Intertwined: A Redemption Novel

by Sasha Brümmer

  “You weigh next to nothing. I need to get some food in you.”

  She kisses me underneath my jaw as I carry her to the nurse’s station and ask if we’re allowed to go check on the woman who Isla wants to see so badly.

  “That won’t be a problem. She woke up earlier today.”

  I nod my thanks before turning and walking Isla down the hall to a closed door. “I’m going to need you to knock for me, babe.”

  She reaches over and knocks on the modern glass door before a nurse pulls it open from the room’s interior.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Yes. I’m lead in Remission Worldwide, and I’d like to reunite these two women.”

  “Of course.”

  She moves out of the doorway, and I step past her and to the bed where this fragile girl is lying.

  “Oh God,” Isla gasps and lets go of the IV stand once I stop moving and slowly lower her onto her feet. I don’t let go of her for two reasons, though. One, I’m an infatuated asshole, and I need the reassurance that she’s still here with me. Two, I’m unsure how physically strong she is right now.

  The woman tries to smile around the tube in her mouth but fails miserably.

  “Oh no, no. Please don’t push yourself. I just . . . I needed to see you. I needed to know if you were okay.”

  She nods and reaches for Isla’s hand. I watch my girl hesitate before she grabs hold of this woman’s hand in what seems like a death grip.

  “Thank you,” Isla whispers and leans down to move the hair from the woman’s face. “I’m Isla Madden, and this is my fiancé, Liam Jensen.”

  The woman nods and signals for a pen and paper with the one arm that isn’t currently in a cast.

  “Hold onto the bed, Isla. I’ll go grab some from the nurses’ station.”

  “Thank you,” she says before kissing my cheek and placing her hands on the bed before I help her take a seat in the one available chair before walking out of the room faster than I probably need to. The nurse offers me a pad of paper and blue pen, and I make my way back to my girl.

  When I walk back in, I pull the door closed and move to Isla who takes the pen and paper from me before I move behind the chair that houses my world.

  “Here,” Isla says as she hands both objects off to the woman, helping her steady the pen in her hand. “What’s your name?”

  We remain silent while she scribbles her name on the white paper before ripping off of the stack and handing it to Isla. Quinn Welsh.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Quinn.”

  She nods and rests her head back.

  “Liam and I will make sure that you get home to your loved ones, okay?”

  We watch her write out two words before tears start to trickle down her cheeks.

  Thank you.

  Isla reaches back for my hand, and I take it willingly. I’m glad that she understands the fact that I’m here for her. Here to support her and to bring her back up when she feels as if she’s had enough.

  “We should allow her time to rest, doll.”

  Quinn’s eyes go wide and shoot to Isla’s, but Isla doesn’t say anything about it. I’m unsure if it’s the fact that I’ll be taking Isla away or if Quinn will be alone once more. Neither of them says anything as they communicate through the silence.

  “We won’t be far. I’m sure that you will be able to ask the nurses to take you to Isla’s room once you’re off of the ventilator.

  Her eyes don’t stray from Isla’s once as I speak, and it’s at this moment that I know there’s something I’m missing, something that Isla is keeping from me, and I will, regardless of what I have to do, get the truth out of her.

  “Isla? Are you ready?”

  She nods and just as she starts to stand, I move to the front of the seat and lift her up into my arms. I grit my teeth and breathe in deeply as the wound seems to reopen on my shoulder.

  She blows Quinn a kiss before grabbing hold of the IV stand and we leave the room. Not even two minutes later, we’re back in her room, and I’ve closed the door and dimmed the lights to give her some kind of reprieve. I watch her close her eyes as I sit beside her, but a loud knock on the door startles her, and I have to contain my fury toward whoever is on the other side of the door right now.

  I get up and pull it open with more force than necessary. I’m met with the tired eyes of one of my team members. He holds up a brown paper bag, and I take it.

  “Go get some rest,” I instruct, “and thank you.” I nod toward the bag as he walks away from the door and I close it quietly before walking back to Isla’s side.

  “What’s in there?” she asks as she lifts her head up from the pillow.

  I smirk at her and unroll the top of it to cast a glance inside. I chuckle to myself and reach in to pull out the first tub.

  She groans when she sees the pint of vanilla gelato and reaches for the remote that will adjust her bed. I reach out for the rolling table and pull it toward her before placing the vanilla and two other flavors in front of her.

  “I guess he didn’t know what to get you.”

  “Are you kidding? This is going to be the best meal that I’ve ever consumed. Give that guy a raise, Jensen.”

  The rise and fall of her voice puts a slight smile on my face. It’s one of the few times that I’ve heard my Isla come back from her hell-induced monotone.

  “What flavor do you want to keep out? I’ll ask the nurses to keep the rest in their break room.”

  “What flavor?”

  “Yeah, which do you want now? Vanilla, chocolate, or salted caramel?”

  “Uhh, all of them?”

  I chuckle as she opens each container and scoops some of every flavor onto her spoon before placing it in her mouth and groaning in delight.

