by Cee Bowerman
“The infection is down in the bone. She might lose her leg.”
“Fuck.” Royal whispered as he ran his hands through his hair. “I wish that bitch was in all this pain. I hope someone shanks her when she goes to fucking prison.”
With the rage I was feeling inside, Royal voiced my thoughts. I went through all the people I knew and wondered if any of them had connections inside the prison system. I wanted to make sure that Nellie’s life inside was horrible, and that she experienced just as much pain as she had caused Lena.
✽✽✽
NINE DAYS LATER
“Today’s surgery went well. We cleared out what little infection was left, and I worked at getting her muscles stitched back together. It’s going to be a long hard road to recovery, and Ms. Sullivan may never walk on that leg again.”
I nodded my head and took a deep breath.
“Is she going to wake up soon?” I asked the doctor, a man who I had become decent friends with in the last two weeks.
“We’re going to wean her off the drugs that are keeping her sedated over the next few hours. It’s important that she not jostle that leg too much, and we’ll keep her on some heavy narcotics to hold the pain at bay.”
“Thank you.”
“Your woman is one hell of a fighter, Finn. I’d like to meet her once she’s up and around.”
“We’ll have you and your wife over for dinner sometime. Lena’d like that.”
“My wife would like to love on those twins of yours, I’m sure.”
Just then, Mace and Angus came around the corner. Both were a little out of breath.
“She awake?” Angus asked in his gravelly voice.
“Not yet. Soon though.” I nodded toward the doctor. “He said they’ve got all of the infection and she can start healing now.”
“Fuck, that’s good news.” Mace said with a smile aimed at the doctor. “Thanks, Doc. Oh, I ran over to your house and spoke to the wife. We’ll get on that remodel of yours next month if that’s okay.”
“Did that news make my wife happy?” Manny, better known around the hospital as Dr. Chavez, smiled at Mace’s nod. “Then that’s just fine.”
“She’s excited about her new bathroom, but I’ve got to tell you, while I was there, she had me look at the kitchen, the laundry room and the patio.”
Manny sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Why can’t we just buy a new fucking house?”
I laughed at his pain.
“She told me you’d say that, and her response was, ‘Why buy a new house when I’ve almost got this one the way I want it?’” Mace chuckled and when Manny rolled his eyes. My two brothers and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Jesus.” Manny shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever makes my sweetheart happy then. But I’ve got some ideas on that fucking patio too.”
“We’ll get with you before she finalizes any plans.” I told him as he walked away. “See you tomorrow on rounds?”
Manny put his hand up in a half wave before he turned the corner to get back to work.
My brothers and I walked quietly into Lena’s room, a place where I’d been living with Lena for the last three weeks of this hell caused by Nellie Sullivan.
That bitch.
✽✽✽
TWELVE HOURS LATER
FINN
“Finn.” I heard a voice whisper close to my ear. I felt hands go through my hair, and I jerked my body up to look at Lena’s face. “Hi.”
“Hi, sweetheart.” I smiled at her, loving the feel of her hand in my hair. “You doing okay?”
“My body hurts. Where did that beard come from?”
“You like it?”
“Did you glue it on?” Lena’s voice cracked as she squinted at my face. “Thirsty.”
I reached over to the table and picked up my water bottle as her hand fell back to the bed. I opened the top and tilted it toward her mouth, letting her have a few good swallows before I pulled it away.
She grimaced as she swallowed the water, and her hand went up to her throat.
“Your throat probably hurts from the tubes and shit during surgery. I’ll let the nurses know you’re awake.” I pushed the button, and when the nurse answered the call, I told her that Lena was awake and talking. I could hear the smile in the nurse’s voice as she said she’d be right down. “Are you in pain?”
“No.” Lena looked afraid for a second and looked down at her leg. Once she realized it was still there, she put her head back down on the pillow with a thump and sighed. “I was afraid they took my leg off.”
“It was a close thing, babe. But they think the infection is done now, so you can focus on recovery. Doc Chavez will be here in a few hours and he can answer all your questions.”
“Yeah.” Lena’s hand came up and she put it against my face. I felt her pinch some of my beard between her fingers and gently pull. “But my question now is why did you glue that to your face?”
“Honey, you’ve been out for almost two weeks. It grew this way.”
Lena tilted her head in confusion. “Two weeks? You were going to watch Nellie’s arraignment and then come right back. What happened?”
“Infection, sweetheart. All the way down into your bone.”
“Fuck me.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I’ve been saying for a while.” I took her hand between both of mine as the nurse hurried into the room. “I’m so glad you’re awake, baby.”
Lena smiled and turned her head to look at the nurse.
“Can I brush my teeth? I really want to kiss my guy.” Lena whispered to the nurse. The nurse smiled and pulled a few items off the cart she had pushed into the room. When Lena turned back to me, she asked, “How are my babies?”
And for the next ten minutes, I told her all about how much they had grown and showed her pictures of their smiling faces. And then, my beautiful woman fell into a peaceful sleep, a soft smile on her face.
