"Actually, I'm probably going to stay a while," I told him with a yawn. "Bree is still upstairs, so I want to go and see her when she wakes up. You can head home and get some sleep; one of the guys can come get me later."
James just gave me a tight smile as he paused in the doorway. "Nah, I'll wait. Take as long as you need; my gardens can wait a day." He gave me a joking wink, then left the room.
A warm feeling had settled over me as we'd spoken, and in his absence, I found myself smiling. He might never be my dad but, he was a damn sight better than the one I'd known growing up.
I yawned again and rested my head on the side of Archer's bed. It was only four in the morning; Bree wouldn't likely be awake for a while yet. Maybe I'd just... close my eyes a moment.
40
"Babe, wake up." Kody's gentle voice jerked me out of my deep sleep, and I sat up with a gasp, then groaned in pain. "Hey, whoa, take it easy, MK."
"Ow," I complained, trying to rub my eyes and accidentally bashing myself in the face with my plaster cast. "What's going on?"
Kody smoothed his hand over my face, rubbing his thumb over my nose, which I'd just whacked. "You were asleep on the side of the bed," he told me in a low whisper. "I was worried your neck would be hurting. Let me take you home, babe, Arch will be fine here."
I shook my head. "No, I wanted to..." I trailed off, blinking at the clock on the wall. "Oh damn, I was asleep for more than five minutes." It was past eight in the morning. Bree should be awake by now. "I wanna go and see Bree." I stood up from my chair and every stiff muscle screamed at me. Holy crap, I was feeling rough.
Kody didn't argue with me, just nodded and took my good hand in his. I hesitated before we left the room, glancing back at Archer's sleeping form with indecision. It felt wrong to leave him so vulnerable.
"I've got Arch, Hellcat," Steele told me, coming from down the corridor with a tray of coffees in hand. "Here, take one of these, kiss me, tell me you're fine, then go do what you were doing."
I couldn't help smiling as he handed me a coffee. Rising up on my toes, I pressed my lips to his in a tender kiss, which he leaned into.
"I'm fine, Max," I whispered against his lips. "And I love you."
His mouth curved in a blissful smile. "I love you too, Hellcat."
"One of those for me, bro?" Kody asked, plucking a coffee from Steele's tray without waiting for a response. It was a damn good thing all four of us drank our coffee the same way; it made ordering easy as hell. "Come on, babe. Let's go see Bree, then head home for sleep."
I grumbled about not wanting to leave the hospital without Archer but sipped my coffee and followed him along past the nurses’ station to the elevators. We passed through the waiting room on the way, and I was genuinely surprised to see James still sitting there, waiting. Just like he'd said he would.
He was in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, reading what looked like a well-worn paperback romance novel that he must have found in the stack of magazines and coloring books. He was a decent way through it, too.
"All okay?" he asked us, his gaze flicking up from his book when he noticed us there.
I nodded and gave a small smile. "You're fine to go home," I told him. "You look wrecked."
His gaze flipped between Kody and I before he replied. "Nah, I'm good. I'll hang out in case you guys need something. I've heard how much coffee you go through, Madison Kate. You might need a refill soon."
I snorted a laugh, shaking my head. "Suit yourself. And it's MK. Only people I don't like call me Madison Kate."
James bobbed a nod, a hint of red creeping up his neck. "MK. Got it." Then he shifted his gaze to Kody, and his eyes turned hard. "Don't take your eyes off her."
Kody just nodded and nudged me over to the elevators. He kept his face neutral until the doors slid closed, then his lips curved in a wide grin as he glanced over at me.
"What?" I asked, suspicious as fuck.
He snickered a laugh. "Babe, I reckon your dad might actually kill us if you get hurt again. He's got that whole protective papa-bear look nailed."
I rolled my eyes, shaking off his teasing. "Stop it. James probably finds this whole dynamic just as weird as I do."
Kody shrugged, sipping his coffee. "Maybe, but I think he's adapting pretty well. But for the record, he wouldn't need to kill us if you got hurt again." His joking demeanor evaporated, and his tone darkened. "I'd do it for him."
The elevator doors slid open on Bree’s floor, and he took three steps out before noticing I was frozen to the spot. He turned back to me, a small frown creasing his brow.
"You coming, beautiful?"
"Yeah." I forced my feet to move, swallowing past the seriousness of that moment we'd just had. I knew exactly what he was feeling, though. It was the same thing I’d felt watching Steele and Archer both nearly die in front of me.
Joining Kody, I leaned into him as he wrapped his free arm around my waist. My hands were occupied holding coffee and wearing a plaster cast, but I still appreciated the half hug as we headed down the corridor to Bree's room.
Her door was closed, so I tapped lightly before cracking it open to check if she was asleep. To my relief, she was awake already and eating breakfast with her TV on.
"Hey girl," I greeted her, pushing the door open fully to enter.
She looked up with a wide smile, which quickly fell when she saw the state of me. Crap. I hadn't even told her about the showdown with Zane and Kruger. Hell, I hadn't even turned my phone on since before the wedding.
"MK!" she shrieked, her face a picture of panic. "What the hell happened? Oh my god, you look like you've been run over by a truck!"
I smiled and quirked a brow at her pointedly, and she scowled.
"Not funny," she snapped back. "I wasn't run over. Just run into."
"Okay, semantics," I said on a snort of laughter. "I'm fine, though. Just bruised."
Bree glared at Kody, who'd followed me into her room. "Why the hell does Kodiak Jones look like he just woke up from a lovely, refreshing sleep? Where was he when you got beaten the hell up, girl? What fucking use are three boyfriends if they can't keep you safe?"
Guilt and regret flashed over Kody's face, and a flicker of anger passed through me. "Bree, stop it. Kody saved my ass, multiple times. He just always looks good; you can't hold it against him."
The smile Kody shot me was doing little to hide his guilt over me getting hurt, but that was something for us to work through ourselves. Hopefully naked.
"Anyway, I wanted to come see how you were getting on with everything," I told Bree, changing the subject. "How's baby doing?"
She shot Kody another warning look, not dissimilar to the way James had just eyed him. But then she refocused and smiled as she rubbed her growing belly.
"Baby is happy and healthy. This bed rest bullshit is suiting him nicely, that's for sure. I'm dying to get out of here, though." She groaned a bit like being trapped in the hospital was physical torture.