The Alpha Wants Everything Book 1 The King's Queen
Chapter 93: Happy Death Day to me!

The sun was filtering into their room, but neither Kane nor Dax moved from their spots. She was still curled on his chest with his arms around her, and he had no interest in letting go. This was their last day, their last chance to finish this and that thought weighed heavy in the air. The details of the plan rolling through both their minds, they spent hours in the office going over it. They wanted every angle covered as best as possible. Her and Carter would head to the warehouse later today, Kane would meet up with them there. He would send Donny a message, saying what good does fighting over the same girl do anyone? Neither one of them got her and he was tired of protecting her. They’re going to fight, he’ll chase her around the warehouse, she’ll ask Donny for help, but Kane will catch her and he’ll kill her right there in front of the cameras while Donny watches. This will hopefully bring the nut job to the warehouse. Fool proof no, but it’s what they have. It was all they had, they were out of time.

“Happy Birthday, baby” Kane broke the silence,

“You mean Happy Death Day!” She replied. The promise he made her floating through his mind, he could only hold her tighter to him.

“Not yet!” He said. “We still have time”

“How much?” She asked,

“Enough!” He replied.

“You ok?” Johnny asked Damon,

“Ask me later, when this is finished and they are both back home” Damon replied. Johnny could only nod, he knew the feeling Damon was going through. Not only were they possibly going to lose their Alpha and Luna, they were losing their family. Walking into the office they saw Kenneth, Marco and Carter already there. Marco was busy with his laptop, while Kenneth was filling Carter in on what they discussed the night before after Johnny sent him out of the office to deal with a disturbance at the south border.

“$20 says Carter loses his shit” Damon whispered,

“$20 says Carter hits him” Johnny countered, as he watched their Delta clench and unclench his fists.

“That boy’s about to blow” Damon said as they continued to watch him shake his head at what Kenneth was saying.

“Maybe we should do something” The words barely out of Johnny’s mouth, before Carter wound up and clocked Kenneth.

“That’s a stupid fucking plan!” He yelled, catching them all by surprise. “You can’t fucking kill her”

“You owe me $20” Johnny said, as they watched Kenneth wipe the blood from his split lip.

“So much for better control” Damon replied, fishing his wallet from his back pocket and slipping the cash into Johnny’s outstretched hand.

“Carter its the only way” Damon said to him as he crossed the room

“You’re on board with this?” Carter looked at him wide eyed and bewildered

“We don’t have another choice and we’re out of time” Damon told him

“No, there has to be another way, replace another way. One where she doesn’t have to die. She doesn’t deserve it” Carter exclaimed.

“I know brother, if there was another way we would have found it by now. There’s not! Dax has to die!” Damon told him.

“That’s fucking bull shit” Carter yelled at him, clenching his fists again. He didn’t care that it was only pretend, he didn’t want it to happen period.

“Hey, it’s the only way” Damon grabbed a hold of Carter before he wound up and clocked him as well.

“Next time let Damon give him bad news” Johnny said to Kenneth as he joined him by the office door.

“Clearly!” Kenneth replied as they watched Damon deal with Carter.

At four it was time to leave for the warehouse and Carter and Dax were standing on the front lawn.

“Call me the second you get to the warehouse” Kane had said to her. She was pulled into his chest and he didn’t want to let her go, but he knew he had to.

“I will,” She replied, holding tighter to him. The day went by too fast, time moved in fast forward and they were now about to say goodbye and she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready for him to not be holding her.

“I will see you in a few hours” He promised her

“You better” She lifted her head and he claimed her mouth and then let her go. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t. Dax let Carter pull her away, but she never took her eyes off of him. Helping her into the backseat.

“Two hours” He said,

“Two” She called back before the door was closed. These would be the two longest hours of her life.

“Make sure you call me the second you get to the warehouse” Kane said to Carter,

“Yes Alpha!” Carter nodded and proceeded to move around to the driver’s side and climb in. The SUV roared to life and a few minutes later it was taking off down the driveway. He watched his mate leave. His fear spiked and his anger flooded him. Happy Death Day to me! He thought as he watched the tail lights move out of his sight.

Dax had not taken her eyes off of him the whole time. From when the door closed to when the SUV started moving. She did not look away from the man she loved until he was out of her sight and only then did she turn to face the front. Happy Death Day to me! She thought as she kept her eyes on the road in front of them.