✽✽✽
FINN
“Lena will be coming home soon, and then she’ll want to take care of the children. She’s finally conscious and getting better every minute. I’ll need you to be here in case she needs help, but she knows what she’s doing.”
“I need to talk to you about that. There is only one bed in the nursery.”
“The twins sleep together. It’s how my Mom always did it.”
“Those children are too attached to each other. They can’t function unless they are within arm’s length of one another, and I don’t believe that is healthy.”
“My sister and I were like that.” Bellamy and I had never been apart. Not until the third grade. And it damn near killed us. And, when she died, I felt like half of me had been ripped away. “You’re right. I’ll order another bed to be delivered tomorrow.”
The nurse, Nora, nodded her head.
“Where will Ms. Conner be sleeping?”
“In my room.” I looked at Nora like she was crazy to even ask. “Where she belongs.”
Nora slowly shook her head and winced. “When she gets out of the hospital, she’s going to need time to rest and recover. If she’s got you up and down throughout the night, she won’t get any good sleep. It might be a good idea to put her in the guest room until she gets used to being home.”
“If I’m in the room, I can take care of her.”
“You can also keep her awake, and that will cause her to struggle, possibly even giving her a setback in her recovery.”
“Really?”
“I’ve been a nurse for thirty-five years, Mr. Conner. I know how these things work. It will take time.”
“I need to go get the kids; they’re fussing.”
“They are just fine. I’ve fed them, changed them and it’s time for them to get on a decent schedule. It won’t hurt them to cry for a little while. It will teach them to self soothe.”
“What?”
“It’s a proven method.” Nora nodded. I looked toward the nursery and had to resist the urge to go and rock the
babies until they were sleeping. I looked down at my watch and realized I was going to be late for my one o’clock meeting if I didn’t get on the road right this minute.
With one last glance toward the nursery, I said my goodbyes to Nora and walked out to my truck.
✽✽✽
“What the fuck’s going on with you, Finn?” Royal growled at me as I walked into the office. “I went over to your goddamn house and that battle axe ran me off before I could even touch the kids. She said it wasn’t in their schedule to receive visitors. I’m a fucking visitor now?”
“No. She’s just trying to get the twins on a good schedule so they’ll be easier for Lena to take care of when she gets home.”
“I saw Lena this morning and she said you hadn’t taken the babies to see her in three days.” Chess put in. “What the fuck is up with that. They’re her fucking bright spots in all the shit she’s going through right now.”
“Nora said that it’s not good for them to be up there with Lena. It would be better if Lena could work on her rehab without them interfering with her schedule.”
“Fuck her and her schedule, Finn! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I’ve got to do this right, guys. I almost lost Lena. I got us some help for the babies, some help for when Lena gets home. I’m doing the best I fucking can!”
“You’re being a little pansy bitch and letting Nurse Ratchett run everyone off. I haven’t gone a fucking day without seeing Bella and Dill since they were fucking born and every single time I go over there she does everything but slap my hand away.” Chess said at a near yell. “You’re going to ruin everything we’ve been building. Lena’s going to fucking kill you.”
“This is all for Lena.” I ran my hands over my face, too tired to deal with my brother’s anger. “I almost lost her; I need to take better care of her.”
“You’re a fucking idiot, Finn. A complete fucking idiot.” Royal pushed past me and walked through the office door. “I’m going to see the babies, and fuck anyone that tries to stand in my way.”
“Did you see that, big brother? He stood up and made a fucking decision about the right thing to do. Maybe you should take fucking notes.” I watched Chess walk out the front door and follow Royal over to my house. I knew that Nora would give them hell, just like she had for the last two weeks.
I flopped down into my office chair, the weight of the world making it hard to breathe.
“Fuck my life.”
✽✽✽
LENA
“Today’s the day!” Mazie, one of my day nurses, and a woman I now considered a good friend, cheerfully called out to me as she came into my room. “You’re getting outta here, sister!”
“It’s about fucking time!” I groaned, slowly moving my leg off the bed. The brace around my leg, from the top of my thigh to my ankle, caught on the sheets as I rotated off the bed. Finn grabbed the sheet and then tried to pick me up and carry me to the wheelchair. “No. I can do this, babe.”
Finn frowned and stepped back, barely a foot away from me, his hands out to catch me in case I fell. I used the bed as a crutch, and slowly made my way toward my wheelchair so that Mazie could drive me out of this place.
“Your chariot awaits, love.” Mazie smiled down at me when I sat in the wheelchair. “When you get settled in, give me a call. I’ll come visit for a coffee.”
“Of course! Give me a day or two to get my routine down with the babies…”
“She won’t be alone with the babies.” Finn said. He was staring down at my leg, so he didn’t notice when my head snapped around so I could look at him. “Lena can visit with you anytime.”
“Yeah, I’ll call you.” I said quietly. Mazie’s eyebrows were up in her hairline. She was as shocked as I was at the news of someone else taking care of the twins.
In the three weeks since I had finally started to recover from my infection, almost six weeks from the day I was kidnapped, I was finally headed home. For days I had been working out a plan in my head to figure out how I would take care of the kids and get them back and forth to the office with me.
