Chapter 269 Chapter 269

Chapter 269 Chapter 269
They said twenty-four hours.
Well, that's about how long Emma had been sitting in this chair beside Daniel's hospital bed. Well, not continuously. Faith had forced her to go home around hour eighteen, made her shower and change into clean clothes, and get checked by another doctor who'd given her pain medication for her concussion and bruises. Emma had insisted on non-drowsy, so she was awake when Daniel woke up.
But Emma had come right back. There was no way she could stay away.
Now she sat here, blood-free and clean, dressed in jeans and a soft sweater, hair pulled back in a ponytail. The pain meds had dulled the throbbing in her head to something manageable. She barely noticed it anyway.
All her focus was on Daniel.
He looked terrible. Pale against the white sheets, tubes and wires everywhere. IV in his arm, oxygen cannula in his nose, monitors beeping steadily. They'd told her the surgery went well, that he was stable, that he just needed time to wake up.
She checked the clock on the wall. He had been out of surgery for twenty-six hours.
Emma reached out, took his hand carefully. His skin was warm. That was good. That meant he was alive, fighting, healing.
"Come on," she whispered. "You've slept long enough, don't you think? Time to wake up now."
No response. Just the steady beep of the heart monitor, the quiet hiss of oxygen.
Emma's eyes burned. She hadn't slept. Couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered everything. Daniel shoving her back, covering her body with his.
The sound of the gunshot, but worst of all, the blood and Daniel not moving.
She squeezed his hand tighter. "I need you to wake up, Daniel. Please. I need to tell you—" Her voice cracked. "I need to tell you I'm sorry. That I love you. That I want that future you talked about. But you have to wake up first."
The door opened behind her.
Emma didn't turn around. Probably a nurse coming to check vitals again. They did that every hour.
"How is he?" It was Nate's voice.
Emma glanced over her shoulder. Nate stood in the doorway, looking tired. Brynes was with him, the bodyguard who hadn't left her side all night.
"The same," Emma said. "No change since this morning."
Nate nodded, stepped into the room. "Brynes, you can head home. You're off duty."
Emma blinked, looked between them. "What?"
"They got Simons," Nate said. "About an hour ago. Police tracked him to a motel outside the city. He's in custody now. No more threats."
Emma should have felt relieved. Should have been happy that it was over, that she didn't need a bodyguard anymore.
Instead, all she felt was a bitter sort of anger.
"Little late for that," she said quietly, looking back at Daniel's pale face. "Isn't it?"
Nate was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. It is."
Brynes cleared his throat. "Ma'am, if you need anything—"
"I'm fine." Emma didn't look at him. Couldn't. "Thank you. For everything."
"Just doing my job." Brynes hesitated. "He's tough. He'll pull through."
Then he was gone, and it was just Emma and Nate in the room with Daniel's unconscious form.
"Everyone else went home?" Nate asked.
"My parents left about an hour ago. Daniel's parents went to get food." Emma rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "Grayson and Honey were here earlier. They'll be back tonight."
"You should rest."
"I did rest. I went home, remember?" Emma's voice came out sharper than she'd intended. "Sorry. I just—I can't leave. Not until he wakes up."
"Emma—"
"He saved my life, Nate." Emma looked at him then, and she knew her eyes were red, knew she probably looked like hell. "He threw himself in front of a bullet for me. The least I can do is be here when he wakes up."
If he wakes up, a small voice whispered in the back of her mind. But she shoved it down. He would wake up. He had to.
Nate pulled up another chair, sat down. "It's been a rough night, I heard."
"His blood pressure dropped around two AM." Emma's hand tightened on Daniel's. "Scared the shit out of everyone. But they got it stabilized. The doctor said his vitals are good now. Heart rate normal, blood pressure normal. He just needs to wake up."
"He will."
"You don't know that." Emma's voice cracked. "What if he doesn't? What if something went wrong, and he—"
"He will," Nate said firmly. "He's stubborn as hell. If he decided he's going to wake up, he'll wake up."
Emma wanted to believe that. She really did.
"I was such an idiot," she whispered. "I pushed him away. I was hurt and angry, but all he cared about was me and keeping me safe."
"He knows you love him," Nate interrupted. "Trust me. He knows."
"Does he?" Emma looked down at Daniel's hand in hers. "Because the last conversation we had, I told him I didn't know if I could get past what he did. That I couldn't be a military wife. That I needed more time."
"And he told you he was leaving the Marines for you. I know that, Emma. He is coming to work for me, and you know I will only ever put him on low-risk jobs. It's one of my rules. Once a man has a wife or child, they are basically grounded," Nate said. "That hasn't changed, Emma. He only needs to be cleared medically, and that offer still stands for as long as it takes."
Emma nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She just wanted him to wake up.
They sat in silence for a while. Just the sounds of the hospital. Monitors beeping, footsteps in the hallway, distant voices.
Emma watched Daniel's face, looking for any sign of movement. A flutter of his eyelids, a twitch of his fingers, anything.
Nothing.
"Come on," she murmured. "You've got to wake up. You've slept long enough. Time to—"
Daniel's hand twitched in hers.
Emma froze. "Did you see that?"
Nate leaned forward. "See what?"
"His hand. It moved." Emma stared at their joined hands, willing it to happen again. "Daniel? Can you hear me?"
Another twitch. Stronger this time.
Then his eyelids fluttered.
"Oh my God." Emma was half out of her chair. "Daniel? Daniel, open your eyes."
His eyelids moved again, struggling against the weight of whatever drugs they'd given him.
"That's it," Emma encouraged, squeezing his hand. "Come on. You can do it. Open your eyes."
Slowly, painfully slowly, Daniel's eyes opened.
Unfocused at first, glazed and confused. He blinked against the light, tried to make sense of where he was, then his eyes found hers.
"Em," he rasped, voice rough.
Emma's vision blurred with tears. "Hey. Welcome back."