London Falling (Falling #2)(73)

I snort laughed. “See, even your ugly piggy laugh is cute. Just try not to do it in front of him.” He grimaced.

“Oh shut up. You make that weird gargley sound in the back of your throat when you sleep sometimes. Sounds like you’re choking on your own spit. It’s disgusting.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” he retorted.

“I just did!”

“I love your more than anyone, Bridge.”

“I know. I love you, too.” There would be no more saying that I loved him more than anyone because it wasn’t the truth. A tall, muscular, lean, sexy Englishman with chocolate colored eyes and a roguish smile had stolen my heart and a huge portion of my love along with it.



***

The smell of cinnamon permeated the air, filling my nose with the scent of the only person I wanted to see. My Beauty.

Slowly I opened my eyes. They were blurry but I could make out a fuzzy dark shape leaning over my bed. Her hand held mine, her forehead planted along my arm. Soft snuffling sounds filled the room. She was fast asleep, hunched over my arm. London’s hair spilled over the white linens like black oil.

After a quick assessment, I found I was able to move my hand, my toes, though it hurt to do so. I couldn’t really lift up and didn’t try to. A heavy weight lay on my chest, even though nothing was there. I had no idea what had happened. The last thing I remembered was narrowly missing a cow and then barreling toward a large oak tree. The only other thing I recalled was hearing London’s voice, apologizing to me. For what, I didn’t know. I do remember she finally admitted she loved me. That I’ll never forget. And here she was, sleeping alongside me.

Once my vision cleared, I really looked at my beautiful New Yorker in all her glory. And Christ, was she beautiful. So much so that it almost hurt to look at her. Her pink, full lips were opened slightly, puffing out small bursts of air. Her button nose had a smattering of the lightest freckles, almost as if they’d been dusted on. The one thing I needed to see but couldn’t were her eyes.

People say that eyes are the windows to the soul. For me, looking into London’s eyes was like looking into my future. I wanted my children to have those eyes and that blanket of thick, dark hair.

It took a bit of effort but I slid my arm from under her head and tunneled my fingers into her lovely hair. Slowly, her eyes blinked open. When she saw I was awake her eyes opened wider and she smiled.

Tears filled those ocean eyes and leaked down the side of her face. I shook my head. “No … don’t cry.” The words were feather light, barely making a sound at all.

My Beauty bit her lip and clasped my cheek. “Would you like a drink?”

I nodded and she got a pink cup and gave me a sip of water. I sucked it down as if I was in a drinking contest.

“Better, thanks.” My voice sounded scratchy but I didn’t know why.

“What happened?”

“You remember we hit that tree, right?” I nodded and she continued. “We were taken to the hospital, and you spent the last couple of nights in a medically induced coma. Then your kidney was going to fail. You needed a transplant,” Her voice caught on that last word and I knew it was bringing up seriously painful memories for her.

“But I only had one kidney, I gave mine…“

“You donated one to your sister. Yeah, we found that out.” Her eyes squinted in what looked like irritation. “They had to add you to the national list, but your blood type is rare.”

“Yeah, B negative. So a kidney came through?”

My girl smiled wide and held my hand, bringing it to her cheek, then rubbing it against her warm skin. “Yes, one did. A living donor.”

“Huh? How? My family? Only Em and I have the same blood type.” Things were not making sense.

“It wasn’t a family member.”

The information floored me. It didn’t add up. “I don’t understand?”

“Well, all of us tried. Me, Aspen, Hank, Oliver, Dean…“

“Aspen’s pregnant. They would never let her.”

“Yeah, she was pretty pissed, too. She actually has B negative blood, but they wouldn’t operate on a pregnant woman. I think she just didn’t want to feel useless. But it turned out one person did match perfectly.”

I thought about the people in my life who would potentially be willing to donate a kidney in such short notice. Whoever it was, I sure as hell owed them a lot. My life for one.

“Tripp.”

“What about Tripp?” His name sent tingles through me, bringing my fighter instincts to the fore. We’d made amends but it would still be awhile before I would consider him a good mate.

“He gave you his kidney this morning.”

You know that moment where a balloon is filled to the extreme and there’s no possibility of pushing more air into it and yet you blow harder, forcing, and then it explodes? That happened when those words left her sweet lips. My bloody head f*cking exploded.

“You’re pulling my prick,” I said, deadpan, trying to assure her I didn’t think her words were funny.

“No, I’m not. Believe me, if I was, you’d know it.” She grinned and winked.

“I…there aren’t words. I…I’m, uh, surprised. Tripp?” I searched her face to see any hint of humor or joking. There wasn’t any. “Why?”