“Sir,” I started, then stopped and grinned sheepishly, “sorry, I mean, Tom. You don’t owe me anything. I love your daughter. If anything, I should be thanking you for choosing me to guard her; otherwise I might not have met her.” I bent my head and kissed the back of her hand, stroking my fingertips up her arm, just waiting for the time when she’d open her beautiful, brown eyes and my world would suddenly fall back into place again.
Chapter Fifty-One
That night was easily the most uncomfortable and pain-filled night I had ever spent. Every muscle in my body hurt, and I couldn’t sit in the same position for more than ten minutes at a time. Thankfully, her father had insisted that I be allowed to stay with her – he told the doctors that it was guard duty, but everyone knew that it wasn’t, so at least I got to sit in the chair in her room and hold her hand all night long. I had barely been able to take my eyes off her for more than a few minutes at a time. Bruises covered her arms, face, neck, shoulders, and I daren’t even think about what her stomach and chest looked like, but she was still the most perfect thing I had ever seen in my life.
It was past four in the afternoon when they started to reduce the sedative that was in the IV so that she would start to wake. Her parents and I were all sat around the bed in silence, just waiting. Finally, her eyelids fluttered, and my heart leapt into my throat. President Spencer leant over and pressed the call button on the wall to alert the doctors of Anna’s awakening.
“Anna?” I whispered.
She made a small groan and turned her head towards me. “Mmm, hi,” she croaked, her voice raspy and sore-sounding.
Unable to resist, I bent over her and planted a soft kiss on the egg-shaped bump she had on her forehead. “Hi, Baby Girl. Are you feeling okay?”
“I have a stomach-ache,” she moaned, moving her hand to her stomach.
I quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her from touching her stomach in case she hurt herself. “That’s okay. They can give you something for it,” I assured her.
“Who can?” Finally, her eyes fluttered open. “Holy shit, Ashton! What the hell happened to your face?” she cried, looking at me horrified. I winced, she was right, I did look a mess.
I placed my hand on Anna’s shoulder, holding her in place as she tried to sit up. “Take it easy, Anna, I’m fine. Just stay lying down please, you’ll hurt yourself,” I instructed. Panic rose in my chest as I thought about her stitches breaking. The door opened and the doctor came in. I looked at them worriedly. “I don’t think she remembers anything,” I said, running my hand through my hair.
“Remember what? Ashton? What’s happening? What happened to your face?” Anna cried, ignoring everyone else in the room and holding her hand out for me.
I sighed. “Anna, Carter found you, do you remember?” I asked, gripping her hand tightly.
She gasped and closed her eyes. “Oh God,” she groaned, shaking her head as she obviously remembered. “Dean. Peter. They were all killed, they were all killed,” she whispered.
I sat on the edge of her bed and bent over her so my face was only inches from hers. “I know, Baby Girl. But it’s over now. I nearly lost you. Don’t ever do that to me again, you hear me?” I rasped, dipping my head and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. She whimpered against my lips and her hand lifted, tangling into the back of my hair, holding my mouth to hers when I went to pull back. The kiss wasn’t exactly the chaste, sweet kiss that I had intended it to be in front of her parents.
When the kiss broke, she winced and hesitantly touched my cheek. “Are you alright? You were shot! And your face.”
“I’m alright. Stop worrying about me,” I scolded, shaking my head disapprovingly.
“I can’t. I never will,” she answered, smiling at me tenderly.
The doctor cleared her throat to make her presence known. “Hi, Anna, how are you feeling?” she asked softly, taking hold of Anna’s wrist and checking her pulse. I moved off the bed but Anna gripped my hand tightly as if she was frightened to let go.
“I’m fine. My stomach hurts, and my face is a bit sore,” she told the doctor, her worried eyes still locked on me. “Did you have someone look at you, Ashton?”
I nodded in confirmation.
“Well, are you alright?” she queried.
“Anna, I’ll talk to you in a bit, okay? Just let the doctor look at you, Baby Girl,” I pleaded. She sighed and finally turned her head to look at the doctor.
“We had to operate to stop the bleeding. Your spleen was damaged too, so we had to remove part of it. You lost a lot of blood. It was touch-and-go for a bit, but the surgery went very well. You need to rest now, no sudden movements, just try to relax and let your body recover,” the doctor explained, examining her stomach. Anna’s eyes widened at the news, almost as if she hadn’t realised she was that hurt. The doctor scribbled some notes on her chart. “Well, if you need me, I’ll be doing my rounds. I’ll get someone to come and give you something for the pain. If you get tired, Anna, sleep. And absolutely no getting out of bed,” she instructed before heading out of the room.
