Finding Life | Finders Keepers #2 ✔️

37. Bit My Lip

Dean

I don't even know how I'm still holding it together at the sight of her and haven't flipped a chair or threw myself down on the ground or cry again until I fall asleep. Staying outside her room, being told that she was dead for two minutes after surgery, and not even getting to see her properly was—I thought—the most excruciating thing I had to endure.

              No, the most excruciating pain was a bandage at the back of her head, there's also some on her cheek, her eyes are puffy probably from the crying, there's scrapes and bruising along her arms and legs, she can't even move properly from the knife wound in her stomach, and she's got an IV stuck to her hand. I thought seeing her with a dislocated shoulder and a broken nose was the worst thing ever. No, this is because I now knew that all these wounds that she has gotten almost killed her—hell, it did kill her. It wasn't just permanent.

              Hearing the news that she died on that table made me shake uncontrollably. If it weren't for Jamie, I would have gone inside the surgery room, not caring if she's bloody or not just to hold her again.

              Now... now I can't because I'm afraid.

              "Dean," she whispers. Her voice is hoarse, probably from having a tube in her throat for a day and having not much liquid in her system. She nods slowly at the empty couch a few steps away from her. I already know what she's asking me to do and I oblige, sitting down with my freshly cut nails digging down on the soft fabric. "Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

              Is that it? She's just been through hell and she's still worried about me? I can't believe this woman.

              "No," I croak out, my tone slightly pitching from how nervous I am.

              Through her lips, a smile breaks through. It melts every nervousness I have for a few seconds. Even injured, she's still so beautiful. "That's good. How was the game? I was on the way to it when I—"

              She stops. Kidnapped. That's what happened to her.

              In all my years of being with her, I have never seen her this vulnerable. Not when she was breaking my heart, or when she had that initiation, or when she lost Nathan, just now. In this hospital, here she lays with bandages around her wounds, rendering her weak, and still, she tries to push through it.

              Her eyes turn red and glassy. The fear of being near her disappears and I engulf her around my arms, making sure I don't hurt her head too much. She places her hand on top of my arm, a sob racking her body. In that moment, she breaks out of the wall that she weakly placed just to comfort everybody around her, and finally cries.

              "I got you, Blythe," I kiss the top of her head, inhaling her scent. How I miss her so much. "This time, I'm the one who will help you. To protect you if needed."

              Giving out a weak nod, I release her to cup her face, wiping her tears with my thumbs. Tear-stained or blood-stained, the woman still looks like she got dropped out of heaven and I'm so lucky to be here, standing in front of her, holding her close to feel how alive she is.

              My instincts kick in and I press my lips onto hers. Her tears made her taste a little salty. Everything just fades as I'm kissing her. Her response to my kiss towards her is filled with need and love. She didn't have to say it anymore for me to feel it. And finally, my mind has made up. Whether or not she'll take me, I will always be with her no matter what.

              But my question of it is answered when our lips part and I wipe her tears again as she gives a more natural smile. "I love you."