Chapter Thirty-Two
Nico stared sightlessly at the empty hospital bed. The plastic chair he sat on was so fucking hard his ass had gone numb an hour ago. In a bassinet next to him, his tiny baby girl slept peacefully, while somewhere in the hospital her mamma fought for life.
A knock sounded on the door right before it was pushed open and Alec walked in. Nico was so surprised to see his friend, he stood, meeting him halfway across the room and pulling him into a tight embrace before even realizing he'd done it.
"Everything's going to be okay." Alec's richly cultured voice was his undoing, and he did something he hadn't done since childhood.
He cried.
Tears filled his eyes, and a sob escaped his throat as he choked out, "I love her," into his best friend's neck. "I was so stupid not to know I loved her."
He felt Alec's arms tighten, holding him up. No words were spoken as he unloaded all his fears and worries onto his best friend's shoulder.
"How did you know to come?" Nico's ass was back on the hard plastic, Alec sitting next to him. They were both sipping on watered-down coffee Alec had gotten from the vending machine down the hall.
"Marco called me."
Red and white flashing lights filled Nico's memory. He'd never been so fucking happy to see anyone as he'd been to see the paramedics that had arrived on the scene. Nico had seen a lot of blood in his lifetime, shed a lot of it, too, but seeing Olivia's blood coating his hands had done something to him. Broke him in a way only Olivia could fix.
He'd refused to leave her side, traveling with the ambulance. He'd called Marco to tell him what had happened and where he could find the car, and Marco obviously called Alec to tell him where he could find Nico. That he'd showed up meant the world to him.
"Thanks for coming." Nico took a sip of coffee, thankfully not tasting anything.
"I owed you one, remember?"
He remembered. But if it hadn't been for Alec leading him to Scott, he would've never found his Olivia. "I considered the debt paid in full when the road you led me down gave me Olivia."
"Then consider it one friend helping out another, no strings attached."
Nico nodded. "I can live with that."
They were silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Nico didn't like where his had drifted, so in a bid to take his mind off things, he asked, "How's River?"
"Good."
Alec rambled on, sharing a few stories that Nico listened to with half an ear mostly just zoning out to the sound of his friend's voice.
During a lull, to keep him talking, Nico asked, "When are you going to make an honest woman out of her?"
Alec shot him a guilty expression, and Nico went on high alert. The Prince of Poker never revealed his emotions.
"What?" Nico sat up from his slouch.
"I might have dragged her to one of those twenty-four-hour chapels last month."
Nico snorted. If his head hadn't been so full of Olivia and when he was going to hear some God damn news, he would have found that fucking hilarious. River could be one stubborn woman.
He and Alec may have had a rocky few years, but he was happy for his friend. Nico placed a hand on Alec's shoulder and squeezed. "Congrats, man. I'm happy for you both."
Alec nodded. "Thanks."
Nico heard a tiny sound from the bassinet and immediately got up to investigate. Big, beautiful eyes stared up at him, and he scooped up his baby girl and cradled her to his chest. He carefully sat back down, holding her close.
Nico noticed Alec watching him and he nudged him with his knee. "You and River need to start a family now." Alec gave him that look again. "What?"
"That might have been why I dragged her to the chapel last month. River's four months pregnant."
Nico shook his head, and an actual smile tugged at his lips. "Congrats, again."
Regret filled Alec's eyes. "I didn't want to bring all that up right now."
"Hey, there's never a bad time for happy news."
The door opened, and a doctor walked in. Nico instantly got to his feet.
"Your wife is out of surgery. We were able to stop the bleeding, and she'll make a full recovery."
He shuddered out a long breath he'd been holding since the doctor had walked in the room. Relief washed through him, and he sent a special thank you above for answering his prayers. "When can I see her?"
"They'll be bringing her down shortly."
After the doctor left, Alec stood. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave."
Nico drew him into a one arm man hug, thumping him on the back. "Thanks again for coming."
"I'm glad everything worked out. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to hold on tight to what you love and never let go."
Nico knew Alec meant more than just River and Olivia, he meant them—their friendship—too. Nico placed a hand on Alec's shoulder. "I'll be sure to hold on to everything that's important."
A look passed over Alec's eyes and Nico knew he'd understood. They shook hands, and Nico watched Alec walk out the door. But this time he knew it wouldn't be the last time he saw him.
* * * * *
Olivia's head pounded as she tried to pry open her eyes. Her whole body felt funny, almost as if it were numb.
She felt a hand grip hers, and then a sound she truly loved. Nico's voice. "Tesoro?"
Her lids fluttered as she tried to lift them. What the heck? Where weights attached? She tried to say Nico's name, but couldn't hear if she'd succeeded over the jackhammer thudding in her head.
But Nico must have heard something because he spoke again. "It's okay, amore mio, try to get some more rest. I'll be here when you wake up."
A baby's cry roused her from sleep, and Olivia opened her eyes to a beautiful sight.
Nico feeding their baby.
