Macey
I WOKE WITH a start. Dallas wasn’t in my room, in fact, no one was. I was alone. No. Not alone. “Well, hi there, pretty.” I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out and then blackness again.
“Macey! Wake up! You’re having a nightmare,” Alec said. “You’re gonna hurt yourself if you don’t stop thrashing around.”
I wasn’t entirely sure I wasn’t still dreaming.
“What the hell is going on?” Dallas demanded.
I swam through the pain and forced my eyes open. “Ouch.”
Alec nodded and helped me drink. “Pain? One to ten.”
“Nine,” I rasped.
Alec nodded and looked for my pain pump wire. “Looks like you got this tangled, Mace.” He smiled and pressed the button for the pain pump. “Better?”
After the instant relief, I nodded, and Alec set the pump button close to me again. Dallas leaned over me and smiled. God, he was gorgeous.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said.
I licked my lips. “Hi.”
“Bad dream?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Really bad.”
He sat on the edge of my bed. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
I blinked back tears and shook my head.
“You don’t have to. The dreams will come, honey. Just know they’ll fade away.” He kissed my palm. “And I’m here, okay?”
I didn’t say anything. As much as I loved him and as much as he said he wanted to be there, I knew he didn’t deserve to be saddled with this. I had to figure out a way to break up with him. For good.
“I told a few of your friends you’re not up to seeing them,” Dallas said.
“Who?”
He scowled. “Bruce for one. He’s been here for a while and he won’t leave.”
My heart raced, fear rearing its ugly head for no apparent reason. “I don’t want to see anyone.”
“Did you hear that, Alec?” Dallas asked. “No one to see her.”
“I heard her, Dal. I’ll make sure it’s noted in the records.”
“Thanks,” I said. “What happened to the man?”
“Brock killed him, honey. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Are you sure?”
Dallas nodded. “Promise, baby.”
Alec pulled open the door and nodded at someone before returning to my bedside. “I need to check your stitches now that you’re awake.”
I swallowed. “Right. I had surgery.”
Dallas leaned down to kiss me, but I turned my head. “No.”
“It’s all gonna be okay, Mace,” he promised.
“Time to go, Dallas,” Alec said.
“Not leaving,” Dallas replied.
“Go, Dallas,” I said.
“Babe.”
“Please?” I begged.
He stared at me for a few seconds before nodding, and then Alec pushed him from the room and one of the on-call nurses walked in. She must have been new because I didn’t recognize her.
“Mace, this is Vicki,” Alec said. “She’s on nights.”
“Hi, hon,” Vicki said. “I’m going to sit you up.”
I tried to smile, but it hurt. “Why does my face hurt so bad?”
“You had surgery on your abdomen and face,” Alec said gently.
“I had surgery on my face?” I reached for the bandages, but Vicki pulled my hands away. “How bad?”
Alec crossed his arms. “Do you want me to talk to you like a patient or a nurse?”
“Nurse.”
He nodded. “As well as the stab wounds to your torso, you have a few facial lacerations.”
“A few,” I repeated, my voice flat.
“Four to be exact.” He stepped forward and started to cut the bandages secured behind my head. “But Dr. Isaacs fixed those.”
“Four?” I cried. “Ow.”
“Yes, but Dr. Isaacs said the scars will fade.”
“How bad are they, Alec?”
“I won’t know until I have a look.”
“Bullshit. Tell me how bad.”
He sighed, but continued to unwrap my bandages. “Six stitches in one, nine in the other, two in the third and four in the last one.”
“Oh my god.” I choked on a sob. “That’s why I tasted blood.”
“Don’t panic on me, Mace. There was no muscle damage, so you’ll make a complete recovery.” He smiled. “Let’s just have a look, okay?”
“Mirror.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Alec said. “They’re going to look much worse for a little while.”
“I want a mirror, Alec.”
He frowned at me, but nodded to Vicki who retrieved one from a drawer. I laid it mirror-side down and waited while Alec finished with the bandages. I waited while he studied each cut and I waited while he gave Vicki general care orders and information to load into my chart.
It wasn’t until he stood that I raised the mirror to my face. And lost my shit. I threw the mirror across the room as I screamed, which brought Dallas and Payton running to my side.
“Get out!” I bellowed. “Get out, get out, get out.”
“Babe.” Dallas tried to walk toward me, but I pulled the sheet up to my face.
“Get out, Dallas. Go home. Don’t come back. Ever!”
“Baby, it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“It does matter. Get out.” I turned to Payton. “Payton, please. Get him out.”
“Just go, Dal,” Payton said. “I’ll call you later.”
I peeked around the sheet as Dallas took a deep breath, his face losing all expression, his eyes, however, were a little scary.
“I’m not going to say this again,” he said slowly. “I. Am. Not. Leaving. Just get that thought out of your fucking heads.”
“Please, Dallas,” I begged. “Go away. There’s no point in you being here.”
Dallas shook his head.
“Then wait in the hall,” Alec said.
“Mace, honey, look at me,” Dallas pleaded.
“No, get out,” I snapped from under the sheet.
“I love you, Mace.”
“Please, just go,” I whispered.
“I’ll be right outside,” he said.
A few seconds ticked by before Alec said, “He’s gone, Macey.”
I slid the sheet slowly down my face and then pulled it back up again. “You too, Payton.”
“No way in hell.”
“Pay, get out.”
Before I could respond, the sheet was ripped away. “No.” Payton crossed her arms. “You are my best friend and I’m not leaving.”
I swallowed. “I don’t want you to see this.”
“Too late,” Payton said, and sat in the chair beside the bed. “Plus, it’s not that bad.”
“I look like Frankenstein’s monster.”
“You do not.”
I closed my eyes. I was too tired to fight, so I didn’t. But as the hours stretched into days and then weeks, I realized everything I’d ever hoped for was gone.