CHAPTER 32 — ANNOYING BEAUTIFUL OAF

I could hear the constant drumming of my heart, raging wildly in my ears. Every breath I took not knowing his fate was torture. After getting my wounds treated, I sat in the waiting hall patiently with Shaye and Cole as we waited for the doctor's verdict.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw myself frozen in shock, staring at the space in front of me in terror as King Wilder shot at me twice. And every single time in those flashbacks, I saw Lennox taking the fall for me, I saw the way he lurched forward, pain consuming his features as he fell to the ground, bleeding out of his back and arm. And every single time, I saw my sister in those memories, bloodied, helping me escape just as the car sparked and engulfed in flames, burning her along.

My fists were clenched tight on my knees, my knuckles had turned white, and my fingernails were digging into my palms, drawing blood. Shaye had fallen asleep beside me, refusing to stay at home while I waited here for news about her dad and Cole was restless, walking briskly from one end of the hallway to another.

It seemed like an entire eternity had passed before the surgeon walked out of the surgical room. He had salt and pepper hair that had more gray than black, and he had a grim look on his face, his shoulders hunched, worry etched into his eyebrows, a contemplative frown on his face, as if he was wondering how best to break this news to us. He looked like he was bearing the burden of a terrible news and my heart sunk when he came to a stop in front of us.

"We managed to get the bullets out of Mr. Lennox," he said without preamble.

Hope surged in my chest. I stood up quickly. "Will he be okay?"

His already grim face turned even grimmer. Pain flashed across his eyes. "I can't say for now. What may be okay to me, may not be seen as okay to you."

That effectively squashed what was left of my hope, but I pulled myself into the semblance of an articulate woman that wasn't bursting at the seams by the second. "And what's okay to you?"

He cleared his throat and clasped his wrinkled hands in front of him. "Lennox will live. He's still sleeping off his anesthesia, but he should be awake and alert in a few hours."

I didn't allow myself to sigh in relief. Hope was a fragile, fragile thing that could be broken any second.

It was Cole that demanded now. "And...the bad news, doctor?"

He heaved a heavy sigh but stared us straight in the eyes. "Mr. Wilder sustained two bullet wounds. The one in his arm isn't fatal, but the one one in his spine may be."

"May be?" I squeaked.

He looked at me with kind, gentle brown eyes. "It's too early to tell if the injuries are going to have any long-lasting effects on Mr. Wilder. He seems to be temporarily paralyzed at the moment, from the waist down to his legs. We're not sure if this state of paralysis is long term or not."

Air. Where did all the air go? It suddenly became hard to breathe.

"Although, that could also be because of the lack of adequate amount of blood being supplied to those parts. Which brings us to the second problem."

I swallowed. Beside me, Cole had gone painfully quiet.

"Mr. Wilder lost too much blood. He may need some blood transfusion. We could get from the blood bank, but most friends and families of the victims are usually more comfortable with someone familiar donating the blood to the victim than a complete stranger."

"Well, his father is...you know…" Cole began. "And Shaye is still too little to consent to this. He has no other family and unless he's B positive, we wouldn't be a good match."

"I'm O positive!" I stepped forward quickly, my heart, ricocheting in my chest. "I want to donate to him."

The doctor looked at me, gentle concern in his dark brown eyes. "We'll let you know if it comes to that. For now, you seem to have sustained injuries yourself, you're running on low fuel, and you look like you could use hours of sleep." He looked at the both of us now. "Go back to your homes, get some rest. Get some food. The nurses in charge will monitor Mr. Wilder's health and we'll let you know if it's best to go through with the transfusion or wait it out."

Somehow, this sounded like a bad punishment.

Cole gave us a ride back to the penthouse. I broke the news gently to Shaye, who broke down in tears, but her eyes glimmered with hope.

Mr. Covel spared a moment from his wife's sick bed to pay me a visit. My heart cracked in two when I saw him, he looked even older and frailer than before, and he let me know that he had been devastated when he heard of my kidnapping, but he was grateful to Lennox for saving me and was praying for his speedy recovery.