  I have to fucking chant my grandmother’s name in my head in order not to get fucking hard right now.

  “Want some?”

  “More than you know.”

  That makes her blush and look down at the tubs before turning her attention to me again.

  “Can I tell you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “You have to swear to me that you won’t do anything about it, though. I just want to get it off of my chest. It’s got nothing to do with the compound or Grady, though. It happened before then.”

  “What is it, Isla?”

  “Well,” she says but pauses to place another spoonful into her mouth. “Do you remember when we met up with your family for lunch in the Keys?”

  “I do.”

  Where the fuck is she going with this?

  “Well, when I went to the bathroom, your mother joined me.” She looks up at me while reaching for my hand and lacing her slim fingers through mine. “She cornered me and pulled out her checkbook, asking how much it would take for me to end our relationship and make the baby disappear.”

  That smile on my face that was there not even a second ago? It fucking vanished.

  “Excuse me?”

  She sighs and shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “Isla, yes, you should have. What the fuck did you do?”

  “I told her to go fuck herself. Needless to say, I don’t think that she likes me very much.”

  I start to laugh because in the history of knowing my mother, not one person has ever been as brash with her as my fiancée apparently was. “Fuck, I love you.”

  “What?” she squeals as I stand and angle my lips over hers for a brief moment before I pull back again.

  “Do you think that anyone has the balls to say shit like that to my mother?”

  She beams and leans forward, asking for my lips. “I did.”

  “All the more reason why I’m going to marry the fuck out of you.”

  I lay my lips against hers gently. Instead of pushing the kiss, I allow her to take the lead, and she doesn’t hold back as her tongue prods my lips for entrance. With the knowledge of her wanting this, I run my tongue along the smooth surface of hers be
fore deepening the kiss and taking my control back. Fiery demand and passion envelop me in all things Isla as I delve into her mouth. This is the one woman who has had the innate ability to take all of the wind from my lungs with her lips, and I won’t ever complain about that shit.

  She inhales sharply against my kiss, and I’m completely unprepared when she pushes the table away from her and tugs on my shirt. My breath quickens and I tilt my head to get better access to her parted lips. I pull back for a moment to take her in. In place of the shy smile that she’s been hiding behind since I found her, her face lights up as she leans up again, hungry for my kiss. I refuse to keep it from her even though I know that I should.

  Nothing about this kiss is obligated or overthought. Each of us seems to be locked in the present moment as warmth radiates between us. I push the rolling table completely out of the way before taking my chances and lying down beside her. Her warmth slowly seeps in through my skin and spreads throughout the rest of me.

  “Liam,” she moans, and I pull back for a couple of seconds to ensure that she’s still enjoying this moment.

  She is. I can see it in the glittering golden flecks in her eyes.

  “Isla?”

  “I want you. I want you to touch me.”

  Her captivating demand almost leaves me fucking breathless with euphoric ecstasy.

  My Isla is back, and she’s still mine. She will always be mine.

  His lips feel implausible as they envelop mine, and tease my heart with pure bliss. “Please?” I ask again as he adjusts me and my IV lines. I move deeper into his hold and slide one of my legs between his.

  I can see him overthinking my proposition as I pull back and stare at his handsome face. “Liam?”

  He parts his lips to speak, but it takes him a moment longer to find the words that he’s in search of. “Are you sure? Here? So soon after . . . ?”

  I give him my affirmation with a smile because we could be under a freeway bridge in the middle of winter and I would still need to feel the release that his body provides mine with.

  “Let me get you out of here first. Please?”

  My smile falls, but I try to keep it together while he wraps me in his arms and keeps me steady.

  “You don’t have enough energy for what I want to do to you. The moment you do, though, I’ll lock us up in a hotel room and ravage you until you can’t breathe.”

  “All right, deal.”

  With his saturated love, he gets me to smile again as I nuzzle into his shirt. Every inch of him is immeasurably fine. He’s done much more than piqued my attention over the years: he’s won my heart over without having to try. His love and warmth spill out from his heart and flow into mine as we lie soundlessly together.

  It is said that it usually takes three things to make something intertwined, and here we are with our third resting between the two of us.

  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.—Ecclesiastes 4:12.

  A repetitive rap on the door draws me away from an unpleasant dream of rope burns and the sickening stench of involuntary sex. I shift in Liam’s arms before taking note of the dark skies just beyond my window.

  I lift my head when the sounds startle me again.

  “Mmm,” Liam groans, and I have to repress a laugh. I slide my fingers through his dark hair before moving them down his sideburns to his jaw. I tilt my head up and place my lips against his and try to wake him with a kiss, but it doesn’t seem to work too well.

  Someone raps lightly on the door. “Miss Madden?”

  I hear the door open and let my eyes adjust to the light streaming through the doorway before I lift my finger to my lips, asking them to keep quiet.

  I get a questioning look from a nurse who I haven’t seen before, but the doctor just shakes his head with a smile on his face and moves to my side.

  “He’s been through a lot. He was telling me about the number of countries that he traveled to in the last two weeks. It’s astounding, really.”