Lily had been taking care of things at the office, and Kari had come through with women to answer the phones and help Lily out every day. I planned to be back in the office in a week, at least part-time, and I was going to be taking the babies with me just like I had before.
Finn had been acting odd since I woke up three weeks ago. He refused to sit next to me on the bed and wouldn’t even joke with me when I asked him how we were going to have sex around this stupid brace I had to keep on. His brothers came up to the hospital all the time, and they treated me the same as they always had, like that kid sister they had to tease. But if Finn was around, he would jump their ass and tell them to be nice to me since I was recovering.
My relationship with Finn had been different since I woke up, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t seem to break through to find that carefree man I loved. He only brought the babies to the hospital every few days, and in the last week, I hadn’t seen them at all.
I had asked him more than once if everything was okay, and he insisted that he was fine, we were fine, and the babies were fine. He always gave me a sweet peck on the lips when he told me it was all right, and then he’d go into all the things he had done to prepare the house for me to come home to it.
Finn was quiet all the way home and refused to let me go to the nursery to see the babies, instead ushering me into the bedroom and planting me on the bed for a nap.
“A nap? Really?” I asked him as he tried to pull a blanket up over my body. “It’s not even dinner time, Finn. I need to see the kids. You haven’t brought them to the hospital in days. I miss them.”
“The kids are about to lie down for a nap. You almost died, Lena. You need to rest.”
“Come on, Finn. If you’re making me lay down, at least lay down with me.”
“No. I don’t want to hurt you, sweetheart. I’ve moved my stuff to the spare bedroom, so I don’t bother you.” Finn leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips before he moved across the room. “You take a nap, and I’ll come back in a few hours to see if you need anything.”
I sat in stunned silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out where my Finn had gone, and what was happening with my life.
What the hell?
17.
“I’m saying get the fuck out of this house before I lose my shit on you and end up in prison.”
Lena to the nanny
LENA
I laid in the bed for almost an hour, trying to figure out what was going on with Finn.
He moved out of our bedroom?
I pondered the situation and came to the conclusion that he didn’t want me anymore. After seeing me in the hospital at my very worst, he had changed his mind and didn’t want to be with me.
I was sad and insanely angry at the thought that he would dump me now, after all we had been through together. I closed my eyes and tried to still my thoughts, and as I tamed my breathing down, I heard the babies crying. Not just crying but wailing.
I pushed myself up to a sitting position and moved my leg off the bed. My crutches were across the room, so I plotted a path to them before I stood up. I used furniture to stabilize myself until I could make my way around the room. Once I was at my crutches, I put them under my arms and then reached for the door.
I made my way across the house to the nursery, listening to both babies screaming their little lungs out in anger. I knew better than to hurry, having fallen more than once in the hospital when I was going through therapy to teach me how to get around on my own with my brace and crutches.
When I walked into the nursery, I was shocked to see two cribs inside, set up on opposite sides of the room. There was a baby in each crib, and both were red-faced and screaming.
“What the fuck?” I muttered to myself as I made my way toward the baby on my left. I couldn’t tell if it was Dylan or Bellamy because the baby was in a diaper and no other clothes.
I propped one crutch against the crib and then reached down and picked the baby up. Within seconds the baby I held quieted as I made my way across the nursery using only one crutch. I laid down the baby in my arms next to its sibling, and the two of them were instantly calmer, clutching at each other as they whimpered together.
“Ms. Sullivan.” I turned to see a woman wearing nursing scrubs standing in the nursery door.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Nora.” She walked over to me and reached down into the crib. “The babies need to sleep apart now, Ms. Sullivan. It’s not good for them to be so attached to each other.”
“Get your fucking hand off my kid.” I growled at her. Nora’s head jerked back at my words, and she pulled her hand away from the crib. “You think it’s a good fucking idea to let them lay here and scream when all they want is each other? Get the fuck out of this room and get the fuck out of this house. Do it now.”
“Mr. Conner said that…”
“I don’t give a whistling fuck what Mr. Conner said, sweetheart. I’m saying get the fuck out of this house before I lose my shit on you and end up in prison. Who the fuck do you think you are, coming in here and changing things? You’re lucky I don’t just beat you to goddamn death with my crutch.”
“I don’t…”
“Get. The. Fuck. Out.” I said evenly. “Now.”
“I told you she’d shit.” I heard Royal say from the hallway. “Who won the pool?”
“Fuck. I think Chess did.” Ronan answered Royal’s question.
“Royal! Ronan!” I yelled loudly, causing this Nora bitch to jump even farther away from me. “Who the fuck is this, why is she here, and what the fuck is going on?”
“Yeah. I told you the other day this would happen, Ma’am.” Ronan said to the nurse. “You’re going to need to go ahead and go. We’ll deposit the full amount for this week’s check, but you’re not going to be needed here anymore.”
“Mr. Conner said …”
“I’m Mr. Conner too, and I told you to leave. Do that now, please.” Ronan growled. The odd little lady rushed out of the room, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket as she scurried away. “We have about ten minutes before Finn comes in here with both barrels blazing, Lena.”
