Kiss the Stars (Falling Stars #1)(113)

My spirit screamed and my soul shouted.

“The doctor is in there right now. First thing she did when she woke up was ask for you and the kids. I think she’s as worried about you as you were about her.”

Emotion shivered, and I blinked.

Uncertain.

Unworthy.

Could I just . . . walk in there?

Be with her?

“You’re a fool if you’re standing there questioning if she could love you right now. Question is, after everything, can you love her?”

I looked at the closed door.

Every nerve alive.

That connection booming through the air.

I gulped as I pushed it open.

Energy crashed.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

I was inundated with it.

Blinded.

Her goodness.

Her purity.

Her light.

Even though she was beat up, her smile was soft—an invitation—when she looked at me from where she was propped up on the bed, attached to a thousand monitors, all of them beating with life.

The air punched from my lungs.

Knees going weak.

The best thing that I’d ever seen.

“Hi,” she whispered, voice thick.

“Hey.”

The doctor shifted a fraction, the woman taking in my state, eyebrow arching in question.

“This is who I was telling you about. The man who saved me. Saved my children.” Mia’s voice was acute affection, a message delivered in her words.

Thank you.

And I didn’t know how to stand under that.

Like these sins could be erased.

Moisture glistened in her eyes, and the girl looked at me the way she always had.

Like she saw something better.

Something right.

Something meant for her.

Love burst in my heart.

Wasn’t sure how any of us remained upright under the eruption of it.

The doctor hummed, looking between us.

I edged for the bed.

Wary.

Eager.

Sorry.

Fucking sorry, and still suffering all that hope this girl had somehow made me believe in again.

I leaned in, dropped my forehead to hers, breathed her in. “You’re okay.”

She nodded, face getting soggy from the tears that slipped free.

“An artery in her thigh was nicked,” the doctor explained. “Thankfully the paramedics arrived quickly, and it was easily repaired in surgery. It seems somebody else took the brunt of it.” Her voice shifted in implication.

My eyes dropped closed, and I knew that was the only thing I wanted.

To be her shield.

Her protection.

This girl my own savior. One I didn’t deserve but who was still waiting on me.

I let my lips press to hers.

Lightly, though I lingered.

“You’re okay.”

She nodded under my kiss. Tears slipped from the corner of her eyes.

“You’re hurt,” she whispered.

“It’s nothing.” I edged back and set my hand on her face. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, Leif. You have nothing to apologize for. I told you I always recognized the man you are. The one who was waiting to be freed. He’s the man I fell in love with. He is the one standing right here, in front of me. The one who saved us. He’s the one I want.”

“Don’t want to be anywhere else, Mia. I . . .” I struggled with what to say. “My past . . . the guy . . . he was a bad guy. And I know you get what that really means now.”

I knew we had an audience. But I didn’t care. I was so over hiding behind the walls.

Behind the anger and the hate and the fear that had held me captive for the last three years.

I had to lay all of that at her feet.

“But if you can see past that—through it—I will live for you, Mia. Live for you with all that I have. I love Penny. I love Greyson.”

My heart panged with the truth of it, their sweet faces flashing through my mind. God, I loved them so much.

“And I love you. I want to spend my life with you. Let me love you. Let me love your kids. I want to see your joy. Want to be a part of it. Want to see you paint. Let’s make beauty together.”

She brushed her thumb over my jaw. “Don’t you get it . . . you are the beauty reflected back at me. You thought you were the darkness, but you were my light. I love you, Leif. Let me love you back.”

I nodded at her, tightened my hold on her cheek. A promise. A pledge. “I will let you love me every day, just like I will be loving you.”

Sable eyes gazed up at me, her lips trembling, pulling up at one side as the tears kept gliding down her face. “We caught a falling star, Leif.”

Mia’s eyes flitted to the doctor, mine following the path, my chest panging with uncertainty.

The woman gave a soft smile. “I was just giving Mia some of her test results. Her bloodwork showed a positive pregnancy. With her past medical history as well as her current situation, we need to consider this high risk. I ordered an ultrasound, and they should be in with a mobile unit soon. But as of right now, everything looks good.”

Shock slowed my heart.

I couldn’t process.

Couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t do anything but look down at Mia who was looking up at me with all that hope and love shining bright, and she whispered, “Are you happy?”