Beholden (The Belonging Duet, #2)(12)

“But he’s okay, right?” Mark asks, trying to sound strong, but I hear the undercurrent of fear.

“I think so. I mean, he f*cking died! I was there and they pushed me out of the room. Where were you? I called. I-I was so scared!” I start to sob as Mark rubs my back.

“I’m sorry. It’s okay though. He’ll be fine?” he asks again.

“The doctors checked him over. He said a few things and then fell back asleep.”

“He’ll wake back up, right?” Mark asks both excited and a little nervous.

“Yes, the doctors said he’ll be tired and needs to rest,” I reassure him.

I start to pace a little, trying to work through my thoughts. My heart is so full it could beat right out of my chest, but at the same time I’m terrified. There’s a long road ahead for Jackson. He will most likely need physical therapy, his company is going through a lot of changes, and he’s yet to deal with Aaron’s death. The status of our relationship isn’t my first priority, but I can’t pretend that it doesn’t lie heavily on my mind.

Mark grabs my shoulders, stopping me from walking past him again. “Hey, Kitty, calm down and stand still. What happened when he woke up?”

We stand in the hallway as I replay the few minutes he was awake. Mark looks a hundred years younger just from knowing he was able to talk and move. I bite my lip when I think about how intense his eyes were asking me to stay. I’m so damn confused.

“All of this is good—hell, it’s f*cking great! Did you cancel your flight?” Mark asks as he pulls me into a hug. His deep voice sounds lighter and more carefree.

I push back and start creating a plan. He’s awake now but I need to handle the things I’ve neglected. “I need to reschedule it. I’m not sure what I should do now.” I run my hands through my hair and try to think.

His arms cross his chest as he puffs his chest out making himself seem scary. “Well, you better not f*cking leave now. You know he’ll flip his shit. All the business crap can wait. He needs you. Whether you two can get your heads out of your asses long enough to see it or not … you both need each other,” Mark says with one brow raised, clearly not budging.

“Let me make some calls to the office and see if we can release a statement on his condition tomorrow. It should help both Raven and Cole Security. In regards to the rest of our shit, we’ll work it out. But today is definitely not the day, so give me a chance to think.”

“I’m letting you know now … I won’t watch you two f*ck this up,” Mark states standing there as the anger rolls off of him.

Great.

Now I have a big brother—or the male version of Ashton. This should make things fun.

“You can’t fix this,” I reply with my arms crossed.

“I didn’t say I could. I’m just saying you two are going to fix this before I leave. I don’t know what the hell happened, but when he got on that plane, his head wasn’t right. Then you’ve been spouting off shit about how you shouldn’t be here since day one. So, here’s my thinking, which I’m usually right—you two got in a fight before he got on the plane. Now, my first inclination would say Jackson was his normal jackass self. But then again I know what a jackass you were a few days before that.” He states and pauses.

“He left me,” I say as I ball my fists. He’s got me so angry. I don’t want to talk about any of this. I was stupid when I pushed him away and then Jackson did the same thing.

“I’m not going to lecture you on the reasonings of Jackson Cole. He acts like he was the only one in Iraq. You’ll never meet someone more loyal than him. At the same time, you’ll never meet someone who thinks he’s more at fault for the bad shit in the world. Like I said: f*cking jackass.” Mark smiles trying to lighten the mood a little and pulls me into his side. “I’ve seen him up and I’ve seen him in the lowest place you can ever imagine. But when he was with you, he was different. Happy.”

I look at him with my mouth gaping open at his statement. He squeezes my shoulders and lets that sink in around me.

“Enough of this shit. Tell me, have you talked to Ashton?”

I laugh and slap his chest. “She’d chew you up and spit you out.”

His booming laugh reverberates through the halls and we get a few looks from the nurses. “You tell her any time she wants to chew me up, she’s more than welcome.” He smirks and walks away.

I stand there thinking about all he said and decide to call Ashton to fill her in.

“Hey, Biffle,” her cute voice comes through.

“Hi.” I let out a sigh wishing she was here.

“You at the airport?” she asks probably thinking that’s what has me sounding forlorn.

“No. I missed my flight. Jackson woke up.” The smile spreads across my face as I think about how many days we waited on bated breath for this to happen.

“Cat!” Ashton screams into the phone. “That’s fantastic! I’m so happy. Is he okay?” she asks excitedly.

“He died, Ash. Literally. They brought him back and he’s okay now, but he died. I thought I lost him.”

“Wow, are you okay? Is he okay?” she asks with concern prevalent in her voice.

“I’m okay. I think. Yes, he seems okay,” I sigh and shake my head. “It was a short amount of time he was up, but he has a long road ahead of him. The doctor told him to rest as much as he can. But I can’t leave now.”