“Luna….” Carter began, though he didn’t really know what to say to her. He has never met anyone like her before, the world’s smallest little creature, was also the world’s most fiercest.

“It has been an absolute honour, Luna,” He said.

“The honour has been mine, Carter” She replied, holding his gaze in the rearview mirror. The silence between them spoke volumes, neither one wanted to say the words out loud, but the look they held said it all and no other words needed to be spoken. This was goodbye.

They drove the rest of the way down the highway in silence, each trapped in their own head. Carter was lost in what his life was like before and after he met his Luna, and what his life would be like if she was no longer there. Dax thinking of everything that happened before them and everything that happened after she met them all. How they all enriched her for the better and what she hoped for them all as they moved further along their journey. The turn for town approaching, Carter changed lanes watching traffic. He saw two vehicles, a truck and a car pulled over on the side of the road, and eyed them suspiciously. A knot forming in his gut. It wasn’t uncommon to see vehicles on the shoulder, but something about this felt off. He saw no movement by either one. Whoever they belonged to didn’t appear to be present. Slowing down to make the turn he checked his direction and pulled into the intersection. Catching the slightest movement the truck sped straight for them.

“LUNA!” Carter’s voice called out, it was too late for him to react, he could only hope they had time to brace for the impact. Dax stared at him wide eyed, and the last thing he saw was the horror cross her face as their vehicle was violently smashed into. CRASH!! The sound of the metal twisting rang in their ears. Glass rained down around them. The SUV rolled and tumbled, never seeming to want to come to an end. This was worse than the roller coaster at least that eventually ended. Groans, moans and screaming carried on the air. Pain ripped through both the occupants as they were thrown around in the vehicle, and just when they thought it was over, more tumbling, more crunching, more rolling, more pain. The SUV finally came to a stop at the bottom of the embankment on the side of the road.

Aside from the gentle rocking, it no longer moved. Dax opened her eyes and the world around her was a hazy mess, sounds filtered in and drowned out again. The blaring horn, the crumbling of more glass and the sudden screech of tires. She could barely make out Carter as her vision was going dark. Fastened to his seat, he hung upside down. She saw blood pouring from some injury he sustained and he was no longer moving, she wasn’t even certain he was breathing. Her mouth moved to call to him but no sound escaped her. Silence pure silence amidst the chaos. Darkness edging ever closer to her, she felt her eyes closing as hard as she fought against it, it would over take her soon. Gravel crunching had her fighting harder to stay conscious. Help, she held onto the hope of help. Someone saw the crash and they were going to help them.

CREEAAKK! The back passenger door groaned, its protest at being open, and whoever was here to help them had to fight with it to do so. Her mouth moved again, but still nothing escaped past her lips but hushed breath. Darkness surrounded her now as she walked the fine line between conscious and the unconscious. Dax felt arms holding onto her, she heard muffled grunts, the pressure on her body disappearing then she felt herself drop.

“Help!” She managed to whisper out to whoever was with her in the back seat.

“Angel” was the last thing she heard before she faded into the nothingness that surrounded her.

****

He didn’t mean to slam the vehicle into theirs that hard. It was only supposed to be hard enough to stop them from moving and knock the driver out. He didn’t want to kill the driver in front of her, he didn’t want her to think he was a monster and he didn’t want her to be afraid of him. That was no way to start their life together. But when he saw their vehicle violently thrown and rolled he knew he messed up. It flipped and rolled and tumbled. Metal twisted, the glass shattered and he saw his angel being thrown around in the back seat. When it went down the embankment, his skin paled, what did he just do? How could he have been so foolish? His angel, his precious angel.

Scrambling to get into the other vehicle he had to get to her. The tires screeched as he hit the brakes where they went over. He jumped from the car and stood on the edge of the road. Their SUV was on the roof and rocked gently back and forth like a cradle. The vehicle groaned and he could still hear glass sprinkle from the interior. He didn’t see any movement from either passenger and a knot started to form in the pit of his stomach. What did he do? No, what did the tall man make him do? This was his fault, this was all his fault. His angel was injured and it was the tall man’s fault. If he hadn’t kept his angel from him, if he hadn’t avoided him in town, been so damn elusive, he wouldn’t have had to do this. The tall man will pay if anything happens to her.

