynn frowned. Why was he so
upset? What happened?

"Sebastian?" Raelynn rasped,
her voice sounding as if she chewed on some gravel.

Sebastian pressed his fist to his mouth
and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears to roll down his cheeks.
"Dammit." He breathed, swiping angrily at the tears. "I swore I
wouldn't cry anymore," he said, more to himself than Raelynn.

  Sebastian opened his eyes. He
looked a little more composed as he walked over to the side of her bed and sat
down next to her hip, turning slightly to face her. He gave her a shaky smile
and held her hand in both of his.

"Hey, sweet cheeks. I missed
you," Sebastian murmured, then kissed her knuckles.

"What happened?" Raelynn
croaked.

Sebastian's smile faded. "You were
shot and also cracked your skull when you fell down a flight of stairs. The
doctors weren't sure if you were going to make it. You were in the ICU for a
week and a half in a medically induced coma to get the swelling in your brain
to go down. You were finally well enough to be moved out of the ICU two days
ago. We've just been waiting for you to wake up," he said, running his
thumb over her knuckles.

Raelynn gasped is disbelief. "What?"

Sebastian nodded sadly. Raelynn frowned.
She didn’t remember any of that. She didn’t remember anything past showing up
to work at 2:30 in the morning.

"Damn, Rae. I missed you so badly. I
was so afraid you would never wake up," Sebastian said, his voice
trembling with emotion.

  Raelynn looked up into his green
eyes, which were once again tearing up. How often had he cried since she's been
here? She never thought of Sebastian as an overly sensitive guy, but it was
twice now since she's woken up that he's gotten teary eyed. She really must
have been in bad shape for him to be this emotional. Raelynn squeezed his hand.