Lexis
Laughter.
It was the first thing that broke through the thick fog Lexis had been struggling against for what seemed like forever.
She knew that laughter. Lived for that laugh.
Ashton.
With effort, she slid her eyes open to stare at a blindingly white ceiling. Shifting her eyes toward the direction of the giggle she would know anywhere, she recognized the sterile, plain walls of a hospital room.
Even keeping her eyes open took enormous reserves of energy that she didn’t think she had. But the scene that played out in front of her made a smile pull onto her face, despite the pain and exhaustion weighing down her body.
A few feet away sat Bryan, in a chair that looked entirely too small for his intimidating frame. On the bed sat her little boy, legs crisscrossed and hospital gown hanging loosely on his frame. They seemed to be playing a very lively round of slapjack; cards flew and voices rose, until Ash laughed maniacally and almost fell back onto the bed with the strength of his mirth.
“Watch it.” Her voice scratched against her raw throat. “That kid cheats.”
Her guys turned in shock at her words. Both shouted her name and raced to her side. Bryan hoisted Ash up onto the edge of her bed, and kept an arm protectively around his waist as he perched there. The move made her heart ache in the best possible way, which was a stark contrast to how everything else on her body hurt.
“Lex, baby, I love seeing those sparkling blue eyes again.” Emotion raged in his eyes. Happiness, fear, relief. The hand not holding her son steady on the bed came down to gently scoop up hers.
“How long have I been out?” It felt like she had slept forever, but not in the good, refreshing way. In the punched-in-the-face, hung over way.
“So long, Mommy.” Ash’s eyes were huge, and he obviously had been very scared.
“About a day, Lex.” Bryan stroked her palm with his thumb. “The doctors put you under to give your brain some time to rest. They started weaning you off a couple of hours ago.”
“Give it to me straight, Officer Coy. What's the damage?”
He listed off her injuries, but nothing too bad, her broken wrist being the worst beside her head.
“And the house?”
Bryan broke their eye contact, looking down at the stiff blue blanket covering her legs. And she knew. Before he even said the words, she knew.
“I’m sorry babe, the explosions cracked the foundation in multiple places, walls and windows were blown out, and the chemicals from the explosion would make it too dangerous for you to ever live on that property again.”
Lexis nodded as tears streamed down her face. “I bought that house the year Ash turned two. I’d been saving for a down payment on a house in a good school district since I found out I was pregnant.” The only thing she wanted to do was wrap her baby in her arms and hold him until everything felt right again. But one arm was attached to an IV and the other in a clunky cast.
Ash’s own tears began to fall as well, and Lexis knew she needed to pull herself together. Be strong for her boy. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. We are both safe and relatively healthy. We’ll get a new place. Make new memories.” Picking up her IVed hand, she gently stroked Ash’s hair back off his face. “All that matters is I have you. You’re all I need in life to be happy.”
Ash smiled, even as a little sob broke free from his mouth. He flung himself down on her, burying his face on her chest and crying freely. “I’m glad you’re awake again, Mommy.”
“Me too, baby.”
Bryan stood from the bed, his own eyes looking a little glassy. “I’ll leave you guys alone for a minute, go grab the docs.”
“No!” Ashton sprang up, his nose running and eyes rimmed with red. “Don’t go, Bryan.”
“Hey, it’s okay buddy. We talked about this.” His gentle words seemed to sooth Ash. It dawned on Lexis then that the two were signing back and forth, with Bryan being a little slower and sometimes resorting to finger spelling when he didn’t know a word. “You're safe here, Ash. Nothing bad can happen in here. I’ve made sure of it.”
Lexis looked at Bryan in confusion. Why was Ashton so terrified of Bryan leaving? Seeming to read her mind, Bryan looked at her and mouthed “later.”
After the doctors came into check her out, they all settled in and watched a movie from the relative comfort of Lexis’ bed. Ashton curled up under her cast-encased arm, with Bryan next to them on a chair, rubbing her leg or wrapping his pinkie around hers so he wouldn’t disturb her IV. Anything to stay in contact with her skin.
Halfway into the first Harry Potter movie, Ash passed out cold next to her. His warm body pressed against her and the gentle rise and fall of his back with each breath went a long way to soothing her worried heart.
“Bryan,” she whispered to get his attention without waking Ash. “What was all that about earlier? I thought Ashton was going to have a panic attack when you left the room.”
Bryan sighed, the stress on his face showing through a little more. “He hasn’t wanted me to go more than a couple of feet away since he woke up. He even made me leave the bathroom door cracked open a little bit when I got up to pee the first time.”
“I used to make him do that when he first insisted on going to the bathroom by himself. I was convinced he would somehow find a way to drown himself, and I wouldn’t be able to get to him.” That had been two years ago, though; she never thought something like that would have an impact all these years later. “Tell me what happened. How did we get out of the house?”
