My girl sniffled and batted at her tears with her free hand. “You know we’ll help in any way we can.”
Elaina’s face crumpled with sadness. “I know, honey. We all know.”
“We’re all going to help,” Crissy added. “We’ll all do our part.”
It was an awe-inspiring thing to watch the three of them band together like that.
We went in to see him, two at a time, after that, and as Willow and I waited for our turn, I guided her over to the little loveseats under a window that faced out into the parking lot and pulled her into my lap instead of bringing her down next to me. I knew she needed the closeness, but I also needed the full contact to help me gauge her emotions better. Not to mention, I just wanted her as close as possible all the time.
She snuggled into me, resting her cheek on my chest and pressing her forehead into the side of my neck as I banded my arms around her. “How you doin’, mouse?”
She let out a heavy sigh, sinking deeper against me as I trailed my fingers through her hair, relishing that honey and sunshine scent of hers. “I’ve had better days . . . or better weeks. It’s hard for me to keep track of what day it is or how many have passed. My brain is fried.”
I tightened my hold on her. “I know, baby, but it’ll be okay. You’re tough as hell; you got this. And I’m right here with you if you need anything. Just say the word, and I’ll get it for you if I can.”
She lifted her head to look up at me, those blue eyes as clear as a bright, sunny day. “I can’t tell you what it means to me, you being here for me. I’m not sure I could have gotten through these past few days without you.”
She was the only woman who’d ever had the power to undo me completely. “Yes, you would’ve,” I assured her, knowing down to my bones that she would have pulled through just fine. “You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit, baby.” Reaching up, I traced my fingers along her jawline and down the side of her neck, loving the way she shivered against me. “Never met a person in my life as strong as you.”
“You’re right,” she whispered, her shoulders lifting a bit. “I could have done it on my own. But I wouldn’t want to. Having you here made it so much easier for me. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t ever want to go through the hard times without you. You make everything better.”
Closing my eyes, I lowered my forehead against hers and breathed in that beautiful fragrance that was all Willow. “I love you,” I rasped, needing to get the words out to loosen the vise-grip on my chest.
“I love you too, Gavin,” she returned.
We stayed like that until Crissy and her husband came back into the waiting room to tell us it was our turn. After Willow hugged her sister and brother-in-law goodbye, Crissy moved into me, giving my waist a tight squeeze.
“Thank you for being here for her,” she whispered before pulling back. With a clap on the shoulder from Phil, the two of them took off, and Willow and I headed down the hall to Jon’s hospital room.
With my arm around her shoulders, I kept her locked to my side as we pushed the door open and stepped in. Jon looked up from the hospital bed and smiled as soon as his eyes landed on her. “Hey there, pumpkin.”
Willow’s chest stuttered, and tears began leaking from her eyes at that first glimpse of her big, strong father lying there, a white bandage wrapped around the burns on his arm. “Oh, Dad.”
On a broken sob, she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in his neck.
From my vantage point, I could see the rise and fall of her back as she cried silently and the creases in the corners of Jon’s eyes as he squeezed them shut and held onto his daughter like she was his lifeline.
Even under the circumstances, I was glad as hell that Willow had a parent like Jon, that she’d grown up knowing what it meant to be loved unconditionally. I never had that with my own parents, but I knew down to my soul that the woman I’d claimed as my own, the one who had claimed me right back, would teach me how goddamn good it felt to have that, day after day for the rest of our lives.
They stayed like that for a while before Willow finally stood up with a sniffle, brushing at the dampness on her cheeks. She sat on the edge of the paper-thin mattress and took his undamaged hand in hers. “How are you feeling? Are you in any pain? Do you want me to call a nurse?”
“I’m okay, honey. It’s not so bad. They’ve given me some nice meds to help.” He studied her face and inhaled deeply as his expression creased with sadness and guilt so acute it made my own chest ache. “So it appears I gave my girls a scare. I’m so sorry—”
“Dad, stop,” she ordered, lifting her hand to cut him off. “It’s not your fault. We know that. We’re all just so glad you’re okay.”
His gaze came to mine, and he gave me an appreciative grin. “Thanks for bein’ there for my girl while all this was going on.”
“Don’t have to thank me for that, Jon,” I replied as I moved to the foot of the bed and curled my fingers around the railing. Truth be told, I wasn’t much of a fan of seeing him like this either. “It’s just part of my job as her man.”
His shoulders sunk, and I had a sense it was with relief. “Damn lucky for me she picked a good one then, huh?”
I looked to Willow just in time to catch her cheeks heating with a blush and shot her a wink. “Think I might be the lucky one in this situation.”
We hung around for a while longer until we could see Jon starting to fade. The pain meds were doing their job, but they also knocked him on his ass, so when he started to snore, Willow pulled the wispy covers up to his chin and pressed a kiss to his cheek before whispering her goodbyes and joining me at the foot of the bed.
Neither of us spoke as I led her through the sterile, brightly lit corridors toward the exit.
“Where do you feel like going?” I asked when we finally reached my bike. “Your place or mine.”
She looked from the bike to me. “I don’t want to go home right now,” she said in a sad, defeated voice. “Can we maybe just ride for a while?”
I wouldn’t deny her anything she wanted if it was in my power to give her, and a ride was definitely in my power.
“Absolutely, baby.”
I pointed us in the direction of my house, but instead of turning off at my lane, I just kept going, past neighboring towns and deep into the foothills, taking the old roads and well-worn trails that came with being a biker town in the middle of the mountains.
I’d have gladly kept going, but despite how much Willow loved riding, she was still too new to be able to go long stretches of time without an occasional break. I pulled off the edge of a quiet winding mountain road onto the soft shoulder, coming to a stop just behind a small copse of trees.
“Why’d you stop?” she asked once I killed the engine.
I looked back at her over my shoulder. “Figured you’d need to stretch your legs a bit. Long rides can be hard if you’re not used to them.”
I felt her shift around a bit behind me, her face pulling into a small wince. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. Climbing off the back of the bike, she moved a couple feet away and placed her hands at the small of her back, arching deep to stretch it out.