Sliding down the embankment to get to her he approached the vehicle. Looking in the front he saw the driver. He wasn’t moving and blood poured from not only the side of his head but his side where a piece of the driver’s door had pierced his abdomen. It wasn’t his intention to kill her bodyguard, but he wasn’t sad it happened either. He needed to get the man out of the way and this took care of it. He proceeded to the back passenger door and with a great deal of effort he finally got it to creak and groan open. He saw his angel hanging upside down in her seat. And though her eyes were closed, he knew she knew he was there. He saw her mouth moving, like she was trying to form words, but none escaped her perfect heart shaped mouth. Moving closer to her, he saw the cuts to her face, arms and torso from the glass, but she had received no other injuries. Breathing a sigh of relief, he held onto her while he worked and fought with the seat belt to release her. Her body dropped but he was there to catch her and she finally spoke her first whisper word to him.

“Help!” Quiet and hushed and then she went limp in his arms.

“Angel!” He spoke back as he held her there for a second. She was finally his, finally in his arms where she rightfully belonged. He has waited so many years, done so many things, and he was finally being rewarded. His heart swelled, as he hugged her body to him. The celebration was cut short, now was not the time. Magnus was in the trunk of the car and he needed to get her out of here. Carefully as he could he pulled her from the wreck and carried her up the embankment. He opened the back passenger door and gently laid her across the back seat. Covering her with a blanket he got back behind the wheel and drove off. It was time to end this.

****

Kane was sitting in his office waiting for his phone to ring. He stared at, encouraging it, willing it to ring. Praying that when it did her voice would be on the other end. He had a knot tightening in his gut, the more time that passed the more it tightened. The fuck is she? It hasn’t been that long! Why hasn’t she called? She will, soon! How do you know? CALM DOWN KY! You calm down, something is wrong! Something was very wrong. A coldness started to spread through him and when he went to stand, blinding pain coursed through his body. Kane hit the floor, covering his ears trying his best to block whatever was screaming in them.

“KANE!” Johnny and Damon ran to his side the second he hit the ground. They held him as he writhed in agony that they couldn’t place, his growls and snarls filled the room, as he tried to quiet everything around him. Then all went silent and he lay there motionless on the floor.

“Kane!” Johnny shook his shoulder,

“Brother, now is not the time for this shit” Damon said, shaking the other one. Kane’s face was pale and they saw small red marks going in every direction appear and disappear. They looked at each other and when they looked back down they stared into the burning abyss of Ky’s eye’s.

“Something is wrong!” Kane said. Again Damon and Johnny looked at each other, and before anyone could utter another word, Damon was out the office door with Marco right behind him.

“Damon!” Johnny yelled.

Marco was barely in the vehicle before Damon had the pedal pinned. Something is wrong, were the only words he needed to hear before he hightailed it out of the office. Something is wrong, three words hold so much power. Hang on feisty pants! He didn’t know what was wrong, but Kane said something. And after he watched his face pale and hit the ground writhing in agony, something was definitely wrong. They barreled down the highway heading towards the town, Marco was constantly scanning the area making sure they wouldn’t miss anything at the high speed they were travelling. When Damon took the turn for the road that would lead them to town Marco called out.

“Là!” And pointed into the ditch, Damon caught a glimpse before driving past. An overturned vehicle sat there. The tires screeched to a halt as Damon slammed on the brakes, throwing it into reverse he backed up. Sure enough Dax and Carter’s SUV sat at the bottom of the ditch. The metal twisted and all the windows were blown out. What the fuck happened? Damon thought as he pulled over onto the side of the road.

“Call Kane” He barked as he jumped from the vehicle and rushed to the other one.

Johnny and Kenneth helped Kane into his seat as the effects of the attack still flooded through him.

“What happened?” Johnny asked,

“Felt like a fucking truck hit me” Kane replied, as he continued to groan in pain. Johnny saw more marks appear and disappear on Kane and when he pulled down the collar of his shirt slightly he saw the imprint of the seat belt. Before he could say anything, Kane’s phone went off.

“What?” Kane groaned out.

“Abbiamo trovato il loro veicolo!” Marco yelled into the phone.

“English Marco” Kane grumbled as the feeling from the invisible collision finally began to dissipate.