As Bryan went through the story of how he’d rescued them, Lexis sobbed with gratitude. The man had risked his life to save them, and there was no way she could ever really repay that. “No wonder he doesn’t want you to leave. You’re his hero. Our hero.”
Bryan blushed, something Lexis found impossibly adorable and sexy at the same time. “About that. Ash told me about your plan to make me dinner that night. He asked if you guys could come live with me, since your house got destroyed. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I told him I’d talk to you.”
“Don’t worry about it, Bryan. I’ll talk to him. We’ll have to live with my parents for a while until our homeowners’ insurance gets sorted out and we find another place to live, but it won’t be that big a deal.” Lexis smiled. No doubt this would be hard for Ash, but they would figure it out in the end. Hopefully the school district wouldn’t mind that her parents weren’t in the district lines and still let Ash stay for the remainder of the year.
“I wasn’t worried about him wanting to live with me. I was worried about you not wanting to.” His statement confused her, and at the same time sent her heart galloping with hope. “I want you guys to move in with me, too. I know it is incredibly fast, but I’ll feel better, knowing you are both safe under my roof. You know I have plenty of room. I already ordered some furniture while Ash was sleeping, and his room will be set up by the time you guys get discharged. I know my place isn’t much, but I always secretly pictured having a family there. You’re my family—I want you there. Both of you.”
“Bryan, fast is putting it mildly. We just went on our first date two days ago. We’ve only known each other for six months.” God, she wanted to say yes. Screw convention and just dive in head first. But logic and reason had to win out, for Ash’s sake.
“I know, babe, trust me. But I figure the alternative is me moving in with your parents as well, since I really can’t stand the thought of you guys being out of my sight. But if you just move in with me, it will be much less cramped.” He gave her that crooked, cocky smile she loved so much and squeezed her forearm. “Plus, my house is still in his school district. The yard is huge, plenty of room for a dog. Ash said he’s always wanted one.”
“Now you’re just playing dirty.”
“Oh, I haven’t even gotten to the dirty reasons why you guys should live with me.” Damn that smirk and its ability to soak her panties in no time flat. Even while she was in the hospital with a broken wrist and concussion.
As much as she had protested the idea of living with Bryan already, she desperately wanted to be able to say yes. The minute she walked into his house, she could picture how it would be if she moved in with Ash. The way they would fill it up with all the warmth and love that Bryan had missed out on in his own childhood. But it just wasn’t responsible to make that step yet.
“Please, Lex, just think about it.” The pleading in his voice nearly did her in. He obviously wanted this; otherwise he wouldn’t be fighting so hard for her to say yes. And she believed he would move in with her parents just to be near them.
“I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Okay, yes. Think. While you think, just know that I love you, and I love Ash. The kid is awesome.” Bryan laid his head down on her hip, the one place on her body that didn’t feel like death warmed over. “You’re awesome, too. I just want us to be a family of awesome in my awesome house. Please.”
Lexis sighed. If there was one thing she had learned about Bryan since she met, him it was that he was unendingly persistent. He wouldn’t give this up until he had the three of them living under one roof together. So why fight it? Especially when it was something that she wanted, and apparently, Ash wanted as well. “Okay. I’ll make you a deal. Ash and I will stay with you while we’re recuperating. If you still want us living with you after that, we can talk about making it a permanent move.”
“I can deal with that.” A wide smile took over Bryan’s face, and a relieved sigh slipped past his lips.
In that moment, Lexis truly took in how exhausted he looked. Handsome as ever, but tired, too. “Have you gotten any sleep?” She ran her fingers through his soft auburn hair, loving the way her pale skin looked against it.
“Not much. Every time I close my eyes I see you lying on the floor, passed out in your house.” His eyes glassed over, and he held his breath, obviously trying to hold back the emotions that the past few days had caused.
“Hey, I’m okay now. You kept me safe. Kept my son safe.” His eyelids looked heavy as she continued her gentle stroking along his scalp. “Close your eyes. Picture me, in your bed, wearing one of your T-shirts—”
“The 2009 Steelers champion shirt.” A small smile tilted up his lips.
“Okay, I’m wearing your 2009 Steelers championship shirt—”
“With no panties underneath.”
Lexis giggled. Leave it to Bryan to make even the sweet picture she tried to paint for him a little sexy too. “No panties. We just finished making love, and after you go check on Ash in his room, you crawl into bed with me, and wrap me in your big arms. Ash is safe. I’m safe. And we’re all under the same roof, going to sleep for the night.”
Before she finished, Bryan had passed out on her lap. Despite being stuck in a hospital bed, covered in scrapes and bruises and a cast, Lexis felt a sense of completion like she never had before. Her son asleep at her side, and the love of her life asleep on her lap. She leaned her head back to the soft pillow behind her and found herself drifting into her own peaceful sleep, the picture of her little family filling Bryan’s house bright in her mind.