Chapter 25 Back to health

Chapter 25 Back to health
Liam
Waking up felt like crawling back into my body piece by piece. The world blurred a bit before it finally focused on the face staring down at me.
“Get the fuck out of my face" I said weakly, trying to sit up. Pain shooting through my body.
“Glad to see you are still bitter"
Julian said slowly. He was clearly exhausted.
“Luciana and the girls?" I asked him. Not bothering about him. I am always grateful to him but not saying that. Not even near death will make me inflate his already big ego. I remember the shooting. Seeing the sniper aimed at Luciana. Before I could think, I pushed her out of the way. And the bullet went straight to my chest.

Pain came first. A deep, dull ache in my chest that reminded me I was still alive.
“Your wife is vexing"
“Why is that?" I squinted my eyes at him in anger.
“Don't look at me. Your crazy abusive stalker is here" immediately he said that. A gunshot sounded downstairs and we both jerked our heads.
"What the hell?!” I moved to get up.
“Dont bother getting up. She is here”
And the door swung open. " That stupid bitch”
" I haven't been gone from long and you are already killing my stalkers. Your hobbies are getting too aggressive "
Luciana sprang forward. And she was on me in seconds. I grunted at the pain.
“Oh God. I am so sorry. I caused this. I am so sorry I didn't think" I held her close to me. Ignoring the pain.
“Liam, your injury"
“I am fine. Julian pumped me with too much pain blockers."
She sobbed into my chest. " I am so sorry. I didn't think they would know where we were. I am the one that is being targeted and it is why I didn't want you involved. I don't want to have to see you die. I won't be able to take it."
" Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about. I told you to stop protecting me. I love you but we should do this together. Do not do this alone”
"You love me?”
"I did say I loved you when I was at the brink of death. A man never lies at that moment in his lifetime." I smiled.
She hit me on the chest. "Don't joke like that”
“But seriously. I never stopped loving you. You ou can do anything you want, push me away, ‘protect me’ you can even use me anyway you like. Nothing you do that will ever make me stop loving you. You are just that amazing"
She smiled and held me . We stayed like that for who knows how long. Julian long gone from the room.

Luciana was laying beside me, curled into the chair like she’d been there for days. Her hair was loose, her face bare, eyes tired but sharp. She was holding my hand with both of hers, her thumbs brushing slow, steady circles over my skin like she was afraid I’d disappear again if she stopped touching me.
“Hey,” I rasped.
Her head snapped up.
For a second she just stared, like she didn’t trust what she was seeing. Then her breath broke.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, and suddenly she was crying and laughing at the same time, pressing her forehead to my chest without caring that it hurt her or me. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
“I didn’t plan to sleep off. Julian pumped me too much with these pills,” I said weakly.
She huffed out a shaky laugh. “You slept like you were dead”
"I did not”
"You did too”

The door burst open and the room filled with screams of the girls. They both hugged me so tight.
“You are so cool. You took the bullet and you came back to life. Lyla told me you were dead"
“I did not, you said it"
“No you did"
“My loves. Daddy is fine. But could you move a bit. You are sleeping on daddy’s injury"
“Why are you speaking like that"
Lyla asked .
“Because daddy has been taken over by an alien…rawr" I growled trying to scare them. Which turned into a painful regret. The girls screamed and ran from the bed and hugged their mummy.
“Mummy, daddy has been taken over by an alien"
Lucia screamed. “Really. Then we should go find daddy then"
They ran out and screaming daddy. And I smiled. There is nothing I would trade this for in this world

…
Recovery was hell.
I hated it.
I hated the nurse hovering. Hated Julian’s constant check-ins. Hated being told to rest, to stay still, to let my body heal while my mind screamed at me to move.
But Luciana made it bearable.
She fed me. Changed my bandages when she didn’t have to. Read emails aloud, filtered the useless ones, handled things without asking questions I wasn’t ready to answer.
At night, she lay beside me carefully, one arm draped over my waist, her cheek against my shoulder like she was anchoring me to the world.
“Whay about the mafioso,” I told her once.
She looked at me like I’d said something ridiculous. “it can wait. I am not leaving until you are 100 percent fine.”
That was how she cared—quietly, fiercely, without asking permission.
And for the first time in my life, I let myself rest.