  I look back down at Liam and snuggle a little further into his body than I was before. I knew that he’d be searching for me, but I didn’t know just how hard he’s been looking. I don’t know if I’ll be able to thank him enough for searching the world for me.

  “He’s one of a kind.”

  “I’m glad that you see that. While he’s asleep and not arguing with me, I’ll replace his bandage and check on his other stitches.”

  “You’ll what?”

  The doctor moves away from the machines keeping track of my body after noting down a few things and walks around to the other side of the bed where Liam is lost to sleep.

  “Miss Madden?” The nurse asks before the doctor has a chance to answer me, “Would you like to use the bathroom and take a shower?”

  I cast a gaze at Liam as she helps me stand up from the twin-sized bed. I watch as the doctor adjusts Liam so that he’s fully lying on his side before pulling his black shirt up his torso and removing his right arm from the sleeve.

  I almost pass out on the spot.

  I would have hit the floor if the nurse weren’t already supporting my weight. Scrambling to regain my balance, I watch the doctor remove the tape from a large bandage that is covering his shoulder.

  “What happened?” I choke out. I’m going to be sick; I can feel the bile threatening at the base of my throat.

  There’s dark blood covering the once-white bandage and my stomach lurches.

  “Miss Madden, I’m going to need you to calm down.”

  “What happened?” I demand as I pull out of her grip and hold onto the bed as I move around it to where the doctor is working.

  He looks up at me and sighs. “He’ll need to be the one who explains exactly what happened, but from my treatment, I can tell you that he was shot while he and his teams invaded the Macedonian compound. I removed the bullet when you two first arrived.”

  I watch as he washes the wound before starting to cover it up once again.

  “Shot?”

  “Three times actually. He has a knife wound as well and two more gunshot wounds in his abdomen. I’ll check on those as soon as I’m done with this one.”

  “Two more?” I squeeze out and cover my mouth with a cupped hand.

  “Yes, but that’s as extensive as his wounds have been over the last two weeks.”

  “All of this happened while he was saving me?”

  “Once again, Miss Madden, I’m unsure of the details, but the only bullet that I’ve removed was the one in his shoulder. The other wounds were taken care of by someone else. They had occurred before this one did.”

  The tears burn down my cheeks and seem to sear my soul as I begin to realize how much his life was on the line while searching for me.

  “Will he be all right?” I ask through a deluge of silent tears.

  “He’ll need to be careful with this arm until the wound heals, but he should be fine since no bones were shattered, and no major organs were damaged.”

  “Be careful?”

  “Yes. He has a list of restrictions that I’ve been over with him on multiple occasions now. One of them he seems to have already broken, according to my nurses.”

  “What did he do?”

  He gives me a gentle smile before pulling Liam’s shirt back on. “He’s not allowed to lift anything heavier than five kilograms.”

  “Five?”

  “Yes, which is approximately ten pounds.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Which is understandable. He’s been far more concerned about your and the other women’s well-being than his own.”

  I sob and reach for his hand as the doctor and nurse move my sleeping fiancé onto his back to check on his older wounds.

  “Miss Madden? Shall we see about that shower now?”

  I nod, but I don’t want to leave his side at all now. What did he see while he was looking for me? What did he do? How has all of this affected him? How have I not
thought about any of this before now?

  I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I know that it’s something that we need to speak about. I also know that I need to tell him about Grady referring to me as his plastic bitch. It’s the one thing that I wasn’t going to share with him, but I know that I need to if I want him to divulge any information that he seems to be holding back.

  The look that Quinn gave me when he called me his favorite nickname, one that he has called me for years, was unmistakable. She was scared for me, but there’s no reason to be. None at all. He’s my salvation, and I refuse to let a monster diminish my relationship with Liam just because of a slice of personal information that he was able to get ahold of.

  Screw the assholes who tried to steal my life away from me. I know that in the end, they will be reduced to nothing, and I’ll be sturdy enough to continue living my life. After watching the doctor check over his other wounds, I let the nurse lead me away from Liam and into the en suite bathroom. She helps me out of the too-big hospital gown and into the shower once the water heats up.

  I manage to wash up without her assistance, and I know that it’s the first step in the right direction. I cringe when I run the shampoo through my straw-like hair. It’s just another thing to fix before I am able to completely move on from the turmoil in my head. I know that it’s just hair, but it’s part of who I am. It’s the visible stain on my body of what I’ve been through and I’m ready to have it covered up.

  When I’m done washing up, I stand under the spray for a full five minutes before the nurse asks me if I’m done for the hundredth time. Instead of ignoring her this time, though, I nod and accept the towel that she offers me. It’s warm when I wrap it around myself, and it only makes me want to get back into bed with Liam.

  Once I’m dried off and dressed in a clean hospital gown, I make my way, without help, back to the bed and to the man who will obligingly put his life on the line for me.

  The doctor is no longer in the room, and Liam’s masculine scent of sleep and cologne fills my lungs as I crawl into the bed and nestle myself against him.