I took a deep breath. I wanted to see her eyes open so badly. It could be hours before she did it again. I had to be patient with her. Give her time.

“I read your letter. At least the first one. Blaire found the letters when she went to the house to get our things.” I stopped and brought her hand to my mouth and kissed it. “I don’t accept that. I mean, I accept the fact that I’m your world and your one and only, but I don’t accept that I won’t get forever with you. You opened your eyes before, and now you’re going to open them again. And you’re going to talk to me.”

“’K.” The word fell from her lips in a soft whisper, and my heart leaped from my chest. Her hand moved in mine and gave me a gentle, weak squeeze.

“You’re awake. You can hear me,” I said, staring in awe at her.

“Mm-hmm,” she said, still almost too softly. But I could hear her.

“Show me those eyes, sweet girl. I need to see those eyes.”

Her eyelashes fluttered a little, and then, as if in slow motion, they opened, and it took a moment for her to focus, but when she did, she was looking directly at me.

I stood up and bent down over her, then pressed my forehead to hers. “You did it,” I said before kissing her lips. They weren’t dry this time. The nurse had done as I requested. “And she’s the most perfect little girl in the world. I’ve told her all about you, and she’s getting impatient to meet you.”

A soft laugh escaped her mouth, and I took the first deep breath since she’d screamed out in pain in our bed.

“You laugh, but she’s demanding for a four-pound baby, and I’m pretty sure she’s already wrapped me around that tiny finger.” I pulled back so I could look at her. “You scared me,” I admitted.

She gave me a sad smile. “Sorry,” she whispered.

I cupped her face. “You came back. That’s all that matters. You didn’t give up. You opened your eyes for me. For us. Because, let me tell you, Lila Kate and I need her mommy very much.”

“See . . . her?” she asked, her whisper getting stronger.

“Wait right there. Keep those eyes open,” I told her, and backed up to the door without taking my eyes off her.

She smiled at me, and I winked back.

Opening the door, I still didn’t take my eyes off her. “She’s awake and talking to me. She needs water, and we need our daughter. Someone make that happen,” I called out to whoever was out there and could hear me.

A nurse ran up to the door immediately. I held Harlow’s hand as the nurse checked her vitals.

“You decided to join us. You have three very anxious men and one little girl who were waiting not so patiently to see you.”

Harlow looked at me. “Three?” she asked.

“Kiro and Mase and the rest of this town and every member of Slacker Demon. But yeah, your brother and dad are going to want to see you. They’ve been here the entire time. We had to force Mase to take a shower and change, because he showed up filthy and smelling bad after a middle-of-the-night emergency with a horse.”

Harlow let out a soft laugh.

“I don’t want to leave her. Can you send someone for her brother and dad?” I asked the nurse.

“Her doctor is on his way over right now and will want to check some things. We’ll have to ask you to step out while he does that. If he gives her the all-clear, we can possibly move her to a wheelchair and pay a visit to your baby girl. But first, the doctor has to see her.”

I wasn’t OK with the leaving her part. I started to shake my head, but Harlow’s hand squeezed mine firmer this time. “I won’t leave again. I’m back. I will be here when you get back. I want to see Dad and Mase.”

“Promise me,” I said, still not sure I was ready to walk out of the room yet.

“I promise,” she assured me.

With one last kiss to her head, I made my way back to the waiting room to tell them all that Harlow was awake. Then I went to talk to the nurses in the NICU to see if we could get Lila Kate to her mother sooner.

Harlow

“I’m sure your sister will want a chance to come back and see you, too. The men were just more demanding,” the nurse said after Grant stepped out of the room.

My sister? Did she think Blaire was my sister?

“Considering she was the hero, I think she deserves first visit, but your dad and your brother may not let that happen.”

“Hero?” I asked, not sure what she was talking about. Blaire had very likely done something while I was out that saved the day. I just didn’t know what that was.

The nurse smiled at me as she adjusted something attached to me. “You lost a lot of blood, and you needed a transfusion. You not only don’t have an easy blood type to match, but when someone with your condition needs blood, it’s best to use a relative with the same blood type if at all possible. A parent or a sibling. Your sister jumped right up and offered. Made it happen much faster than if we’d had to seek a donor.”

Nan? I couldn’t imagine Nan would offer to give me a cup of water if I was on fire, much less blood. Was she even here?

“What sister?” I asked. My throat was sore and dry, and I was trying not to talk, but I had to know who she was talking about.

“You have more than one? I didn’t realize that. The tall redhead. Gorgeous,” she said.

It had been Nan. Oh, wow. Nan was here, and she’d given me blood. Maybe I was still asleep. Was this a dream? Was I not about to see my baby girl? Tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to be awake. Lila Kate was waiting for me, and Grant needed me. He had been so pitiful, begging me to open my eyes. I had been fighting so hard to say something to ease his fears. I thought it had really happened.