“Abbiamo trovato il loro veicolo!” Marco yelled again.

“He’s too agitated” Kenneth replied, “Marco will not be able to speak English in his state. They found a vehicle”

“What?” Kane sat straighter in his chair.

“Capovolto in fondo a un fosso al bivio per il paese. Damon è lì adesso” Marco replied,

“It’s upside down in the ditch at the turn for town. Damon is checking the vehicle now” Kenneth translated

“Is she there? Marco is she there” Kane asked, fear coursed through him, followed quickly by anger. Where is our mate?

“Non lo so!....Damon... Damon... dov’è Luna?” Marco had pulled the phone away from his ear and they heard him asking.

“He doesn’t know he’s asking Damon now.” Kane got to his feet grabbing his phone he thrust into Johnny’s hands he wasn’t sitting by waiting for the answer before he made a move, they would replace out on the way there.

Dax woke to an unfamiliar, yet familiar surrounding. Her head hurt, her body hurt, everything hurt. I hurt! Nyx’s whimpered voice sounded. It was distant, like it was in the back recesses of her mind, but she was there. Are you ok? No, it feels like a truck hit us! Dax closed her eyes as her head began to spin again. She was grasping at something, anything to hold on to before the dark oblivion claimed her again. She didn’t know what happened, she couldn’t remember. It was loud though, and judging by what she was feeling very fucking painful. Where’s Carter? She moved, at least she thought she did and that was a huge mistake. Her body tensed as pain shot through her like a bullet. Holy fuck! Her face scrunched in pain as the black abyss etched closer and closer to her. She welcomed oblivion, it didn’t hurt in oblivion. The last thing she thought she saw was a door opening before darkness consumed her.

Donny opened the door to her room, he heard tiny whimpers of pain when he entered the loft and concern grew in him. Maybe his angel was more injured than he thought. But when he heard her cry out, he had to see her. She was still on the bed, her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. He had to look her over, he had to make sure she was ok. He slipped off her shoes and her socks, moved to her pants and as he slipped them down her legs his breath caught at what he saw. Her smooth, silky skin. He couldn’t resist, trailing his fingers over her thighs he got his first real feel of her delicate flesh. His angel, she was soft and tender, he needed to be gentle with her. He thoroughly examined her legs, to make sure nothing was broken, and redressed a few of the wounds where the blood had seeped through the bandages. He watched her for a minute, before he proceeded. Taking in all of her features. Brushing the hair from her face, he could see the slight bruising forming from where she was thrown around. How scared she must have been? She didn’t know why this had to happen to her. If she only knew the tall one was to blame. If he just cooperated with him, this would not have happened to her.

Moving to her shirt he unfastened a few buttons at the bottom and his breath caught. The sight of the ghastly bruise forming across her from the seat belt chilled him. Undoing the rest of the buttons, he caught the edges of dark crimson stains on the back. Shifting her to a sitting position, her head rested on his shoulder, he resisted the urge to kiss her then. He enjoyed the feeling of her pressed against him, leaning on him for support as he removed her shirt. He saw the fresh cuts down her back, but the one that was cut into her after her first attack was seeping as well he would need to address those, right now he had to see how bad the bruise was. Laying her gently back on the bed, his breath caught for the third time. His angel was even more beautiful than he ever expected her to be. She was all grown up and in his eyes flawless. The scars she carried were her victories over the battles she has fought and survived. He couldn’t resist touching, running his hands over her curves, her skin. He felt himself stir. No, not like this! He told himself, not while she’s injured, he has to take care of her, like he used to. He spied the rest of the bruise, an imprint of the seatbelt where it tightened around her, cutting into her delicate skin. Checking the area around it, nothing felt broken but he would have to see when she woke up.

Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper, I love you

Birds singin’ in the sycamore trees

Dream a little dream of me

Say nighty-night and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me

While I’m alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

He started singing the song he heard Erin sing to Donny, the one he sang to her every time he had to clean her up.

Stars fading but I linger on dear

Still craving your kiss

I’m longin’ to linger till dawn dear

Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams replace you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

He redressed more of her wounds and sat her up to take care of the ones on her back. Then he placed a clean shirt on her, but didn’t let her go just yet. He continued to hold her in his arms, running his fingers through her hair.