Anna’s parents cooed over her for a bit, hugging her carefully. Anna didn’t let go of my hand the whole time, it was as if she was scared to in case I would run away or something. There was not much chance of that happening though, I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Well, I think we should let you two have some time on your own. We’ll come back after dinner to see you again, honey,” Melissa said, kissing her daughter’s cheek. President Spencer kissed her and shook my hand as he left the room.
Once we were on our own Anna turned to me and her eyes filled with tears. “Come lie with me,” she whispered, trying to shift over for me but not really getting anywhere. I climbed on the bed, being careful not to show her that it hurt me to move, she didn’t need to know that. I lay down next to her, and we looked into each other’s eyes for a while before she spoke. “Are you really okay?” she asked, trailing her fingers over my face.
I nodded. “Yeah, Baby Girl. I have a couple of broken ribs and fingers, but other than that I’m fine.” None of that mattered though while I was looking into her eyes.
She groaned. “Stop being such a badass, Ashton! You were shot for goodness’ sake, don’t pretend like it doesn’t hurt,” she scolded, rolling her eyes at me.
I smiled, trying not to laugh at her little outburst; I honestly did love it when she was all feisty like that. “Alright, alright, it hurts, is that what you want to hear?” I confirmed. “But I don’t care as long as you’re safe and here with me.”
She smiled weakly. “You’re so damn sweet, Pretty Boy,” she whispered.
A tear slid down her face and I sighed, wiping it away gently. “Please don’t cry. Everything’s okay now, nothing’s going to hurt you ever again.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” she muttered, finally losing control of her emotions and burying her face into my chest, sobbing.
I scoffed, stroking the back of her head. “Why on earth would you feel the need to thank me? Not only was it my job as your guard, it’s also my job as the guy who’s hopelessly in love with you.”
She gripped my shirt tightly as if I was going to run away. “You were so brave. You saved me.” Her body trembled so I held her tightly against me, waiting for her tears to subside. I didn’t need her gratitude, but I wasn’t going to say no to the hugs! “All those guards were killed. I can’t think what their families are going through. Oh God,” she mumbled, crying harder. My heart hurt because of how sad she was, and there was nothing I could do about it. She pulled back; her bloodshot watery eyes met mine. “Does it make me a horrible person that, deep down, I’m glad it was them and not you?” she croaked.
I sighed and shook my head slowly. “No, it doesn’t,” I assured her. I felt exactly the same. Of course, no one wanted anyone to die, but there would always be relief that it was someone else and not the one you loved. That was human nature. “Please don’t start trying to take the blame for their deaths. Carter Thomas and his men did this, not you.” I gritted my teeth when I said his name. The anger hadn’t subsided an inch, even though he was already gone.
She sniffed, wiping her face on the back of her hand. “There was no warning, there were so many of them. If you were there, you would have been killed too,” she muttered, clutching my shirt tightly. “I know I hurt you by sending you away, but I promise I was doing it for your own good. I didn’t want you to get hurt. The only reason I made you leave was because I love you so much. I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” she begged.
I cupped her face in my broken hands. “I understand why you did it, but you shouldn’t have sent me away from you. We should have worked through it together.” Her chin trembled as I spoke and her hand covered the back of mine on her cheek. “You don’t need my forgiveness though. Everything worked out in the end; however we got there.” I bent and kissed her lips. “But you don’t ever send me away again, understand? Because I won’t go. You’re stuck with me now.”
A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth as she nodded. “I won’t.”
“I love you, Annabelle Spencer.” I stroked the side of her face, wishing I could make the marks fade.
“And I love you, Ashton Taylor,” she whispered. I could see the love shining in her eyes, and hear the truth in her words. I just prayed that her feelings for me never diminished, because mine never would. She smiled and wriggled closer to me, wincing as she moved. I wrapped my arms gently around her and sighed happily. I wanted to ask her to marry me again, but I resisted the urge. I would do it properly this time, with a ring and a romantic setting. The last proposal wasn’t exactly romantic – covered in blood in the back of an ambulance. I’d need to call Nate and get him to courier something over to me before I could do it though.