I said nothing.
"Serg… promise me."
I gave him a curt nod.
Two hours later, and I still hadn't heard from Nixon or from the nurse. I was ready to lose my mind.
Things got progressively worse when Phoenix, Chase, and Tex all showed up as reinforcements.
"Housekeeping…" Chase said in a high-pitched voice. "You want me fluff pillow?"
I chucked my pillow at the door just as he waltzed in with the coffee and food he'd promised everyone. I wasn't allowed coffee on account my ass had been so dehydrated, but I did want food — anything to take my mind off Andi being in another room. Andi waking up without me. Andi thinking I wasn't there.
"Shit." I pounded the bed with my fist; my eyes filled with tears again. I'd never been an overly emotional guy — in fact, I'm pretty sure every single member of my family assumed I'd up and shot myself in the heart to keep from feeling any sort of emotion.
But with Andi? I found myself constantly on the verge of tears, always wondering if that last kiss would be the last, and trying to selfishly hold onto it as long as humanly possible.
"You look like hell..." Chase placed a small bag on my tray. "…which is why I brought you two muffins, muffin."
"Call me muffin again."
Tex made his way over to the bed and pulled out a chair. "Do it, Chase. I wanna see how fast he can move with three bullet wounds."
I flipped them both off.
Phoenix was on the phone talking quietly in the corner. I nodded in his direction. "What's with him?"
"Phoenix is having a hell of a time telling his wife that it's not okay for her to participate in sparring with Trace while pregnant." Chase took a giant bite out of his own muffin and shrugged. "I say good luck with that."
Phoenix ended the phone call and gripped the cell in his hand, glaring at all three of us like it was our fault he couldn't control his wife.
"Trace will go easy on her," I said helpfully. "She's not going to kick her or anything. The girls aren't stupid, and you know Bee, she has too much energy. You tell her no, she'll just keep asking until you say yes."
Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sometimes I forget how young she is… and immature."
Tex snorted. "I don't. That's my sister you're screwing."
"Get over it," Phoenix snapped then sighed. "Sorry, Tex, not your fault. I'm just worried about her."
"That makes you a good husband," Chase piped up. "Worry."
"I hate worry," I grumbled, the muffin suddenly going dry in my throat.
The guys gave me that look — the same look I was sure doctors gave their patients just before they were about to tell them there was nothing they could do. It sucked balls.
The door to my room opened. I straightened a bit, hoping it was the nurse. I was pleasantly surprised when it was Andi who walked in, though she was connected to an IV.
"Hey." She gave me a small smile and cleared her throat, arching her eyebrows at each of the guys.
"Uh…" Tex scratched his head and stood. "…I'll just go… to the bathroom."
"Me too." Phoenix followed him.
Chase remained.
Andi cleared her throat again.
Chase leveled her with a glare. "What you gonna do? Drop kick my ass?"
I sighed. "Chase, just go. She'll beat you up later."
He stood, albeit slowly, and patted me on the leg then walked out of the room.
"How are you?" I blurted.
Andi shrugged. Her face was pale; her smile a bit weak. Her bruising looked like shit around her face, but she was still beautiful to me. Always beautiful.
I patted the bed.
She took a seat, rolling the IV with her. "I need blood transfusions three times a week."
"Okay," I said slowly. "I'm assuming that's good, right?"
She looked down at the ground. "No… I mean it sounds good, right? Fresh blood!" Her shoulders sagged. "But typically, in a case like mine it just means the end is—" She swallowed. "—close."
I reached for her hand. She pulled away. "You don't have to go through this with me, Sergio. If you want me to leave, if it's too hard, I would understand." Her eyes filled with tears. "I swear to you, I'd get it if you want me to just stay at the hospital until the end."
"Hell no!" I yelled, gripping her hand, pulling her as close as I could without hurting her. "I'm with you until the end, whatever that means for us. I'm here."
She nodded. A tear fell down her cheek. "They said I can stay here, or we can do hospice, and when I heard the word hospice I just freaked. I mean, I thought I had come to this place where my heart and my head were one. But now? Now it just sucks, Sergio. And I want to stay positive. I want to be happy. For you I want to be those things, but I need at least an hour where you let me cry."
My heart shattered.