“I’ll do my best,” I promised, hugging her again. “But you were the one acting off. I thought something was wrong with you.”
“No, I was just concerned for you. If anything took you away from Jenner, he would be destroyed.” She put her arm through mine, and we helped each other to the bed where we both sat. “I might not have long left, and I need to make sure that he’s taken care of, that he has someone who will love him as he deserves. I won’t be able to be at peace if he’s alone.”
A pained sound came from across the room, and I glanced over at the doctor, but he turned to look out the window before I could see his face. The set of his shoulders and the way he bowed his head spoke volumes, however. My mom, never one to let anyone suffer alone, crossed to him and put her hand comfortingly on his back. She didn’t say anything and neither did he, but sometimes Marissa Niall’s touch was all a person needed.
Pixie tugged on my hand, pulling my gaze back to her. Her smile was sad but full of a kind of acceptance I didn’t fully understand. She’d been through so much, but she still had a lot of life to live. I could tell she was ready to continue the fight, but she was all too aware of what the outcome could be if this didn’t work.
“There are no words for how thankful I am that you so selflessly gave me a part of yourself. I will always cherish it and you.” Her chilled fingers clutched at mine. “But what I truly need from you is your promise to always be there for my brother. If you can do that for me, then I will be eternally grateful.”
A lump filled my throat. “Pixie,” I choked out as the tears slid down my cheeks. “Of course. You don’t even have to ask. I love Jenner.”
“You better not ever break his heart,” she threatened, a trembling grin on her face. “Because if you do, I swear to God, I’ll come back and haunt you.”
23
Jenner
Carefully, I guided Doe into my apartment and helped her sit on the couch. Her parents had wanted her to go home, but she’d only wanted to be with me. I’d told her I could stay at her parents’ place all evening, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted us in our own space, free to cuddle however she liked without her dad or brothers there to growl or disrupt us.
And because I would always give Doe what she wanted, I’d bundled her up once Dr. Contreras had signed her discharge papers and put her in my car. I was surprised her brothers hadn’t followed us home, but they still had a few things to finalize before Courtney’s karma hit the news later that night and in the morning.
It had been fun getting to know Doe’s brothers and Aspen as we’d worked together with Mieke to destroy my little lamb’s tormentor. All of Courtney Wilcox’s hopes and dreams to go into politics would crash and burn come morning—just as her father’s most likely would once all the mean girl’s secrets were broadcast.
Mieke had assured Jackson that none of what she’d uncovered and covertly slipped to Senator Wilcox’s rival in the general election in November would be traceable back to anyone. Once she’d heard of all the shit Doe had been put through by Courtney and so many others, she’d started digging, and she hadn’t held back once she’d started putting together all of Courtney’s dirty deeds.
As soon as Doe was comfortable, I covered her with her favorite fuzzy throw and gave her the remote. “Are you thirsty? Hungry? How’s your pain? Do you need anything for it or nausea?”
She giggled at me, and I had to stop and just soak up that sound. I would never get tired of hearing her laugh. “All I need right now is for you to let me use you as a pillow. I want cuddles, Jenner.”
“What if I hurt you?” I voiced my fear. “You’ve been through a lot today, and I don’t want to cause you any pain.”
She grabbed my hand and tugged, pulling me down onto the couch beside her. A firm shove that was surprisingly strong considering how fatigued she’d seemed all afternoon caught me off guard, and I fell back. Doe crawled onto me, literally using me as a pillow as she placed her head on my chest and wrapped herself around me.
I grabbed the throw and pulled it up over both of us as she gave a contented sigh. Her eyes drifted closed, and it was only a matter of minutes before she was asleep. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her skin was slightly pale, and there were a few dark shadows under her eyes. It was obvious the day had taken a lot out of her. But not even that could dim her beauty.
We lay there for hours, Doe sleeping peacefully and me content to do nothing more than watch her. The sound of her even breathing, the way her mouth was slightly gaped open, soft snores escaping her, it was all like a beautiful symphony that I could have listened to for days at a time without ever getting bored. When she would shift restlessly, trying to get more comfortable, I tried to move her off me, knowing my body was too hard and lumpy. But she only whined in her sleep until I stopped moving, and she snuggled deeper into me.
She felt so good on top of me that I eventually fell asleep too. Her pained whimper when she tried to get up startled me awake. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Bathroom,” she mumbled sleepily.
I jumped up and lifted her, carrying her into the bathroom. When I set her on her feet and started to push her leggings and panties over her hips, she slapped my hands away with a shy laugh. “Get out,” she commanded. “I can’t do this with you in here.”
Reluctantly, I backed toward the door. “I’m leaving this cracked,” I warned. “If you need anything, just yell.”
She rolled her blue eyes at me. “I think I can handle it.”
I left the door open wider than she thought was necessary and walked into the kitchen. It was after midnight, and my stomach was growling like a bear. Opening the fridge, I started taking out items to make us each a sandwich before checking my phone. I’d left it on silent so it wouldn’t disturb Doe, and I wasn’t surprised that I had missed calls and texts.
Seeing the latest one had only come in a few minutes before, I opened it to find a news link from Jackson.
Instead of opening it, I made the sandwiches and carried the plate into the living room, where I turned on the TV and found the national news channel that had been in the link. I hadn’t heard anything from Doe since I’d left her in the bathroom, and I went to check on her.
“Baby?” I called out.
“I’m okay,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Just really tired. Give me a minute.”
I heard the toilet flush, but when she started washing her hands, I pushed the door open. As soon as she was done, I scooped her up, being careful not to hurt her hips. She had small incisions on both where the doctor had drilled into the backside of her pelvic bone to extract the bone marrow.
“I think this is how a newborn foal feels,” she said with a tiny smile.
“Dr. Contreras said you will be like this for a bit. We need to make sure you don’t start running a fever, though. You need lots of rest and food.” Brushing a kiss over her brow, I carried her into the living room. “Which is why you’re going to eat and then go straight to bed, little lamb.”
“I’m not going to argue.” She picked up a sandwich and bit into it, moaning a little as the flavors hit her taste buds. “I didn’t realize I was so hungry. I barely kept the broth down they gave me at the hospital earlier.”