“You didn’t leave me with much of a choice,” she said, trying not to cry or show him how relieved she was that he was finally awake.

“Had to,” he said, glancing around the room as she poured him a small cup of water. “Where is everyone?”

“It’s three in the morning so I’m guessing that they’re either sleeping or getting kicked out of a buffet,” she said, earning a weak smile from him.

“Take a sip,” she ordered, holding the cup in front of him with her good hand.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, obediently taking a sip.

After a minute, she pulled the cup away and placed it on the tray, wishing that his father was here to help with this, but around an hour ago Mary had finally managed to browbeat her husband into going back to the hotel and getting some sleep. Now, she was sitting here by herself, terrified that she was about to find out that Danny was paralyzed.

She should call a doctor, but instead she found herself climbing into bed with him and curling up by his side. She needed this after everything they’d been through over the past two weeks, she needed a moment before their lives went to hell and stayed there.

“What happened?” he asked, pressing a kiss against the top of her head as he reached over and placed his hand carefully on her cast.

“I beat the shit out of your brothers,” she admitted with a sniffle.

He chuckled weakly as he pressed another kiss against the top her head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“You beat the shit out of your father,” she said, still regretting that she hadn’t been there to stop that. “Your brothers had to pull you off and in the process your back was broken and the scar tissue from your old injury and surgeries tore, pulling free and caused some internal bleeding. They were able to stop the bleeding and remove the scar tissue, but your back-”

“I had weak spots in my vertebrae from the shrapnel,” he said matter-of-factly as she struggled not to cry again. “I was supposed to take it easy.”

“They broke,” she said, her voice breaking.

He was quiet for a long time before he asked, “Was my spine compromised?”

“Can you move your toes?” she asked, repeating the question that they’d been asking him every time he regained consciousness and terrified of his answer.

“Yes,” he said, and just to prove it, he brought his leg up slowly, bending it before he slowly returned it back to the bed and just like that, she lost it.

“Shhhh, don’t cry, Tinkerbelle. I’m fine,” he said, soothingly.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to stop, but heaven help her, she couldn’t.

He’d scared the hell out of her!

“Did you really beat up my brothers?” he asked, kissing her head again and obviously trying to distract her.

“Yes,” she admitted with a sniffle.

“Why?”

“Because they hurt you.”

“It was an accident,” he said, but she didn’t miss the amusement lacing his tone.

“I don’t care,” she muttered, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her hand. She could take one of the painkillers the doctors had prescribed her, but she’d been out of it enough over the last two weeks to last her a lifetime.

“I shouldn’t have hit him,” Danny said, sighing heavily. “He started talking and I just lost it.”

“Your father’s not mad.”

“That’s great, but that’s not really what I meant. I want to know why you left me.”

“Because you were pulling away,” she said around a small sob, and wow, did she sound pathetic.

“I wasn’t pulling away,” he promised her.

“Yes, you were,” she said, because she knew the signs. She’d seen it before with Jerry. When she’d felt Danny do it, she’d decided to leave before he could hurt her. She hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of going through that with Danny.

“I would never leave you, Tinkerbelle,” he said, gently cupping her chin and tipping her head so that she was looking up at him. “Never.”

“Then what were you doing?” she demanded, wanting to know what kind of bullshit reason he could come up with for the way that he was acting. He said that he hadn’t been pulling away from her, but-

“I was planning your abduction,” he said, blinking innocently down at her.

She opened her mouth, but couldn’t quite find the words to respond to that declaration.

“I had to make a few phone calls and call in some favors to get the ban temporarily lifted from Vegas just long enough for me to drag you off and marry you before you got a chance to run away,” he explained calmly as she continued to lay there, staring dumbly up at him.

“I’m sorry, what?” she finally managed to get out.

“We’re getting married,” he said, shrugging like what he’d just said was no big deal.

“I told you that I didn’t want to get married,” she reminded him.

Another shrug. “I chose to ignore that.”

“Okay…….,” she said, because really, what else was she supposed to say to that?

“As soon as they release me, we’re going to get married,” he announced and yeah, now she was wondering if they’d missed a head injury when they’d examined him.

“And why exactly are you so determined to marry me all of a sudden?”