Sweet dreams till sunbeams replace you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

Dream a little dream of me

Dream a dream of me

Come on and dream come on and dream

Dream a little dream of me

I said dream, dream, dream a little dre-dre-dream

Come on and dream

Dream a little dre-dre-dream of me

What you sayin’ hey baby come on and dream

Dream a little dream, dream of me

“Soon my angel, soon it will just be us. I will take you away from here, from all the pain. And we will be happy” He kissed her then, and his world stopped. He’s waited his whole life for a taste of her and it was better than he could ever imagine. Laying her back down on the bed, he pulled a blanket over her and watched her a bit longer. He’s loved her his entire life and he’ll love her till his dying breath. They would have a blessed life, he will provide for her, make her happy. But before they could have any of that, there were a few more people to get out of the way.

Damon slid down the embankment he had to get to their vehicle. He saw the pulled open back door but when he looked there was no Dax. He scanned the area and there was no sign of her. Maybe she went to get help? He hoped that’s what she did, but the gnawing in his gut and the scent on the vehicle told him that’s not why his sister is missing. He moved to the driver side and took in Carter’s appearance.

“Carter….Carter….” When he didn’t receive an answer he assessed more of his injuries. Part of the door had pierced his side and he was still bleeding heavily. He checked for a pulse, it was faint, but it was there. Pulling his phone he placed a call to James filling him in on what had happened and listened as James told him what to do.

“MARCO!” Damon yelled, putting his phone away

“Get in the backseat and hold him as still as you can, when I remove this piece you need to apply pressure to the wound” Damon said, Marco nodded and scrambled into the backseat and wrapped his arms around Carter holding him tight to the seat.

Destroying as much of the door as he could, he had to pull the piece straight out. Carter groaned as the pain from the action shot through him.

“Hang on brother. You just hang on.” Damon said, as he straightened out as best he could. He would have minutes before the blood loss would reach a critical level.

“Do you have him?” Damon asked Marco.

“Si, si….have….him” Marco held tighter to Carter, keeping him pinned to the seat.

“MARCO! MARCO!” They could hear Johnny yelling through the phone, but neither had time to deal with that right now.

“On three Marco 1….2….3” Damon yanked the piece from Carter’s side, he growled in pain and Marco’s hand shot to stop the blood flow.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Kane demanded through the phone.

“Do you have him? You got him?” Damon yelled,

“Si, si.” Marco said.

“Don’t you die on me brother.” Damon said to Carter, as he held him still. They needed to get him from the truck.

“This next part is gonna be tricky, we have to get him out” Marco nodded. Damon covered the wound so Marco could take his hand back and manoeuvre around inside the SUV. They needed to release the belt but not let him drop. Using his upper half Marco braced himself against Carter pushing him into the seat and released the belt. And Damon brought back the seat giving them more room to move Carter from the interior to the outside.

Once they had him on the ground and away from the SUV, Damon picked up Marco’s phone.

“She’s not here!” He said

“WHAT?” Kane roared,

“She’s not here, he got her, his smell is all over the interior of the SUV” Damon repeated. “Carter’s down, and the triplets are on the way” The growl ripped through the phone and Damon had to pull it from his ear. It was only minutes later when they heard the squeal of tires on the top of the embankment and saw James and his brothers slid down with a medical bag. They would have to do a quick patch and get Carter mobilized, he was their best shot at replaceing their Luna.

“Hold him down, this is going to hurt” James said, one brother on his legs, one brother on his upper body, James poured something into the wound. The growl that ripped from Carter could only be rivalled by the one he heard from Kane.

“HOLD HIM!” James shouted. As Carter fought to get out of the hold the other two brothers had on him.

“Marco” Damon motioned to his legs and Marco grabbed a hold of one.

“The fuck you do to him James?” Damon asked, as he helped hold down his torso.

“Cauterized the wound. Painful as fuck, but he’s one of our best. If anyone’s gonna replace Luna it’s gonna be Carter and Milo.” James replied. Carter, bucked and kicked to be released, the intensity of the burning he felt had Milo releasing growl after growl and then all fell silent as his body went limp.

“How the fuck is he supposed to replace her if he’s out cold?” Damon snapped.

“It’s temporary, he’ll come to” James replied, as he assessed the rest of the damage to Carter’s body.