My phone was going over the roof with notifications from Val and missed calls from my parents. I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring my parents and replying to Val's texts, confirming that I was safe now and explaining everything that had happened from the kidnapping to Lennox now sporting the risk of losing his ability to walk and an impending blood transfusion they needed to run through with me.

It was going to be like deja Vu all over again if Lennox couldn't walk... It wasn't just about Penelope anymore, it was about my dad, and the universe was playing a cruel joke on me, letting all these horrible things happen to me.

And because I couldn't handle it the guilt anymore, I texted my mother the rough details of what had happened, informing her that I needed space for a while before I could talk about it with them. With anyone really.

I cried myself to sleep at night from memories of the hours I had spent in King's clutches. Of the terror he had instilled into me. The scars of my body. The brutal hits I’d received. And each time, I woke up in cold sweat, from nightmares of Lennox dying that day. My life had flashed before my eyes, my entire world fell at my feet when he dropped to the ground in front of me, bleeding out of his back.

I spent my days with Shaye. Comforting her, practicing dance routines with her, and just talking about everything that was going on and trying to paint a bigger, brighter picture and Val called once in a while to check on me, Cole too, whenever he could.

Days passed before the hospital finally got back to me. The next day, I was seated in a hospital ward, the doctor explaining everything that entailed blood donations and all the side effect that could occur. He checked my PCV and hemoglobin levels to be sure that I was healthy enough to risk having my blood taken. They took a sample to test and finding it free of risks, they cleared me to donate my blood to Lennox. It went on successfully. Thank goodness.

It was a few hours before I was allowed to see him. In nothing but a hospital gown, mussed hair, and a beautiful smile, I almost broke down in happiness from seeing his face.

"Lennox!" I cried, throwing myself on him and hugging him tight.

"I had hoped you'd be my first visitor." He admitted, accepting my tearful embrace, his good hand, weak but firm around me as he held me close to him.

"Really? Did you miss me that much?" I sniffed, trying for a joke, unable to stop the relieved tears pooling down my cheeks.

His gaze was heavy, deep, intense. "You can't even imagine."

"You saved my life." My voice broke into a desperate whisper.

He smiled wryly. "Oh, it's just this thing I do for damsels in distr– oof!"

All the breath left his lungs when I tackled him into another hug, even tighter than the last one. "You. Saved. My... Life," I whispered again, crying shamelessly into his chest.

"It's not like I had much of a choice now, did I?" His voice was muffled against my shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious, Verity?" He sighed heavily. "I'm crazy over you. I’ve fallen desperately in love with you. Taking that bullet was something we both know I couldn’t walk away from, love."

His confession sent an electrifying zing down my spine. My fingertips buzzed with energy.

"What..." I squeaked, leaning back to look at him in overwhelming unbelief.

His blue eyes twinkled painfully. "I'll deny it if you ever use this to tease me in front of Cole, but yes. Verity Brooks, I am in love with you."

My heart stuttered to a stop.

"Rendered you speechless, huh?" A smug playful smirk was splayed on his lips.

I made to jab him in the ribs but remembered he was hurt and settled for simply glowering at him.

He was smiling radiantly now. "You have to say it back or I'm afraid this thing between us won't hold any substantial value, Verity."

"Oh God, you…you annoying, beautiful stubborn oaf! Of course, I'm in love with you too. Seeing you bleeding like that all over the floor, God, Lennox…" My voice broke, tears pooled down my cheeks again. "I thought I'd die!"

"No, V," he said solemnly now, like a promise, like an oath. His good hand reached out to cup my cheeks, blue eyes, bluer with earnestness. "You're not going to die. Not on my watch."

He kissed me softly and I sighed into the kiss and suddenly the sky was bluer, and the grasses were greener. Birds were chirping in the air and everything in V's world was perfect again.