“Dawn?”
He sounded so far away, and she reached into the air in search of his hand. She just caught hold of his fingers. Her eyelids fluttered as her head pounded, and Dawn started to sit up when everything felt fuzzy, and she fell back to the pillows.
“Easy,” he soothed. “I’m right here.”
She slowly focused on the dim room and the comfort of the soft sheets against her back. In the distance, Dawn could hear glass moving against the floor and a few stray voices calling for bandages and the need to stop the bleeding.
“Lenny!” she cried as she sat up. “Is he—?”
“Holding his own,” Cade said. “On account of Gloria.”
He ran his hand down her face and pressed his brow to hers as he spoke softly. “You were never supposed to get hurt,” he said. “If you’d just waited.”
“Or should I have left?” she asked as her mind continued to clear. “Which way do you want it?”
“I want you here,” he said. “I should have held you back with the others.”
“Tell me… just tell me that no one has died,” Dawn said. “At least none of—”
“George is just nicked,” Cade said. “Lenny’s good. And Brian…”
The pain from the fall rang fresh as she fell into his chest and felt his hands working their way through her hair.
“He’s off,” Cade said. “Along with most of the crew. But I… I…” He pressed his fingers under her chin and pushed his lips close to hers when he turned his head and smiled softly. “You had it right all along,” he said. “Can’t ever leave you.”
Their eyes locked, and she kissed him for a second before pushing back. Dawn arched her back as she felt her body for the bruises and massaged the bridge of her nose.
“I feel like shit,” she said.
“Still look good me.”
“That’s sweet of you the say.”
“And it’s the truth,” Cade continued. “Don’t want either one of us to hurt now.”
Folding her into his arms, Cade held her close and sighed into her matted hair. Dawn accepted his embrace, and she sighed into his chest before lifting her eyes to his icy pools.
“I don’t hurt with you, Cade,” she said. “Just don’t… please don’t try to send me away again.”
“Like you’d even listen if I told you.”
“Say it, Cade. I need to hear it.”
He fixed his jaw and just nodded his head before kissing her hair and folding her into his arms. “Don’t leave, Dawn. I don’t… I don’t know what’s going down next. But you were right about one thing.”
“And what’s that?” she asked.
He set her back in the bed and stretched the entire length of his body to her side, as he curled her short hair around his fingers and smiled.
“We’re stronger if we stay like this.”
Dawn had no idea what was coming next, but she felt safe and sure in his arms. The way ahead was bound to be dark and bathed in even more blood.
“Yes, Cade,” she said. “Us together is the total story.”