James had just finished saying those words as Kane and the others showed up. They were down the embankment taking in the damage to the vehicle.

“What’s going on?” Kane demanded as he saw Carter unconscious on the ground.

“He was injured in the accident. James cauterized the wound and now we’re waiting for him to wake up. He’s our best shot at locating her” Damon explained.

“How long?” Kane asked James, but he had no way of knowing when Carter would come out of it. “FUCK!” They were where he didn’t want them to be. At a standstill. Time was passing them and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

****

What the hell hit me? Her mind was fuzzy and she was cloaked in darkness. Everything hurt, pain radiated from everywhere. Dax fought to open her eyes, she didn’t want to be in the darkness any more. She wanted to be in the light. Come on girl, open your damn eyes! She struggled and eventually it paid off when she managed to get them to open a little. The light was blinding at first and she snapped them shut to block it out, but she forced herself to do it again. Blinking as the light broke through the darkness and she looked around the room she was lying in. It was her room in the loft. She was at the warehouse. How did I get here? What happened? Where’s Carter? Next time you drive! Came Nyx’s voice, she sounded closer this time. What happened? Are you ok? I think a truck hit us! Something hit us! Where are we? The warehouse I think! How did we get here? I don’t know! Did boulder head come get us? I don’t know! Did brother come get us? Her voice was sounding more and more panicked as she asked question after question. I don’t know how we got here, I don’t know if Kane came to get us or Damon. I don’t know where Carter is or if he’s ok. I don’t know Nyx, I don’t know! Dax could feel herself starting to panic as well. Her breath was coming in harsh gasps. Each pull of air into her lungs burned and more pain flooded through her. She could feel the edges of darkness again but she fought against them she had to stay conscious. She had to stay awake. Breathe! Nyx instructed. It hurts! Do it anyway, long slow breaths to calm down! I’m trying but it hurts! I know but breathe through it, we have to sit up!

Struggling and fighting, she took deep slow breaths and tried to push herself up. Biting back a scream of pain as she put weight on her left arm she collapsed back onto the bed. I think it’s broken again! Dax clutched her sore arm to her chest. Then froze, as she got a feel of the fabric beneath her fingers. This was not the shirt she was wearing earlier, this was not one of Kane’s shirts. Her fingers running over the fabric feeling for anything that was familiar, nothing, the coarse pattern of the waffle textured fabric was unfamiliar. Whose fucking shirt is this? She didn’t want to look at it, but she had to make sure. If it wasn’t hers and it wasn’t Kane’s that only left one other possibility and the thought filled her with terror. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Please no, please! Pulling the fabric up so she could see it better, she felt the chill run down her spine. No, no, no this can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!

Panic setting in more, she had to get out of this bed, she had to get out of the warehouse, she had to get out. Pushing herself up one more time the pain shot through her arm and her body as she forced it to move. Forced herself to sit up and get out of the bed. Her arms shook, her body shook, fear claimed her mind and pain owned what was left, but she still pushed. Getting herself to a sitting position, she fought with her legs to cooperate with her.

“What is your problem?” She snapped at them when they wouldn’t move the way she wanted them too. Managing to get herself to the edge of the bed she swung her legs over and went to stand. An explosion of pain and a scream released from her when the floor greeted her rather harshly. The darkness edged closer to her. When her head made a connection with the ground it sent her mind swirling. Images flashing before her eyes before the light started to dim.

“What are you doing?” Was the last thing she heard before darkness consumed her again.

****

Donny was on the warehouse floor setting up for the final showdown. Magnus would die, the tall one would die and he would leave here with his angel. That was the plan, and things were going according to plan until he heard the crash and the scream from upstairs. His mind raced with all the thoughts and his heart beat frantically as he ran up the stairs to her loft. Throwing open the bedroom door he found her on the floor.

“What are you doing?” He panicked when he saw her there. How did she get there? How did she fall? Was she coming to look for him? Stupid, stupid, stupid! He should not have left her alone. He should not have left her unattended. He should have known she would wake up and be scared. She woke up alone and scared and he mentally kicked himself. How could he be so foolish? Rushing to her side he gathered her into his arms and held her close to him.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry my angel. I should have been here for you. I should have been sitting right here for when you woke up” burying his face in her hair as he held her limp body to him.