His head was bent, hair mussed as if he'd run his fingers through it a million times. His suit jacket was missing, and the collar of his shirt was unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up. Their baby, bundled in a white blanket with only a little face peeking out, was cradled in his arms.
"I don't know if we had a little boy or little girl."
Nico's head popped up. He looked so serious for a few moments, her heart started pounding with anxiety. Then his features transformed. His eyes brightened and small crinkles formed in the corners when a grin lifted his lips.
He bowed his head back to the baby. "Angelica Conti, how would you like to meet your mamma?"
He stood, stepping to the side of the bed. Olivia tried to raise her arms, desperate to take hold of her daughter, but all she managed was to plop her hands in her lap.
Nico noticed and explained the reason. "You've lost a lot of blood. You'll be weak for a while."
Nico placed the baby on her lap and she was able to snuggle Angelica to her belly. "What happened?"
Nico closed his eyes as if it pained him to even think about it. "You started to hemorrhage. You'd lost so much blood by the time the ambulance arrived and even more on the way to the hospital. Your blood pressure dropped so low even the paramedics were concerned. They rushed you into surgery as soon as you arrived and stopped the source of the bleeding and gave you blood."
Olivia was still confused. "What caused me to hemorrhage?"
"The doctors called it a uterine atony. That's where the uterus doesn't contract strongly enough to seal up the blood vessels. They'd said if you'd been in the hospital when it happened, it wouldn't have been life threatening. They could have given you drugs to amp up the contractions, but you'd lost too much blood by the time you'd gotten here for the drugs to help."
And then a horrible thought struck. "Can I still have children?"
Nico smiled, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Yes, tesoro. They didn't need to remove anything important. They said in a few days you'll be as good as new."
Olivia smiled, her lids growing heavy. It seemed all she did was sleep.
She felt Nico pick up the baby. "Rest, amore mio, we'll be here when you wake up."
She drifted off, keeping his words close to her heart.
The next time she awoke, it was dark outside the windows. She glanced over and saw Nico, asleep, sprawled in what looked like the worlds most uncomfortable chair. His legs were stretched before him, crossed at the ankles, arms folded over his chest, and his neck was tipped back at a funny angle.
Right next to Nico was the hospital bassinet, and their little girl sleeping peacefully inside.
She called Nico's name softly, hating to wake him but hating more the thought of him not being able to move in the morning.
His eyes instantly snapped open, locking with hers. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Her eyes darted to the bassinet. "Can you bring me Angelica?"
Nico scooped up the blanketed bundle and brought her to Olivia's waiting arms.
"She's so tiny." Olivia looked at Nico and smiled. "She looks just like you."
Nico shook his head. "No, tesoro, she looks just like you."
Olivia scooted to the far edge of the bed. She patted the spot beside her. "Come lay by me. It'll be a tight fit, but it's got to be more comfortable than that chair."
Nico gave her a smirk before looking at the chair in question. "I don't know, me and that chair have spent a lot of time together. We've grown rather fond of each other."
Olivia giggled. "Somehow I highly doubt that." She patted the bed again. "Get over here."
Nico carefully got up on the bed and lay down. Olivia took full advantage, snuggling into his side, being careful not to jar Angelica who slept peacefully in her arms. Nico's arm came around her, his fingers playing with her hair. She sighed, loving when he did that.
"I don't want to keep bringing up such a painful subject, but I can't help but be in awe that you delivered our baby."
Nico chuckled. "Now, there's something I don't ever want to repeat."
Olivia laughed. "I can imagine."
He grew quiet and his breathing turned labored.
Olivia gave him a small poke in the ribs with her finger. "Hey, where did you go?"
He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "I almost lost you."
She tipped her head to look up at him. "But you didn't."
"But I could have, and the only thing I could think of while rushing to the hospital was I never told you how much I love you."
Olivia felt a lump form in her throat as tears filled her eyes. "You love me?"
"More than fucking life itself."
"Wh... when?" She swallowed the lump that threatened to choke her, as her tears rolled down her cheeks to land on Nico's chest.
"I think from the first moment I saw you, sitting on that couch in Scott's office. I just didn't know it yet. But it would explain a lot."
She shook her head not understanding. "Explain what?"
Nico brushed the tears from one of her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. "Why I was so obsessed with you when I've never felt that way about anyone else before. Why I wanted to keep you. Why I was so quick to marry you when there were other ways I could have protected you."
"There were other ways?"
He looked down at her sheepishly. "My family is very powerful, tesoro. Carmine wouldn't have wanted to butt heads with us and take a chance of starting a war."
Nico moved his hand to her nape and positioned his lips but a breath away from hers. "And it would also explain why, when I saw your eyes close and I thought I was losing you, my heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest. That's when I knew, amore mio, that I had loved you all along."
He didn't give her time to respond before his lips captured hers. It was a kiss that was gentle, sweet, fierce, passionate, demanding, and reckless all rolled into one.
It was a kiss that felt a lot like love.