“I hope so. I plan to be around a long time,” I replied. “Well, as long as she’ll have me for,” I added, smiling and looking at her beautiful face.

“You’re so good for her. From the moment you two met, we were all shocked at what she was like with you. You were holding hands and making her laugh and smile. It was so strange to see her smile after so long being heartbroken. Thank you. I owe you a debt of gratitude,” President Spencer said, smiling warmly at me.

“Sir,” I started, then stopped and grinned sheepishly, “sorry, I mean, Tom. You don’t owe me anything. I love your daughter. If anything, I should be thanking you for choosing me to guard her; otherwise I might not have met her.” I bent my head and kissed the back of her hand, stroking my fingertips up her arm, just waiting for the time when she’d open her beautiful, brown eyes and my world would suddenly fall back into place again.

Chapter Fifty-One

That night was easily the most uncomfortable and pain-filled night I had ever spent. Every muscle in my body hurt, and I couldn’t sit in the same position for more than ten minutes at a time. Thankfully, her father had insisted that I be allowed to stay with her – he told the doctors that it was guard duty, but everyone knew that it wasn’t, so at least I got to sit in the chair in her room and hold her hand all night long. I had barely been able to take my eyes off her for more than a few minutes at a time. Bruises covered her arms, face, neck, shoulders, and I daren’t even think about what her stomach and chest looked like, but she was still the most perfect thing I had ever seen in my life.

It was past four in the afternoon when they started to reduce the sedative that was in the IV so that she would start to wake. Her parents and I were all sat around the bed in silence, just waiting. Finally, her eyelids fluttered, and my heart leapt into my throat. President Spencer leant over and pressed the call button on the wall to alert the doctors of Anna’s awakening.

“Anna?” I whispered.

She made a small groan and turned her head towards me. “Mmm, hi,” she croaked, her voice raspy and sore-sounding.

Unable to resist, I bent over her and planted a soft kiss on the egg-shaped bump she had on her forehead. “Hi, Baby Girl. Are you feeling okay?”

“I have a stomach-ache,” she moaned, moving her hand to her stomach.

I quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her from touching her stomach in case she hurt herself. “That’s okay. They can give you something for it,” I assured her.

“Who can?” Finally, her eyes fluttered open. “Holy shit, Ashton! What the hell happened to your face?” she cried, looking at me horrified. I winced, she was right, I did look a mess.

I placed my hand on Anna’s shoulder, holding her in place as she tried to sit up. “Take it easy, Anna, I’m fine. Just stay lying down please, you’ll hurt yourself,” I instructed. Panic rose in my chest as I thought about her stitches breaking. The door opened and the doctor came in. I looked at them worriedly. “I don’t think she remembers anything,” I said, running my hand through my hair.

“Remember what? Ashton? What’s happening? What happened to your face?” Anna cried, ignoring everyone else in the room and holding her hand out for me.

I sighed. “Anna, Carter found you, do you remember?” I asked, gripping her hand tightly.

She gasped and closed her eyes. “Oh God,” she groaned, shaking her head as she obviously remembered. “Dean. Peter. They were all killed, they were all killed,” she whispered.

I sat on the edge of her bed and bent over her so my face was only inches from hers. “I know, Baby Girl. But it’s over now. I nearly lost you. Don’t ever do that to me again, you hear me?” I rasped, dipping my head and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. She whimpered against my lips and her hand lifted, tangling into the back of my hair, holding my mouth to hers when I went to pull back. The kiss wasn’t exactly the chaste, sweet kiss that I had intended it to be in front of her parents.

When the kiss broke, she winced and hesitantly touched my cheek. “Are you alright? You were shot! And your face.”

“I’m alright. Stop worrying about me,” I scolded, shaking my head disapprovingly.

“I can’t. I never will,” she answered, smiling at me tenderly.

The doctor cleared her throat to make her presence known. “Hi, Anna, how are you feeling?” she asked softly, taking hold of Anna’s wrist and checking her pulse. I moved off the bed but Anna gripped my hand tightly as if she was frightened to let go.

“I’m fine. My stomach hurts, and my face is a bit sore,” she told the doctor, her worried eyes still locked on me. “Did you have someone look at you, Ashton?”

I nodded in confirmation.

“Well, are you alright?” she queried.

“Anna, I’ll talk to you in a bit, okay? Just let the doctor look at you, Baby Girl,” I pleaded. She sighed and finally turned her head to look at the doctor.

“We had to operate to stop the bleeding. Your spleen was damaged too, so we had to remove part of it. You lost a lot of blood. It was touch-and-go for a bit, but the surgery went very well. You need to rest now, no sudden movements, just try to relax and let your body recover,” the doctor explained, examining her stomach. Anna’s eyes widened at the news, almost as if she hadn’t realised she was that hurt. The doctor scribbled some notes on her chart. “Well, if you need me, I’ll be doing my rounds. I’ll get someone to come and give you something for the pain. If you get tired, Anna, sleep. And absolutely no getting out of bed,” she instructed before heading out of the room.